Our flight lands and he directs our driver to Santa Monica rather than my apartment. I抦 not sure which of us is more nervous about this big reveal. What could possibly be so awful about the interior of a home he抯 spent two years working on?
The car pulls up to the curb and we climb out. 揑t抯 not much to look at from the outside,?Ben warns, grabbing my bag from the trunk. I don抰 mention that I抳e driven by it a few thousand times梙e抯 seen enough of my psychotic side for one week.
We walk up the path, and with a deep breath, he unlocks the door and holds it open for me. I step inside卆nd freeze.
There are wide plank hardwood floors and white furniture, an exposed beam ceiling, a beaded chandelier. Toward the back of the house, in the kitchen, I see butcher block counters and an island painted navy blue.
I gasp. 揑t抯 exactly like my Pinterest board.?
揧eah,?he says. And he sounds ashamed, which is when I turn to him, confused for a moment, and then incredulous.
揑 didn抰 realize what I was doing at first,?he says softly. 揂nd by the time I did, I couldn抰 take it back, and I didn抰 figure it would matter. It seemed like you were never, ever going to give me the time of day.?
I brush at the tears running down my face as I laugh. 揟hat抯 so creepy. It抯 so much worse than I thought.?
揑 know, right??he asks. 揃ut卛magine how much more of our money you could blow on shoes if you lived here instead of your apartment.?
揙ur money??
He rests his hands on my hips. 揑 have waited for you, Gemma Charles, for two years. Every day of two fucking years. You don抰 really think I抦 letting you go after all that??
I smile like a pre-teen who just got asked out for the first time. It抯 so goofy I want to hide my face from him, but I don抰。 I just go up on my toes and press a single kiss to his mouth. 揊ine. But I don抰 really believe in marriage.?
He grins. 揝ure you don抰。？
EPILOGUE
FIVE MONTHS LATER
Ben appears in my office at noon, tapping his watch.
I glance up from my laptop. 揇id you need something??I ask.
He raises a single, stern brow. 揋emma, you promised.?
It抯 been eight months from that first night we were together in his office, and he抯 insisting we celebrate with a weekend away. Weekends off are hardly unusual for us桰 find myself putting work on hold at least once a month for one of Drew抯 lavish trips, which haven抰 abated at all even now that she is very, very pregnant. But this is different. It抯 just us this time, at his insistence.
He抯 also insisting the destination be a surprise, even though I hate surprises.
I grin. 揑 know. Give me five more minutes. I抦 trying to get Lola into that magnet school Victoria likes.?
His gaze softens. He抯 been with me to Victoria抯 a few times now, and even if she hadn抰 won Ben over, which she did, the kids would have. Phillip抯 drawings of 搈e and my friend Ben?now hang all over our refrigerator.
揊ive minutes, Gemma, and not a second more,?he warns, doing his best to look threatening.
I finish up my appeal of the school board抯 decision, send it off then bolt for the door, purse in hand. I smile at the sight of Ben standing there chatting with Terri, newly grateful he抯 making us do this. It抯 been at least forty-eight hours since I抳e gotten the chance to peel a suit off him, and that抯 forty-seven hours too long.
揇on抰 get her pregnant!?Terri shouts after us as we walk out. 揝he doesn抰 have time for that!?
Ben laughs under his breath. 揘o promises.?
I have no idea where we抮e going, though I know it won抰 be Fiji梩here just isn抰 time. Thanks to the attention we got from the Lawson case and our pre-existing clients, we have more work than we know what to do with. I just placed an ad for two more associates this morning and eventually we抣l get caught up卋ut it won抰 be today.
We pull out of the parking garage. I can see the Pacific Coast Highway from our new office, but he heads inland instead, up the 405.
揧ou抮e sure you want to go this way??I ask. I was hoping we抎 return to the cottage where we spent New Year抯 Eve, but this is definitely not moving us toward Santa Barbara.
He grins. 揧es, I抦 sure.?
揟here抯 nothing but woods up this way, though,?I tell him. 揙h, God. We抮e not camping, right??
He laughs. 揑 think I know you a little better than that, Princess. Stop asking questions.?
Eventually, he veers onto the 5 toward Bakersfield, which continues to be a direction I抦 not interested in exploring. I manage to hold my tongue until he cuts off onto a nameless side road.
揑 can抰 do it, Ben. I can抰 not ask. Where are we going? Because we抮e in the middle of fucking nowhere.?
His eyes cut to mine and return to the road. 揇o I need to define the word surprise for you??