Page 38 of Standing Still

“What?” I try to say it quietly but I’m so shocked, it’s a near screech.

“Jesus,” Ben puts a hand over my mouth. “You want my parents out here asking why you’re yelling? You’d think that kind of stuff was the norm for you, being a romance author.”

“Well, it is, but… it’s… This is different… It’s. You…” I splutter.

“I can see why you’re a best-selling author,” he winks and steps past me and clicks his tongue at Jedi, who trots after him. “You coming?”

“Youdid, apparently,” I mutter. He glances back, clearly hearing what I said, and his lip tilts up.

We head inside and say goodbye to his parents and Zach, who are watching something on his son’s phone. They both lift their heads and wave before going back to the phone. His mom is watching us, and I start to think she knows what Ben just said to me, but it’s impossible. She doesn’t know. God, did he really do that? With all these people here?

Not gonna lie, I’d been desperate for a release myself, but it isn’t like I could slip away and solve that problem. No, I’d had to suffer all afternoon and evening watching him, imagining things, getting all hot and bothered and knowing my underwear is going to have to go in the trash.

It’s been too long since I had sex. I spent the last few hours convincing myself sex with Ben was out of the question. Not when we’re at this crossroads over what is going to happen with dad’s will.

It is definitely a bad idea.

“What are you thinking so hard about?” Ben asks as he opens the back door for Jedi.

Don’t look… Don’t do it. Shit, my eyes drop to his crotch. His shoulders shake with silent laughter. He slams the door and leans against it, looking at me.

“Get in the truck.” He steps around me and opens my door.

As I step up, he puts his hands on my waist and lifts me in, making me gasp. I sit down as he comes around and gets in the driver’s seat. He sits there for a minute, the keys in his hand. I watch him, not knowing what to make of the look on his face. He looks up at me with his growly face, one I remember well from when we were teenagers.

His nostrils flare a little as he keeps staring at me.

“Yes,” I say.

He chews on the inside of his cheek, glances over my shoulder at his parents’ house, then back at me. He knows what I am saying. I don’t know why the hell I’m saying it. I’ve just got through talking myself out of making a bad decision. I watch as he puts the key in the ignition and slams the stick into drive, then pulls away.

Neither of us talk as we drive the short distance to his house. I’m surprised when we get there at how nice it is, a white and grey townhouse with a front lawn, an attached garage with steps leading up to it like my dad’s place. Ben gets out and lets the dogout, then walks onto the sidewalk. He looks into the window at me. Now or never.

I need to make a choice.

I reach for the handle and get out of the truck.

Ben jogs up the steps, opens the door, and ushers the dog inside. When I step in, he closes the door behind me and flicks on some lamps around the sitting room. I look around as he disappears into another room, Jedi running after him.

I barely have time to take in the masculine décor. With a huge corner sectional and bookcases, there is also a massive TV. Ben comes back within a few moments, shutting the door over but leaving it so Jedi can get out if he needs to. Then he stalks over to me, his gaze intense. I hold my ground even though my brain is telling my feet to move.

“You’re sure?”

My head nods and before I can get any words out, Ben has grabbed me and pulled me into him, his mouth landing on mine in a hard kiss. He groans as I open and let him in. My hands claw at him as much as he’s pulling at me. He’s so much bigger than I remember. His hand cupping the back of my head isn’t giving me any chance to pull back. And I don’t want to.

Ben pushes at my jacket until it falls off onto the floor. I tear at his t-shirt, pushing it up, revealing all that tanned, muscular flesh, the trail of dark hair into his jeans snags my attention and I grab his belt buckle as Ben pulls the t-shirt off over his head and throws it behind him. He takes my hands before I can undo the belt and then bends forward, putting his shoulder into my stomach.

I squeal as he throws me over his shoulder. “Put me down.”

One of his hands clamps onto my ass to steady me as he turns and heads to a set of stairs that are hidden behind a wall. “Not a chance,” he says. He takes the stairs quickly, as if I barely weigh a thing in his arms.

I don’t even care what room we’re in when he pushed the door back so hard it slammed into the wall, he walked inand dropped me, pushing me back up against the wall, his face dips into my throat as his lips kiss and suck on the skin of my neck, making my eyes roll.

He didn’t forget. Him doing this always drove me crazy. He only stops when he pulls my shirt over my head and reaches for my bra. He makes quick work of that too and his hands take the place of the cups of my bra, rolling my nipples between his fingers, as his lips trail back up to claim my mouth.

Desire flows through me with every brush of his tongue and pinch of his fingers as he works my breasts in his huge, rough palms. His skin is so hot against mine and I run my hands over the ridges of his chest and abs, surprised by the definition there. He clearly works out a lot.

“Fuck, Elle,” he groans as my hands work between us to grab his belt buckle and this time I won’t be deterred or stopped.

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