by Zoe York
Oh. “You are.” She slid her hand up to his neck, bringing him down to kiss her. “You so are.”
His mouth slicked against hers, soft and accepting of her love. She stroked her tongue against his, pouring how she felt about him into every lick.
As their embrace deepened, he took control, kissing her back with a fierceness that took her breath away.
The adoring look he gave her when they broke apart was topped by what he said next. “Something happened when I first saw you. From that moment on, you were all I could think about. And everything that has happened since has only reinforced that you’re someone special, a gift for me to cherish.”
She felt the same way. She nodded slowly, trying to find the right words.
But Ben wasn’t done. “Chels, I’m falling in love with you.”
“Oh, Ben,” she breathed. “I’m falling for you, too. You’re more than I ever hoped for.” She kissed him again, then stepped back. “Stay right there. Just like that.”
He did as she asked, standing stock still at the window. He smiled after she grabbed a pad of paper and some conte out of her big-ass tote bag, his eyes crinkling in delighted disbelief, she quickly sketched out the shape of him. The hard planes of his chest, the thick muscles of his arms. The way his jeans rode low on his hips—that detail was just her, because her boyfriend was beautiful, inside and out.
“There,” she said a few minutes later, showing him the sketch. “I see you. And I love you.”
“Can I take you back to bed now?”
She clutched her sketchpad to her chest. “Absolutely. And I’ll draw you there, too.”
fourteen
The next morning, Ben called his mom while Chelsea called Hannah. After innocent inquiries were made about their respective schedules, they decided to surprise Hannah first, then go to Reno that night, and stay the night there before returning to the cabin tomorrow.
Chelsea tried to protest, but he wanted to do this for her. A fun, whirlwind road trip with a different stop each night. A proper adventure.
The house that Hannah was staying in was close to the lake, and ten times the size of Kent’s cabin. From the way Chelsea’s eyes went wide as they pulled up, she was impressed, too.
“Did you know it was this fancy?”
“Nope.” She shook her head. “I’ve met her boyfriend many times. This is not what I expected.”
She pulled out her phone and showed Ben the screen as she texted her sister.
Chelsea: You didn’t mention that Travis’s family house was something out of a movie set.
Hannah sent back a confused emoji.
Chelsea: Knock knock…
A minute later, the front door opened and Hannah came running out. Chelsea took off and gave her a big hug. Ben followed behind, giving a cheerful wave to the young man following behind Chelsea’s sister.
“I’m Travis,” he said, holding out his hand.
“Ben.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you. Hannah wanted to drive back to San Diego early to make sure you were treating her sister right.”
“Doing my best.” Ben chuckled. “They’re really close, huh?”
“The closest.” Travis gestured to the house. “Come on in. We were just about to have lunch, and there’s more than enough for you guys to stay.”
After lunch they went for a slow group stroll and then warmed themselves up in front of the two-story stone fireplace in the center of the great room. Travis’s family was down to earth and friendly, and his uncle—who owned the house—had been in the Navy for ten years before going into business.
Chelsea left Ben with him to talk shop, and let Hannah drag her upstairs.
“Tell me everything,” her sister demanded.
“No.”
“Tell me the PG-13 version of everything.”
Chelsea clasped her hands to her chest and swooned backward onto Hannah’s bed. “He’s so amazing. It’s early days, but we’re already falling for each other. We told each other that last night. This morning? In the middle of the night. It was…he’s just so…I’ve never experienced anything like this. It’s surreal.”
“You love him?” If actual hearts could have spontaneously appeared over Hannah’s head, they would have.
“I do. There’s just something about him. I feel this deep, overwhelming attachment already.”
“Wow.”
“I know.” Chelsea took a deep breath. “His mom lives in Reno.”
“Oh, wow. You’re going there next?”
“Tonight. She works at a casino there. We’re going to show up at her table.”
“Oh my God. That’s incredible. This was such a fun surprise. But we’re still going on a double date when we get back to the city.”
“Absolutely.”
Hannah grinned. “I really like him for you.”
The road out of South Tahoe climbed quickly, twisting and turning before widening into a proper highway for the slow descent out of the mountains. At first the trees were denser and the snowbanks were high, but as they drove the scenery transitioned to winter desert.
Ben was grinning as he pointed out the first glimpse of the city lights.
“Is Reno home for you?”
He shook his head. “Mom moved here after I enlisted.”
“Where were you before that?”
“Vegas.” He shrugged. “That wasn’t home, either.”
She rubbed her hand over his arm, and he caught her fingers with his.
“Are you nervous?”
His grip on her hand tightened. “Not exactly. I’m excited to introduce you to my mom. And then I want to take my girlfriend out for a nice dinner.”
After checking into the hotel, they had a long shower together. Then Ben perched her on the bathroom counter and went down on her with more of the intense energy she’d picked up on in the car.
It was the fastest, most intense orgasm she’d experienced with him to date. Then he was between her legs, kissing her like his life depended on it, and he used the slick from between her legs to coat himself and get him there, too. It was messy and perfect.
The second shower was quick and efficient, with a no-touching policy mock sternly enforced by Chelsea. “One of us needs to dry our hair and put on makeup. It’s not just getting dressed. I want to look nice for meeting your mother.”
“You look very nice like this,” he murmured, kissing her cheek. “All pink and glowing.”
“Too much glow isn’t a great first look for meeting the parents.”
“My mom is not the puritanical type, but I hear your point.” He hopped out and grabbed her a towel. “I’ll keep my hands to myself until later tonight.”
She dried her hair first, then found him putting on his dress shirt. Ben looked good in everything she’d seen him wear so far, but the fitted black dress pants he was wearing now took her breath away. His legs were long, his thighs solid, and his hips tight enough to make her regret the hands-off rule she’d just insisted on.
“You look good enough to…” She trailed off. “Do literally everything to.”
He gave her a cocky grin. “Gotta look good on your arm.”
She slid into her prettiest underwear, then he helped zip up her dress.
“And you look stunning,” he murmured against her neck. “I’m going to enjoy knowing what’s under this silky fabric all night.”
To underline the point, his hands didn’t seem to leave her body as they headed down the elevator to the fancy casino level. Many if not most of the other people on the floor were dressed casually, but the setting was just over the top enough to make Chelsea feel like any outfit would fly, like nobody would look twice at them if she were wearing a T-rex inflatable costume instead of a slinky black halter neck dress.
Ben settled his hand on her hip as he guided her into the casino and introduced himself to one of the supervisors on the floor. “I promise not to distract her from her work, but I want to surprise my mom. I got some extra time of
f from the Navy, you see…”
That got him an of course and a thank you for your service, and the next thing Chelsea knew they were being given a bucket of complimentary chips to use at the blackjack table.
“What happened to spending twenty bucks at the slot machines?” Chelsea whispered to Ben as he held out a chair for her.
“We’ll get to that,” he murmured against her ear. “But my mom is a blackjack dealer, so I think they’ll send her over to this table when it’s a good time to switch her out.”
“Oh!” Chelsea blushed. “I should have figured that out. It’s my first day of being a spy.”
“You’re doing great.” He ran his fingers over her bare shoulder. “Ready to play?”
They were three rounds in when a slim woman wearing black trousers and a fitted vest approached. She looked a youthful early fifties, with dark hair pulled back in a bun, and a no-nonsense expression on her face as she addressed the dealer she was replacing.
She hadn’t noticed Ben yet, because he had his head down, and Chelsea smiled politely. They’d seen each other briefly via Ben’s phone on Christmas Eve, but he’d refused to elaborate on the mystery woman he was spending the holidays with. Out of context, there was no reason for Leanne to recognize her.
“I understand you’re a beginner. I’m going to take good care of you. Let’s have some fun, right?”
“Right,” Chelsea squeaked, and beside her, Ben started laughing.
Leanne looked confused for a split second before he lifted his head, and then she jumped in the air. “Oh my God! I didn’t know why a new player needed me to be their dealer and I should have known.” She ran around the table and threw herself at her son, squeezing him tight.
Then she turned to Chelsea. “Okay, so this has to be something serious, right? You bring a girl to meet me? What is this?”
Ben squeezed Chelsea’s hand. “This is something serious, yes. I’m head over heels for this woman, Mom. So I wanted you to meet her.”
“Are we actually playing cards, too?”
Chelsea gestured to the chips on the table. “I think we should.”
It took them half an hour to lose all their money to the house, but it was the house’s money to begin with, so neither of them minded. Other casino patrons came and went from the table, and each time someone arrived, Leanne proudly introduced her son and his girlfriend. Over and over again, and Chelsea never tired of it.
“This was such a fun surprise,” Leanne said when they finally stood up to leave.
“We’re staying the night, so we can take you out for breakfast tomorrow.”
She patted Ben’s cheek. “I can’t wait.”
He gave her an endearing look that warmed Chelsea’s heart. “We’ll let you get back to work.”
“Go. Have a wonderful evening. And let me know when you’re up in the morning.”
“It won’t be too early,” he promised.
Chelsea laughed, and she realized Leanne was chuckling with her. The older woman’s eyes twinkled as she looked at Chelsea. “You’ve discovered that he doesn’t sleep in, ever?”
“I’ll learn to deal.” Chelsea leaned in. “I promise we won’t call before eight.”
“Seven is fine. I can sleep when I’m dead.” Leanne picked up the cards again. “All right, let’s get back to it, folks.”
Ben took Chelsea’s hand and led her through the chaotic lights and sounds of the casino floor. The steakhouse he’d made a dinner reservation at felt extra private and secluded after the excitement and noise of the last twenty minutes. They were seated at a curved booth, where they could sit side by side, and Ben immediately tugged her into his side.
“That was a lot of fun.” She rubbed her hand on his flexed thigh. “Did it go as you thought? She was really nice.”
“Yeah.” The corner of his mouth notched up. “I think it made her happy. I’ve never introduced her to a girlfriend before.”
“So you were nervous.”
He chuckled. “A little.”
She sighed and leaned into him even more. “What a day.”
“What a week.”
“Mmm. Truth.”
Once they placed their orders for starters and mains, Ben leaned back in the booth, stretching his arm behind Chelsea, and she rested her there. “Do you like coming back here?”
His brows furrowed. “Yeah, I guess. I like seeing my mom, but I don’t have emotional attachment to Reno.”
“You said that you didn’t think of it as home.”
“I don’t have any one place to call home. I never have. You know my parents split up when I was little, yeah?”
She nodded.
“I spent my childhood flying back and forth across the country, by myself, caught between a world in Connecticut that my father really aggressively wanted to push as better. He would always say welcome home to me, when I got there, and it never felt right.” He made a face. “My dad is a good parent, honestly, because that’s the worst of my memories. But it was not great.”
“One of the things we’ve been talking about a lot in my family lately, because my brothers are both about to be new parents, is how all parents fuck up, and it’s more about having grace while recovering from that than pretending those parenting missteps aren’t bad at all.”
“That’s probably it exactly. My dad is not open to criticism. If I ever have kids, it’s the one thing I’d for sure want to do differently.”
“Do you think you’ll have kids?” The question spilled out effortlessly, and Chelsea didn’t feel the usual angst over if it was asked too soon.
With Ben, all the usual dating rules went out the window on day one.
He stroked a slow circle on her arm. “I’d love to have kids. Plural. Did you like being one of four?”
“Loved it. Especially when Hannah came along, because she was my mini-me. My brothers are both great, but they had each other, and then together they looked out for me.”
“That’s really nice.” He grinned like he was laughing at a private joke.
“What? It was nice.”
“I know.” He kissed the tip of her nose as their appetizers were delivered to the table.
As they ate, the conversation slid to a recap of their day, and then to what else they might want to do before heading home. And then Ben said they might be able to come back again, because Kent’s cabin was usually pretty available.
“It’s hard to take an extra day off during the school year,” Chelsea said.
“Ah, that real life intruding on the best laid plans.” Ben offered her the last bite of bruschetta.
“Maybe in the summer?”
“Definitely. Unless I’m deployed—” He stopped. Ducked his head. Then gave her a sideways look. “More of that real life stuff.”
“It’s okay. We’ll figure it out, and it’s something to look forward to when you go away next.”
“You don’t mind the idea of dating a guy who comes and goes at all hours of the night?”
“Not when you say it like that. That makes it sound extra exciting.”
He took her hand in his and ran his fingertip down her index finger, then back up again. Her middle finger, the same. When he got to her ring finger, he hesitated a beat, then continued on, and after caressing her pinky, he kissed each knuckle.
Chelsea could see he was trying to find the right words to say next. “It’s not that simple, is it?” she offered. “I know it’s not exciting. I didn’t mean that.”
“I know. It was a joke.” He smiled faintly. “I’ve been thinking for a couple of days that I’ve never prepared someone properly for dating a SEAL. Which is probably why my past relationships didn’t work out. But with you, I want to start differently. Continue differently. Be different in every way. The job, though…it’s everything I’ve ever trained to do. That part isn’t going to change.”
Now it was her turn to catch his hand, and press a tender kiss to his palm. “I don’t ever want you to change yourself or abandon
your passion for me. I can’t imagine you asking me to do that, either.”
“Never.”
“I think we’re on the same page, then.” She took a deep breath as their main courses arrived. “And maybe after we eat, you can show me what there is to do for fun in this town.”
They finally did play some slots around midnight. They had a couple of drinks, too, and by the time they got back to the hotel, they were both very happy.
And Ben was super handsy.
After they stumbled off the elevator, he pressed her against the door of their room and kissed her sloppily, happily, until she giggled and took the key from him. He filled his hands with her hips, her waist, holding her close as she fumbled with the handle and finally got them into the room.
In the time they’d been gone, someone had filled the room with rose petals.
Chelsea came to a stop a few feet into the room.
The door clicked shut behind them.
Ben wrapped his arm around her waist and drifted his mouth up and down her neck.
“Ben.”
“Mmm?”
“Did you do this?”
“Do what?” He sucked on the tendon at the base of her neck.
She sighed happily. “The flowers.”
“The what?”
She felt him jerk upright, and turned just in time to catch his double take. “Oh!”
“This wasn’t you?”
He scooped her into his arms and carried her forward as she laughed. “Nope. I’m guessing this is my mom.”
“That’s adorable.”
He shook his head. “Yes. And it’s too much.”
“Maybe she got an employee discount.”
“I’ll try not to worry too much about that,” he said wryly.
She tugged on his jacket lapel. “That’s a good idea.”
And they both dissolved into uncontrolled laughter.
“Are rose petals even expensive?”
Ben shrugged. “How would I know? You’re the first woman I’d want to do this kind of over-the-top romantic gesture for, and my mom scooped me on it.”
