Shine With Me (With Me in Seattle 15.5)

Natalie, Jules, Nic, and Brynna came over this evening to help me get organized to drop all of this off to shelters before the holidays. We’re into our third bottle of wine, and I’ve even had one cupcake.

They’ve been sworn to secrecy.

“That ship has sailed,” Brynna says and sighs.

“How many kids do you have?” I ask her.

“Three,” she answers. “Twin girls, who are the teenagers from hell right now, and a little boy in first grade.”

“I can’t believe he’s in the first grade,” Jules says. “Also, Stella’s only six, and so much has changed in baby stuff since she was tiny.”

“It changes constantly,” Natalie agrees. “There’s more here than I realized.”

“I’m going to have to spread it out over a couple of shelters,” I agree. “And it’s because you guys are awesome.”

“We really are.” Jules nods and then giggles. “Just kidding.”

“No, you really are,” I stress. “Do you have any idea how much pleading and begging I usually have to do to get donations like this? I can’t even tell you how much I appreciate it.”

“Hey, I was a single mom for a long time,” Brynna says. “Before Caleb came into my life, I was on my own for a couple of years. Now, yes, I have a wonderful family, and I never worried about being on the streets, but money was tight. I remember what that feels like. It’s scary, especially when you’re trying to take care of your babies. It takes a village, you know?”

A couple of hours later, we finally have everything organized and packed into gift bags of snacks, bags of hygiene products, and baskets of baby goodies.

“I’ll leave it up to the shelters to gift the big pieces and the breast pumps to the women they know need them the most.”

“You might want to contact a women’s clinic for those things,” Natalie suggests. “They usually know which patients are in need.”

“Good idea,” I say, making a mental note.

We clean up our mess, toss away the wine bottles, and I make Jules take the cupcakes with her.

“They can’t stay here,” I insist. “Ben will know I had one if he sees this box.”

“You had two,” Brynna reminds me.

“Shh.” I cover my mouth with my finger. “That’s a secret.”

“Our rides are here,” Natalie announces. “Thanks for the fun evening, Rina.”

“Thank you for your help.”

I wave them off as their men pour the girls into vehicles and drive away. Once they’re gone, I close the door and survey the scene.

The wrappings are feminine and fun. Uplifting. We also wrote little notes to go with each one to help boost the person’s mood. I don’t want the recipients to feel like charity cases.

I want them to feel as if they just got the best present ever.

The doorbell rings, and I turn to open it, sure it’s one of the girls picking up something they forgot.

But it’s not.

It’s Ben.

He swoops in, in that way he does that literally sweeps me off my feet.

The door closes, and I’m immediately pinned against it again, enjoying this strong man as he kisses the hell out of me.

“I owe you an apology,” he says as he comes up for air. “I let you down this week, but that ends right now. You officially have my undivided attention again.”

“Okay.” I swallow hard as I watch his Adam’s apple bob in his throat. “Thanks.”

“And one more thing.”

“What’s that?”

“I’ve missed you.” His voice is tender as he drags the pad of his thumb across my lower lip. “I’ve wanted to kiss you, to touch you, so damn bad I ached with it.”

“I’m right here,” I whisper. That’s all the invitation he needs to lift me into his arms and carry me up the stairs to my bedroom.

“Before we take this any further,” he says as he lowers me to the bed, “I brought condoms.”

“Good, because I don’t have any.”

“I’m also clean.”

“Me, too.”

“Great, can we be done with the non-sexy portion of the program now?”

I grin and fist my hand in his shirt, pulling him toward me on the mattress. “Yes, please.”

We’re a tangle of sighs and limbs as we work our clothes off. When his body is finally free from clothing, I take a second to give him a long look.

“Ben, you look like you were sculpted from marble. I know it takes a lot of work and dedication to look like this, and it’s a little intimidating.”

“Are you kidding me?” He kisses his way down my shoulder to my arm. “Have you seen yourself, Sabrina? You have curves in all the right places, and the softest skin I’ve ever touched. I can’t get enough of you.”

He plants wet kisses down my torso, over my navel, and to the promised land, where he sets up camp for what seems like an hour.

Dear, sweet Moses.

My back arches, and my hands fist in his hair as he takes me on a long journey toward the most explosive orgasm of my life.