Crossing Hathaway

by Adams, Jocelyn

  I couldn’t hold his gaze. A nervous snicker burst out. “I’ve made it kind of easy for you. I’m sure it’s not every day you find an employee dry humping a chair in your office or so completely useless with chopsticks the food ends up on the wrong side of the table.”

  His laugh came from deep in his chest, notes from a bass drum that vibrated along my spine and tickled my nerve endings. He slipped his hands over mine, momentarily lighting me on fire. “That’s part of what endeared you to me, but I hope you know it’s much more than that.”

  I frowned and sat back, warning bells going off in my head. “You barely know me. And you’ve only seen me act like an idiot. I can’t be around you for five seconds without saying or doing something completely asinine.”

  “All I see is a genuine, lovely woman who I trust to tell me what’s on her mind instead of making me guess. One who isn’t daunted by my bullheadedness, who thinks I’m beautiful. And now that I’ve seen you in a dress, I must confess that I’m a leg man.” He winked and went back to the oven. “Why don’t you find a seat in the dining room? The bruschetta is almost ready.”

  He … trusted me? If I waited until after dinner to tell him about Richard, would he consider that a lie? Would he be mad at me for waiting two days to tell him? I couldn’t take the chance. I wouldn’t. “I need to tell you something, and you’re not going to like it.” The words came blurting out, all mushed together.

  Ben stopped midbend to open the oven. His gaze darted to me and dropped to the floor before he walked around the counter. “I thought you were going to give me four dates to show you who I am.” Mouth held tight, he shoved his fingers through his hair and tossed up his hand. “This is me, the real me, not the asshole who sent you on a wild hunt for coffee in the middle of a torrential downpour. I want you to know the real me.”

  The wilted slant to his shoulders and sadness in his voice stuck daggers in my heart. I put my hand on his cheek. “It’s not that, Ben. It’s Richard. He found Brent and I at the mall a few nights ago and told me to give you a message.”

  Ben looked me up and down, took my face in his hands. He spoke through clenched teeth. “Did he hurt you?”

  “No.” I covered his hands with mine and held them in place. “He just scared me a bit. Brent more than me, I think.”

  “Why didn’t you call me right then?” Growling, he turned and pressed his palms against his eyes. “He’s dangerous, Evangeline! I thought after meeting him you would understand that without me telling you.”

  “I’m sorry. I thought—I guess somewhere behind my denial I thought we could … I don’t know … maybe have a good time together tonight and I’d tell you before I went home. But then, what you just said about trusting me…” A sigh heaved out of my chest. “A lot of people have lied to me lately, and I know how it feels to be duped so I won’t be one of those people. I will never lie to you, Ben.”

  He shook his head, dropped his arms to his sides. His tone fell an octave lower, lifeless and hopeless. “I’ve been so stupid. When he saw you that day—I should have known he’d do this. I should never have asked you here.” Completely shut down, cold, he grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the door.

  I pried his hand off and moved away. “I know he’s hurt you before. That’s why you shut yourself away, isn’t it? Not because of your dad, or your passion for the business, but because you didn’t want to give Richard anyone to use against you again.”

  “You need to leave now. I can’t do this.” He wouldn’t look at me.

  “So that’s it?” I wanted to scream, to throw fists, but I had a hard time even drawing in air. “He wins? I let my dad’s cruelty rule my life, Ben, and I’ve been miserable, just as I think you are. We can figure this out.”

  “You don’t know him.” The sharpness of his words sliced at me.

  “It doesn’t matter. I can help you figure out how to get him out of your life.”

  Ben jammed a finger at me. “No! I won’t let you get involved in this.”

  “It’s too late for that. Even if you throw me out on my ass right now, he’s still going to come after me. You know that. If you want the truth…” I sighed, the full weight of my heart settling on me. I edged closer. “I don’t want to be alone anymore. I’m more afraid of walking away from you right now then I am of anything Richard can do to me, whether it’s rational or not. There, I said it. I didn’t want to fall for you. I fought it tooth and nail, but I think I jumped off that cliff the first day you took your damn shirt off, and I’ve been falling ever since.” My fingers reached out for him, but the set of his jaw and the rigidity of his arms held ramrod straight at his sides made me stop. “I know when I eventually hit bottom, it’ll hurt like hell. But right this moment, I don’t care.”

  Silence. Expression shut down, hard, he angled his face away.

  “Really?” I threw up my hands, pain gripping my chest. “You basically threatened sexual blackmail to get me here, and you have nothing to say now? What am I to you, Ben? Just another game? A meaningless conquest?” I choked back tears at his continued silence. “That’s just great. I guess my first instincts about you were right on the money. You’re just like all the rest of the idiot men in my life. Have a nice existence up here in your fishbowl, you dick.”

  I whipped open the door, ran out of his apartment and down the stairs, tears stinging my eyes. Only a moment passed before his footfalls pounded the stairs and the carpet behind me. As I grabbed the handle to get out, his hands came from behind me and slammed the door shut. A hand on my shoulder, he whirled me around to face him and pressed me against the door. His lips crushed against mine with an almost panicked urgency. Hot. Needy. All consuming. I stiffened, trying to hold on to my anger, but it melted in the heat of his mouth, in the softness of his tongue against mine, in the strength of his arms around me.

  “I’m sorry,” he said against my lips, then moved back until I could see him without going cross-eyed. “If I was stronger I’d let you go, but I’m not. I can’t watch you walk away from me again. When you ran out the other day it just about killed me.” A weak smile picked up one corner of his lips, but it held sadness. “You’re right about me. I’m a coward, always have been, and I hate anyone to know it. I tried not to care about you. Hell knows how hard I tried to push you away, and you kept coming back. But I don’t know how to protect you from him.”

  I put my fingers against his lips. “We’ll figure it out, now shut up.” I brushed his upper lip with mine, drawing a moan from him. Came in a second time, deeper. He leaned toward me, but I held his face in my hands, keeping my lips just out of reach. With a fingertip, I traced his bottom lip, watching the path of my touch, fascinated by the tinge of fear tightening his features.

  Through a sigh, he drew my finger into his mouth, cradled his tongue around it, and sucked. My breath came faster, stumbling, ragged. I withdrew my finger and gave him my lips, exploring his sweet mouth.

  Trembling under my touch, Ben, with his hands on my waist, hiked me farther up the door. I wrapped my legs around his hips, a thrill from the sudden exposure coursing through my abdomen. Staring at the heat in his striking deep forest eyes, I marveled at the softness of his curls, kissed his temple.

  His warm hands slid along the underside of my legs until they reached the top of my hose, spreading and kneading. He hesitated, uttered a dark chuckle. “What are you wearing under there?”

  I ripped the top of his shirt open, sending the top button flying, and slid my hands along the swell of his shoulders. “If you want to find out then you need to shut the fuck up and kiss me.”

  A naughty grin bowed his lips as he pulled me away from the door, backed us up, and fell onto one of the leather sofas with me straddling his lap. “Your command is my pleasure.”

  He pulled my knees forward, pressing my throbbing, tender bits against the hard lump that filled out the front of his pants. Lost in what I wanted, what I needed, I couldn’t think about anything other than getting closer. With shakin
g hands, I pulled his shirt out of his pants. No amount of skin I touched sated my hunger. My breath quickened as I explored the rise and fall of his chest, the thick ropes of muscle in his back, and licked a wet line along his throat. Overwhelmed by his scent, I ground my hips on him.

  Small sounds of want trickled from his throat, and his fingers fumbled at the back of my dress until it slackened in the front. He fed at my lips as he peeled the silk and straps of my blue lace bra down my arms, trapping them at my sides. Somehow, being confined by him heightened the need, filled me with fire everywhere he touched.

  Ben looped one arm behind my back and used his other hand to tilt my head so he could place gentle kisses along my throat. “Mmm, you smell so good.”

  I arched my back to extend his access, shivered as he released my breasts from their confinement and brought one to his waiting mouth. He bit down enough to make me cry out, dancing on the fine line between pleasure and pain. With a quick snap of his fingers, he unfastened the latch on my bra, releasing me. I slipped my arms out of my dress sleeves, tangled my fingers into his hair as his tongue lapped and flicked my nipples until he had their full attention.

  My entire body became one raw nerve ending, and his slightest touch sent ripples of pleasure south to the twitching nub of need between my thighs. “Please, Ben. Please, please, please.”

  “Tell me what you want.” His words came out in a breathless whisper. “I want there to be no misunderstandings between us. I need to know you want this, with me.”

  My mind had turned into a primal creature, one of pure desire and instinct. I couldn’t understand what he was asking, why he didn’t give me what I wanted. “Touch me, Ben. Please. I need you. Only you.”

  A growl of satisfaction rumbled from his lips as he yanked me closer until my breasts pressed against his bare chest and all of my weight landed on my knees. “Watch me,” he said. “I want to see your face as I touch you.”

  I obeyed, locking my gaze onto his, jittering as his hands slid under my skirt. He squeezed my ass, kneaded, opening me up a little more. With one hand, he slid my lace thong aside. I spread my legs a little farther, tilting my hips back as his fingers slid over my ass and between my slick folds.

  I gasped, whimpered. My body collapsed, but he held me to him with his free arm.

  “Oh God.” Nuzzling my throat, he swallowed hard. “You’re so wet.”

  The pressure mounted so fast my vision blurred. “Wait.” I reached down to stay his hand.

  “What’s wrong?” He stiffened and leaned back. “Am I not doing it how you like?”

  “It’s not that. It’s just … nobody has ever given me … you know. I mean, I’ve had one, just not while anyone watched. I feel kind of …I don’t know … weird.”

  “Whatever happens, it’s okay. A man’s greatest pleasure is to know he pleases his lady.” His teeth found my jaw, nibbling a burning path along it. “Let it happen, Evangeline. Give yourself to me.”

  I gave only a moment’s hesitation before I melted against him again. His fingers circled my swollen center with a gentle touch, yet the power it evoked built like a sun about to go nova. Unable to stay the urge, I rocked my hips against his hand, panting, holding his gaze. “You’re going to make me come, Ben. Oh God.”

  My body seized and shudders rippled out from my center. I screamed my pleasure as my body bucked. Ben held me tight, his fingers relentless until I begged him to stop. My lips sought out his, my tongue plunged in deep. Wearing a wolfish, very satisfied grin, he pulled my dress off over my head, his eyes reflecting an emotion I didn’t understand. Peace, maybe. Some sort of deep joy. Hunger.

  “When you give yourself over, you truly do. No thought, no reservation, just pure ecstasy.”

  In a lightning-quick move, he flipped me onto the sofa and lowered himself between my legs. “I want to see that look on your face while I’m inside you.” He ate my response with a long, deep kiss.

  When he allowed me up for air, I breathed, “Yes,” against his lips. While he tugged at his belt, I unzipped him.

  A whiff of something acrid wrinkled my nose. Smoke. I stopped and looked around the office. “Do you smell something?”

  The smoke alarm shouted in a shrill tone from his apartment.

  “Fuck!” Ben said as he jumped up, struggling with his pants. “The bruschetta!”

  He bounded up the stairs, his pants hanging around his hips.

  Half numb and half full of unspent giggles, I slumped back on the sofa, damp with sweat. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”

  I gathered up my dress and bra and followed after him, wearing nothing but a grin, a thong, the hose, and my shoes. The clock on the wall read quarter to eight. Great. How pathetic was I? I didn’t even keep the dress on for a whole freakin’ hour. I could imagine Brent’s glee when I handed him seventy bucks on Monday. With little aftershocks sending glorious tremors through me, I had to admit I didn’t much care.

  Chapter 12

  As I climbed the stairs, a waft of burned toast slammed into me. By the time I made it through the door to Ben’s apartment, the acrid scent mixed with gray smoke. I coughed and waved a hand in front of my face.

  Ben stood in the kitchen, his pants pooled around his ankles. Muttering obscenities, he flapped his arms in a frantic motion above his head, fanning the blaring smoke alarm with a towel. Two charred logs, the bruschetta I presumed, smoldered on the counter.

  A laugh erupted past my lips, doubling me over. Ben’s sudden pause and wilt of his shoulders tightened my chest. I pressed my lips together to prevent any lingering giggles from escaping.

  Damn. He heard me over the racket?

  After ditching my clothes on his chair, I ducked into the kitchen. “Why do you look so upset?” I had to shout over the alarm. “I can help you make more.”

  The alarm relented, but left a steady hum in my ears.

  After pulling up his pants, Ben buckled his belt and leaned his hands against the counter with his back to me. “I just … I wanted tonight to be perfect. I have a lot to make up for.”

  “Ben…” I moved beside him, stroked the back of his hair. “I’m not sure what you imagine when you say perfect, but tonight has been pretty close for me.” I smiled and bit my lip as snippets of his touch filtered through my mind. “You just totally rocked my world.”

  He turned enough to glance at me. “But I tried to throw you out and you hadn’t even been here for ten minutes. Not to mention I ruined our supper.”

  “You just gave me the best laugh I’ve had in years so suck it up and stop pouting. Not to mention the gigantic ‘O’ that’s still making me all twitchy.” I should have felt uncomfortable standing before him practically naked, but I didn’t.

  His sulk broke into a chuckle. “Always so blunt.” Lighter, the hunch of his shoulders lowering, he tucked my hair behind my ear and touched his lips to mine. “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For making this so easy for me.”

  I snorted. “Yeah. Easy is one word for it. I just gave up the goods to my boss. In his office. I mean, who has sex on their first date? Cam would have a total freakin’ cow.”

  Gaze dreamy, Ben slipped his arms around my waist and pulled me close. “But we haven’t had sex.” His whisper washed across my ear, sending a zing along my throat and into my belly. “Yet.”

  With a tremor rattling through me, I sucked in a breath that stalled for a moment. Molding my body to his, I tickled my fingers down his chest. An electric current trickled through me, running along a hot nerve to my southern hemisphere.

  “The sauce is a little burned, but I did manage to save dessert. Why don’t we go into the den by the fire, enjoy some wine and tiramisu?”

  “Mmm, I love tiramisu.” I leaned back and raised an eyebrow. “Please don’t tell me you made that too.”

  He beamed. “Another of Grandma’s secret recipes.”

  “God, you make me feel so useless. The most complicated thing I’ve ever made is Kr
aft cheese and macaroni, the kind you make on the stove with milk and butter.”

  Ben whirled, buried his face in the fridge, and emerged with a cake that could easily have been professionally made with the uniform position of the finger cookies around the outside. “That settles it then. Our next date, we’ll cook together, anything you like.”

  I chewed on my thumbnail. “You really want me to come again?”

  He belted out a laugh. “Hell yes. Preferably multiple times.”

  Rolling my eyes, I said, “Oh, jeez. I guess I walked into that one.” I opened one of the cupboard doors, suddenly conscious of my bare breasts. “Where are your plates?”

  “To your left. I’ll bring the wine if you grab forks and a knife.” Smiling, he left the kitchen.

  After collecting my items, I went in search of Ben. He wasn’t in the main room, so I walked down the only hallway leading away from the kitchen. The dulcet tones of Kings of Leon heightened in volume, leading me to a doorway at the end.

  Stretched out like a lazy cat, Ben sat on a suede sofa in front of a giant stone fireplace that dominated one wall, the only source of light besides a few flickering candles along the mantle. I set the plates and forks on a glass table in the corner and sat beside him.

  “This is cozy.” I kissed his cheek.

  “A few days ago, I would have disagreed with you. This room has always seemed as cold as all the others, but now…” Those intense eyes pinned me to the cushion. “Now, with you here with me, it feels like home.”

  It felt as if a nuclear flash lit up my cheeks. I imagined their glowing redness would have powered a small city. A smile I couldn’t erase stretched my lips to their maximum. “If someone had told me a few days ago that I’d be sitting here with you, having a great time and that you were charming and sweet under your mask, I’d have called the loony bin to have them taken away.” I wondered if someone needed to do the same to me.