Page 59 of Standing Still

Ben takes a small step closer.

“So, although finding out about him made my decision easier, it didn’t hinge on that. Because he’ll be here, not in Mystic. It’s ironic when you think about it.”

Another step, but he still hasn’t spoken.

“And I missed it. You were right. I missed that stupid town, my friends, the ice cream,” I add on, because the ice cream is to die for.

One more step and he is almost in front of me. “What else?” he asks, his voice husky.

I tilt my head back. He’s so tall, his face is a work of art, even behind that beard. I can’t read his expression, but I see the question in his eyes, along with the words that just left his mouth. He takes a final step, his eyes never leaving mine, and he’s now standing right in front of me.

When he sets one hand on the counter to my side, I swallow and stare at the collar of his t-shirt.

“Elle?” he repeats.

“Why did you come here?” I ask.

“Because you asked me to.”

I did, didn’t I? I asked him to step out of his comfort zone and come to New York. To see it from my perspective, just to get a feel for what this would mean for me. And he’s here. Ben brings his hand up to my face, cupping my cheek gently in his large, callused fingers. His palm is warm and I can’t resist turning my face into it.

“But I left.”

“You had your reasons. Good ones. My brother is a dickhead.”

I laugh and he brings his other hand onto the counter, trapping me in.

“He wants to apologize, by the way, but I’m all for making him sweat, for being such a damn idiot.”

“You’re cruel,” I say.

“He nearly ruined this.”

I hold my breath as he looks at me. “Ruined what?”

“Us.”

He says it so simply, like its fact. I’m not sure how this is even happening right now. A week, I’d been back in Mystic, a week andhe got under my skin, and it looked as If I was under his too. I didn’t dare want to put the truth of it into words.

I’m scared. Afraid to let my heart go again. To this man who broke it, no matter how unintentionally when we were kids.

But in the week I’ve been around him, I came alive. I don’t want for much in my life but since Adrian left, I was lonely. There was always something missing.

Ben’s thumb rubs across my lower lip, and I lose the ability to breathe. “Elle?”

“Hmm,” I manage to make that sound.

“I didn’t just come here to apologize for my brother.”

“Okay.”

The hand on my cheek shifts and moves into the back of my hair. I don’t have a chance to speak again as his mouth crashes against mine. His tongue parts my lips and delves inside, the kiss deepening in seconds. My legs almost give way and I raise my hands, grabbing onto the shirt at his waist. Using his leg, he nudges my knees apart and slots himself in between them as he tilts my head and kisses me even deeper. I could drown under this man’s lips.

His fingertips dance over my jaw, over my collarbone, and out to the straps of the dress on my shoulders. He pushes them aside and lowers his mouth to kiss my shoulder. This dress has built in cups. There is no need for a bra, a fact he learns when he pushes the dress. His eyes drop and he curses on a hiss.

“I shouldn’t have let you go.”

I stare into his eyes as my hands find their way beneath the hem of his t-shirt, my fingers making contact with the heated warmth of his skin.

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