AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Yet it all left me with too many problems on my mind, and sleep proved elusive. It was fine. I was a night owl anyway.
But the texts were out of control. It might be time to head back to the police station and file a report. I knew it wouldn’t really do anything, but it might give me some peace of mind. Which was in short supply of late.
Evan’s suicide had tossed my life into a tumult. I didn’t know what to think or feel about the letter or the guys who had delivered it. Because my feelings were a jumbled mess over my attraction to Ben. I didn’t want to be attracted to him. I didn’t want to feel my body heat to the surface temperature of the sun when he neared.
It was one more problem to deal with when I had a boatload already.
In the kitchen, I stood at the kitchen sink and filled a big glass of water. As I drank, I stared out at the backyard trying to make sense of my situation.
I didn’t know what crawled up Ben’s ass. As much as I was attracted to him, I wouldn’t do anything about it. The guy had been nothing but rude and surly. Okay, so he toned it down by the time I arrived home from the club. But that didn’t excuse his earlier bad behavior. I even understood it. In his eyes, I was the bad guy. But only because he didn’t know the full story. He’d just come in, guns blazing, with leagues of pain in his eyes.
It made me feel sorry for him. Evan and Ben had been best friends. Yet in all the time I dated Evan, and then continued sleeping with him whenever he would roll into town on his Harley with a chip on his shoulder and fire in his eyes, Ben and I had never met until now. I found it odd.
After refilling the glass, I turned.
“Fuck!” I screamed, not expecting anyone to be there. Which was stupid of me. I had five guys staying in my house. I jolted, and water went everywhere. It covered my spaghetti-string tank top and the ends of my hair. Some of it spilled on the floor. At least I held onto the glass.
I must have been jumpy because of the damn texting stalker. The jolt still ticked me off. “What the hell, dude? Are you trying to give me a heart attack? Make some noise the next time so you don’t scare years off my life.”
Ben held his hands up as he approached. He’d stripped off his shirt and removed his boots, leaving him in gray military-style cargo pants. “It’s just me. Didn’t mean to startle you.”
Setting the half-empty glass on the counter, I grabbed paper towels. It gave me a moment to steady myself. Because Ben without his shirt on was a sight to behold. His bare chest was a damn masterpiece. His broad shoulders and defined torso made flutters erupt in my belly. Even the light dusting of dark hair over his pecs was sexy as hell, along with the dark happy trail descending from his belly button and disappearing beneath his pants, slung low on lean hips. I fought the urge to lick my lips as I knelt on the floor to mop up the water. “It’s fine.”
“Here, let me help.” He squatted beside me on the balls of his feet. I never thought bare feet could be sexy, but he proved me wrong. Because even his feet were giving me bad, bad thoughts of what I would do if the opportunity presented itself.
It made me furious with myself, and I didn’t keep the bite out of my voice as I responded. “I’ve got it.”
He gently placed a hand on my wrist. Tingles shot from his innocent touch all the way to my core. I swallowed and lifted my gaze.
Ben said, “Let me help you. The mess is my fault. I’m sorry for scaring you. That wasn’t my intention.”
His gaze scanned me. It felt like a caress. It wasn’t lost on me that my tank was plastered to my body, clearly defining every inch of my chest. And when his blue eyes skimmed over my boobs, they turned molten.
“Fine.” I yanked my hand away. But not before I spied heat in his eyes—for me.
I was used to men finding me attractive. They tended to think with their other head around me. But I didn’t expect to feel an erotic thrill at his touch. It had been ages since I felt attraction of any kind. Mainly because men continued to be a supreme disappointment. But it walloped me and left me wanting forbidden things I had no business craving. Because I wanted to see what his rough, calloused hand would feel like on other parts of my body. I wanted to trace the muscled lines and ridges of his chest, discover if his skin would burn.
I rose, needing space before I did something infinitely stupid. Like reach out and touch his impressive chest. I tossed the used paper towels in the garbage.
“Are you planning on reading Evan’s letter?” Ben quietly asked.
I closed my eyes. It was an issue I didn’t want to think about anymore. But Ben was like Tater with his bones. He wasn’t going to leave it alone until I did. “Eventually. I need to think about it a bit.”
“Dammit, Moira. Why? What is there to think about?”
I turned. His face was set in a hard line. But I wasn’t going to be bullied into reading it. “Because I don’t know how to feel about it.”
“But it’s from Evan.”
His response was so certain. But then, he was operating under assumptions. As much as I didn’t want to speak unkindly of the dead, I was tired of being painted as this horrible woman who led Evan around by his dick only to drop him the moment things got serious and he proposed. Frustration filled me. But I could no longer hold back. “I know he was your best friend, Ben. And I’m sure he told you lots about me. But the thing is, you didn’t know him the way I did.”
“God, I hope not.” Ben crossed his arms in front of his chest. I resisted the urge to bite my lip at his bulging biceps and muscular forearms. Good god, the man was a hottie.
“Look, no matter what Evan told you—”
“He asked you to marry him, and you turned him down.” Ben shrugged. Like it was that simple.
“Yeah, I did turn him down. But it was only because I caught him with another one of the girls at my club and in my damn bed. He used my place to hook up with another woman, Ben.”
