Simply Sensual (Simply 3)

Just as Grace was doing now. Now he knew for certain she had motherly instincts, even if she hadn’t once mentioned the desire for family. Hell, she was running so hard from her own family he’d bet she was burying this desire, too. But it existed. Just, he now realized, as it existed for him.

So much of Ben’s job was based on sight, perception, and instinct. And right now, his were screaming about the danger this woman posed. To his life, his sanity… his heart.

He’d seen many sides of her: the disheveled woman with bags of groceries, the partner who’d helped him wash his truck without complaint, and the princess in the marble-and-crystal palace. But the Grace Montgomery with a child hanging around her neck was more of a threat to Ben than the seductive siren who’d sat nearly naked on his lap.

Feeling like an intruder in her life as well as his own, he turned away. But not before Grace looked toward him and her gaze seemed to zero in. He couldn’t be certain she’d seen him.

But if she had, he’d know soon enough.

* * *

Grace reread the note in her hand. Play it smart. Don’t come back. Or else. With shaking hands, she dumped the paper into the trash by her bed. Whoever was harassing her had stooped low enough to use a child to deliver his threats. Grace recalled the moment Kurt had given her the innocent-looking note—about the same time she’d caught sight of Ben.

And it was Ben she focused on now. The threats wouldn’t go away any more than her need to take pictures, and she’d have to deal with both. Later.

Grace exited the building. She knew she wasn’t playing fair. But then again, had Ben played fair when he’d followed her earlier? He thought she hadn’t noticed when he’d exited the side entrance to the building, but she had.

She wasn’t as angry as she ought to be considering he hadn’t trusted her enough to go out on her own. He’d followed her because he was concerned, yet he’d given her the freedom to do as she pleased with the security of knowing he was a shout away should trouble find her.

But when the note had been delivered, Grace hadn’t yelled for Ben. She’d kept it from him because he’d overreact. He’d fight her need to return to the place she loved best, the place that helped her to find her place in the world.

She wasn’t angry that Ben felt the need to follow her and she understood his reasons—but she did plan on teaching him a lesson. One he wouldn’t soon forget.

After her fright at the park, she’d thrown her energies into preparing Ben’s surprise for the evening. She cleaned up and took yet another shower, making certain to use the bath soaps and lotions Emma had sent her as part of her birthday present—the ones her grandmother claimed had so-called aphrodisiac powers, though how Emma knew about such things was something Grace had no desire to question further.

She put the finishing touches on her apartment, slipped into an outfit designed to send Ben over the edge, and headed out the door.

* * *

Not again. Ben hadn’t recovered from Grace’s last jaunt outdoors when he got the call from the doorman downstairs she was off again. He’d be grateful for Monday when she returned to work and a regimented schedule. In the meantime, if she was out of here, so was he.

Varying his routine, he waited till she got on the elevator and then took the next one down himself. The doorman had promised to watch out for her, and when Ben got downstairs, he pointed in the direction she’d taken—downtown, as he’d feared.

Ben exited the double doors and glanced in the direction the doorman had gestured. Why the hell did she have to hit that part of the city in the evening? When she was more likely to find trouble… definitely, dressed like that.

He recognized her even from behind. Especially from behind. The blond hair pulled up with strands brushing her shoulders, the pale skin on her back, the long shapely legs and lithe body—all visible thanks to the slender tank-type two-piece top and short skirt she wore.

He sucked in an audible breath. He had no idea where she was headed, but she wasn’t going alone. And she damn sure better not be meeting someone male.

He followed her into the subway, unable to stop staring. Unable to stop fantasizing about those long legs and how they’d feel wrapped around him again, only this time there’d be no barriers between them. No scrap of silk acting as a shield between her wet heat and the arousal she inspired. Dressed the way she was, he couldn’t imagine her ultimate destination, other than a date. Ben cursed and swore to himself. Date or not, no other man would come between them.

He broke into a heated sweat that had nothing to do with the hot and humid subway car they entered. He watched from behind a crowd as Grace twirled a blond strand around one finger, wishing she’d tangle those hands in his hair. He grew impossibly hotter as he mentally removed himself from the subway and placed himself back into the Explorer. His breathing became shallow as he remembered their mingled breaths steaming up the windows and heating the recycled air in the back of the truck.

The squeal of the brakes as they came to a halt jolted Ben back into reality in time for him to rise and follow Grace’s exit from the subway car. She walked up the stairs and into the street, but to his surprise, instead of turning toward the park, she rounded the corner and headed back into the subway station that would return her to the Murray Hill neighborhood where she lived.

And in the instant she settled herself into a seat and turned back to wave at him in between the crowds of people, Ben knew. He’d been had.

He waved back. What else could he do?

She smiled, her glossy red lips turned upward in an amused grin. He wanted to kiss those lips and taste the sweet recesses of her mouth, but since she was toying with him, he doubted he’d be doing any of those things any time soon. And though he should be grateful, he’d already accepted sex with Grace was inevitable. It was his guilt and inner torment he hadn’t come to terms with.

But when she sidled up to him, so close he could inhale her fragrant scent over the other less-appealing smells in the musty car, he couldn’t focus on anything but her.

Like any other passenger, she grabbed the hanging strap next to his. But she wasn’t any other woman. She was the one who had him tied in knots. The one who had lured him into her trap and enticed him to succumb to wiles he’d guess she was just discovering she possessed.

“I take it you aren’t going anywhere special?” he asked.

“Nope.”