Page 30 of Bitten By Desire
“I can’t believe he took advantage of you. What an ass. I’m so sorry, Emma.”
That wasn’t exactly the way I’d put it. It was more like I’d willingly let him devour me. I tried to push the memory of posing for him out of my head. “I think I just always wanted answers about what happened.” Answers and for him to fuck me again. God, I’d dreamt of that so many times.Stop thinking about him inside of you!
“Yeah, I get that.” He was looking at me like I was…damaged. Like he thought Callum had hurt me. That wasn’t what had happened. But…I did see his point. Callum was older. He didn’t tell me he was the coach. He had taken advantage of the situation. Did that mean he’d taken advantage of me? I wasn’t even sure anymore.
I cleared my throat. “Long story short, I thought I saw him in town the day I arrived. But when I confronted the guy, he said I must have mistaken him for someone else. And he was going by a different name. Theo Gold. Zoey freaked out back at the real estate booth because she saw his name on the listing and she didn’t want me to ruin our date.”
“Well that all makes so much more sense now. I thought Zoey loathed short guys or something.”
I laughed. “Honestly, she does prefer tall guys. But that wasn’t why she was rude to that assistant.”
Bennett looked over his shoulder. “Let’s go confront him right now.”
“Oh, no…that’s okay.”
“I’ll be with you. Just in case you want me to beat the shit out of him.”
I smiled. “I actually don’t hate the sound of that.” I shouldn’t have wanted Callum Walsh to touch me again. I should have wanted to slap him. “But…I’d rather just let it go. It probably wasn’t even him. Zoey’s convinced it’s all in my head. And Theo Gold really did seem confused when I called him Callum.”
“Are you sure?” Bennett asked. “I really don’t mind.”
I looked down at our intertwined fingers. “I’m sure. Can we just pretend I never even mentioned him?”
Bennett lightly touched the bottom of my chin so I’d look up at him. “You don’t have to pretend anything around me. And I’m not some asshole just looking for a one night stand. I want the real deal.”
The way he said it made tears pool in the corners of my eyes. I knew he wasn’t looking for a one night stand. He was ready to settle down. That was the reason why Zoey had set him up with me instead of pulling him into her bed.
But I was not going to pour my heart out about Callum Walsh and then start crying on our second date. Or half date. Or whatever this was. I smiled up at him. “Oh, really? I thought for sure you wanted me to taste your éclair?”
He smiled down at me. “Hmm.” He ran his thumb gently from my chin to my lower lip. And then he traced my lip with his fingertip. “I mean…I’m not opposed to a taste test on the first date.”
I laughed. “You’re incorrigible.”
He moved his hand to the side of my face. “No, I just know what I like.”
“And what exactly is it that you like, Bennett?”
“I thought it was obvious? I likeyou, Emma.”
I was smiling so hard my cheeks hurt.
“Next!” the man attending the Ferris wheel called.
Well, that was terrible timing. I’d been seconds away from standing on my tiptoes and kissing Bennett. But a kiss high up in the air sounded pretty magical. I grabbed his hand and pulled him up the steps.
The Ferris wheel cart creaked as I climbed into it. The last time I’d been on one of these, it had not seemed so rickety. But nothing seemed as scary when I was little. The sinister music still drifting around didn’thelp either. The cart creaked again as Bennett sat down next to me. But his presence made me push away my fears.
We lurched forward and I grabbed his thigh. “This thing is a death trap,” I said.
He slid closer, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “I promise I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”
I smiled up at him and ignored the lurch of the cart this time. The Ferris wheel was almost full, so soon we’d just be rotating smoothly. Just a few more carts to fill. We were only halfway up and the view was already amazing.
“I didn’t know there was a pumpkin patch!” I lifted my camera and took a shot of the pumpkins below.
“Are you as scared of pumpkin patches as you are of mazes?”
“I didn’t say I was scared of mazes. I said I wasn’t fond of them. I mean…what if we got separated and I couldn’t find my way out? I don’t want to become one with the maze.”
