Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
He glances over at me. “Well, there’s nothing certain. He’s not entirely convinced, and from what I know of him, the hotels won’t be the first assets to go.”
I swing my legs over the end of the bed. “Okay, so you’re telling me the duke has gone from the mindset of never selling the hotels to maybe selling the hotels, and you’re lying there like you’ve still got the weight of the world on your shoulders? Why aren’t we cracking open the champagne?”
“There’s still a long way to go.”
I shake my head and slide off the bed. “You’ve got to celebrate the small wins.”
He pulls himself into a sitting position and nods. “So far so good. But it’s a delicate situation. I don’t want to fuck anything up.”
I spring up and take a seat next to him and immediately regret it, because I feel I’ve overstepped a physical boundary.
“How could you? He clearly likes you, and he must be considering you as a potential buyer or he wouldn’t be telling you about his plans.” I’m thrilled for him and proud I might have had a hand in making this happen. It’s like I’m on Team Ben, sharing in the victory.
He pushes his hands through his hair. “I know. I just want to tread carefully. I don’t want to push too hard. He needs to make this decision in his own time.”
“You’ve told him you’re still interested, though?”
“He knows.”
“But does he? You should make sure he does. You don’t want any misunderstandings between you.”
Ben turns to meet my eyes, and we stare at each other for a few minutes. I’m waiting for him to say something. And it’s like he’s waiting for me to say something.
He sits back, pulls in a breath, and exhales very slowly. I can’t take my eyes off his rising and falling chest. His T-shirt is rumpled above his hips but doesn’t quite give me a glimpse of skin underneath. I know how that flat, hard chest feels. I’ve just not seen it.
“I’m very single-minded about things. Sometimes that’s my best asset and sometimes my biggest weakness.” He’s staring at the ceiling, and I take the opportunity to watch him. I want to memorize this moment, and every part of him. There’s something very attractive about a man who accepts his weaknesses as well as his strengths. Jed always viewed personal foibles as fatal flaws, which I realize now put a ton of pressure on me to be infallible. How did I ever think I was happy before?
“But he should know if you’re interested,” I say.
“I said, he knows.”
“Okay,” I say. “If you’re sure.”
We sit side by side in silence, neither one of us moving. What’s he thinking about? Maybe he wants his bed back. I should stand and go back to bed. But something is stopping me.
Finally, he speaks. “I think you’re lovely.”
His words hang in the air and then dissolve on my skin. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a beautiful compliment.
He doesn’t move and neither do I. I’m unsure how to respond. “You do?” It’s a ridiculous response to the sweetest words, but he has emptied my brain and set my heart waltzing around my chest.
“I do.”
Still, neither of us moves. I scramble for something to say. He’s just told me what he thinks about me. Surely, I should do the same in return. “I think you’re . . . wonderful.”
Truly wonderful.
More than wonderful.
Completely wonderful.
He blows out a breath and slides his hand into mine. My pulse is racing, impatient, like a horse before the gate opens. Sitting here with him, hand in hand, feels so right. Like he’s someone I’ve known for years, not days; like here is exactly where I’m meant to be.
Like I’m with the person I’m meant to be with.
He stands and pulls me up to face him. He pushes the hair from my eyes and cups my face. I’m so weak with anticipation, with these feelings of desire and need, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to stay upright.
“I can’t stop touching you.” The timbre of his voice has taken on a gravelly edge that sends a shiver from the top of my head down my spine. But I’m not nervous. I’m wanting.
He presses his lips against mine. All I can think is, Finally, finally, finally.
It would have been so easy to have missed this moment. I might not have spotted him that day in the park. He might not have been standing behind me in the coffee shop. I might not have accepted Nick’s dinner invitation. Hell, I could have not left New York. I could still be with Jed. The images of what might have been flicker in my brain like the surface of a pond being disturbed by a gentle breeze—there, then gone—and all I can think about, all I can feel, is Ben.