He only smiled, shaking his head. “Any man would be lucky to be with you. Don’t ever believe otherwise.”
And he’d never meant anything more. From the long, graceful arch of her neck to her expressive face, the dark lashes that framed the most beautiful set of blue eyes he’d ever seen. But he knew beneath the soft, demure picture she painted now, Benny Sorensen was a tough, independent and strong woman who had a lot to offer some lucky guy.
It pained him to think of that lucky guy being Luke Seeley.
No. If he were honest with himself, it pained him to think about that lucky guy being anyone other than…him.
Unable to help himself, Henry reached out and ran his finger across Benny’s full bottom lip. “If a guy can’t recognize how special you are, then you don’t want them.” Without taking his gaze from hers, he lowered his mouth until he was inches away from that delectable mouth. He could smell chocolate and caramel on her breath.
He wanted her to know what he was about to do.
He cupped the side of her head in his hand and moved slowly until he was kissing that bottom lip, sucking on it and then parting her mouth open with his. Tasting her. Feeling the softness and strength of her. There was the sound of a fork clattering against the bench as she released her hold on her plate, then her hand was gripping his shoulder as she leaned into him. Embracing him. Tasting him as well.
It was almost like this was where she belonged.
In his arms. Her mouth opened to his, demanding as good as she got.
Almost.
…
Benny knew that she should stop him. That she wasn’t supposed to want kisses from Henry. But what she knew was entirely different from what her body wanted.
She wanted to kiss him more than anything. The moment he’d smiled wickedly before letting a birdie fly her way she’d been hit with a sudden wave of desire. She’d wanted to bolt over the net and toss him to the ground right then and kiss him senseless for challenging her like that. And it hadn’t let up.
And now he was kissing her, his tongue tangling with hers as the heat grew around them almost like they were in a fireball of energy and she could shut everything out but the taste of him. The feeling of his mouth, his lips, his hand on her head, and his other hand resting—no, gripping—her right hip as he held her closer.
It was like before, but now she could hear the subtle chirps of the crickets and smell her mom’s lavender surrounding them and Henry’s sure and haunting scent.
She never wanted this to end. She wanted to hold him like this, kiss him like this…forever.
But something outside their cocoon was happening, and she felt Henry freeze and start to pull away, but she resisted, trying to pull his mouth back to hers.
“Henry,” Jenna called out, echoed by Natalie a moment later.
Benny froze. Her nieces were looking for him.
Oh. Lord.
She was making out with Henry in her mom’s garden as her nieces scoured the backyard with their laser-beam eyes looking for them.
If they saw them kissing, the girls would shriek the news to everyone. And it would be impossible to convince anyone that Henry was just a friend.
Henry came abruptly to his feet, his face turned away from her.
A sudden fear reached her heart. Was he regretting what had just happened? Had she misjudged him, misjudged the moment when it seemed everything had faded away and it was just him, and they’d kissed—
No. Wait. She was almost sure that it had been Henry who’d initiated it. Right?
Well, she didn’t have time to analyze right now. She had to minimize damage. Picking up her plate, she crossed the lawn, the grass soft and warm under her bare feet. “We’re right here, girls. But I think we are going to have to call it a night. We both have early days.”
There was no way she could risk any scrutiny from any of her family who might see her undoubtedly flushed skin and guess the truth.
Not when she didn’t know what any of it meant.
…
They’d driven home in silence, which was fine with her. The wind whipped her hair, and she savored the rush of the air against her face, trying to clear her thoughts. She caught him watching her a few times, his expression impossible to read. Maybe he was giving her some time to process. That’s it. Not that he was…regretting anything.