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Until this moment, I didn’t realize how much his career choice had bothered me. Like a biting fly, it’d buzzed around me, causing small, sharp twinges of pain whenever I thought about Ben stifling his creativity to pursue a job just for the stability of it.
As he shrugged the burden of lying off his shoulders, he also freed me from my not-so-silent disapproval.
Now, we can start living.
“I can’t wait to see everything you create.”
Humor still flashes in his eyes.
“Well, I might need your help. You know, for inspiration.”
“Inspiration, huh?”
There’s a devious quality to his expression, and I know he’s going somewhere with this.
“Yeah. You’re my muse. You’ll have to be around me all the time, so I’ll always have those creative juices flowing.” He plucks at the shoulder of my sweater. “And maybe model for me. You know, when I have to draw nudes.”
“Ben!” I go to shove his chest but stop myself just in time. Can’t forget he’s still got a lot of healing to do. Instead, I wave my finger in his face. “This was your game from the start, wasn’t it? Just trying to get me to take my clothes off.”
He catches my finger and gently bites the tip in a very suggestive way, and then he waggles his eyebrows. “If memory serves, you’re the one who begged to take my shirt off before we even went on a date.”
I do my best to copy his classic smirk. “Well, when Benjamin Get-Hard the Fourth gives a striptease, it’s hard to think about anything else. What’s a girl to do?”
Epilogue
HOLLY
Four Years Later
“Have you figured out what you want yet?” Ben is sitting at his drawing table, ready to transfer whatever design idea I’ve come up with onto paper.
He’s so handsome, dressed in his black jeans and T-shirt, tattoos snaking down his arms and onto his hands. Before answering, I step in between his open knees, slide my fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck, and kiss him thoroughly. His mouth tastes like mint, and he always smells a little bit like the forest. We need to go back to the cabin soon. I’m craving some long nights of lovemaking in front of a warm fire.
I hum in the back of my throat as I end our impromptu make-out session. Ben stares up at me with a drunken smile but soon shakes his head, so he can focus again.
“You’re stalling. You don’t have to do this.” Even as he scolds me for distracting him, his hands settle on my backside.
“I’m not stalling. Your sexiness just drives me to distraction.”
Even after years together, I’m still madly in love with this man. He’ll move in a particular way or say just the right thing, and it’s like a bonfire lights in my chest, and I need to touch him.
“Anyway, I’ve figured out what I want.”
Ben nuzzles his nose into the space between my breasts, humming his own satisfaction. I use my grip on his hair to pull him back even though I can’t keep from laughing.
“Stop being ridiculous!”
“You started it. So, what do you want?”
I give him my most innocent smile. “I want a surprise.”
His mouth pops open, and I enjoy how befuddled he looks.
“You can’t be serious.”
I nod. “Yep. You’re getting too comfortable with me just telling you what to do. This is your area of expertise, and I trust you completely.”
Ben scowls up at me, opening his mouth for another point that won’t change my mind. Before he can lecture me, I place my finger on his lips.
