Page 28 of 5 Golden Flings

“There’s a lot of information about you in the internet,” she said.

“Uh-oh.”

Molly looked his way and smiled. “I haven’t found anything that’s going to scare me off, but there are a few things you need to know about me. I’m not famous. No one cares who I dated or whether or not I can catch a ball.”

“You could never catch a ball.”

“True. I’m surprised you remember.”

Ben was quiet for a moment, then he said, “I remember a lot about you. There aren’t a ton of memories of other kids from the 6th grade, but you… it’s like you’ve been here all along, living in my head.”

“You said romance is for suckers. If that’s the case, I’m a big, fat sucker.”

“That was too harsh…” he began.

“Like I told you, I’ve been engaged three times. I fall head over heels, I thinkthis is it, and I get lost in the idea of love and happily ever after. For a while I’m blissfully happy, but it doesn’t last. It’s like I hit a wall, like one day I look at my fiancé and realize he’s not who I thought he was. I want love, I want it all, but he’s not the one.”

Now here she was looking at Ben likehewas the one. She couldn’t tell him that. This pretend engagement felt more real than any of the other three, but itwasn’treal. She couldn’t allow herself to think it was, or would ever be.

“I like you a lot,” he said.

“I like you,” she admitted.

“After this is all over, I’d like to see you again.”

“How would that work?”

“I don’t know. Keep it simple. I’ll visit you, you can visit me…”

“Do we really know each other well enough for that?” she asked.

She felt his gaze on her as he answered, “Well enough for what?”

Overthinking was not her friend. She wanted Ben. He wanted her. Maybe for tonight that was enough.

“I hear you have a bottle of water in your room.”

And she had two condoms in the pocket of the dress she’d worn last night.

They left their balconies at the same time, closing the sliding glass doors almost simultaneously. Molly tried not to rush, she tried not to be overly anxious, but it wasn’t easy. Her heart beat too fast; she practically came out of her skin at the idea of what was to come.

Ben.

She went to the closet and grabbed both condoms from the pocket of her bachelorette party dress, then slipped them into her pajama pockets.

Every piece of clothing should have pockets! Why wasn’t that a law?

The chair that had been placed in front of the connecting door wasn’t heavy; she moved it easily, unlocked the deadbolt, turned the knob, and opened the door. Ben stood there, waiting. Waiting for her.

Molly wished she had something sexier to wear than flannel pajamas with red and green elves all over them, but for tonight this was it.

“No pajamas for you?” she said as she stepped into Ben’s room, which was indeed a mirror image of her own.

“I sleep naked.”

If she hadn’t already been on edge…

“But your PJs are cute.” Ben pulled her in and gave her a kiss, a long deep kiss she felt to her toes. The kiss ended abruptly and he said, “Take ‘em off.”

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