She frowned at him. “That wouldn’t have killed you.”
“You said it would kill me if it came out.”
“That was your oxygen mask, not the IV.”
“We’re not even married yet and you’re already trying to kill me.”
She ran her fingers down his arm, unable to stop touching him. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
He grew somber. “It was the guy with the bat, wasn’t it? The short, stocky bastard.”
She nodded weakly, wincing as the moment haunted her again.
Ben sensed her discomfort and took her hand. “Thank you for being here. I’m sorry you had to go through this.”
She pressed his hand to her cheek. “Don’t you ever leave me like that again.”
The ghost of a smile curled the corner of his lips.
Brooke leaned in closer and lowered her voice. “Where did you go? Do you remember anything?”
He held her heavy gaze for a few seconds longer and then looked away. “The future.”
“The future?”
“We had our own shop.”
She inhaled sharply. “I knew you would get your own studio someday!”
His brow creased.
“What’s wrong?”
“For some reason we were wearing black aprons with hot pink lettering stenciled across them.”
She shrugged. “Maybe you finally came to your senses and let me decorate the place.”
“Hot pink never goes into a tattoo parlor, especially mine.”
She bit back a smile. “What else did you see?”
He sat up straighter and she helped him, fluffing his pillows behind him. “I saw us living a life I had only dreamed about before. We had our own house with a pool out back and two little ones running around the yard.”
“A boy and a girl?”
“Two boys.”
She laughed. “I’m outnumbered already.”
“We also had a wiener dog named Bolt and a German Sheppard we called Fred.”
Her hand rubbed his growling belly. “Sounds wonderful.”
“It was,” he said, staring at her through dreamy eyes. “Until the machines came.”
Her eyebrow went crooked. “Machines?”
“Programmed to wipe out the entire human race.”
She patted his arm and grabbed her purse. “Aw, that’s so sweet. Well, I should probably let the nurses know you’re awake and find out what you can eat. I’ll be right back.” She slung the purse onto her shoulder and crossed the room, walking on thin air.
“Fudge brownies.”
Brooke turned with her hand on the doorknob. “Huh?”
“I want fudge brownies.”
“Fudge brownies?”
Ben nodded rapidly.
“You don’t like fudge brownies.”
“I know, but I’m craving them for some reason. Bad.”
She sharpened her gaze. “Are you messing with me again? I can never tell when you’re being serious.”
“I know it sounds insane but I am totally serious.”
“Okay,” she replied slowly. “Let’s talk to the doctor first.”
“And chocolate chip cookies.”
She tilted her head to one side and planted one hand on a curvy hip. “Now I know you’re messing with me!”
“I’m not,” he said with a laugh. “Swear to God I’m craving sweets.”
“Sweets?”
“It’s the craziest damn thing.”
She snorted. “You’re the craziest damn thing.” Brooke opened the door and mouthed the words: I love you.
He mouthed them back and watched her turn to leave. “Hey!”
She caught the door with her foot.
“And some chocolate milk. Please.”
Brooke couldn’t stop a laugh and floated down the hallway to the nurses’ station on cloud nine, light as a feather, the flutter of humming birds tickling her stomach along the way.
Chapter Thirty-One
Two weeks later
When they returned to Ben’s apartment it was no longer his apartment. It was their apartment. The thought stole her breath, much like the first deep plunge down a clackety wooden rollercoaster. His things were hers and vice versa, lending a surreal quality to an already emotional day. Though short and sweet, the wedding at the Polk County Courthouse had drawn tears from their parents’ eyes. Unlike her sister, Brooke had always envisioned a small wedding with just their immediate family and that is exactly what she got. With Laura and Will, Evy and Richie, and Irene for witnesses, it had all been so perfect. The same went for the celebration dinner that followed shortly after at Exile Brewing Co, where the pints of Ruthie (their famous Munich Gold Lager) had flowed freely. It was a day she would never forget, one that would help push that terrible night in the snow a little further back in her mind.
Brooke dropped onto the couch with a sigh and kicked off her four inch red heels. “My feet are killing me,” she said, propping her feet up on the coffee table.
“I don’t know how people get up there and do that in front of an entire church packed with people,” Ben said, taking two wine glasses from a cabinet.
“Oh, I know! It’s like being in a play with zero acting experience.”
“All I could think about was the scene from that Sex and the City movie you keep making me watch.”
“I should start calling you Mr. Big.”
“Hey, if the shoe fits.” He came over and handed her a glass of wine. “Here you go, Mrs. Kramer.”
Her heart skipped a beat. She took the glass, unable to stop smiling. “Why thank you, Mr. Kramer.”
He sat down next to her and exhaled a longwinded breath. “Cheers.”
They clinked glasses and took a long sip.
Ben rubbed her hand. “Were you nervous?”
“Of course I was. Even though it was small it was still a big deal.”
“Yeah, I was, too.”
They took another lazy sip, staring at each other over the rim of their glasses.
Ben kicked his feet up next to hers and stretched an arm along the back of the couch. “I can’t believe you’re my wife now. That is so weird.”
“I can’t believe I fell for it. Now I’m trapped.”
“Ha-ha.”
“I also can’t believe Richie didn’t play sick and pull a no show.”
Ben laughed at this and stretched his back out against the couch, enjoying the first peaceful moment of an otherwise hectic day.
“Are you happy, baby?”
He twisted his torso to her. “You’ve made me happier than I’ve ever been before. By a million miles.”
Her eyes watered up again.
They set their glasses down and kissed gently at first with a passionate urgency pushing in from behind. Their heads tilted to and fro as he took her face in his hands. She gasped when he swept her up in his arms, laughing as he carried her into the bedroom. He set her down on the bed and took stock of her, a bulge already in his jeans.
“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
She shifted on the bed, bare legs spilling from a sun burnt orange dress with spaghetti straps and a wide belt accentuating her hips. “Get in here.”
He slid on top of her, tracing every inch of her face with his eyes before kissing her long and hard. Her hands roamed his strapping back, investigating every nook and cranny, desperate for more. Their breath came hot against their cheeks. She pulled his black dress shirt over his head without messing with the buttons. Her hands immediately sought out his chest, her skin against his. Ben hurriedly pulled the top of her dress down, exposing her breasts. His eyes ravished them for a few seconds before his hands and lips impatiently took their turn needling and nibbling.
Brooke wriggled beneath his magical touch, lightly running her fingers over the still fresh scar in his head. When she couldn’t take it anymore, she pushed him up and sinuously undid his belt and jeans, yanking them to his ankles with a longing growing hungrier
by the second. His massive hard-on bobbed in the air before her, taunting her, demanding her attention. She seized it and looked up, taking pleasure in the glimmer in his eyes as she gently stroked him. Ben tipped his head back and moaned when she quickened her pace and cupped his balls.
In a blinding flash, he jumped off the bed and removed his denim shackles before pushing her dress up over her hips. He dashed to the wall and flipped on the light, admiring her from head to toe, his cock twitching in the air.
She squinted at him. “What’re you doing?”
“I want to see you,” he replied, lowering the dimmer switch and closing in for the kill. He climbed over her and pushed her into the pillow, his mouth finding hers as he grinded his shaft against her wet lips below.
Brooke squirmed, his hardness sending voltage through her veins in hot flashes. When he slipped inside, she broke their kiss to gasp out loud. Ben went slow at first, easing into her with a tenderness that left her wanting more. She pulled her legs back and let him in, groaning loudly when he reached full depth. They stayed like that for a bit, him inside of her, softly nibbling lips in the dim bedroom light.
Then he pulled out and pushed back in, slow and steady. Brooke tilted her face to the side, burying half her face in the pillow as he picked up steam. Her nails left faint red marks on his back. Ben hovered above her and watched her face, thrusting harder and loving the way she responded. Brooke wrapped her legs around his back and squeezed, needing more and needing it now.
“I love you so much, baby.”
“I love you, too, Ben,” she whispered, her body already beginning to constrict with spasms.
He kissed her again and she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back. The bed began to shake. Her body shuddered with each heavenly thrust. They were floating above the bed now, lost in a cloud of perfect harmony.
“Oh, Ben,” Brooke moaned, locking her legs higher around his back.
He sensed her weakness and pushed himself up, giving in to their greedy wants and needs. Brooke’s arms and legs trembled like piano strings. She pushed against his chest as he gyrated faster, tightening her swollen lips around his rigid shaft.
“Oh my God!” She pressed her head into the pillow as hard as she could, hanging onto his bulging triceps for dear life.
Ben watched her face with each bone chilling thrust, burning it into his memory, never wanting to forget.
“Ben!”
His big hard cock took another gluttonous plunge, driving deep inside of her before withdrawing again.
Brooke set her jaw as he drove it back home, so wet now she thought she might explode.
He felt bigger than ever before and she didn’t know how much more she could possibly take. Skin slapped against skin, the room vibrating around her.
“Ben!” Her eyes fluttered up into her head like she might faint as a toe curling orgasm washed over her entire body. She dug her fingers into his arms and arched her back like she had just stepped on a live wire.
The look clenching her face made him lose what little control he had left. Ben exploded with a loud grunt that left him shuddering above her. Brooke watched him spill inside of her, using her legs to help him bury his throbbing shaft as deep as it would go. They locked eyes and struggled for breath, melting together into one. She pulled him to her and wrapped her arms around his neck. Time lost meaning and how much of it slipped by neither could know.
Ben rolled onto his side and exhaled a heavy breath, sweat glistening across his forehead.
She curled up next to him and ran a hand over his chest. “I think I could get used to being Mrs. Kramer.”
“Good,” he panted, wrapping an arm around her. “Because I already changed the mailbox.”
“You did?”
“I did.”
She toyed with his belly button. “Aw, that’s so sweet.”
Ben laughed and ran a hand down his face, exhaling another long breath. They held each other for a little while longer, no need for words. Their eyes did the talking for them, telling each other things that words could never do on their own
“So what do you wanna do now?”
“I don’t know. What do most married couples do now?”
His eyes pinched together as he considered it, his heart slowing its relentless beat. “Go to bed?”
She sat up and leaned against the headboard. “Let’s watch a movie.”
“Like what?” he asked, slipping out of bed.
“Hey, where’re you going?”
“To get some more of that wedding cake.”
“You’re going to be sick.”
“I’ll be fine.”
Brooke watched him disappear into the bathroom and laid a facepalm on her forehead with a loud smack. “What have I gotten myself into?”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Thanks to Hicks, Ben landed some work at Jimmy’s studio whenever the guys had a day off or went on vacation. Ben’s customers followed him, but a limited number of chairs prevented it from becoming much more than two or three days a week. So Ben got a part-time job at a bar around the corner and, month after month, he and Brooke scraped by, living paycheck to paycheck without dipping into their nest egg. Before she knew it, their one year anniversary had come and gone. It was bitter sweet. Sweet because they got along like soul mates - bitter because his dreams were fading further from reach with each day that passed. Ben did his best to hide it, a trait she admired in him, but she could see it in his eyes or hear it in his tone.
Despite managing to keep their nest egg from shrinking, they hadn’t added to it either. At one point, he wanted to use it for a down payment on a house but Brooke wouldn’t allow it. She insisted they stay positive and imagine his studio’s grand opening – the place packed with an enthusiastic crowd turned on to his mind-blowing skills through word of mouth alone. The months came and went and the picture grew darker, fuzzier around the edges, the idea beginning to rust.
Brooke was above the clouds now, figuratively and literally.
Then she was in them.
Mist streaked across her window as the plane descended into General Mitchell International Airport where Ben was waiting for her out front. He hadn’t even been gone a full week and she couldn’t wait to drop her carry-on and spring into his waiting arms, just like in a movie. This was it. The dream was finally within reach, and with his skills in a city the size of Milwaukee there was nothing stopping them now.
At first, she had hedged at the idea of leaving her family and friends. Leaving her home. However, Wisconsin’s small business tax credit changed that in a hurry. It was the only way this could work. And when Hick’s cousin, Jared, had come into a small inheritance and wanted to open a tattoo studio with Ben and Hicks, it could only be fate knocking at their door. She would not stand in the way of opportunity; instead, she opened the door and let it inside.
She wiped her palms on her jeans, her ears plugging with the change in cabin pressure. She tried clearing them with a manufactured yawn that didn’t work so she popped in some gum and started chewing. A baby cried a few rows back, sounding like it was a mile away. Her nerves were as jumpy as a cat’s tail in a mouse trap factory.
This was it.
This was their chance to pave their own way. A chance to provide for the family they often fantasized about. The one with two beautiful kids chasing their dogs around the lush backyard while Ben manned the grill and Brooke watched from a nearby chase.
A few nerve-wracking bumps and bangs later, the plane landed and finally came to a stop. She checked her watch and smiled. Not bad for a forty-five minute flight. Easy and direct. She could still visit her family and friends in Iowa. Even the five and a half hour drive wouldn’t be that bad. Brooke dug her phone out and turned it on, her head still in the clouds, the smell of airplane thick in the air.
This. Was. It.
Although she had no idea what she would do in Milwaukee – probably catering again – she could feel it in her gut. Ben’s moment to shine
had arrived and she would personally apply the wax. When her phone woke from its slumber she sent him a quick text.
Just landed. Can’t wait to smother you in kisses!
***
Just like she had imagined, she dropped her luggage and sprang into his arms, clinging to his neck as he twirled her through the air like a ballerina. He set her down and kissed her on the lips. Brooke’s foot rose into the air behind her like an old black and white photograph, a snapshot in time she would never forget.
“Gotta keep moving, folks!”
They broke their kiss and turned to the cop strolling past.
He pointed to the black carry-on. “No unattended bags.”
Ben snatched it up and threw it into the back of the F-150. They jumped inside and the air-conditioning felt good against Brooke’s skin.
“Do we look like terrorists?” she said, adjusting her wind-swept hair. “That bag was like two feet away.”
“Right?” he replied, navigating past two lines of taxis and glancing at her out the corner of his eye. “You look beautiful is what you look like.”
“Why thank you, muffin. You don’t look so bad yourself.” Her eyes danced across his short sleeve button down, the black sleeves strangling his biceps. The shirt went perfectly with his dark jeans and black Adidas. A coy grin took her lips by surprise.
“Can’t wait for you to see this place.”
“Where are Hicks and Jared?”
“We’ll catch up with them later.”
She reached over and took his hand, her stomach still feeling like it was flying through the air. A commercial airliner flew over them, blotting out the sun for a moment. “This is so exciting!”
“Isn’t it?”
“And it’s not even that far from home. That flight took less than an hour!”
“How awesome is that?”
They found the interstate and before long Lake Michigan stretched across the horizon, sun sparkles winking off its surface like millions of shiny diamonds.
“Wow, it’s so big!”
Ben glanced out her window at the majestic body of water. “Wait till you see the trail system that runs along it. You’re going to love it.”
Brooke & Ben: Before Fate Interrupted Page 25