Ugh. What was he supposed to say to that?
“Be honest,” he prompted.
Oh well. If it was going to move this meeting along, he’d be honest. Go big or go home, right? Better for him to say exactly what he was looking for so there’d be no misunderstandings later.
“It’s uninspiring, Mr. Ramsey,” he began. “The art clashes in spots, the flow is awkward, and basically, there isn’t anything here I’d want to hang in my home.”
For a moment, Stewart Ramsey blinked at him. “Oh. Wow. I don’t think I was quite expecting that.”
Ben sighed. “Sorry. Maybe I could have been a little less blunt.”
“No,” he said immediately. “This is what I needed. For so long, I haven’t been able to figure out why things weren’t working, but no one would give me any advice. I really appreciate your bluntness.”
“You’re the first to say that,” Ben said with a small laugh.
Stewart let out a small sigh and then seemed to collect himself. “Okay. Tell me what you’d like to see here that would make you want to hold a show with me.”
They walked around the gallery as Ben mentioned removing the watercolors and suggested what kind of wall art and colors would complement his work. They made their way to a small back room that housed only two paintings.
One was of a house in the mountains.
The other was a house on the beach.
One was him. One was Darcy.
And just like that, the need to get in his truck and get to the airport was almost overwhelming. He pulled out his phone, looked at the clock, and saw that her plane wouldn’t be landing for almost two more hours, and he groaned.
“Everything all right?” Stewart asked.
Ben nodded.
Behind them, the chime over the front door rang out, and Stewart excused himself. Ben stayed where he was and studied the paintings some more.
“I always wondered if the beach was anything like it’s portrayed in pictures,” a soft voice said from behind him.
And Ben’s heart simply stopped.
“Portrayed how?” he asked softly, afraid to move.
“The sun is always shining, the sand looks pristine, and the sky is always this pink pastel color.”
“Personally, I’ve never seen that.”
“The sky or the pink?”
“The pink,” he replied. “My sky is pretty gray.”
“Seems about right.”
“For a little while, I thought I saw some pink, but then it went away.”
“Probably was forced to go away,” she said mildly. “Some places are naturally gray like that.”
“Mmm, maybe. But I’d be curious to see what all the fuss is about with the pink sky and the sand and all that.”
She was standing beside him, and it took everything he had in him to not reach for her. His curiosity got the better of him and had him waiting to see what she was doing here.
With a shrug, she said, “Last I checked, Washington isn’t known for its pink skies and white sand.”
“Maybe I’ve been thinking of branching out.”
She shrugged again. “Sure. Temporarily.”
And then he was done with the banter. “What are you doing here? I thought your flight wasn’t coming in for a few more hours.”
“I got an earlier flight.”
That totally took him by surprise. “Why didn’t you tell me? I would have picked you up. Hell, I would have slept at the damn airport if that’s what it took to get you to me sooner.”
“I know you would have.” She nodded, but her gaze stayed on the paintings. “But I wanted to surprise you. Oh, and I got a job.”
“A job?” he asked.
“Yup.”
“Where?”
“Here.”
They were talking like polite strangers. Surprise him? Yes, she’d managed that. Infuriate him? Um, yeah. That’s more like what he was feeling right now.
Now he was really done. Not only did he face her, but he gently grasped her by the shoulders and forced her to look at him. God, was she beautiful. That face, those eyes, everything about her just had him ready to drop to his knees.
“I don’t understand.”
“I’m going to be managing this gallery. At least temporarily. Stewart’s looking to sell it, and I’m here to help him get things in order and find the right buyer. But a few things have to happen before we can get started. I’ll need to figure out the commute and get a car and—”
He cut her off with a kiss.
Cupping her face in his hands, his lips covered hers, and for the first time in almost a month, Ben felt like he could finally breathe.
He could relax.
He could touch her.
And he could…
“I’ve been counting down the damn minutes until I could get to you,” he said, lifting his head.
Darcy looked up at him with mild disbelief.
“It’s true. My brothers left, and I haven’t been able to do a damn thing work-wise because all I could think about was you. I almost got on a flight to North Carolina yesterday to come and get you.”
“Get me?”
His hands were still on her face. “Yeah. Get you. You’re mine, Darcy Shaughnessy. You showed up on my doorstep and turned my entire life upside down, and now you’re stuck with me.”
She took a step away, out of his arms, and gave him a stern look. “Oh really? You think it’s just that easy? You just announce that you’re ready to come and get me, and I’m supposed to, what? Get all swoony?”
“Swoony?”
She crossed her arms and tapped her foot sassily. “It’s a word.”
Ben couldn’t help but laugh. He loved this—the banter, the teasing, the arguing…her. “Fine, it’s a word. Any other questions?”
“Tons.”
“Go for it,” he said with a smirk.
She gave him that sassy pose—arms crossed, hip cocked, and confident smile that he loved.
“Well, my plan was to walk in here and surprise you,” she replied. “Then I was going to talk to you about my ideas for the gallery.”
“And what are they?”
“I was thinking it would be the perfect location for you to set up a permanent display. It would be a place where you can showcase your art and other local artists—ones you approve of, of course. The space isn’t huge, but it does come with a private loft apartment upstairs that you can use when you’re in town for shows. That would cut down on commuting.”
He nodded in agreement, because they had already talked about some of that being his vision. The loft? That was a definite perk.
“And then I was going to invite you to dinner to talk more about it.”
“I see,” he said after taking a moment to consider her words.
“And at the end of the night, I was going to kiss you and ask you to take me home with you. Beg you to, actually.”
She was totally stealing his thunder.
He studied her for a long moment. “That’s not going to work for me.”
Her eyes, those big, beautiful green eyes, looked up at him and expressed her every emotion—disbelief, anger, sadness. “Oh.” She stepped away from him, and he watched as she slowly sank to the floor and hugged her legs to her chest.
He crouched in front of her and placed his hands on her knees. “Don’t get me wrong, I love your ideas for the gallery—this location is great, and other than it needing a major facelift, I think it has amazing potential.”
“But?” she prompted.
He let out a long-suffering sigh. “But it’s barely lunchtime, and I skipped breakfast. So if we can change dinner to lunch, I’d love to hear more about your plans for the gallery.”
The relief on her face was instantaneous, but she didn’t say anythin
g.
“And after we’re done talking business, we agreed that we have some other…business…to discuss. Personal business. I was going to tell you how much I missed you and need you in my life. Because without you, I have nothing. There’s no light, there’s no laughter, and”—he gave her a small smile—“everything’s gray.”
“Well,” she said, fighting her own smile. “You do live in a very gray region of the country.”
“I’d be willing to change that,” he said, his voice sounding firm and confident and hopeful.
“Ben,” she began, “you love your house. It’s been in your family forever. You said you’d never leave there.”
He shook his head. “I don’t want to get rid of the house—it’s too sentimental to me and my brothers. Mainly to me,” he quickly corrected. “But it’s a house. It’s not a home. At least, it’s not when you’re not with me. I want to be where you are, Darcy. I want to make a home someplace with you. Anywhere you want. I just…I need you.” Then he reached up and cupped her face again. “I love you.”
His thumbs caressed her cheeks. “I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought by letting you go, you’d go and pursue your dreams and finally experience the life you wanted to live. The last thing I wanted to do was hold you back.”
She shook her head but stayed quiet.
“And I would have held you back. Hell, I was holding myself back,” he admitted. “I didn’t realize how much I wasn’t living until you were gone.”
She sighed. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too, and I promise I’m done with all that. It’s not going to be easy, but I want to try. I really do. Will you help me? We can find a place closer to your family or anywhere you want. We’ll make it work where I could have a workshop, and we could build a life together. Will you be there with me to remind me that I need to get out of my own way and live and laugh and be happy?”
“Ben—”
“Because that’s what you do for me, Darcy. You do all that for me. And I’d like to think I do some of that for you too. That I make you laugh and smile and be happy. Not that you need me to do that—it’s just who you are. But I hope some of what I do makes a difference in your life for the better.”
And then she kissed him.
It was a kiss full of heat and promise, and if it were up to him, they’d never stop. But they were still in the back room of a gallery, and he had much bigger plans for them.
When she lifted her head, she sighed happily. “You do. You definitely do. You believe in me, and you encourage me in a way that no one else ever has. But if you ever push me away like that again, I will fight for you. I won’t let you do that to me—to us—ever again. So know this now, Benjamin Tanner—you’re stuck with me. I’m not going anywhere, and I’m going to love you and build a life with you, and we’re going to be ridiculously happy.”
She smiled and felt as if her world was righted when Ben smiled at her.
“There’s no one else in the world for me but you, Darcy Shaughnessy. No one.” He stood and pulled her to her feet.
And as soon as he got them home, he planned on proving it to her.
Repeatedly.
* * *
“Ben!” Darcy called out as she walked out of their bedroom.
It was New Year’s Eve, and it was snowing. Not that they had plans to go anywhere, but she knew he had come in from his workshop over an hour ago, and she hadn’t seen him since. Smoothing her hands over her dress, she went into the kitchen to check on their dinner. Ben had put their roast in the oven when he came in, and it smelled delicious. Peeking into the oven, she saw that it looked amazing too.
Everything else—their side dishes and appetizers—were all prepped and ready to go too. All she needed was her man.
Granted, she’d been in their en suite getting ready, but where would he have gone to? There was a bottle of wine on the counter that she had taken out earlier to go with their first course. She opened it and placed it back down on the counter to breathe. Calling out his name again, she walked around setting the table and getting candles lit. She dropped a spoon on the floor and bent over to pick it up.
That’s when she heard a sharp hiss behind her.
“Don’t move,” he ordered, his voice deep and commanding.
She was bent at the waist, and no doubt he had quite the view of what she had on under her dress.
“Ben—”
“Shh,” he said as he walked up behind her and put his hands on her hips. “Damn. This is almost better than the apron and stilettos fantasy.”
Shaking her head—which was hanging upside down—she laughed. “I can’t believe we haven’t fully done that one yet. Clearly, I have the shoes here now.”
“Baby, we have a lifetime of getting to that. But this? I am really enjoying it.”
“All the blood is rushing to my head.”
Rubbing up against her bottom made them both moan. “That looks like very skimpy underwear, Darce.”
“It is,” she agreed. “And if I don’t pass out, I’d be happy to show it to you properly.”
Laughing, Ben stepped back and helped her straighten. His eyes raked over her, and he let out another hiss of breath. “Darcy Shaughnessy, you take my breath away.”
She was wearing the dress she had bought with the girls back in November—the green strapless one with the beading. She struck a pose for him. “You like it?”
He shook his head. “I love it. It looks like it was made just for you.”
The compliment pleased her immensely.
Stepping in close to him, she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him softly on the lips. “Good. I was hoping you would. Maybe it’s silly to wear it when it’s just the two of us, but I thought since it was New Year’s Eve, we could dress up.” Then she noticed that Ben had showered—obviously in one of the other bathrooms—and was dressed casually in his usual attire of jeans and a flannel shirt. “Or I can change.”
“No,” he said and put a finger over her lips. “Give me a few minutes, and I’ll be back.” And without another word, he went into their bedroom and closed the door behind him.
Darcy thought that was a little odd but shrugged it off and went back to setting the table. When she was done, she stepped back and admired it. With the soft lighting overhead, the candlelight, and watching the snow fall through the giant window behind the table, it was perfect. Pleased with her handiwork, she went about putting their salads out and the fresh bread she’d baked earlier. Next came the stuffed mushrooms and the shrimp cocktails. The roast still had some time left, and they had decided on the assortment of appetizers to hold them over.
She startled when music began to play over the sound system. Turning, she saw Ben standing in their bedroom doorway wearing a suit. The sight of him simply floored her. She always knew he was handsome and sexy, but none of that prepared her for how devastating he’d look dressed up.
Slowly, he began to walk toward her, and between the dim lighting, the soft music, and him, Darcy almost felt light-headed. When he was in front of her, she let out a small sigh. “Damn.”
He smiled. “I clean up pretty nice, don’t I?”
She knew he was teasing, but unable to help herself, she ran her hands up over the lapels of his jacket to his shoulders and then looked up at the face that she loved most of all. “That you do. But I have to admit, I like you dirty too.”
He groaned and gently wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her close. “This coming from the girl in the barely there panties? I believe it.”
It would be so easy to just say the hell with the food and be dirty right there in the middle of the kitchen, but there was no rush. Time was finally on their side, and Darcy knew that not only did they have all night, but they had all the time in the world. She kissed him on the cheek. “Come on, let’s have something to eat.”
She stepped out of his arms and went to grab the bottle of wine she’d opened earlier to pour them each a glass. At the table, Ben held her chair out for her, and together, they sat and enjoyed the start of their celebration.
As they ate, they talked more about the possibility of buying the gallery in Seattle. Darcy would manage it and also work as Ben’s representative from this point forward. They talked about having their families come for the big grand opening—should they decide to do it—and how they’d deal with all that logistically.
They worked together to clean up and then reset the table for dinner. While they waited, Ben led her to the living room and asked her to dance with him.
It was perfect.
Who needed a night out in a loud and crowded restaurant when they could have this?
Swaying to the music, pressed together from head to toe, Darcy thought that life couldn’t possibly be more perfect than this. Ben’s body was so warm and hard and wonderful. He smelled so damn good, and she loved that he had gone along with her crazy idea of dressing up for a night at home.
“Darcy?” he murmured against her ear as he placed tiny kisses there.
“Hmm?”
“I love you.”
She smiled and kissed his cheek. “Mmm, I love you too.”
“I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the start of the new year than being here with you.”
“Me too.” And it was true. This was better than any party or anything else she could have imagined.
They continued to dance in silence for a few minutes, and then he spun her around and dipped her at the end of the song. She laughed with delight at the surprise move, and when they straightened, she saw something on his face that she was beginning to see more of lately—peace. Benjamin Tanner finally looked like a man who was at peace.
And she loved that for him.
“Actually,” he began, “I’m lying.”
Wait, what?
“Um, what?” she asked in confusion, leaning back from him slightly.
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