I’ll give her some kids.
Oh shit, why did my mind go there?
“Why not?”
She looks up at me quickly. “No reason.” She points ahead of her. “Come on, let’s pick up the pace. If I’m going to be out here at the ass crack of dawn, I might as well get my heart rate up.”
I’d like to be the one to get her heart rate up but by doing something completely different. “Sure, let’s go. Then I’ll buy you a cup of coffee.”
“Great. Two laps, yes?” She arches her brow as she peers up at me.
“Two laps. Let’s go.”
Chapter Twenty
Alison
Why the hell did I tell him we needed to “pick up the pace”? That was stupid. I haven’t exercised in weeks. Sure, I walk all over the place in this city, but never at this pace. I’m about to tell him I can’t do it when he starts to slow. Panting, I point to the park bench to my right. “I—” Pant. “Need—” Pant. “To sit.”
“Me too.” He’s breathing hard, but not like me. “I’ve got to get my shit together. I nearly died walking up twenty-two flights of steps.”
That makes me laugh, and laughing isn’t easy when you can’t breathe. “You didn’t need to take the stairs,” I say, taking a seat on the bench.
Sitting next to me, he chuckles. “Our talk didn’t go well, and I didn’t feel like standing uncomfortably in the elevator with you.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
Waving me off, he smiles, “No worries. Water under the bridge.”
“You know, when I stopped into your office later that day, you did seem a little… well, sweaty.”
He must find that funny because he throws his head back and laughs, and it’s a wonderful sound. Deep and rich. “I was a fucking mess. I ditched my to-go lunch somewhere around the tenth or eleventh floor.”
“What?” I giggle. “Why?”
“Too weak to carry it another step.”
And that gets us both going. We laugh for so long and so hard, I forgot all about the fact that he’s the guy who grabs me on the street. Reaching out, I lean forward, still laughing, and place my hand on his. When he flips his over, our fingers intertwine and the laughing stops.
We stare at one another, but no words are spoken. Not for a long time. Not until Ben does the honors. “Coffee?”
“Sure.”
When he stands, he keeps hold of my hand and pulls me up. And in a shocking twist, he doesn’t let me go. So we walk hand in hand all the way to my favorite coffee shop on the corner. The one that sells The Vat.
“How have we never seen each other before now?” I ask, sipping my delicious coffee. I found out that this is his favorite coffee shop too, and the people behind the counter know both of us by name.
“No idea.” He smiles. “But believe me, if I’d seen you before the leg incident, I would have tried to talk to you.”
The leg incident. That seems so long ago.
I don’t know why, but I blush at his words. “Yeah?”
“Oh yeah.” He nods. “Like I said, you’re gorgeous. I’d have made a play.”
I blush harder, but for some reason, I find some courage deep down. “Are you making a play now?”
“Wow.” He laughs, leaning back in his chair. Pulling off his cap, he runs his fingers through his thick dark hair. He’s got great hair. It’s wavy and probably a tad too long, but that’s okay. I like it. “If you can’t tell, I’m really losing my touch.”
I smile at him and feel something I haven’t felt in a long, long time: excitement. I’m excited about coffee. I’m ecstatic it’s Friday. Well, I’ve always been a fan of Fridays. I’m delighted to be up at five in the morning—something that would have never delighted me before. And I’m beyond stoked to be sitting across from sexy Ben Schilling. So much so that I feel a little courageous, so I do something out of character, something spontaneous. Leaning forward, I reach out and take hold of the collar of Ben’s tee. I can see the shock on his face, but that quickly goes away. He moves closer to me until our faces are an inch apart. “What are you doing, Alison?”
“Making my own play.”
“Oh yeah?”
I don’t answer. Instead, I throw caution to the wind. Screw my job at GFH. Screw my insecurities. I’ll probably regret it later, but I lean in until our lips touch. His are warm and soft.
The kiss is short and very sweet. When I sit back in my chair, I do everything not to look at him. Regret hits me. Reaching out, I pick up my Vat and sip, staring down at the table.
“Alison?”
I look up at him and see a furrowed brow.
“What?”
His expression quickly changes, and a smile emerges. “Come on. Let me walk you home. I need to get my shower so I can get to Sky.”
“Oh, right.”
We gather our coffees and head for the exit. Outside the shop, I turn to him. “You don’t need to walk with me.”
“I want to.”
“Oh.” Turning right, I look back at him and point down the street. “I’m this way.”
“For future reference”—he points the opposite direction—“I’m that way.”
We walk in silence the two and a half blocks to my apartment building. When he sees where I live, he says, “I’ve walked by this building about a thousand times.”
Blinking up at him, I smile. “How have we never met?”
He shakes his head, “No idea.” He reaches out and pushes a loose strand of hair away from my face. “May I kiss you?” His voice is soft, gentle.
I can’t speak, so I just nod. While he looks into my eyes, I feel his hand slide to the side of my neck and into my hair.
I love that.
His thumb is resting on my jaw, and it’s slowly moving back and forth.
It feels good.
As he leans down, just a second before our lips touch, he gives me a small smile then says, “I’ve wanted to kiss you since the second I saw you.”
And bam. I’m a goner.
When he leans in closer, I know what to expect this time—or so I thought. This isn’t like the kiss at the coffee shop. This one starts soft like that one, but in a matter of seconds, our mouths are open and his tongue is seeking mine. It’s literally the hottest kiss of my life. I lean in and push up to my toes to get closer. There’s not one speck of space between us.
With one of his hands still in my hair, he wraps the other one across my back. I feel us move backward until I’m up against something hard. The door to my building, I’m guessing. I half expect him to grab my ass, but he doesn’t. Instead, the hand on my back moves up and down while his thumb is gently touching my chin and neck. All the while, I’ve got my arms wrapped so tight around his neck that I’m probably choking him.
When I hear knocking from somewhere, I pull my mouth from Ben’s. We’re staring at each other, both of us breathing hard.
“Someone’s trying to get out,” Ben says with a chuckle.
Turning my head, I see one of my neighbors. She’s glaring.