His eyes were dancing. “Excited. Thrilled. Overjoyed. There aren’t enough words to describe how happy I was to see you.”
“You don’t need words with that mouth of yours,” she said, her eyes dropping to his lips.
He grinned. “I aim to please.”
“Beyond pleased.”
“Good, because that was just to take the edge off.”
Her eyes widened. “I like the sound of that.”
He kissed her, his tongue leisurely moving in and out of her mouth before he rested his head on the pillow again and stared into her eyes. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Ben, there’s something I need to tell you,” she said, feeling that familiar knot in her stomach again.
His eyes softened as he looked at her. “You can tell me anything, sweetheart. What is it? What’s on your mind?”
She looked at him, staring into those green eyes that always looked at her with such adoration. She hoped he could see how much she adored him as well. They had a lot to figure out and the first step was the truth.
“You’re on my mind,” she told him.
He was always on her mind.
Chapter Twenty
Ben
SOMEWHERE DEEP INSIDE, he was holding his breath. It wasn’t a literal holding of his breath, but more of his brain waiting to hear what she had to say. He knew what he wanted her to say and was sure after their warm welcome it was the most obvious thing to say, but he didn’t know for sure.
She was looking at him, but not talking.
“What is it sweetheart?” he asked, gently swiping her mussed hair from her face.
She looked hot and sexy and better than any magazine centerfold he had ever seen. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips red and swollen from the intense kissing and her hair looked as if she had been standing inside a tornado. She took sexy seductress to an entirely new level.
“I’m sorry I left without saying a word. I should have told you,” she started, and he felt his heart sink.
It wasn’t what he thought it would be and definitely not what he wanted to hear.
“It’s okay, I understand you were doing what you thought you had to. I need you to know I am here for you. Please don’t run again. I will keep you safe,” he vowed. “I promise.”
She smiled. “I have no intention of ever running again. But I don’t want to need protection. I have a plan to never need protection from Tim again.”
“Really?” his brows shot up.
“Really,” she said the word in a way that made it sound as if it was already done. She was that confident, something that surprised him a little.
“Why? What changed? Did you talk to Tim?” he asked, hoping she hadn’t fallen for another one of the man’s lines. That’s what abusers did. Even he knew that, and he had no real experience in the matter.
Her hand reached out and caressed his bare shoulder. “I did a little soul searching and then I did a lot of social media searching,” she said with a sly grin.
He shook his head, completely confused about what she was saying. “Okay. I didn’t realize social media held all the answers.”
“I found out that Tim has a girlfriend. They’ve been together for a little over six months,” she said, her eyes lighting up with excitement.
Ben inhaled a breath, debating how he should tell her that a girlfriend did not mean Tim would leave her alone. He had to tread lightly. Patting her on the head was not the way to win her back into his life to stay for good.
He cleared his throat. “Katherine, that means he’s been after you the whole time he’s been with the woman. Why would he stop now? Him having a girlfriend doesn’t really change anything.”