"I don't want to believe it either," I muttered. "But I've heard it more than once, from more than one guy."
I glanced down at my vodka in shock. Why was I saying all this? I didn't know Ben that well. Cam talked about him a lot when we were younger, in a passing way, so he didn't feel like a complete stranger. Plus there was the way he was looking at me—as though he wanted to hear anything and everything I had to say.
Ben shifted even closer, bringing my attention back to him. "People say things they don't mean when they're hurting. Don't take it to heart."
Heart? What did my heart have to do with the fact that my vagina was reminding me that it had been a while since I'd had sex? Holy crap, now I was thinking about that offer he'd made to have a little fun together. Dammit, how was I supposed to follow along in this conversation when my hormones were running amuck?
A light sheen of sweat broke out on my lower back and I drained the rest of my icy drink. Ben's eyes locked on my mouth when I licked a stray drop from my lips.
"Looks like you're out of vodka now," he commented.
"It seems I am." Shit, was I really doing this? Thinking of going home with a complete stranger?
I guess technically he wasn't since I'd heard Cam talk about the Murphy brothers for years since college. Ben was the wild one. The bad boy. But he "had a good heart" as she was so fond of saying. And Colette, Cam's mom, adored him. Always told me that he was like the son she never had, which drove J.J., her actual son, crazy. I loved it when that happened because J.J. was too much of a straight arrow anyway. Since high school he'd never stepped one toe out of line.
And I'd enjoyed his company at Colette and Malcolm's the other night. He was funny and intelligent. All three my ex-boyfriends had been smart but they hadn't made me laugh the way Ben had.
Ben leaned toward me, distracting me from my mental tangent, and I couldn't control the urge to mirror the gesture. His chest pressed against mine as he bent his head. "I have a bottle at my place. If you've thought about what I said the other night, I'd be happy to share it with you."
My brain reminded me this was a very bad idea, but my vagina, and nipples, decided that her opinion didn't count.
"I don't have my car," I stated. I'd called an honest-to-God Uber in this tiny town. The guy driving the car was ancient and we didn't exceed thirty miles per hour, but he was funny and sweet, telling me all about his wife on the ride here. I was also certain he was the only Uber driver in the area.
His lips brushed my ear when he asked, "Don't trust me to drive you home?"
Oh, I was definitely going to do this. The light touch of his mouth on the shell of my ear was enough to make my nipples tingle.
I shrugged. "Maybe you shouldn't trust me back at your place."
He nuzzled my ear. "Why don't you come have a drink with me and if you decide this isn't a good idea, I'll call Cam to come get you?"
I leaned back so I could see his face. "How about I call the old guy that drives an Uber and tell him to bring his forty-five?"
"Marty?" he asked.
I nodded. "He likes me and promised to shoot any man that looked at me wrong while I was here. And he may have mentioned that if he was forty years younger, he'd still be too old for me but that wouldn't stop him from chasing me anyway."
Ben chuckled. "Crazy coot."
"Hey, don't talk about my future boyfriend like that."
He outright laughed and more than one head turned our way. "So what's your decision?"
"One drink and we'll see how that goes. I'm still on the fence about your offer." It was a complete lie but he didn't need to know that.
Ben just smiled at me as though he could read my mind, but he didn't disagree with me aloud.
He tilted his chin toward the bartender, who happened to be nearby, cutting limes and doing a horrible job at pretending she wasn't eavesdropping.
"Put her tab on my card, Josey."
"She's paid up," Josey answered without looking up.
Ben fished his wallet out of his pocket and dropped a ten and couple ones on the counter. Hmmm, good tipper. That made me like him a little bit more.
"I'll pay cash tonight then."
Josey put down the paring knife, wiped her hands on a white towel, fished his credit card out of a small file box, and handed it to him. "Have a good night."
While Ben was busy tucking his card back into his wallet, Josey winked at me. "Come see me again, girl."
I nodded and rose when Ben backed enough for me to stand.
"See you next time," I said and let him lead me out of the bar.