by Wren Mingua
"Yes! Just tell me what you did to her!"
"Didn't she tell you?" Lewis walked across the room, to an end table, where he poured himself a glass of liquor. "It certainly sounds like she did... the squealer."
"You attacked her," Ben accused him. "Admit it."
"I wouldn't call it that." Lewis downed his liquor in a single swig, then slammed the glass against the table. "Is that what she's calling it?"
"Are you denying it?"
"I am denying it, because I'm entirely sure she wanted it," Lewis said. "Why else would she walk around in those little shorts, bending over and the like. She was teasing me. She was begging for it."
"You bastard."
"Please, Ben. You know I'm right." Lewis leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest.
"So she wanted you to wrestle her to the bed and give her bruises?" Ben snorted. "Is that why she ran away and had to call me in the middle of the night?!"
"Oh, so that's what happened to her. Is she with you right now?"
"No. She's with her ex-fiance."
"Ha. That's amusing." Lewis rolled his icy blue eyes at his brother. "So neither of us gets the girl."
"I'm more amused by the fact that you have no one," Ben retorted. "You kicked me out. Gemma left, she took Chris, and Zoe ran away. You've been abandoned by everyone, and you deserve it."
"That's a bit cold."
"Well, it's true. I was going to come over here and kick the shit out of you, but then I realized it must be a daily punishment... to wake up and realize you're all alone."
"I'm not alone!" Lewis exclaimed. "You know I have loads of friends. It won't take me long to find a replacement for Gemma... and Zoe."
"Well... in that case..." Ben clenched a fist and sent it sailing toward Lewis' face. His knuckles landed on his brother's nose, and he thought he felt a crunch. "I guess I won't feel bad about doing that then."
And with that, Ben headed out of the house, leaving his whimpering brother behind.
* * *
Zoe dipped into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. When Kyle saw what she was doing, he grabbed her wrist and lowered her hand--and the phone--back to her purse.
"Nuh uh," Kyle protested. "No texting tonight."
"But--"
"No buts," he insisted. "Tonight, it's all about us. I just want to focus on you and me..."
With a sigh, Zoe zipped up her purse and set it aside. It was her second day with Kyle, and all she could think about was Ben. What was he doing? Did he miss her? Did he hit on other girls when she wasn't around? Her first night at the Savoy had her tossing and turning, wishing she was back in Benjamin's arms. After York, she was getting used to having him beside her as she slept.
"How do you like your pasta?" Kyle asked.
Zoe looked down at her manicotti, which she had barely touched. "Good," she said--and it wasn't a lie. The food was delicious, but her nerves were so on edge that she didn't have an appetite.
"I'd like to take you on a tour of London." As he spoke, Kyle sawed off a bite of his lasagna and tried to feed it to her. Zoe turned her head away, so he stuffed the fork in his own mouth. "Surely you haven't seen everything this city has to offer."
"Not even close."
"Good!" Kyle exclaimed. "Because I was looking at some pamphlets earlier today, trying to decide where we could go. I wanted to stop by the Tower of London, but that hardly seems romantic. Didn't they execute people there?"
"Yeah. Like Anne Boleyn."
"See? It would be interesting, but not the sort of place you'd take your girlfriend if you're trying to win her back."
Zoe was tempted to point out that she was hardly Kyle's girlfriend, but she didn't want to ruin the mood. The restaurant was somewhat fancy, with candles at every table, and soft opera music playing in the background. It might have been romantic, if not for the fact that she was thinking about Benjamin every few seconds.
She didn't even want to go to a fancy restaurant, but that was the only thing that would satisfy Kyle, who always had to have the best of everything. And that's why she was wearing a Valentino dress and Manolo Blahniks: her newest gifts from Kyle. Zoe wasn't into name brands, but she wasn't going to complain if her ex-fiance wanted to spoil her a bit.
"What about the British Museum?" Kyle asked. "Have you been there?"
"Nope."
"Oh wait! I know! I should take you to see a play. It's been a long time since I've been to London, but I know the West End shows are comparable to Broadway. What would you like to see?"
Zoe shrugged. She stuffed a piece of manicotti in her mouth, and her tongue tingled at the burst of tomato flavor.
"Why don't I buy some surprise tickets? I'm sure it's better to book them in advance, so our seats might not be the best, but..." Kyle reached across the table to hold Zoe's hand. "Doesn't that sound like fun?"
"I like theatre."
"Good." He pulled her hand across the table so he could brush a kiss across her knuckles. "You know, you're awfully quiet tonight."
"I am?"
"Yeah. And you're being awfully formal with me," Kyle said with a frown. "You're glad I'm here, aren't you? You're glad I came?"
"Uh huh." Zoe had to force a smile.
"You know, Zoe, you're the love of my life," Kyle said. "I would have traveled around the world twenty times to be with you again."
"Really?"
"Really!" he exclaimed. "You still love me, don't you?"
"I--"
"I know you still love me. I can see it in your eyes."
The waiter returned to their table and dropped off the bill. Her manicotti alone was around twenty-five pounds, so she was afraid to look. It was a good thing Kyle was paying.
"Zoe... I want to be with you again," Kyle said. "I want to wake up in the morning and know you're mine again."
"Kyle..."
"You want that, don't you?" He raised her hand to his lips again, kissing it several times. "I want to stare into your sleepy eyes every morning. I want to wake up and see your hair fanning across the pillow. I want to smell your perfume, taste your lips whenever I want to. I love you more than I've ever loved anything."
Kyle paused, as if he expected her to say something, but she didn't know how to respond. As moving as his words were, they failed to stir her emotions.
"I want to take you home, back to the US," Kyle went on. "I want you to be my girlfriend again."
"Umm..." Zoe's tongue slipped out of her mouth, moistening her lips. Her throat was dry, her head was spinning, and her hands were covered in sweat. The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't bring herself to say them.
"What do you think, Zoe?" Kyle continued. "Do you want to be with me again? Do you want to give us another chance?"
"I--" She had to say it. She owed it to him. "I can't."
"Why not?" Kyle pouted. "Don't you love me anymore?"
"I do!" Zoe exclaimed. "And a part of me will always love you, Kyle. But I can't be with you..."
"Why not?" he repeated pitifully.
Zoe looked down at her purse, where her phone was hidden away. She wanted so badly to check it, to see if she had any texts from Ben. She wished she was back in his flat, that tiny little place in Camden. At that moment, Zoe knew exactly what she wanted. She had never been more certain of anything in her life.
So she said, "I already have a boyfriend."
Chapter Twenty Six
Excerpt from Zoe's blog--
Sometimes I don't "get" British humor. Maybe because they spell it with a U?
Ben spent the last twenty four hours moping around his flat. Ever since Zoe left, he had been feeling out of sorts, like a malaise had taken over every cell in his body. All he wanted to do was lay on the couch, eat Maltesers, and watch the telly. It felt like he had just gone through a nasty break-up, except Zoe wasn't quite his girlfriend. And he couldn't remember any break-ups that had left him feeling so miserable.
There was only one explanation fo
r his mood: Zoe Manet had broken his heart.
She hadn't even responded to his texts in several hours, which led him to believe she was too busy with Kyle to give him a second thought. Ben snatched his phone off the table and decided to check his voice mail. Maybe she had tried calling him instead?
Ben had two messages, and the first one was from James.
"Hey, you twat... why aren't you answering your phone? Jordan and I were going to go to the pub. We want to go with you, but you're fucking impossible to get in contact with. Jordan's got a new girlfriend, yeah? Don't tell him I said this, but she's a bit of a minger. Well... fuck off then."
To his utter devastation, his second message wasn't from Zoe either.
"Benjamin? This is your mum. I talked to Lewis the other day and he told me you attacked him! Now, I know you two haven't been getting along, and I know he tossed you out of his house, but... there's no excuse for that sort of behavior. I don't quite know what's going on between you boys, but you should apologize to your brother."
"Like hell I will," Ben murmured under his breath. He started to send Zoe another text, but he decided against it. If he sent another message, it would be his third one in a row, and he didn't want to look desperate.
Although, he was quite desperate at the moment. He was desperate to see her, desperate to hold her, desperate to hear her voice. It started as a harmless flirtation and ended up strangling his heart.
Ben popped another Malteser in his mouth and tried to imagine how pitiful he must look. James would really take the piss out of him if he could see him now.
A knock on the door shook him from his depressing daydreams. Ben scraped himself off the couch and went to the door. He was too weary to care about the state of his appearance, his severely mussed hair, or his half-tucked shirt with a hole in the sleeve. Had he known it was Zoe behind the door, he might have tried to tidy himself up.
"Zoe..." Ben raked his eyes over her body. At the moment, she was the complete opposite of him. She was all dolled up.
"Hi." Zoe clutched her oversized purse to her chest. "Can I come in?"
"Of course."
Zoe was surprised to see his flat in a state of disarray. Clothes were strewn across the floor, the bed was unmade, and a pint of half-melted ice cream was dripping all over the coffee table. She was gone for less than two days, but he already managed to muck it up. "It isn't a bad time, is it?"
"Of course not," Ben said. "It's never a bad time for you. Sorry the place is such a mess." He raked a hand through his hair a few times, hoping it would make him look a bit more presentable. "And sorry I look like shit."
"You do not," Zoe protested. She actually liked him a bit disheveled, as if his hair was adorably wind-tossed. "You always look good."
"This shirt must be a million years old," Ben said, ripping a loose string from the tatty sleeve of his shirt. "I think I've had it since I hit puberty."
"And when was that? Three years ago?" Zoe teased.
"Ha ha. Very funny. Go ahead and make wisecracks about my age." Ben rolled his eyes.
"I'm just teasing."
"I know." Ben's eyes wandered down the length of her body, over her stylish rouge dress and fancy shoes. Her cocoa hair had been curled, and pinned in a loose style. "You look stunning, by the way."
"Aww. Thanks." Zoe could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks.
"I mean it. You look amazing," Ben insisted. "Where'd you get that dress?"
"From... Kyle," she reluctantly admitted.
"Ah. That's what I thought. Anyway... can I get you a drink or something? A cup of tea? Glass of... shit, I don't think I have anything." Ben went to the refrigerator and pulled it open. "Well, it looks like I have orange juice."
Zoe's brow furrowed in disapproval. Two days ago, she was living with him--now he was treating her like a common guest. "I'm okay."
"You sure?"
"Yeah." She sunk to the couch and started removing her shoes. They were probably the most expensive shoes she had ever owned, but they were destroying her feet. When she saw the blister on her heel, she drew a sharp breath.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah... but I think I have a blister."
"Do you want me to get you a sticking plaster?"
His question was met with a blank stare. "A what?"
"A... band-aid," Ben corrected himself. "I think that's what you'd call it."
"No... now that my shoes are off, I think I'll be okay."
Ben sat on the couch next to Zoe. He leaned forward and observed the offending shoe. "Those are also a gift from the fiance, I take it?"
"Yeah," Zoe said. "But he's not my fiance."
"Ex-fiance," Ben amended. Under his breath, he added, "and thank god for that..." He scooped her blistered foot off the floor and put it in his lap. "So is this really what women want? Expensive shoes that are too painful to wear?"
"I don't know about other women, but it's not what I want."
"And that dress? If it was up to me, I'd put you in a pair of lounge pants and a hoodie. Don't get me wrong... that dress looks amazing on you, but you don't look very comfortable." His hands encompassed her ankle, cradling her injured foot. "Maybe we should remove the dress as well?"
"Maybe we should."
"We should?!" Ben's eyes were wide with astonishment. "Really?"
"Sure." Zoe unzipped the dress and lifted her arms above her head. "Take it off."
"Are you serious? Or is this some kind of test?"
"Nope. Why would it be a test? It's not like you haven't seen me in my underwear before." Zoe thrust her entire body in Ben's direction. "Take it off."
Ben grabbed the hem of her dress and started peeling it upward. He lifted it slowly, because he half-expected her to change her mind. When the dress was over her stomach, his throat erupted with a guttural rumble of approval. He raised the garment over her head and tossed it on the ground. Her underwear, sexy and slightly sheer, was as red as her dress.
"Wow..." he croaked. "That is... wow."
"I'm glad you approve."
"Approve doesn't even begin to describe it," Ben said. "I'm practically slathering at the mouth. I still can't believe you're really here." He cupped her cheek in his hand, and she nuzzled her head against his palm. "You show up at my flat and start stripping your clothes off... it feels like I'm living a dream."
"It's not a dream. At least, I don't think it's a dream," Zoe said. "Maybe you should pinch my butt to be sure?" Ben didn't need to be asked twice. He gave her a little tweak, and she let out a squeal. "Nope. Not a dream."
"So, why are you here? Things not working out with Captain America?"
"We went out to dinner, but... I dunno. I just felt like I needed to get away."
"So you were out with him tonight," Ben observed. "And you're wearing sexy knickers. In my experience, women only wear sexy knickers when they're expecting to get shagged, soo... please tell me you weren't expecting to shag him."
Zoe clenched a fist and planted it in Ben's arm. "No! You really think I'd have sex with him?!" For good measure, she punched his other arm too. "If you really must know, Kyle bought these for me too."
"He's buying you sexy lingerie?" Ben asked, his brow pinched with annoyance.
"Well... if you recall, I left most of my clothes at Lewis' place. At some point, I might have let it slip that I didn't have many pairs of underwear, soo..." Zoe shrugged. "Kyle bought me some."
"He's got good taste, I'll give him that," Ben said, a statement supported by the fact that he couldn't tear his eyes away from her.
"He bought me the knickers," Zoe said, giggling at her usage of the British slang, "but you're the one who gets to see me in them. That should give you some satisfaction, right?"
"Oh, it does! Believe me. Zoe..." Ben coiled an arm around her waist and dragged her onto his lap. "I was miserable until you arrived."
"Were you?"
"Absolutely. Completely miserable. In fact, I can't remember the last time I was so miserab
le," Ben said.
"Really?"
"Actually... I was nine years old. I didn't get the dog I wanted," Ben said with a chuckle. "It made for a miserable Christmas morning, as I'm sure you can imagine."
"We should get a dog for the flat. Are the tenants allowed to have pets?"
"Wait!" Ben laid a finger over her lips. "Did I hear you correctly? We should get a dog for the flat? The word we would imply that we were both living here."
"Well..." Zoe ran a hand through his hair, which was softer than a man's hair should have been. She couldn't resist the temptation to touch it again and again. "I was hoping you'd let me move back in?"
"Oh really?"
"Mm-hmm."
"So what happened to Kyle?"
"I don't think that's going to work out," Zoe said. "Besides, I told him I had a boyfriend, so--"
"You told him what?!"
"You don't mind, do you? In fact, I was hoping you might like to make it official. Maybe I'm assuming too much, but... I think it would be nice if you were my boyfriend."
"Are you serious?"
The tone of his voice was sharp, which made her a bit apprehensive. "Well..."
"Of course I want to be your boyfriend," Ben exclaimed. "Honestly? I never thought I'd see the day. I never thought you'd get over all your hang-ups and reservations and excuses and--"
It was Zoe's turn to put a finger over Ben's lips. "Just shut up and snog me."
As soon as her finger slid away, he let out a chuckle. "Snog you? It sounds so cute to hear you say that in your American accent."
"At least you called me an American and not a yank," Zoe pointed out. "Now... are you going to kiss me or what?"
Ben captured her mouth, claimed her with his tongue. Zoe kissed him hard, as if kissing him was the only thing that could save her from certain death. She captured his lower lip between her teeth, which made him chuckle.
"Boyfriend," she said, tapping him on the nose.
"Girlfriend," he countered, suckling her neck. "So... you're sitting on my lap in your knickers. We're snogging. I just have one question..."