Page 88 of Love in Fine Print

Ben just stared at me as if he wasn’t sure what was happening. I didn’t blame him. I was shocked myself. “If you’re not comfortable with this, I can sleep on the floor.”

“What?” I shook my head as if I had no idea what he was talking about. “No, it’s fine. We shared a bed together before.”

At the mention of the night we’d spent together, I noticed his gaze turned a little darker. I loved when his eyes did that. When his laid-back, easygoing demeanor transformed into predatory and dominant.

My entire body lit up with arousal like a slot machine that just hit the jackpot in Vegas. I had tingles from the top of my head to the tip of my toes. Every cell in my body was alive with awareness and anticipation.

That was the physical response I was having, and Ben was across the room. He hadn’t touched me. He hadn’t kissed me. He hadn’t whispered anything dirty against my ear. This was all from one look.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. I needed to pace myself. Jake was going to be here for the next ten days and, more importantly, ten nights. I didn’t think I’d survive this level of acute arousal.

Instead of climbing in beside me, Ben sat down on the edge of the bed and opened his nightstand drawer. I wondered what he was doing, but realized I had no clue what his night routine was. Maybe he had a retainer. Maybe he read before bed every night. Maybe he wore a sleeping mask. I hoped not. Sleeping masks on men gave me the ick for some reason. Although, that might help in this situation. So far, I hadn’t found one thing that turned me off about Ben. Maybe seeing him in a sleeping mask would do the trick.

I pictured it and, when I did, he still looked sexy as fuck. I was so screwed.

When he turned toward me, I saw that he didn’t have a sleeping mask, a retainer or a book in his hand. He had a box. It was wrapped in beautiful paper. He handed it to me.

I sat up and took it. The paper had snowflakes, Christmas trees, and hummingbirds. I’d never seen anything like it. “What’s this?”

“It’s a present. I remember you said your dad let you open one on Christmas Eve.”

My eyes shot up to his. “You remember that?”

His chin dipped in a nod. “I remember everything.”

The look in his eyes when he said that only served to amplify my hormonal overload.

“Open it,” he encouraged.

“I didn’t get you anything.” I’d thought about getting him a present but had decided against it. He was my husband in name only. I was doing everything I could to keep that delineation clear in my mind. “You didn’t have to get me?—"

“It’s okay. I wanted to,” he cut me off. “And today, tonight was the best present I could have ever gotten.”

Her brows furrowed. “Tonight?”

“Going on the Christmas tree hop with you and Trevor and Jake and then tonight at the senior center, you sending a car for Miss B.You have no idea how happy that made me, how happy it would have made my Gran.”

The energy between us shifted as we stared into each other’s eyes. There was an intensity there that was almost too much for me to handle. So, I didn’t. I looked down at the box in my hands.

“It’s beautiful,” I breathed.

“You don’t even know what’s inside,” Ben said with a half-smile.

“I mean, the wrapping paper. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“It’s personalized. I got it from Etsy.”

This man, myfakehusband, had gotten personalized wrapping paper made for me. This was already the best gift any boyfriend had ever given me, and he was right, I didn’t even know what was inside. My heart felt like it was lodged in my throat as I slowly unwrapped it. I didn’t want to rip it because I planned on saving it. Forever.

After carefully removing and folding it, I finally opened the box. When I did, tears pooled in my eyes. Inside the black velvet box was a gold and diamond hummingbird pendant on a thin gold chain.

We’d talked about hummingbirds and how much my dad and his Gran loved them. I’d told him that whenever I saw one, I felt like my dad was near. He said he felt the same way, except he felt like his Gran was there.

I took in a shaky breath, not sure of what to say to Ben, when he reached out and flipped it over. When he did, I saw the initials MJB on it.

“I had your father’s initials engraved on it so he would always be close to your heart.”

My lips began to tremble.

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