Page 19 of Lacey's Fight

The same Ben who had saved her from the storm only to harshly imply she was a whore and he was too good to sleep with her?

Ben, who she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about and wasn’t sure if she wanted another chance to convince him to give her one explosive night of sex or to never see him again.

* * *

August 4th

7:24 A.M.

Ben had no idea how he was going to do this.

The plane had taken off all of thirty minutes ago, meaning they still had around ten hours in the air before landing in London. Then they were being picked up and driven out to the estate, a four-hour drive.

That meant a total of fourteen hours minimum of traveling time with Lacey. Then there was the time they’d be in the airport, not to mention when they arrived at the remote manor, there would be no opportunity to get space from the gorgeous brunette.

Once there, they would have to be completely in character. One slip meant the end of both of their lives. While he had spent the last three years since his wife’s murder praying for a death that was yet to come for him, he wouldn’t risk Lacey’s life.

She was young and beautiful, had the world at her fingertips, and he would do his job and make sure she was safe.

Her role was to play the flirty, sexy madam on the market for several young girls. He was the remote, protective husband, not expected to say much but stand by Lacey’s side and give off touch her and die vibes. The success of this mission rested almost entirely on Lacey’s shoulders. He was really just a glorified bodyguard.

How they were going to play out their roles he wasn’t one hundred percent sure yet because he had been too much of a coward to go and speak to her, and she was busy ignoring him, poring over paperwork instead.

Lacey acted like she didn’t even know him. Like they hadn’t met two days ago when he threw himself into an angry ocean to save her life. Like she hadn’t tracked him down with an offer of sex. Like he hadn’t hurt her by implying she was some sort of unpaid whore.

There was no anger, no hostility, she showed no signs of the hurt he’d seen that night. There was just … nothing.

He’d expected …

What, he wasn’t quite sure.

For her to throw herself at him again as soon as they were alone, break him down with her continued pleas for sex so that when he finally gave in, he had an air-tight excuse he could give himself?

It shamed him to say that part of him had thought she would ask again. Be persistent. That he might eventually give in. If he did, he could assuage his conscience by telling himself it wasn’t cheating on his wife because he’d been pressured into it.

Pathetic.

Still, even as he knew he should go over there and say something to break the ice, he didn’t. Didn’t even know what he would say or how to make things okay between them. Turned out, if you stopped using your emotions you forget how to use them.

“Hungry?” Lacey appeared before him and dropped a couple of cookies and some potato chips on the table in front of his seat. “Sorry, all we have is mostly snacks. Since Artemis Team usually use this plane, it’s mainly stocked with our favorite junk food. The guys always complain when they come with us, they like their healthy junk.” She gave a shudder as she dropped into one of the plush leather seats on the other side of the table.

Even though Ben knew the guys she was talking about were the former SEAL team who ran Prey’s West Coast offices, guys who were all happily married with kids, he felt a small stab of something at the thought of her having close relationships with any man even if that relationship wasn’t sexual in nature.

Not that he wanted to have sex with Lacey.

His heart and his body still belonged to his wife. The woman he had failed so horribly.

“Thought you were ignoring me,” he grumbled as he snatched up a white chocolate chip and macadamia nut cookie. Probably not the smoothest thing to do, but he didn’t understand how she could avoid him one minute and offer him snacks the next.

Lacey shrugged. “Life’s too short to hold onto anger.”

If only it were that easy.

Some things you didn’t hold onto, they were just stuck to you with superglue so you could never escape them.

Since he didn’t know what to say to that, Ben merely grunted.

“So,” she drew the word out, “we need to come up with a plan on how we’re going to make us being husband and wife in any way believable.”

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