Just Right: The Bradfords, Book 1

by Erin Nicholas

  Chapter Seven

  “Ben, there’s a couple of guys here to see you!” Sara called to him from the doorway to the rec room an hour later.

  Ben rose with a huge grin. “Be right back,” he told the kids he’d been helping study for a history test.

  As he passed her, Jess asked, “Everything okay?”

  He nodded. “Definitely.”

  She was concerned anyway. Guys were coming to see him here? He looked happy about it so they probably weren’t there to collect money for a gambling debt or anything. Were they drinking buddies? His excuse to leave?

  But after getting on his case for being late she knew she couldn’t demand or beg he stay.

  Jessica watched him go and, in spite of herself, acknowledged the draw of Ben’s take-it-as-it-comes attitude. It was tempting to let go the way he’d suggested. Even if it was just once—one night of recklessness, of unbridled passion and amazing sex.

  But would she be able to walk away after it was over?

  Would she be able to get back on her soapbox of responsibility and morality after such a far fall? Would she want to?

  It came down to a choice between the way she’d always imagined her life—complete with the husband who was dedicated, and responsible, and of course had an amazing career that made the world a better place—or great sex with a guy whose biggest decisions were rum or beer and whose most important commitment was turning the TV on at the same time every day so as not to miss his favorite soap opera.

  Ben returned with Sara. They were both grinning stupidly.

  “Homework time is over,” Ben announced loudly.

  A collective cheer went up and Jess sighed.

  “Ben has a huge surprise for you in the backyard,” Sara said as the applause died down.

  Ben caught Jessica’s eye and he gave her a wink. Which made her nervous. What was he up to?

  The kids surged toward the doors, with Mario, as always, in the lead. Even teenagers were suckers for surprises.

  The so-called backyard was a slab of cracked cement about the size of half a basketball court with a netless hoop at one end. The concrete ended at the edge of a patch of grass approximately the same size.

  Redoing the area was on their to-do list but with the indoor gymnasium in good shape it was not a huge priority.

  The kids came through the back door and stopped, looked around with expectant expressions. Mario turned a full three hundred and sixty degrees, then looked at Ben.

  “What?” he asked.

  Ben walked to a huge plastic garbage can and lifted the lid with a flourish.

  “Ta-da!”

  Mario went forward and peered in. “What is it?” he asked after a long stretch of silence.

  “You don’t know what water balloons look like?” Ben asked, lifting a large green one from the top.

  Jessica’s eyes widened at that.

  “Water balloons?” Mario asked.

  “And,” Ben added, crossing to where Sara stood next to a plastic crate. “Water guns.”

  Sara grinned at Jessica, evidently approving of the idea.

  Jessica shook her head. “They don’t have extra clothes.”

  “It’s water,” Ben said, gently tossing the green balloon up and down in one hand. “It’s not going to ruin anything.”

  “We can just bean each other with them?” Reuben asked, moving forward.

  Ben nodded and started to speak but Jess jumped in. “Don’t you think we should establish some rules? Like no hitting anyone in the face.”

  “No,” Ben said, tossing the balloon up again and catching it while watching her. “There are no rules.”

  “We just throw them?” Tony asked.

  “Yeah, like this.” The green balloon hit Jess in the right hip. She shrieked as it exploded, drenching her entire leg in cold water.

  She looked at Ben in shock. Everyone around her was still and silent. Ben grinned back at her. Her eyes narrowed.

  Sara handed her a large water gun. “It’s full.”

  Jess didn’t hesitate. She took aim and fired, continually pumping the chamber full of water with one hand while keeping a finger on the trigger with the other.

  Ben’s black shirt was soon plastered to him and he grabbed two balloons this time.

  The game was on.

  The kids grabbed balloons and guns and went at it, shrieking, yelling and laughing as they drenched each other.

  Jess was hit a few more times and her gun soon needed reloading. Sara covered her while she knelt at the outside faucet, realizing what an advantage the refillable guns were to the balloons.

  The kids quickly figured out that dividing into teams was best so they could have balloons and guns on both sides. They ended up with the boys against the girls.

  Jessica couldn’t help it. She was having a great time. She laughed and huddled into a crowd with the girls as the boys strategically circled them. She suspected that Ben had a lot to do with the scheme.

  The girls tried to fend them off but they were now cut off from the water supply. The boys advanced, not firing, taking the shots from the girls, steadily closing in, the circle around the girls shrinking as they came. Eventually, the girls’ guns were empty and they crowded even closer to each other, knowing they were about to get it. They giggled and called out pleas and tried to make deals, but the boys were stoic and closed in until they stood shoulder to shoulder only a few feet away.

  They paused, doing nothing, saying nothing, just grinning, letting the girls worry.

  “Ready!” Mario called out. “Aim!” The boys all lifted their guns and pointed. “Fire!”

  War cries, squeals and laughter all erupted along with the cold water. In seconds the girls were dripping and laughing hard enough they were having trouble catching their breaths.

  Suddenly, Ben strode through the ring of teenage boys.

  In the midst of so many laughing faces, his look of serious intent made Jessica step back as he came at her.

  “Come on,” he said, his teeth gritted.

  He took her upper arm in a firm grasp and turned her away from the group, toward the center’s back door. The kids parted like the Red Sea before Moses.

  Jess hurried to keep up with Ben’s long strides. What was his problem? She tried to frown up at him, but he wasn’t looking at her. They’d been having a good time. She’d even played in spite of the lack of rules. She hadn’t said a word about drying off before they went inside and got the floor all wet, or about being careful not to slip on the wet concrete as they ran in bare feet. She’d been laid back, dammit!

  “Ben, what is going on?”

  He yanked the door open, pushed her in ahead of him and stepped in after her.

  She turned to face him as the air conditioning hit her, and goosebumps broke out on goosebumps.

  Ben’s eyes dropped to her breasts. Her breath hitched at the look of hot desire in his eyes.

  “I didn’t want to share,” he said, meeting her eyes again. “Especially not with underage kids.”

  She glanced down. Her blouse clung, the white fabric nearly transparent, to her breasts and nipples that stood erect in the cold air…and under Ben’s gaze.

  “I’m sorry Jess, I didn’t even think about your white shirt until the boys had you on display and soaked.”

  Jess quickly tried to cover herself with her arms. “It’s not your fault.”

  Ben caught her wrists before she could hide behind them.

  “It’s just you and me now.”

  Hearing the strain in his voice, she looked up. His hair and face were still wet, but he was oblivious it seemed. He was drinking in the sight of her.

  “You’re gorgeous.”

  And she felt it. She felt like the sexiest woman on earth with him watching her like he was.

  She wanted him to touch her.

  She racked her brain for anything to say other than that. The kids could walk in at any moment…

  “Were any of the other girls wearing whit
e?” she asked as the thought occurred to her.

  “I wouldn’t know,” Ben said gruffly. “I was only watching you.” He moved in closer and lifted a hand to her cheek. “You’re so beautiful when you’re having fun.”

  “You’re just saying that because I’m nearly naked here,” she said, trying for levity.

  “I’m saying it because watching you laughing and genuinely enjoying yourself makes me want to get you naked even more.”

  “Ben,” she said, her throat tight with wanting. “We can’t.”

  “I know.” He looked grim at the acknowledgement. “But I have to at least do this.”

  His hands came up as if in slow motion to cup her breasts. Jessica stopped breathing as much from the look on his face as he watched himself touch her as from the contact itself. When his thumb brushed over her nipples she had to grasp his forearms to stay standing.

  “Ben,” she moaned.

  His face mirrored her arousal. “When was the last time a man touched you like this?” Ben asked, taking the tip of her left breast between thumb and forefinger and tugging gently.

  Like this? She could hardly think straight. But nothing she felt with Ben was anything she’d ever experienced before. “Never,” she mumbled.

  His eyes darkened. “Never?”

  She was breathing hard and had trouble focusing on the man in front of her, though if she closed her eyes completely she could picture him in detail, as well as feel, smell and sense him on every level.

  Dang. What was it with this guy?

  Even when she was wet and freezing, he could still turn her into a big pile of marshmallows. Melted marshmallows. Melted, toasted marshmallows.

  She licked her lips. “Never like this.”

  Abruptly his hands were gone from her breasts. “Come on.” She had been leaning in to him so that she nearly pitched forward when he moved. He took her hand and pulled her down the hallway and into the first room with a door. It was the supply closet.

  The door latch had barely clicked when Ben’s lips were on hers, hungry and hot. He tunneled his fingers in her hair and pressed his thighs into hers. He walked her backward until they met the wall and he could press against her in all the right places.

  It was like gasoline on a flame and for the first time in ten years Jessica wanted, no needed, to know if enticing boys was like riding a bike—something she would never forget how to do.

  “Ben,” she whispered.

  She slipped her hand between them and pressed her palm against the rigid length that told her he wanted her as much as she wanted him. They both groaned at the contact and Ben’s knees bent so she held him more fully. He stopped breathing.

  Jessica felt the heady power that came with affecting a man like Ben this much. “I want you. All of you,” she whispered.

  She released the button of his fly and slipped her hand inside the cotton of his underwear and onto hot skin. She found the silky tip easily, circled it and then slid her palm down the hard, hot shaft. Maybe it had just been a long time, but all she could think was big and wow.

  She found her voice, determined to make him as desperate as she was. “All of you. Every.” She stroked up and down his length and he groaned. “Single.” She pressed her hand more firmly against him and stroked again, making him suck in a quick breath. “Inch.”

  “It’s all yours,” he said gruffly.

  The sound of the metal back door banging against the concrete wall that separated them from the hallway made them both jerk, then freeze. They heard laughter and shouts as the stream of teenagers rolled past the door.

  After the last voice had passed, they both breathed again, slipped their hands from one another’s clothes and stepped apart.

  Jess stared at him, torn between laughing and crying. This was what they got for going at it in a supply closet. This was a youth center. It was named after her late father. Her dad had probably put the shelves up in here himself. She should feel terribly ashamed. But she didn’t. The most overpowering emotion she was feeling was disappointment that they had been interrupted.

  She ran shaky fingers through her hair to straighten it as well as she could.

  Ben seemed to be trying to catch his breath as he fastened his pants.

  “I’m not going to say I’m sorry,” he said, meeting her gaze.

  She took a deep breath. “Good.”

  He tucked his hands into his back pockets and took a step back. “And I intend to pick up where we left off as soon as possible.”

  She let the breath out. “Good.”

  He smiled at that. Then his eyes dropped to the front of her blouse again and his smile died. He pulled in a shaky breath and stepped back again.

  “I’ll go find something for you to put on,” he said. “It’s probably better that we don’t both go out at the same time anyway.”

  Jessica nodded and Ben slipped out into the hallway.

  He worked on getting his breathing back under control and his mind off of Jessica’s hot body, hot mouth and hot little hands. He couldn’t believe what he’d just done. Well, what he’d almost done. Jessica was not the type of woman to have a quickie in a supply closet.

  She deserved better than that. It would be her first time and he’d almost taken her in the midst of rolls of toilet paper, bottles of disinfectant and jars of the stuff they used to clean up puke.

  Nice, Ben. Really smooth. Really classy. Really considerate.

  But it was her fault. His intentions had been pure, mostly, in bringing her inside when her blouse had gone see-through.

  Then he’d wanted a quick feel and taste of the luscious breasts that had been taunting him since the morning in his bathroom. Heavy petting, necking, making out. That was all it was going to be. Honestly.

  Then she’d touched him. And just like that, he was practically on his knees.

  It was good the kids had come banging in.

  Jessica deserved candles, rose petals, soft music and lots of foreplay her first time.

  Her first time…her second time…every time.

  Hell.

  Ben stopped in the doorway of the small closet where they kept the extra clothes, a vise-like tension squeezing his chest. He braced his hands on the doorjamb, digging his fingertips into the wood as he let the truth expand in his mind.

  It wasn’t only that it was her first time that made him want to romance her. It was her. She was amazing. She was gorgeous and generous and dedicated and smart and…

  First time or not, Jessica deserved even more than the rose petals—she deserved a declaration of undying love and a big ol’ diamond ring for her left hand.

  He was in so much trouble.

  Ben swore under his breath and pushed himself back away from the support of the doorway. This was ridiculous. He wasn’t the rose petal and candle type. He hadn’t made any promises. He hadn’t even said anything about it being more than casual, just-for-fun sex.

  She wanted him anyway. It was her choice. She shouldn’t be expecting lots of foreplay and sweet words.

  He yanked a hooded sweatshirt from a hanger and stalked back to the closet where Jessica waited. If he had a condom with him, he’d go back into that closet right now and take her hard and fast. She’d like it, he’d finally be able to satisfy this crazy hunger for her. And he’d then be able to get the hell away from her before he went out and bought her the damn ring himself.

  Yep. It was the lack of protection that made him stuff the sweatshirt through the barely opened closet door instead of going back in.

  Three days later, Jessica was about to lose her mind. Ben was leaving her alone. Just like she’d wanted. Supposedly.

  If they didn’t sleep together, she didn’t have to worry about falling for him any further and then being heartbroken when he didn’t live up to her standards.

  So, why was she so annoyed that he hadn’t asked her to go home with him even once in the past three days?

  Because of the supply closet.

  The supply closet
had convinced her that she wanted to have mind-blowing, I’ll-never-fully-recover sex with him and she’d worry about the consequences later.

  And now he was leaving her alone.

  Kind of. He was definitely not ignoring her. They talked about everything under the sun. But he never even made an innuendo about sex.

  It all made her want it even more. She was the type of person who—once she made

  up her mind about something—wanted to get it done. Ben was definitely something she wanted to do.

  Since Russ insisted she do whatever necessary to keep track of Ben, she’d taken the last three days off. While Ben worked at the coffee shop for a few hours each morning during the rush, she worked on her to-do list at the center. Then, when Ben came to the center after his shift, she could spend her time with him. Purely to keep him out of trouble, of course.

  That didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy the time spent though did it?

  She tried to enjoy it anyway. Ben just wasn’t cooperating. She liked talking to him. She liked making him laugh. She liked watching him interact with the kids. But she would have preferred a lot more of his hands and lips on her.

  She tried teasing and flirting with him, but he always changed the subject. Quickly and so bluntly it was laughable. Except she didn’t find it funny in the least.

  He’d give in to the kisses when she caught him alone, somewhere the kids wouldn’t see them. In those moments he would hesitate for a few seconds, then all at once his lips and hands would be all over her, as if he couldn’t get enough. Eventually, though, he would pull back, long before she was ready for him to, and he’d distance himself from her for a while, diving into a school project with some of the girls, or a game of basketball with the boys.

  Oh, he was very sweet. He told her she was beautiful. He told her she was great with the kids. He brought her cups of her favorite coffee from Cup O’ Joe. He brought more medical supplies for the clinic. He stitched up two more fight-night participants without argument or question, and he treated at least three patients a day who kept showing up when the neighborhood heard there was a doctor hanging out locally.

  But he never asked her to go home with him. He never asked to go home with her. He never mentioned a hotel. Or even the backseat of his car. Or a return to the supply closet. He was a perfect gentleman.