by Edie Claire
“What is that?” Haley asked.
“My contribution to the trade of course,” he explained, dumping the contents onto her coffee table. “It’s mostly what the nieces and nephews didn’t want, but I did manage to steal some mini candy bars off of Mylah. She’s only two, so she wasn’t watching as closely.”
Haley laughed out loud at the assortment of colorful wrappers. In her first letter to him, she had suggested they trade Halloween candy.
“Wait a minute,” she said, rising. Once again, she was struck by the difficulty of such a simple action. It would be a very long third trimester. She crossed to her kitchen and located the bag of candy that Micah had supplied in case any trick-or-treaters bothered to scale her steps. As it turned out, Haley had worked too late to know. She ripped open the bag and poured a part of its contents onto her table.
“I’ll give you a Kit Kat for two Sprees and an Airhead,” he offered.
Haley scoffed. “Please. Who do you think you’re dealing with? I want the Kit Kat and a dark chocolate Milky Way.”
He scowled. “You drive a hard bargain, counselor.”
She smirked. “Well, duh.”
They haggled their way through their respective stashes, joking, laughing, and consuming so much of their booty in the process that Haley completely forgot she had never eaten dinner. When Ben mentioned that he had skipped dinner also, she quickly offered the entire contents of her fridge and was relieved when he agreed to eat in. She knew that inviting him to stay in her apartment overnight was like fanning an open flame, but she truly couldn’t help herself. They had less than thirty-six hours together. She refused to waste a moment of it.
When their dinners had been eaten and the dishes cleared away, Haley contented herself with sitting beside him on the couch and trying to catch up on everything they hadn’t put in their letters. He sat with one arm around her shoulders and she cuddled into his side, fighting a constant yearning to kiss him again.
The struggle was not an easy one. She was well aware that from a purely physical standpoint being seven months’ pregnant was no impediment to a good time, and her selfish side taunted her endlessly with a string of well maybe and but ifs. But in her more lucid moments, she knew that no matter what Ben might be willing to overlook or accommodate, she did not want that part of their relationship to begin until her body was her own again. It even occurred to her, with a sudden rush of anxiety, that he’d never even seen her natural figure, which was a good deal less curvy than when he’d met her in July.
No. If he was willing to wait, so could she. If they were going to start something, they were going to start it right, with all cards on the table and every possible factor stacked in their favor.
“Haley?” Ben asked, rousing her from yet another tortured reverie.
“Yes?” she asked, embarrassed at having drifted from the conversation.
“You’re falling asleep on me.”
“No! I’m—” she looked around to find herself lying horizontally across his lap with her head cradled in the crook of his arm. “Oh, wow,” she amended, blinking. “I guess I’m more tired than I thought.”
“Evidently,” he replied, his eyes dancing with amusement.
“What were you saying?” she asked, sitting up again. “I’m sorry.”
“I wasn’t saying anything. You were telling me about the dog you had when you were twelve. Then you said you were afraid to kiss me again and murmured something about a boob job.”
Her eyes widened. “I did not!”
He laughed out loud. “I assure you, you did. Care to share the background on that one?”
She forced herself to stand. “Hell, no. And if I fell asleep in your lap, it’s your own darn fault, Captain.” She smiled down at him warmly. “I can’t remember ever being more comfortable.”
He smiled back at her just as warmly. The room temperature rose. “Maybe you should get some sleep,” he suggested quietly. “We have a big day tomorrow.”
Excitement flickered through Haley’s still-drowsy mind. “Oh, we do, do we? And what might you have planned for us here in beautiful Newport Beach?”
He shook his head at her, pretending a sigh. “Really. You have to ask?” His eyes twinkled at her devilishly. “We’re going to see the whales.”
Chapter 26
Ben awoke to the sound of Haley’s front door opening. He sat up quickly, having no trouble shaking off the few cobwebs he had acquired. The couch was comfortable enough, but imagining Haley in bed on the other side of her door was hardly conducive to peaceful slumber.
He watched curiously as the front door was opened by a curvy, petite blond woman carrying a shopping bag over her arm. She entered without hesitation and was halfway to Haley’s kitchen before she noticed him on the couch. She jumped a little, then froze in place, staring at him.
Her blue eyes blinked. She was extremely pretty. A little like Haley, perhaps, but softer somehow, and less self-assured.
“Hello,” he said amiably, trying his best not to intimidate her. He was dressed in perfectly decent sweatpants and a tee shirt, but he’d been told by more than one woman that bedhead made him look like a serial killer. “You must be Micah.”
Her lips curved slowly into a smile. He caught a gleam in her eye that could only be described as catlike. “And you must be Ben.”
“That’s right,” he confirmed, rising. “It’s nice to meet you finally.” He shook her free hand.
“You too,” she agreed, still staring at him. “I’m so glad you’re here!”
He smiled back at her. She clearly meant that. “Thanks,” he responded.
Micah stared at him for another slightly too long, awkward moment, then carried her bag into the kitchen and began putting things away. “Is Haley still asleep?” she asked, keeping her voice low.
He nodded. There was no need for clumsy explanations; the sheets and blankets on the couch left no doubt that Haley had slept alone. “She seemed exhausted.”
Micah frowned. “She’s always exhausted, Ben. She works like a demon. She’s at the office twelve hours most days, and she usually works weekends, too. I made her swear to me she’d stick to a half-day today and then take Sunday off completely.”
Ben’s brow furrowed. He knew that Haley worked a heavy schedule. He had no idea it was that bad, particularly now. “She told me she was free today,” he said helplessly.
Micah looked relieved. “That’s fabulous. How long can you stay?”
He got the distinct feeling she wanted him to say forever. “Just till tomorrow morning.”
Micah frowned again. “Oh, I wish you could stay longer. She must have been so happy to see you!”
Ben had no response to that.
Micah giggled at him. “Don’t be modest. I know exactly how excited she was to see you.” She smiled her feline smile again. “Haley needs you in her life, Ben. Even more than she realizes.”
Ben struggled for something to say. He wasn’t comfortable sharing confidences about Haley with a person he’d just met, even if Micah was her twin.
“Considerately discreet, too,” she said after a moment. “I so totally approve.” She moved a step closer to him and put a hand on his arm. “If there’s ever anything I can do… to make things easier for the two of you, please let me know.” She dropped her hand and stepped away from him towards the door. “I’ll leave you alone. The longer Haley sleeps, the better.” She opened the door, then turned around again. “Whatever it is you’ve been doing to make my sister so happy, please just keep it up. Okay?” She winked at him, then disappeared.
Ben stood still a moment, staring after her. Was Haley really that bad a workaholic? It was difficult for him to picture. Granted, she had been chained to her phone the entire time she’d been on vacation in July, and she had left early. But when he remembered their time together, he pictured her reveling in the unhurried pace of Alaska and eager for impromptu adventure. Was he missing something?
Frowning, he moved into t
he kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. He noticed her phone charging on the counter and decided that its location was a good sign. At least she didn’t text until the wee hours, sleep with the device blinking at her bedside, then reach for it the second she woke. That way lay madness. Even as he looked at it, the phone made a buzzing noise and the screen lit up with an incoming message. He wasn’t trying to read it. He didn’t care. But one word leapt out at him.
Invitation: Stirjon group.
Mon Nov 3
10am – 11am Room 5B
from Bob Hardin
A viselike cold clamped around his chest.
Stirjon.
It wasn’t possible. It couldn’t mean what it seemed to mean. She couldn’t possibly—
I work for the bad guys.
“Good morning,” a cheerful voice called behind him.
Ben whirled to see Haley standing in the entrance to her kitchen. She was barefoot, wearing a fluffy cream-colored robe that she could only keep closed over her middle by holding the sides together with one hand. She wore no makeup and her eyes were puffy, but her shining hair had been brushed smooth and her face was bright with anticipation.
She looked beautiful.
“Good morning,” he returned hoarsely.
“Did I hear Micah out here, or was that a dream?” she asked.
He turned away from her. He fussed with the coffee machine and tried to regroup. “It was her. She dropped off some groceries, I think.”
“Well, that must have been… interesting. Sorry about that. I should have warned you, she’s used to letting herself in.”
“It was fine,” Ben said shortly, still looking away from her. He closed his eyes and focused on squelching his rising anger. He knew he had no right to be angry. Haley had told him what she did for a living; she was hardly obliged to provide him with a client list. She had no way of knowing that Stirjon would be such a hot button for him. He had only sent her the article a few days ago.
She moved closer to him. “What’s wrong, Ben?” she demanded. “And don’t tell me nothing. What is it? Did Micah say something?”
He shook his head and blew out a breath. The last thing he wanted to do today was get into an argument. He wanted their time together to be joyful and carefree — not strained and contentious. But there was no way around it now. All he could do was be honest with her.
“Are you working for Stirjon Chemicals, Haley?”
He watched as her eyes flooded with distress. Still, her tone was calm and measured. “They are a client of the firm’s, yes,” she answered. “And I am working on the case. In fact, I’m the lead associate. I got the article you sent, but I can’t talk about the case with you. I’m sorry.”
His anger spiked, and again he struggled to control it. How could she possibly sound so cool about this? “Twelve years ago, Stirjon Chemicals poisoned nearly every living thing in Puget Sound!” he said bitterly. “The effects are still being felt, particularly by the marine mammals!”
Haley shrank back ever so slightly. “I know that,” she replied.
Ben focused on breathing deeply, calming his tone of voice. But his passion on the topic ran deep. Despite years of litigation and mountains of evidence, the plaintiffs had bungled the case and Stirjon had gotten off with a slap on the wrist. He had only been a teenager when the first, horrific reports of what was happening hit the media, but the incident had been a prime motivating factor in his choice of college major and profession. He wasn’t cut out to be a lawyer, but he could damn well motivate people to care more deeply about marine wildlife.
“I know that none of that was your fault,” he said more calmly, trying to remember some of the approaches to the topic he had been practicing in his head. He did want to talk about the issue; if they were going to be more than friends she needed to understand how he felt about her job. He just hadn’t pictured it happening like this. “I’m not trying to make you responsible for it. I’m not implying that you’re responsible for whatever they’re doing now, either.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “But why, Haley?” he asked, Micah’s words still ringing painfully in his head. She works like a demon. “Why are you giving the greatest part of yourself — your energy, your talent, almost all of your time — to work for clients who…” he struggled to find the right words, words that would not insult her.
“Who are evil incarnate?” Haley finished for him, her tone defensive. “It’s not a matter of good versus evil, Ben. It’s business. Corporations hire my firm because in the long run, we save them money. Saving them money and doing what’s best for the environment are not mutually exclusive. I happen to believe that being environmentally responsible does save corporations money.”
Ben’s jaws clenched. He had heard that line before. “And what about those times when it doesn’t?” he argued.
Haley’s eyes flickered with annoyance. He had struck a nerve.
“You think I don’t understand how the system works, but I do,” he pressed. “I know that much of what you do personally is helpful to the environment. Maybe you even do more good than harm, in balance. But answer me this. If I’m getting ready to feed my nieces and nephews a nice meal of fish caught downriver from the Stirjon chemical factory, and I hear that Haley Olson is on the case, which side should I hope she’s on?”
Haley’s eyes flashed fire. She leaned back against the counter, her arms crossed stubbornly on top of Fred. “You haven’t been kidding about trying to turn me from the dark side, have you?”
His pulse quickened. “No.”
She straightened and faced him squarely. “If I had it to do all over again, I would be a plaintiff’s attorney, okay? But I can’t switch sides now. It’s a conflict of interest issue; it just isn’t done. I would have to start all over again in another area of specialization, which means I would lose everything!”
Her green eyes flashed again, and this time he was the one who felt like shrinking. She could certainly command a man’s respect when she wanted to, even standing barefoot in a bathrobe.
“You mean you’ve thought about it?” he asked thinly, surprised.
“Of course I’ve thought about it!” she shot back.
“Before or after I started harassing you?”
“Before,” she confirmed. “Although your efforts have been exceptionally annoying.”
Ben couldn’t help himself. He grinned at her. “I’m glad to hear that,” he said softly.
He watched as his response not only snuffed out the fire in Haley’s eyes, but replaced it with a liquid look of longing. She set her beautiful mouth firmly and growled beneath her breath. “I cannot debate with you when you look at me like that, Captain.”
Ben’s grin widened. “So don’t.” He didn’t stop to think, just acted on the ever-present impulse he wasn’t used to being able to act on. He reached out, pulled her close, and pressed his lips firmly over hers. She kissed him back fervently, her hands fumbling to pull him closer, drowning him in the satisfaction of knowing she wanted him as much as he wanted her. How much time passed, he didn’t know, but it took another ninja jab to the gut before he remembered exactly why he’d been resisting the ever-present impulse in the first place.
He released her and stepped back. “You win, counselor,” he said breathlessly. “I’ll suspend the campaign, at least for today. But only if I get first dibs on the shower.”
Haley smiled at him. She was breathing heavily herself, and her robe had started to gape at the neck. “Flip you for it,” she teased.
Ben averted his eyes and ran another hand through his grubby hair, which felt like it was sticking straight up from the top of his head. When Haley unexpectedly giggled, he was sure of it.
“I need it worse,” he countered.
In one sudden motion, Haley stepped forward on tiptoe, kissed him gently on the lips, then backed away again. “I concede. You may go first, Captain.”
Ben blinked at her dumbly, his body flushing with heat. It was a simple, a
ffectionate gesture. Yet it affected him, in some bizarre way, even more than the steamier session that had preceded it.
“I’ve always wanted to do that, you know,” she told him, her green eyes turning liquid again. “To be able to kiss you, just because.” Her robe was still gaping and her voice was like silk. “I’m liking this more-than-friends thing. I’m liking it very much.”
Ben said nothing else. He turned away from her and grabbed up his duffel bag.
It was time to take that shower.
Chapter 27
“Not a word about my real identity,” Ben ordered, pulling his mirror-lensed sunglasses down over his eyes like a secret agent. “I like to do these things incognito.”
Haley chuckled at him. In his light cargo pants and purple windproof jacket, he still looked every inch the boat captain, despite trading his skipper’s hat for a U.W. Huskies cap. The whale-watching boat was lightly loaded, carrying only a dozen passengers or so as it backed away from the dock and out into Newport Harbor. The couple sat in the stern on the second level, where Ben not-so-surreptitiously watched the captain through the windows to the bridge.
“Does he pass inspection?” Haley teased.
“That remains to be seen,” Ben said critically.
“First mammal! California sea lions,” Haley said brightly, pointing to a cluster of the giant animals lounging on the end of the dock. And another swimming in the harbor. And two more stretched out on the hull of a half-sunken sailboat. “Five points for me.”
Ben smirked at her. “You really want to take me on? Shall we include seabirds and fish?”
“On second thought,” Haley said smoothly, “Let’s just say you win.” She was so incredibly happy to be here, with him, out on the water on such a beautiful day, she would agree to just about anything. The morning might not have started out well, but even when it came to his issues with her job, she felt more at peace than before they had discussed it. Their differences were not insurmountable. They could work something out. God knew they both wanted it badly enough.