“What?” she asked when he didn’t continue and looked away.
“I want to protect you and keep you safe. I want you to trust that I will.”
She covered their joined hands with her free one and squeezed. “Ben, you are doing so much for us. For me. Letting me stay at Haven House . . . it means so much. Alex and I would be vulnerable at my condo without all the security you have at the shelter.”
“You’re safe there for now, but how long can that last. I can’t hide you there forever.”
“One thing at a time. Let’s focus on the investigation. Donald will be laid to rest tomorrow. We’ll settle the estate with Christina.”
“Are you up for a fight with her?” Ben asked.
“Not really. Do you think a judge will uphold Donald’s wishes and enforce the prenup?”
“It’s kind of a gray area. She had multiple affairs. His lawyer has the evidence to back that up to substantiate Donald’s claims that she violated the terms of the prenup. However . . .”
“Donald was having an affair with my sister. They had a child,” Kate finished Ben’s thought.
“Exactly. So, you and I can work with Donald’s lawyer to either fight hard to keep everything, or negotiate a settlement.”
“Maybe if I pay her off, she’ll go away.”
Ben pressed his lips together. She’d gotten to know him well enough to understand that small gesture meant he didn’t really think so.
She let out a deep sigh, resigned that she’d have to fight. Her whole life had been a fight. What she wouldn’t give to turn this whole thing over to Ben and let him handle it. Huh, she trusted him to handle it. That was certainly new. But Christina and Evan wanted her dead. She couldn’t let her mind go to that dark place that she believed they’d try to kill Alex too. Still, that ominous thought disturbed her thoughts and filled her nightmares.
“Kate?”
She gave Ben a halfhearted smile. “I’m okay. Just tired.” She raked her fingers through her long hair and pushed it over her shoulder to lie down her back.
“What are your plans for Margo? Will you hold a service?”
“Alex and I are her only family. Her coworkers sent a card and flowers to the house. I’ll have to go to her office and clean out her desk.”
“Kate, honey, the funeral home contacted you today. Her ashes are ready for you to pick up. You need to say goodbye.”
“I can’t. How am I supposed to do that after everything we’ve been through together?” The tears flooded her eyes and spilled over, but she didn’t completely give in to her grief. She held it at bay for long periods, but thinking about scattering Margo’s ashes as she wanted left Kate’s insides cold. The sense of loneliness she felt since her sister died amplified inside of her, making her heart ache too much to bear.
“Kate, honey, breathe.”
“I can’t. Not without her. She was my best friend. The one person I could count on always. She promised we’d grow old together.”
Ben slipped from the booth, came around the table, and sat beside her. He hooked one arm around her back and pulled her into his chest. She leaned into him, trying to stop the flood of tears and emotions. He smelled fresh—soap and a light, crisp aftershave, like a cold dawn in a meadow. She focused on him and the warmth he enveloped her in, safe in his arms. The hesitancy she felt with other men to get close and share her true feelings didn’t exist between them. It never had, since the night he stayed at her place and held her while she wept, then fell asleep in his arms.
“This is not at all what I expected.” She never thought she’d fall for a guy, but if she did, she expected it to be exciting and tumultuous, filled with fun dates and ups and downs that proved they could work through anything. She never expected that falling for a guy meant she’d simply just fill with this overwhelming need to be with him and know everything about him. She never thought that it meant she’d feel like she knew the most basic things about him without even asking. Like despite him being a lawyer and needing to win, he knew how to compromise. He’d shown her that when he suggested they come to a settlement with Christina. For her safety and Alex’s, he’d give up the fight and have her pay off the woman responsible for taking the most important person in her life. Well, besides Alex. Ben wanted her to do that for her son, so he didn’t lose his mother. Kate didn’t want that to happen. She wanted to make a life with Ben.
Oh, God, how did this happen? She loved him.
At least, she thought she did.
She pulled back and stared up at his handsome face. His dark eyes stared back at her filled with concern and something she didn’t quite recognize. Maybe she just didn’t want to admit that she saw it there. Lurking behind his own fear.
She brushed her hand over his soft, dark hair and touched her fingers to his cheek. She confessed something she’d never let anyone know. “I’m scared.”
Ben didn’t say a word, just leaned in and kissed her. His lips were warm and soft against hers. He held her close, wrapped her in his warmth and that something she didn’t want to name but felt all the same. Without words he told her how he felt, shared his fear, and the same certainty she felt that she needed him in her life.
Yes, she could face down the Faradays, taking on the responsibility of overseeing Alex’s inheritance, being a mother, learning to live her life without her sister. But she couldn’t face a future without Ben. Without her son. They meant more to her than she ever thought possible.
Told you so, she heard her sister’s voice in her head. Okay, maybe Margo was right about finding someone to love and being happy. Her sister found it. Why couldn’t Kate have the same thing with Ben? Did he want to build a life with her and Alex?
The second the thought entered her mind, Ben answered it with a hungry kiss, sliding his tongue along hers, tasting and tempting her to pay attention to everything he didn’t say with words.
“You two are about to set this place on fire,” a woman said from behind Ben.
Ben ended the kiss and pressed his forehead to Kate’s. “Settle into it. We have all the time in the world.”
Not giving her a chance to say anything, he turned and smiled up at Elizabeth. “Hey, we missed you when we came in.”
Elizabeth cocked up one eyebrow. “That’s because you only have eyes for her.”
Ben tilted his head and a lopsided grin made the dimple in his right cheek appear. “Busted. You remember Kate.”
“It’s nice to see you again.” Elizabeth set two plates of chocolate cake in front of them, then stared down at Alex. “I hoped he’d be awake.”
“He had a long afternoon at the police station,” Ben said, brushing his fingers over Alex’s hair. The sweet gesture touched something deep inside of Kate.
“What did he do to end up in custody, steal your heart?” Elizabeth teased.
Ben chuckled. “Well, he did that. His mother too,” he said with an easy smile. “We went to exchange information with the detective working the case.”
“If you need Sam’s help, he’s ready and willing anytime.”
“He’s not working undercover?”
“Not these days. The kids hate it when he’s gone for days and weeks. Me too. Sam doesn’t like it as much anymore either.”
“He wants to be with his family,” Ben guessed.
“Yes.”
“I’ll give him a call if things heat up. Right now, we’re waiting on some lab results and to see what the Faradays want from Kate.”
“Money,” Kate said. That simple and that complicated. With so much at stake, she needed to figure out what Donald would want her to do—how far would he want her to take this? He’d want her to protect Alex.
“People always think money will make everything better. All it does is make things more complicated. It’s not so much the money, but the greed. That’s what makes people do thing
s without thinking about the consequences or who they hurt.” Elizabeth spoke like she knew exactly what she was talking about.
“Elizabeth was almost kidnapped and ransomed a few years ago. Sam stopped the guy before he could take Elizabeth and . . .”
Kill her, Kate finished Ben’s last words in her mind.
“Sam is an FBI agent. He was assigned to protect me after a serial killer shot him in front of my house and I became the only witness who could identify him.”
“Wow, that makes what I’m going through with the Faradays seem tame by comparison.”
“They’re just warming up, Kate,” Ben warned.
“I have the same feeling myself.”
“Eat cake. Chocolate makes everything better. If that doesn’t work, go back to kissing. Ben, you look happier than I’ve ever seen. You two make a great couple.” Elizabeth glided away, saying hello to her other customers in the restaurant.
Ben forked up a bite of cake and stuffed it into his mouth, avoiding looking at her.
“Why haven’t you been happy, Ben?” She couldn’t help but ask. She hated to think some woman broke his heart and he’d been pining away for her. The thought of him with another woman burned her gut and cracked her heart.
“My friends think I work too much and don’t take enough time for myself.”
“Are they right?”
“For the most part. Work is great. My business has expanded over the years. I’ve built Haven House and sustained it with donations and city, state, and federal funding. It’s a legacy that will live on without me. I’m at that point in my life when I want more. My friends want me to have more.”
“They’re all happily married with families, so you’re the odd man out, and they want you to join the club.”
Ben laughed. “Basically, yes. The thing is, I want to be a part of that club. Not going to a club and meeting women who only last for a flicker of time instead of becoming a flame that lights up my life.”
She didn’t know what to say to such deep and meaningful words.
“You know that moment we shared a few minutes ago?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“I want more of that. With you. The way you looked at me. The way it made me feel. The honesty of it.”
“This feels like it’s going too fast and too slow all at the same time. My head spins whenever you’re near and my heart . . .”
“What?”
“Wants more. Of you, of everything you make me feel, even when I try not to feel it. Everything seems so complicated for me right now. It seems so easy for you.”
“It’s not easy leaving you each night, trying not to call you ten times a day while I’m at work, giving you the time you need to grieve, settle into being a full-time mother, and figure out what you want from me. Just my help. A few fun dates. Something more and permanent.”
“That’s the part that scares me.”
“A relationship?”
“No, how much I want something more and permanent with you.”
“Good to know. We’re on the same page. We can both relax.”
“That’s the last thing I can do around you.”
“That’s because you want to sleep with me, but we haven’t known each other long—at least in this way—I get it.”
“Are you always this blunt, or are you teasing me?”
“No. And no. I just don’t see any reason for us to do the whole half-truths and flirting thing to know what we each want and will happen. Soon.”
“Soon?”
“God, I hope so. You’re killing me just being this close.” He leaned in and kissed her softly. “Kissing you makes me dizzy. Making love to you will probably kill me, but I’ll die happy.”
Kate reached for him, planting her hand over his thumping heart.
“Want to feel it jump?” He didn’t wait for her answer, just leaned in and kissed her again, taking the kiss deep.
She lost herself in the pounding of his heart against her palm, the feel of his lips pressed against hers, the slide of his tongue into her mouth. He tasted like chocolate and need. So addictive she forgot where they were, what she wanted to say, everything but him.
“You two need to get a room.” Elizabeth’s words and the truth in them made her smile against Ben’s lips. It’s just what she needed to break the coiling tension inside of her. She was making too much out of this. Fighting the inevitable. Worrying that Ben wanted more—or less—than she did when they wanted the same thing.
Ben’s hand cupped the side of her face. She leaned into it.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m good. I’m with you.”
“Right where I want you.”
Alex cooed and giggled, drawing their attention. Elizabeth stood by the table with Alex in her arms. She bounced him and made silly faces to make him smile. “I so want another one of these.”
“Does Sam know that?” Ben asked, toying with a lock of Kate’s hair, much the same way Alex did, like he couldn’t let go of her.
“We’ve talked about it. Can I get you guys anything else? A room at the Four Seasons down the street?”
Ben pulled Kate closer and tilted his head to touch it to hers. “We’re good for now, thanks. I might ask you to babysit, so I can take Kate out on a private date.”
“Anytime. I’d love to have this little guy. Grace and J.T. will have so much fun playing with him.”
“You don’t have to,” Kate said.
“Nonsense. I’d love to. Jenna and Marti too. We’re family. We help each other out, don’t we, Ben?”
“Yes.”
“It’s amazing how you’ve all included each other as family when most of you aren’t related.”
“Family, love, these things go beyond blood,” Elizabeth said, smiling down at Alex. “Like Margo’s love for her son, for you.”
Elizabeth’s understanding touched her. She understood the bond Kate shared with Margo and that bond extended to Alex. The two of them would have raised Alex with so much love. He’d have had two mothers. She accepted that now. Margo hadn’t worried she’d take Alex from her. She’d wanted Kate to accept being a mother and loving Alex and sharing those two things with Margo.
Overwhelmed again, she sought out Ben’s comfort and understanding and buried her face in his neck and held him close. He hugged her back, brushing his hand down her hair. She didn’t like this weakness in her. She’d always stood on her own or leaned on Margo. Now Margo was gone, and she had Ben. She mourned one friend and welcomed another into her life. She didn’t want to be alone again. Not like she’d been before she met Margo when they were kids. In some way, Margo had brought Ben to her.
“Hey, honey, it’s okay.”
“I know. I’m tired and letting things get to me.” Kate sat back and gave Ben and Elizabeth a weak smile. Alex squirmed in Elizabeth’s arms. Kate took him and cuddled him close, rubbing his back. “He’s hungry and ready for bed too.”
“Come on, let’s get him back to Haven House. It’s late. He’s missed his bath time.”
“Elizabeth, dinner was delicious. The cake was outstanding. I can see why your customers rave about this place.”
“Come back. Anytime. Bring this one with you. He doesn’t show up nearly enough.”
Ben slid out of the booth and hugged Elizabeth, kissing her on the cheek. “Thank you.”
“I like her. She makes you smile.”
“Now, if I can just get her to smile more often.”
“You’re up for the task. You never quit.” Elizabeth waved goodbye and let them secure Alex back in his car seat and collect the diaper bag.
“You guys seem close.”
“I see Elizabeth more than everyone but Jenna. I bring clients here all the time.”
“I can see why. This place is amazing. The foo
d . . . oh, my God.”
Ben swung his arm around her shoulders, pulled her close to his side, and carried Alex in his other hand, and led her out of the restaurant and down the parking garage ramp toward his car. They’d parked in his cousin Cameron Shaw’s spot, since he was the CEO of Merrick International and Decadence was on the first floor of the building.
They rounded the corner and Kate stopped in her tracks and gasped. Ben shoved her behind him, scanning the parking area and between all the parked cars.
Kate recovered and pulled her cell phone from her purse. She only got two bars and hoped the call went through to the police.
She hit speaker and dialed. “Nine-one-one. What is your emergency?”
“My name is Kate Morrison. I’m at the Merrick International Building parking garage. My friend’s car has been vandalized. All the tires have been slashed and every window has been broken.”
Ben kept watch over the surrounding area while she made the call. All the while, he kept a tight hold on Alex and stayed close to her.
“Are the vandals still on scene?”
“No. I don’t think so.”
“We’ll send an officer.” Kate hung up.
Ben pulled out his phone, but didn’t let her listen to the other side of the conversation. “Jenna, it’s Ben. I’m at the Merrick Building. Call security and have a couple of guards sent down to the parking garage. I’m here with Kate. I’m parked in Cameron’s spot while he’s out of town. Someone trashed my car.” Ben listened to whatever Jenna said. “Thanks. I’ve got this. I’m waiting for the cops to arrive, but want to be sure we’ve got some protection in case the asshole comes back.”
Ben hung up and stared at her.
“Evan.” That’s all she had to say for him to sigh and cock up one side of his mouth in a grim line. She reached up and touched his cheek. “I love this dimple. It comes out when you smile.”
“Well, I’m not smiling right now.”
“I see that. I hope you’ve got good insurance.”
“I don’t give a shit about the car. He came here. While we ate dinner.”
“He’s gone now.” She tried to soothe him, but it didn’t work. He continued to scan the garage for any threat.
Everything She Wanted Page 16
