Page 255 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 1

Ben looked thoughtful. “I think it does. Because then I could do this.” He cupped her cheek and pressed his lips to hers, giving Anna goosebumps up and down her arms.

When he pulled away, Anna looked at him in wonder. “Are you not allowed to kiss me like that until our third date?”

Ben chuckled. “Nope. It’s too forward.”

Anna stared at him for a long moment, processing his words. The idea that he didn’t just want sex from her made her smile. But she liked his kiss. “Then I think I’ll consider it our third date as well.”

“Always the gentleman.” Matt chuckled and stood. “I’ll finish the movie in my room. Nice seeing you, Anna.”

“Nice seeing you, Matt.”

Ben and Anna sat on the couch and talked. She loved hearing about his family; so different from her own. She kept stories of her life after her parents died vague, not wanting to ruin things with the truth about Jack and Devin, but also not wanting to be dishonest.

“Why don’t you like talking about your guardian?” Ben asked after Anna had deflected his third question about Jack.

Anna flushed. “He . . . wasn’t—er—isn’t, very nice.”

Ben chuckled. “Perhaps he falls into that special category of lawyers. Some of them can be ruthless, especially when they reach the top of their careers.”

“Does that mean you won’t be nice when you get successful?”

“I hope not. I try really hard to be a nice guy.”

“I think you succeed.”

“Thanks.” They gazed into each other’s eyes for a long moment, then Anna looked away and bit her lip. “Did he hurt you? Your guardian, I mean?”

Anna’s lips parted. He’d hit so close to the truth. “I—Why would you ask that?”

He shrugged. “Gut feeling. When you said he wasn’t nice and didn’t like talking about him, it kinda makes sense.”

Anna gazed at Ben, torn between her desire to confide in him and the fear of how he might react if he knew the truth about what she was. Tears welled up in her eyes as she grappled with the weight of her hidden secret. She really liked spending time with him. He was so far removed from anything having to do with The Brotherhood...

That was it, wasn’t it? Not only was he one of the nicest guys she’d ever met, but he wasn’t part of The Brotherhood, at least as far as she could tell. Even Aaron had known about it through Alex. But if her suspicions were correct, Ben had no knowledge of any of it. And that was such a nice change. For so long, she had been surrounded by men who knew her to be, first and foremost, a sexual object.

But not with Ben. He didn’t know what she really was. Being around Ben made her feel like a normal human being. And she liked it. A lot.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “Hey, it’s okay. I would never judge you for something someone else did to you.” He stroked her hair and kissed her head. “He hurt you, didn’t he?”

Anna leaned her head on his shoulder. He was still asking about Jack. Yes, Jack had hurt her. So many times. But it had all been part of her training. Ben only thought he was abusive. Was it wrong to let him think that? It wasn’t a lie. And, oh, how she loved the idea of being with a man who didn’t know what her purpose in life was. She squeezed her eyes shut and nodded.

“I’m so sorry that happened to you,” he whispered. “Men like that—Oh, they make me so angry.” He kissed the top of her head. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I mean... I want you to know that if you ever want to talk about it, I’ll listen. And I wouldn’t ever think badly of you.”

Anna’s eye filled with tears. How could she have been so lucky to have met someone like him? “You’re a really nice guy, you know that?”

“I try.”

She stroked his cheek with her thumb, then leaned up and kissed him. He slid his hand around the back of her head and deepened the kiss, his tongue slipping in between her lips. They kissed for a long time, then Ben pulled away suddenly, panting.

“Anna . . .” He searched her eyes. “Do . . . do you want to stay the night?”

Anna nodded. “Yes,” she whispered. “Very much so.”

He smiled and stood, pulling her to her feet. He kissed her again, then took her into his bedroom and closed the door behind them.

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