“Okay.” She sighed raggedly. “Okay. I’ll try his cell. If he doesn’t answer, I’ll check with some of his friends.”
What I would do without Maggie was beyond me.
“Thanks, Mags. I’m sure he’s fine,” I lied.
I wasn’t sure of anything.
I had no idea what was going through my son’s mind or what his life was like these days. Since I’d arrived, it was difficult to get him to say more than a few words to me. My plan to have a grand father-son vacation with him had been shot to hell since day one.
“Okay, Ben. I’ll see you soon.”
“Yeah…soon,” I muttered and disconnected.
I stared at myself in the mirror, fighting off self-loathing. It was a constant companion knowing that I’d let our relationship dwindle to nothing.
Damn you, Gwen.
It was her fault, but how did you tell your son that? No matter how much I hated my ex, I couldn’t damage Lincoln further by telling him that an evil bitch hid behind that pretty little mask.
I splashed some water on my face, banishing my thoughts. I needed to get moving. I borrowed Samantha’s toothbrush since it tasted like something died in my mouth. I’d already had it on every inch of her body, so I wasn’t too worried about germs.
Once I was done, I stalked back into the bedroom. Wistfully, I watched Samantha as she slept, her arms surrounding a pillow as she lay on her side.
God, she was stunning.
When I went to bed the night before, I had every intention of waking her and making love to her a few more times.
Sighing, I approached the bed. “Samantha?” I whispered, shaking her a bit. “Sweetheart, I have to go.”
She didn’t move, didn’t twitch…nothing.
“Samantha, I have to go. Come on, baby girl, wake up.”
Again, nothing.
She slept like the dead.
Shit, shit, shit.
I couldn’t leave her like this. If she woke and found me gone, she’d hate me forever, assuming I’d used her. I wouldn’t allow that to happen. What we shared the night before meant more to me than she could ever imagine. It was a gift after everything I’d endured.
“Samantha, sweetheart, wake up,” I called out more forcefully.
Again, I got nothing from her.
To be safe, I checked her pulse. Nope, she was alive and well, her breathing regular.
“Dear Lord, woman! Wake up,” I hollered.
Nothing.
I fucked her into unconsciousness, I thought to myself with a chuckle. Or maybe it was the drinks.
Who knew?
But I had to get out of here.
Lincoln needed me.
Sighing, I decided to leave her a note. It wasn’t ideal, but it would do. I found some paper and scribbled a note, explaining that something came up and I couldn’t wake her. I told her to meet me at the hotel bar tonight at nine.
Once I was done, I eyed the note, wondering if I was making the right decision by seeing her again. I shouldn’t – I knew I shouldn’t. I didn’t come to London looking for anything, but Samantha smacked me upside the head, weaving her web around me and enchanting me since the moment she stood in front of me on the plane.
Sometime in the night, the thought of keeping her, of seeing her again when we got home, took root in my mind and wouldn’t let go. The possibilities seemed endless since I knew we wouldn’t be far from one another. I made the decision that I wasn’t letting her go without giving this, us, a shot. What we experienced last night, this connection we shared, was too phenomenal to pass up. I’d be kicking myself in the ass for the rest of my life if I did.
How it would work with everything going on was beyond me, but I owed it to myself to try. I deserved happiness, damn it, and in the short amount of time I’d known her, Samantha made me happier than I’d been in years.
I snorted to myself. What in the hell happened to my head? I’d done a complete one-eighty.
Kissing her temple, I whispered, “I’ll see you tonight.”
∞
When I walked into Maggie and Paul’s, I found Maggie and Lyric waiting on the couch together in the sitting room.
“Hey,” I greeted them. “Any word?”
“Hello to you too, Casanova,” Lyric teased. “Long night? How’s Samantha this fine morning?”
“Lyric,” I grumbled in warning, annoyed. “If it were any other time, I’d play along, but my son is missing.”
Lyric rolled her eyes. “Jeez, guys, calm down. He’s a teenager. You do remember what that’s like, right?” Her gaze dinged between Maggie and me. “Your hormones are all out of whack, and you feel like you know everything there is to know about life. Let the kid blow off some steam. He’ll come around.”
“Easy for you to say,” I groused. “He’s not your kid.”
Offended, she squared her shoulders and glared at me. “I love Linc, too. Like you, I don’t want anything bad to happen to him. But, Ben, he hasn’t had it easy. Give him a break.”
“Normally, I would,” I countered. “But he called last night, telling me that my mother said he could live with her.”
“Oh, no,” Maggie breathed, wringing her hands. “Why would she do that? Is she nuts?!”
“We’ve known that for some time, Mags,” I muttered, scrubbing my face. “I don’t plan on saying yes, but I didn’t tell him no.”
Frowning, Lyric questioned, “But he assumed, right?”
“Yep,” I confirmed.
“And you stayed out all night knowing this?!” Maggie cried, horrified.
I was already kicking myself in the ass for not realizing the ramifications of that call. I didn’t need Maggie’s criticism on top of that.
Lyric spoke up, “Mags, that’s not your place. What Ben does in his free time and how he makes his decisions are none of your concern.”
“She’s right, Mags. That’s a low blow.”
Maggie wilted under our reproach. “Sorry. I know.” She ran a hand down her pregnant belly, shaking her head. “These damn hormones make me irrational and crazy sometimes. I know this isn’t your fault, Ben. I’m just scared. This city is so different from home.”
I let it slide and asked, “Has he answered your calls?”
If I tried, he’d ignore me. He wouldn’t Maggie, though – he adored her.
“No, Ben. His phone is off.”
Why did I have a feeling she’d say that?
“His friends?” I questioned, the weight of the world on my shoulders.
“They don’t know where he is.”
“Right. Okay.” I pursed my lips and went through the options in my head. “We’ll give him ’til noon. If he hasn’t checked in, or we still can’t find him, I’ll start going to his friends’ houses. They could be covering for him, but their mothers won’t. We’ll find him eventually.”
“I don’t know where all of them live,” Maggie pointed out, shifting nervously. “A lot of the time they come here.”
“I’m sure there are ways to find out. If not, Linc has to turn his phone on at some point. He won’t go too long without it – that thing is glued to his hand twenty-four-seven. When that happens, I can track the GPS on his phone. We’ll find him.”
“I hope you’re right, Ben,” Maggie murmured, slumping into the couch.
I walked to the window and rested my ass on the sill, my exhaustion getting the better of me. “Me too, Mags. Me too.”
“Now that is out of the way…” Lyric’s smile was sly and eager. “How’s Miss Carolina this morning?”
“Lyric…” I warned.
Maggie giggled, her eyes brightening with glee. “I couldn’t believe it when Paul told me you went home with someone. Then to find out that she was the one you were telling me about… That’s crazy, Ben.”
These women…
“Are we really doing this?” I questioned, exasperated.
“Come on,” Lyric urged. “Just give us some details.”
I scoffed, “
Hell, no. Why would I do something like that?”
“Not details, details,” Lyric clarified. “There’s some things I don’t need to know.”
“Is that right?” I drawled. If Lyric had her way, she’d want to know the exact positions.
“Oh, come on! I just want to know if you had fun…if you like her. Come on, Benjy.” She pouted and gave me big, puppy-dog eyes. “You can tell me anything.”
I chuckled and massaged my forehead. “I have no idea how to respond to that, Lyric.”
Maggie’s voice came out small. “Do you care about her, Ben? Or was it a one-night thing?”
Shit.
Even Lyric seemed uncomfortable with the sound of Maggie’s voice.
I couldn’t ignore Maggie when she questioned me. In fact, I couldn’t ignore either of their questions for too long. Besides Paul, because of the way my life had worked out, both women were my closest confidants. Any friends I had while growing up had abandoned me once I became a father.
My breath came out in a long gush, and I had to pause to get my words together. “Yes, Mags. I do care…a great deal. She’s…perfect. It’s definitely more than a one-night thing.”
Maggie’s eyes closed as she smiled, sniffling softly. “That’s good…so good to hear, Ben. I’ve wanted that for you for so long.”
“There’s still a lot to work out, Mags. We’ve only just met, so don’t get your hopes up.” Maggie would start planning an engagement party if I wasn’t careful. “I still don’t know where she lives. From what I gathered, she lives close to Bliss.”
“Not a lot of talking last night,” Lyric commented, smirking as if she had a secret.
I gave her a devilish look and admitted, “Not really.”
“’Bout time you got laid.” She snorted. “Did you tell her about Lincoln? I bet she wasn’t too happy about you leaving so suddenly.”
“Well…about that,” I stated, uncomfortable.
Lyric and Maggie gaped at me, horrified.
“You didn’t?!” Maggie cried. “Ben! Please tell me you didn’t leave without saying goodbye!”
“It’s not as simple as that. I couldn’t wake her,” I explained, feeling defensive. “I tried several times, but she slept like a rock. I even checked her pulse to make sure she was still alive. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Lyric put her head in her hands, laughing. “Only you, Ben. This could only happen to you.”
Maggie’s giggle joined her laugh. “She’s right. Only you could have this type of luck.” She sobered and stared me in the eye. “You’re going to have some ass kissing to do.”
“Not necessarily. I left her a note.”
“A note?” Lyric questioned, bursting out into a new set of giggles. “That’s even worse!”
“I’ll call her hotel later, too,” I added, unsure.
Would Samantha be mad when she woke?
“What you would do without us is beyond me,” Lyric muttered and calmed a bit. She cocked her head. “Call the hotel and have them send some breakfast to her room as an apology. You can have them write another little note saying you can’t wait to see her again. That should help. Women like small gestures like that.”
“Good idea,” Maggie agreed.
“Fine,” I caved. “I’m gonna shower first.” I pushed away from the window and headed for the stairs, hollering back to them, “Try Linc’s phone again.”
“Aye, aye, Captain,” Lyric returned cheekily.
Had I known Lincoln would be harder to find than that, I would have done things differently that day. If Samantha only knew how much I regretted that.
Chapter 9
Samantha
I squeezed my eyes closed, willing the tears to stop. I loathed crying, but the bastards had a mind of their own.
How could I have been so stupid?
You knew what you were getting into, Sam.
I told myself to shut up.
Yeah, I had woken up alone (that should have been my first clue), but I blamed myself for that. When I drank, I slept and slept. I’d been teased relentlessly about it in the past. My body wouldn’t allow me to wake until it fully recovered. It happened to be the reason I never, ever had a hangover.
A curse and a blessing, I guess.
Looking back, I should have given Ben a bit of warning or maybe not have drank so much. But hindsight is twenty-twenty and all that.
Nevertheless, Ben had left me that sweet note, telling me we’d get together later, and he sent me breakfast in bed that was accompanied with another note saying he missed me and couldn’t wait to see me.
Once that happened, hope blossomed inside me.
I thought we’d have more time.
Our night together was remarkable. The way Ben couldn’t get enough of me, the way he went from frantic and dominating to attentive and sweet made me believe he held me in a higher regard than someone warming his bed. In the end, I wholeheartedly thought it meant something to the both of us, and I didn’t see the brush-off coming.
Alas, Ben didn’t show at the bar. I waited and waited, then walked up to my room, devastated. I had a message awaiting me, so I hoped again. Ben explained that he had an emergency, that he was so sorry, and that he’d call again in the morning.
His call never came.
I’d been sitting by the phone for hours.
I should have known the man was too good to be true. I should have trusted my first impression of him, but hope was a fickle, fickle game.
When I thought I’d be hurt coming out the other side of our fling, I had no idea I’d be utterly obliterated.
And I thought Patrick broke my heart.
Nothing could have prepared me for Ben, though.
I kept trying to rationalize everything that happened, like why Ben would have sent notes and called if he didn’t plan to follow through. He said there was an emergency, so maybe he was in a car accident or something. Maybe something bad happened to someone he loved.
It was torture not knowing.
I needed advice. I needed to know if I was being clingy when I shouldn’t be. I didn’t want to be that girl. I’d never been that girl. I needed to talk to someone that had insight on these types of matters.
Grey was out of the question. He’d drop everything and hop on the first flight just to hunt down Ben and kick his ass. I couldn’t talk to Clara about it. She was just as clueless to these things as I was. Chelsea was a definite no. She’d tell me to forget the prick and then start crying about how Justin cheated on her all over again.
That left one person.
I grabbed a beer and sat on the couch next to the window. I dialed Adam’s number as I stared out at the city. God, I wished I could enjoy the sights in front of me, but nope…not me – I was tending a broken heart.
Good job, Sam.
“Sweet Samantha,” Adam crooned, “how’s my favorite girl?”
Attempting to act natural, I turned to our usual banter. “I didn’t realize you had one. I thought the majority of women were your favorite.”
Adam chuckled. “True.”
See, what better person to call?
He continued, “How’s London? Anythin’ crazy going on? You know, if you would have taken me, you wouldn’t be callin’ home right now.” He sighed wistfully. “There’s no tellin’ the fun we could’ve had.”
“No, I’d probably be bailin’ you out of jail for public indecency or somethin’ off the wall like that.”
“You wound me, Sam.” There was a smile in his voice. “Wait, do you post bail in London? Is their system the same as ours?”
I laughed. “I haven’t tried it, and I don’t plan to find out.”
“Spoilsport,” he teased.
God, it felt good to laugh and to hear a familiar voice.
I missed home.
“How’s everythin’ back there?”
“All right, I guess. Chels isn’t mopin’, so that’s a good thing.”
When our friend Justin disappeared, he
left Chelsea, his wife, high and dry. She had to move in with Adam afterward. Adam could be a pain in the ass, but he had a good heart.
“So…” Adam drawled. “I know you, Sam, and you wouldn’t be callin’ if there wasn’t a reason, especially bein’ there, where you should be havin’ the time of your life. What’s wrong?”
I heaved a sigh. “God, Adam, I don’t know where to start.”
“Uh oh. That sounds ominous. Are you in some kind of trouble?”
“Not exactly.”
I chewed on my lip, not wanting to admit what happened. I was taking a risk by calling him. He could tell my brother and all hell would break lose, he’d never let me hear the end of it, or he’d be a good friend and be there for me. Sometimes, with Adam, you just never knew.
“Well, get to talkin’, sweet cheeks. I don’t have all day.”
“You know I hate it when you call me that,” I grouched.
“But you’ve got the sweetest cheeks around.”
“Can you be serious?!”
He huffed out a laugh. “You’re the one dallyin’, Sam.”
Shit.
He hit the nail on the head.
Hesitantly, I stated, “Fine. I…well… I need some advice.”
That earned me another chuckle.
“You need advice,” he repeated, disbelieving. “From me? No way. I don’t buy it. Has hell frozen over?”
“Shut up,” I snapped, my voice watery. “I’m serious.”
Oh, no.
I was close to tears again.
Something must have given away my looming meltdown because Adam’s voice came back soft and concerned. “Sam, honey, are you okay? Did somethin’ bad happen?”
That’s it.
I’m done for.
Adam being nice was the last straw, and I broke down, turning into a blubbering mess.
We’d always had a love-hate, brother-sister relationship. It was more in jest than anything. That was how we were together, like oil and vinegar. But Adam was never kind unless it was absolutely necessary or Mom or Dad told him to shut up.
“Samantha, I need you to calm down and tell me what happened,” Adam insisted, his voice steely. “Do I need to come out there? What’s wrong?”
Fated Bliss (The Bliss Series Book 2) Page 9