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The girls giggle this time.
Cam whistles.
By the time Ben releases me, I'm breathless and my cheeks feel hot. The rest of me feels hot too, but in a different way that's highly inappropriate considering that my family is watching us. I don't care, though. I love Ben, and I need to tell him that so badly. Keeping secrets has never been my strong suit.
"Who wants hot cocoa?" Mom asks.
Ella and Lily shout, "Me! Me!"
Cam jumps and down while making a ridiculous fake-excited face. "Ooh! Ooh! Me too!"
The girls laugh.
Okay, the adults laugh too. My brother is so weird, but we all love him anyway.
"Why don't you guys go inside and get the cocoa started," I say. "Ben and I want to stay out here for a minute."
Cameron waggles his eyebrows. "Somebody wants to smooch in private."
Amy grabs her husband's arm and drags him toward the house. Lily and Ella trail after them, giggling the whole time, and my parents bring up the rear.
Once everyone has gone inside, I face Ben. "There's something I need to tell you."
"A sentence like that rarely means good news."
"Well, I guess whether it's good or bad depends on how you feel about it."
He clasps my hands. "You can tell me anything, Sam."
Just do it, I command myself. Then I swallow hard because a lump of iron seems to have gotten lodged in my throat. "I love you, Ben."
"I love you too, Sam."
"Really?"
He grins. "Yes, really. I realized this morning that I'm in love with you. We haven't known each other long, so I was afraid to tell you how I feel. Thought you might think I'm barmy."
"If you are, then I am too. And it feels wonderful."
We're both grinning now, like brainless idiots. Who cares? I finally found a nice guy who makes me feel good in every way imaginable. We suit each other so well that it seems impossible and probably insane, considering we met a week ago. But I refuse to overanalyze this. Ben is amazing. He makes me feel things I never imagined I could feel, and I love him. Nothing else matters.
"It does feel bloody wonderful," he says, tugging me closer. "Maybe it was fate that brought us together, or maybe it was dumb luck. I don't care. All I know is I love being with you. I loveyou, full stop."
He drags me into his arms for a scorching kiss, one that melts every muscle in my body and leaves me sagging against him. Ben always does this to me.
When I regain the ability to speak, I say, "I need you to make love to me tonight, Ben. Screw what anybody else might hear."
"I'd love to do that." He brushes stray hairs away from my eyes. "But I think we'd better go inside now and drink cocoa."
"Yep, we should."
Hand in hand, we wander back into the house, and we keep flashing each other shy smiles like we're teenage virgins about to have sex for the first time. We sit on stools at the bar to drink our cocoa, and I think everyone can tell something has changed between me and Ben. Nobody says anything about it, though. My family might be strange and goofy, but they've got tact.
Just as we're all finishing off our cocoa, the doorbell rings.
I jump off my stool. "I'll see who that is."
"Don't be long," Ben whispers as I walk past him. "Can't be away from you for more than thirty seconds. Maybe we should reschedule that thing we were talking about and do it right now."
