“If you’re naked under that leather skirt, I might shock both of us,” he warned, his body tense with arousal.
“Unfortunately, I’m not naked,” Regina replied, putting all the regret she could manage into her tone.
Taking her word as truth, Ben relaxed his hold and pulled away. He walked back to the table, his hands unsteady as he placed shiny and mostly unused silverware beside the new plates he had bought to furnish the condo. Ben put two pieces of pizza on each plate, and then motioned for Regina to sit. He retrieved two bottles of water from the refrigerator and took the chair opposite her.
Ben took a healthy bite and watched Regina do the same. She pulled a big chunk of cheese off with her fingers, licking her fingers after depositing it into her mouth. He doubted she even knew she was humming in contentment. God, he loved to watch the woman eat. She relished everything—in or out of bed. If he continued to watch her much longer, he wouldn’t be able to eat.
“Okay, I have to know. Why the disguise?” he asked finally, wanting to know her reasons as much as wanting a distraction. “Protecting your identity or my association with you?”
“I guess a little of both,” Regina admitted. “After I do a TV interview, there is always a time period where the scandal hounds follow my every move. Like every other media-shy celebrity, I go into stealth mode until it passes. Sometimes the routine is annoying. Sometimes it’s fun like today. I bought the leather skirt because I hoped I was going to see you. Do you think it’s hot?”
Ben leaned around the table, his gaze traveling to the skirt hem now halfway up her thighs as she sat.
“Worth every penny—definitely hot,” he confirmed.
Regina sighed with satisfaction. “I can see it in your eyes,” she confessed. “You have the most expressive face, Ben. I love that about you. Somehow you managed to get to fifty without the normal shutters most people keep closed so tightly over their emotional reactions. You’re definitely the most attractive man I have ever met.”
Ben smiled. “Glad you think so. Want to go on a date with me? You can even go as yourself, no costume required. I can’t stand it when you cover up your hair anyway. You can still wear the skirt though if you want. If I were sexist, I’d suggest knee boots and a top showing some cleavage. I try not to be the type, but you make it hard not to be—and I mean that in every possible way.”
Regina laughed, wishing it could be so simple. “If we dated openly, the media would have a field day with you, your family, and your company.”
“Actually, all eleven board members of my company think I should at least take you out on one date. They have a fantasy about capitalizing on the publicity of it,” Ben said, frowning. “I’ve been given company permission to date Dr. Regina Logan, the notorious sex therapist. My family likes you. Some of them have even been your clients.”
Regina paused in mid-bite and put the pizza back on her plate. She swallowed carefully before she allowed herself to speak.
“So let me get this straight—you discussed our dating at a company board meeting or something?” Regina surmised, shaking her head and laughing. “That’s—I don’t even have a word to describe my shock. I’m guessing by your frown you weren’t too thrilled about having your dating life blessed.”
“Pretty much accurate,” Ben admitted. “Conflict doesn’t bother me, but I’m a private person. I’ve never had to deal with much more than society page gossip. I’m not sure how I’m going to handle being on the front page of newspapers. I went to visit your friend Alexa to get another perspective on it.”
Regina’s eyes opened wider in astonishment. “You’re kidding me? You went to see Alexa? When? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Today, actually,” Ben said, smiling, the lines at his eyes crinkling. “I didn’t tell you because it was sort of a reaction to the board meeting discussion.”
Ben watched her pick up her pizza and take another bite, all enthusiasm for it gone. He was sorry he’d ruined her enjoyment of it.
“You’re the only notorious woman I’ve ever known, Regina. I needed another perspective and went looking for expert advice,” he explained, trying to see if Regina was mad or hurt beneath the shock. “I even talked to Casey about how it was for him.”
“Did you get any helpful information?” Regina asked, finishing her pizza and swallowing.
She stood, carrying her dishes to the sink, already dreading the answer. So far Ben had talked to both her best friends about her and she wasn’t sure how she felt about his investigations yet.
It kept slipping her mind that Ben was used to controlling his world and pretty much everything in it. The complication of knowing her must seem like a test of his will.
As she loaded her dishes into the dishwasher, Regina’s gaze landed on the picture of them attached to the refrigerator door with magnets. She walked over and touched it, sighing at the honest desire on both their faces.
Here was yet another sweet, unexpected gesture from Ben. She looked back at him still sitting at the table, calmly watching her.
All kinds of emotions threatened to overwhelm her, and the urge to cry was coming up in the middle of them very quickly. Ben Kaiser was a tantalizing combination of naïveté and wicked male. She hadn’t been able to predict him yet, and he continued to surprise her. The last thing she wanted to do was ever change a single damn thing about the truly best man she had ever met.
“I’m not upset that you talked to Alexa and Casey,” she said softly. “I’m just—surprised that you would go to so much trouble, I guess.”
Ben rose to take his plate to the sink as well, not saying much as he rinsed his plate and loaded it in the dishwasher with hers. The simple intimacy of the moment was so normal—so much what they both wanted and needed.
Ben walked over and put his arm around the back of her like he had the day the picture was taken. Regina yielded to the embrace completely this time and sighed against him in welcome. He loved the contradiction Regina was, standing in the middle of his tiny kitchen in her brave black leather skirt, looking so longingly at the picture of them. He figured his expression probably told her volumes about how he felt, even though she seemed reluctant to acknowledge the strength of what was between them.
“What I got was moral support from both Alexa and Casey. Turns out, it was better than advice or information,” Ben told her, wrapping her in his arms more tightly. “Go out on a date with me, Regina. Let’s see what happens.”
“You have no idea how bad it can be,” Regina told him sadly. “Can’t we just stay like we are a bit longer?”
“I don’t like sneaking around,” he said firmly. “I know you don’t either, no matter how hot you look in your disguise.”
Ben ran his hands down the front of her skirt and felt something underneath. He tugged up the skirt a few inches and saw garter belt snaps holding up black lace-topped stockings. He touched the small band of naked skin revealed on each thigh. He ran a hand up all the way to her hip, pushing her skirt even higher until the soft leather was bunched at her waist.
Ben closed his eyes to hide the sheer animal lust he felt when he found Regina wasn’t wearing anything but the garter belt and hose.
“Shame on you for lying, Dr. Logan,” Ben told her sternly, his grip on her tightening to keep her pinned to him. He could feel the back snaps against his legs and the coolness of her naked backside through his dress slacks.
“I’m wearing everything but underwear, so technically, I’m not naked. It wasn’t a lie,” Regina said in her defense, laughing as Ben growled in her ear.
“Okay—I don’t like cold pizza either,” she confessed. Her laughter completely disappeared as Ben ran a hand down the inside of one thigh and then back to her core.
Then his traveling hand left her and she heard the rasp of his zipper.
Regina bit her lip in excitement when she felt him slide his erection between her thighs from behind. She melted more with each repeat of the teasing back and forth action between them.
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“Tell me to stop now or brace yourself on something,” Ben warned, whispering the threat in her ear. “I don’t know how nice I can be about this. I’m still mad you lied to me. It was going to be against the doorjam.”
Regina raised trembling hands to the refrigerator door as Ben lifted her hips just a fraction and slid into her from behind. Dizzy with pleasure, Regina stared at the picture of them while he stroked in and out until he was completely inside her. Ben reached around then, bringing one hand to the front to cup her, stroking the front of her with his thumb, his knuckles brushing his own erection while keeping his thrusts shallow and regular.
“You never really answered me, Regina. Are you going to date me?” Ben slowed the rhythm he started, nipped her ear, and then kissed the back of her neck again. He intentionally held Regina so tightly she couldn’t move, held her impaled on him while she braced herself. For Ben, it was the closest to his animal side he could get and still be civil. He wanted what he wanted from her, and damn it, he was going to get it one way or another.
“Answer me,” he ordered, his voice hard, almost as hard as he was inside her.
Regina could barely think, and wondered how Ben could calmly ask her questions.
“Ben, please,” she implored, when he stopped moving altogether. She could still feel him throbbing within her.
“Please yourself—I’m still waiting for an answer,” Ben said firmly, his grip strong on both of them as he held himself still. Her vibrating body was a trial to his self-control. It was one more reason he liked her.
“Okay, yes. Yes. Yes. I’ll go out with you,” she promised rashly, tension unwinding when Ben started to thrust once more.
“I think I may have found a way to win every argument,” Ben bragged, laughing and picking up the speed of his thrusting, delighted when he felt her clenching around him.
Regina swore at him even as she climaxed.
Ben laughed wickedly. He lasted another couple strokes, and then groaned in her ear as he found his own release.
Grateful for the small size of the kitchen, Ben reached out for a chair and pulled it under him, bringing Regina back into his lap as he sat. His arms still held her tightly. And Ben had a new appreciation for the benefits of his well-used weights.
“When this lust thing dies down a little,” Regina told him through her gasps for breath, “your sex magic won’t work on me anymore. Then we’ll see who wins arguments.”
Ben sighed and hugged her. “Yeah, but I’m hoping you’ll be madly in love with me by then, and I can exploit that.”
“Ben—I don’t. . .” Regina looked for words, but couldn’t find the right ones.
“Shush,” he interrupted, not willing to hear her denial while he was inside her. “I know. It’s only been a few weeks, and it’s too soon. Forget I said anything okay? My male ego is urging me to stake a claim to you. I’m never going to be able to use this kitchen again without seeing you braced on the refrigerator door.”
“Holy shit, Ben, I’m still impaled on you. How much more claim to me do you want?” Regina said, laughing.
“When you’re ready to hear the answer, I’ll tell you. Until then, we’re just going to talk about our date,” Ben said seriously.
Regina felt his heartbeat thundering and his hands unsteady on her, telling her a lot more than his words. She squeezed back the tears that threatened again, swallowed around the tightness in her throat, and fought not to care so much that she would give up her life to be in his.
Instead, she pushed aside her concerns. It took all her composure to do so.
“So where are we going on our date?” Regina asked him at last, turning her head around to kiss his cheek before rising from his lap and severing their connection as gently as possible. He watched her walk to the kitchen sink and grab several paper towels. Catherine would have been running to the bathroom to make repairs in private, but it probably wasn’t fair to keep celebrating how much he liked Regina’s irreverent sexuality more.
“How about dinner tomorrow night at Nomad’s?” Ben watched Regina wriggle the skirt back down over her hips as he straightened his clothes as well. “Probably not a good idea to wear the leather skirt again though, unless you just want more pictures of me with lust in my eyes.”
Regina laughed. “I don’t get it, Ben. It’s not like I’m next year’s supermodel. How can you feel this way about me?”
She wrestled her hair back into an assortment of clips and pins, preparing to stuff her hair back under the hat. When she turned back to look at him, Ben’s wicked grin said he knew she reveled in his attraction for her despite her insecurities. Regina closed her eyes and swore at how worried about his affection she sounded. She didn’t like feeling it or that it so obviously stroked Ben’s ego.
“I’m not very good at being someone’s girl,” she admitted, feeling pathetic and weak. “I haven’t had a lot of practice.”
Ben walked over to her to hand Regina the rest of her disguise. He stopped her hand before she covered her red hair.
“Tell Marvin I’ll be by around seven to pick you up.” Then he kissed her deeply. “The bathroom is down the hall if you need it. If you have to leave, you’d better go before I get another urge to show you just how much I like that you’re my girl.”
Chapter 8
“Marvin,” Ben said, inclining his head as he walked into the lobby. “How’s it going?”
“Sharp suit, Mr. Kaiser. You got a date or something tonight?” Marvin asked, grinning at the bouquet of flowers in his hand.
“Sexy red-head on the fourth floor,” Ben replied, as Marvin swiped his access card on the elevator and motioned him inside.
Regina answered on the first ring, and Ben’s jaw dropped.
“Wow,” he said, because his first sight of her scrambled his brain.
She was wearing black again, yet another dress hugging every curve. A sheer fabric covered her from neck to wrist, and under it was a satin fabric struggling to contain her breasts. Her spiky heels brought her exactly eye-to-eye with him.
“Excuse me, I’m looking for Dr. Regina Logan?” Ben stood on his toes pretending to look over her head into the house.
“Sorry,” Regina told him sadly, “you just missed her.”
Ben frowned as he deliberately looked Regina over from head to toe. “Well, I’m not into dating supermodels, but I guess I could make an exception for you. You look amazing tonight.”
Ben handed her the bouquet of flowers, and Regina immediately put her face in them.
He smiled at her, completely happy with her reaction.
“It’s probably been ten years since a man brought me flowers,” Regina said, sighing. “Come in while I put these in water.”
As Ben walked by her, she noticed his clothes. Ben always looked like a magazine model, but there was something over the top about his clothes tonight.
“Nice suit,” Regina said, studying it more closely. “Looks like a SydneyB.”
“That’s because it is one,” Ben said proudly. “Sydney gave me his card the day I visited.”
“Didn’t Alexa warn you? Sydney has potential clients investigated,” Regina warned, shaking the bouquet at him.
“Not me. I guess he thought I was a nice guy,” Ben said, shrugging.
Regina snorted and hurried to the kitchen.
*** *** ***
When they stepped out of the elevator, Marvin turned his head so they wouldn’t see him smile. They were in the middle of a heated debate over which car to take. Personally, he was siding with Mr. Kaiser this time.
“Ben, no one will recognize us in the CRV. It’s a stealth vehicle.”
Regina had the keys in her hand trying to hand them to Ben. Ben was holding his hands in the air refusing to take them.
“No. Not just no, but—hell no. We are not putting these clothes into a CRV. It’s the BMW or your Porsche. I don’t care which one,” Ben told her firmly.
“We can’t take Harry. People know him too well,�
�� Regina said, leaving out the fact the Porsche’s license plate also said LOGAN on it. “I guess it’s your BMW.”
Ben fished the keys out and put them in her hand even as he snatched the CRV keys from her. “Great. You can drive.”
“Me?” she squeaked. “Why? Isn’t the guy supposed to drive on a date?”
“Normally—but I’ve seen you drive your car. Now I want to see if you can handle my stick,” Ben said, as if his logic made all the sense in the world.
They both turned shocked faces to Marvin when he burst out laughing. Marvin waved in apology and turned his back to them as he struggled to compose himself.
“Fine,” Regina told Ben through gritted teeth. “I can handle any stick.”
They heard Marvin laughing uncontrollably as they stepped outside.
“Well, we’re certainly off to a good start not drawing any special attention to ourselves,” Ben told her, feeling like a teenager again when he realized where Marvin’s mind had gone. Which, when Ben considered it, was probably ninety-nine percent of the reason he wanted to watch Regina drive his car.
Regina went to the driver’s side and slid into an incredibly soft driver’s seat that adjusted itself immediately to fit her backside. She looked at Ben, who burst out laughing at the expression of exquisite pleasure on her face.
“My God,” Regina said reverently. “Your car just gave me an orgasm.”
“That’s just the first peak,” Ben teased, noting her widening grin.
Regina stroked the gearshift, taking her time as she tested the feel of it in her hand. Ben squirmed in his seat, hoping he wasn’t going to have to adjust himself in front of her.
“If you’re done with the foreplay, you might want to put the key in the ignition. This is not her first time to be driven,” Ben told her sharply, trying not to watch her as he buckled himself into the passenger’s seat.
Regina snorted at him. “Be patient. It’s my first time in a BMW,” she chastised softly, “and I hate to tell you this, but this car is a he—not a she. In fact this car is all male, and then some.”
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