Her cheeks turned a little red. “Me too.”
Her voice was soft and breathless, and he felt as if he’d been waiting forever to get her alone. “I have a question for you.”
Dark-green eyes looked up at him.
“What are you wearing under this dress?”
A slow smile played across those gloriously red lips. Darcy took a step back and out of his arms. Ben thought for sure she was going to tell him what she had on, but instead, it looked like she was going to show him.
Reaching behind her, Darcy unzipped the dress and, with a little shimmy, let it fall to the floor.
Ben forgot how to breathe.
There was so much and yet so little covering her. A red satin bra that barely contained her breasts, an impossibly tiny red lace thong, garters and stockings, and stilettos.
It was as if he had his own Playboy Playmate standing in front of him.
Taking a predatory step toward her, Ben reached out and placed a hand on her hip. “It’s a good thing I didn’t know about all this earlier.”
“Really?” she asked, her expression going coy. “And why is that?”
“Because we would never have left the room.” Pulling her flush against him, Ben heard her soft gasp. Part of him wanted to kiss her, to claim her lips and devour her. But her body called to him.
“I thought the red would be festive,” she murmured. “A little holiday spice to celebrate the evening.”
She was like a present he couldn’t wait to unwrap.
Slowly, so slowly, his hands began to wander. He watched as Darcy’s eyes drifted closed and her head fell back. She sighed his name as his hands gently squeezed her ass and then traveled up to do the same to her breasts.
“Ben,” she sighed again, squirming against him, “please.”
“Please what, baby?” he murmured against her throat, his tongue tracing the soft skin there.
“Take me inside. Take me.”
Scooping her up in his arms, he walked them toward the bed. “Believe me, I will.”
* * *
Breakfast with the Tanner brothers had been interesting. Darcy was intimately familiar with the bonds of brotherhood, but this wasn’t like anything she’d ever witnessed before. There wasn’t a lot of teasing and laughter; it was all very reserved. By the time they said goodbye, it seemed like they were happy, but it wasn’t like watching her brothers, that was for sure.
They’d spent the rest of that day sightseeing, and that night, Ben had another small gallery to see. It had been nice but uneventful. Darcy had had a great conversation with the gallery owner, and they’d gone out for a late dinner with the head of a public relations firm. It had been a perfectly fine way to end the business portion of their trip.
Now as they were packing up and preparing to head to the airport, she felt that same overwhelming sense of sadness again.
“I can hear you sighing,” Ben said from across the room.
“I can’t help it. This has been another amazing week, and now it’s going to be longer until we see each other again.”
“Darcy, I need to get home and do some work, and you’re going to be busy with work and then the holidays. It’s not going to be so bad. You’ll be too busy to miss me.”
She straightened and stared at him as if he had grown a second head. “Somehow, I doubt that. I’m going to miss you because I love you and love being with you and spending time with you. And not having you with me for Christmas? It’s killing me.”
“We’ve been over this.”
“I know,” she snapped and then took a minute to compose herself. “We keep going over it. I want us to be together, Ben. I thought you wanted that too.”
He sighed loudly and shut his suitcase before giving her his full attention. “You know I want that too, but it’s not that simple, Darcy. I can’t just drop everything and stay here and entertain you.”
“Entertain me? You think I’m looking to be entertained?” she cried.
His head hung down. “Okay, that came out wrong.”
“You think?”
When he looked at her this time, he looked mildly irritated. “You know, I flew to North Carolina to spend Thanksgiving with you, and then I flew here to New York and brought you with me so we could spend time together. Why don’t you come back to Washington with me?”
For a minute, he almost sounded hopeful.
“Because I need to focus on finding a job,” she said with annoyance.
“You can look for a job online from anywhere,” he said mildly.
“I need to work, Ben. I know it’s just for Aidan and it’s a temp job, but I still need to make a living.”
“So come later in the month.”
“Then it’s Christmas, and you don’t do Christmas, remember?”
“Then come after Christmas.” This time, it was said through clenched teeth.
They were at a standstill. She knew she was the one being difficult here—she knew that—but for some reason, she wanted to fight with him. It was ridiculous and childish and yet, there it was. She was used to pitching a fit and having people give in to her. But Ben didn’t. He fought back and did his best to make her see how her way wasn’t the only way.
But in this particular situation, there didn’t seem to be any way.
“I guess we’ll just have to play it by ear,” she said and returned her attention to packing. “We’ll talk about it again after New Year’s.”
And right then, the thought of spending the holidays without him hurt more than she’d ever thought possible.
* * *
He’d surprised her.
A week later, with less than a day’s notice, he called and told her he was flying in for the weekend. It had been a flurry of activity to get herself together and ready. She warned him that there was a big family get-together this weekend because Riley was in town for a show, but he didn’t care. He said he just needed to be with her.
That first kiss when she climbed out of the car at the airport was always the sweetest.
The drive to the apartment was always filled with the basics to pass the time.
The frantic way that they reached for each other as soon as they were behind closed doors was what Darcy lived for.
Now, breathless and a little sweaty, she curled up against Ben and sighed. So good. “I missed you.”
He kissed her forehead. “I missed you too.”
“You’re sure you can only stay for the weekend?”
He nodded. “I’ve got a client coming to the studio on Tuesday for some work on a custom home he’s building. So far, I’ve managed to put him off about three times. I can’t do it again.”
She sighed again. “I understand. But I hate it.”
Hugging her close, he murmured, “Me too.” He wished they could stay like this, tangled up together with nothing to do but catch their breath until they could start all over again. But they couldn’t.
Family dinner.
Great.
He couldn’t complain too much—she had warned him, and he figured he could give up an hour or two of having her to himself.
Just as long as they could come back to the apartment, be together, and be left alone for the rest of the weekend.
Two hours later, however, he began to wonder if he had completely miscalculated. It wasn’t just a get-together; it was dinner. For twenty people. There was no way they were going to be in and out any time soon. With a sigh, he looked around. How do people stand it? Ben wondered, and not for the first time that evening.
Darcy looked up at him. “I can see that you’re miserable and not having a good time—”
He immediately put a finger over her lips. “Don’t. Whatever you’re thinking, not today. Or tomorrow. We only have the weekend together, and I’m just happy to be with you,” he said softly,
and only when she nodded did he remove his finger. Then he kissed her, slowly and sweetly, on the lips. “I love you.”
With a shaky sigh, she melted against him. “I love you too.”
“It looks like dinner is being served,” he commented as they walked toward the dining room. Everyone seemed to know where to sit, so he just followed Darcy’s lead and was somewhat relieved to find them sitting next to Riley and Savannah.
The room was so loud. There were about ten different conversations going on and kids were crying—it was a lot to take in.
I can do this for one meal, he chided himself. One meal and then we can go.
“Ow!” he hissed and then looked over at Savannah. “Did you just stab me with a fork?”
With an evil smile, she nodded. “I did.”
“Why? Why would you do that?” he asked quietly, doing his best to sound menacing.
“Because you’re frowning. Now smile and relax, or next time, I won’t be so gentle.”
Unable to help himself, he laughed. Then, leaning back, he caught Riley’s eye. “Is she this evil at home?”
Riley laughed. “Sometimes more. But I’m sure you’re used to it. Savannah’s a day at the beach compared to my sister.”
“Hey!” Darcy chimed in. “Watch it! Just because there are two people separating us doesn’t mean I can’t get even with you.”
Riley continued to laugh. “Bring it. Although I heard a rumor that someone was trying to be a little more mature,” he taunted. “Ring any bells?”
Ben laughed at Darcy’s muttered curse.
“Oh, just shut up,” she warned her brother right before she took her first forkful of salad. “Jerk.”
Leaning over, Ben kissed her on the temple. “That’s my mature girl.”
Chapter 11
Ben was ready to lose his mind. It was late Monday morning, and he was lying in bed while Darcy returned phone calls—some to her family, some about jobs. The job calls he could completely understand, but the family ones? How much more could these people want to be together? And on top of that, in two weeks, they were going to do it all again for Christmas. Didn’t they ever take a break?
The dinner Friday night had gone on until almost midnight. Then Saturday, Aidan and Zoe had come over to hang out. And yesterday, Riley and Savannah stopped by before heading to the airport.
So much for a weekend for just the two of them. Next time they did this, it was going to be in Washington.
His flight home wasn’t until the early evening, but he had hoped they would have some time alone—just the two of them, no family members—before he had to leave. Hopefully, her calls wouldn’t take too long. Glancing over at the bedside clock, he frowned. She had already been out there for almost an hour.
Knowing that staying in bed wasn’t helping anything, he got up and showered. When he came out of the bathroom—in just a towel in hopes of enticing her off the phone—he was mortified to find Aubrey and Brooke sitting in the kitchen.
“Holy shit!” he cried out and quickly went into the bedroom and shut the door.
Didn’t this family ever stay in their own homes?
Darcy came in the room a minute later. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry! I didn’t even think when they showed up. I thought you’d come out dressed!”
“Really?” he hissed. “In all the times we’ve stayed here, when have either of us come out of the bathroom fully dressed?”
At least she had the decency to look embarrassed. “Okay, fine. We never have, and that should have registered with me. I’m sorry.” She came over and tried to hug him, but he was too wound up. “C’mon, Ben. It’s not like they’ve never seen a man in a towel before.”
That was so not the thing to say.
Ben quickly pulled on his jeans, grabbed a T-shirt out of his bag, and turned to glare at her. “All damn weekend, we had everyone around us. Is it too much to ask that on our last few hours together it be just us? What was so important that your family had to be here?” He did his best to keep his voice down, but it was a challenge.
“They were helping me prep for my last call,” she said with a hint of defiance. “They waited until it was almost lunchtime to come over to give us some privacy. They had no idea you were in the shower.”
“You could have told them,” he countered. “Or better yet, you could have knocked on the damn door and said ‘Hey, Ben. We have company.’ Either of those would have worked.”
She huffed. “I’ve apologized, Ben. What more do you possibly want?”
“I want some time alone with you, dammit! I leave here in a little more than four hours. I would have thought you wanted that too.”
“I do! I just have to make this last call.”
He let out a weary sigh and sat down on the corner of the bed. “And then what? Then you’ll need to talk to Aubrey and Brooke. And then Zoe. And then Anna. And then who knows? And the one person who you should be talking to, the one whose life you supposedly want to share, when will you talk to him? Am I going to have to wait in line behind twenty freaking Shaughnessys before it’s my turn? Because I have to tell you, Darce, that’s not working for me.”
Off in the distance, he heard the front door open and close.
“Great!” she cried. “Are you happy now? They left!”
Jumping to his feet, he yelled, “Oh yeah! I’m thrilled!”
“Oh good,” she replied sarcastically. “Because we all know that your happiness is the only thing that matters!” And with that, she stormed out of the room.
Ben instantly followed and was a bit stumped when he saw her grab her purse and keys. “Where the hell are you going?”
“I’m going to follow them and apologize. Oh, and while I’m out, I’ll make my last call since, thanks to you, I’m almost late for it.”
And before he could say another word, she slammed out the door.
* * *
Ben was gone.
Darcy kept walking around the apartment as if he was hiding somewhere—along with his luggage—but he wasn’t.
He was gone.
Throwing her purse across the room, she let loose a string of curses before collapsing on the sofa.
Well, what did you expect? she thought. You walked out and stayed away for several hours.
“I was trying to calm down,” she said out loud, as if arguing the point that way was going to make a difference.
Aubrey, Brooke, and Zoe had told her she was being unreasonable and that she needed to go back and talk to him, but in typical fashion, she had been stubborn. “Okay, maybe I can fix this,” she said to herself. Rising, she went to her purse and its scattered contents and prayed she hadn’t broken her phone. Seeing it still intact, she picked it up and called him.
“Hey,” he said gruffly.
“Hey.” She had never been more relieved for someone to answer their phone. “So, um, I’m here at the apartment and you’re—”
“At the airport.”
“Your flight isn’t for a while yet,” she said softly, doing her best to stay calm and find a way to apologize.
“I found an earlier one.”
“Ben, I…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left like that.”
“No. You shouldn’t have.”
Now she was done being meek and soft. “Need I remind you that you’ve done the exact same thing to me? You walked out of the gallery—”
“And I came back in ten minutes later and apologized,” he reminded her. “You were gone for two hours before I left, Darcy. What the hell was I supposed to do?”
“Um, you could have come after me. You could have walked over to Aidan and Zoe’s and found me. You could have—”
He let out a low growl of frustration. “The last thing I wanted was more time with your family. Look, they’re all very nice—great, actually—but I was done. Don’t you
get it? I’m not like you. Sometimes, I don’t want to have an audience around for every little thing. You and I needed to talk, and I wasn’t going to go to your brother’s house and do it there with everyone watching.”
“It wouldn’t have been that way.”
“I can’t do this with you right now,” he said wearily. “They’re calling my flight.”
“Don’t go,” she begged. “Please. I made a mistake. I…that’s how I’ve always done things—I run away. I can see now that it’s wrong, and I’m sorry. I’ll come and get you, and we’ll go someplace and talk. Not here. Hell, we’ll go and find someplace else to stay for a few days. Please, Ben. Don’t go. Not like this.”
He sighed. “I think it’s better if I go.”
Tears stung her eyes as she waited for him to continue.
“There are a lot of things that we both need to think about, and being apart for a while might not be a bad thing.”
“You’re…will you promise to think about coming back for Christmas?” she asked, her voice trembling.
“I need to go. We’re boarding. I’ll text you when I land.”
“Ben—”
But he was gone.
Her body crumpled to the floor as she began to cry. Darcy was never one who fought crying. When she felt the need, she did it. But this cry was different. This was the kind of cry that shook her entire body and felt as if her soul was being ripped from her body.
How was she supposed to fix this? How could she make things right if he didn’t want to talk to her?
But more important, how was she going to survive if this was the end?
There was a soft knock on the door, and she wanted to yell at whoever it was to go away. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to anyone.
“Hey, Brooke mentioned… Oh my God! Are you okay?”
Great. Owen was here.
Instantly, her brother was at her side, crouching down and gently pulling her to her feet. He led her over to the sofa, made her sit, and then went to the kitchen to get her a glass of water. Then he went and grabbed a box of tissues from the bathroom. Then he cleaned up the mess from her purse.
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