when a flash of pain slid through her eyes, and he was struggling to process it when she spoke again.
“I’ll go change.” A smile that was not normal, even based on the limited time he’d known her. “Let you get your shirt, so you can get out of here.”
If the smile wasn’t normal, then her tone was . . . peculiar.
Off.
Shut down.
And then she was gone, spinning and striding down the hall. The door to the bedroom clicked closed.
He looked at Fred. “What was that?”
The pooch just lay down by his food dish, head resting on his paws.
Ben didn’t have time to process the tone and smile any further because the bedroom door opened, and Stef came out in a pair of black leggings and a loose sweatshirt. Her eyes met his, and that smile made another appearance.
Silently, she handed him his shirt.
But she was obvious about not letting her fingers brush his, and as soon as she passed it to him, she turned away and went to the sink, starting to wash the dishes from the simple breakfast she’d made them.
A bagel.
Enough cream cheese to clog his arteries.
Delicious with a bit of spice, and he’d eaten the entire thing, along with two cups of coffee.
None of that, however, explained the change in Stef.
Still, he knew there weren’t that many dishes, so instead of storming over and demanding that she talk to him, he did what he might do if someone was trying to negotiate him out of a deal.
He waited.
Silently.
And eventually, she ran out of things to clean. Though, he had to give her credit; once the dishes ran out, she moved to wiping down the counter, the table, the sink, even the fridge, and inside its glass shelves.
She closed the fridge, turned around, and froze.
As though having expected him to be out the door.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
Another flash in her eyes before they flicked over his shoulder. “I’ll help you get your stuff together so you can go. Do you need a ride?”
“My car’s here,” he said, taking a step to the right to block her path when she would have slid by him.
“Okay, good. I’ll just get your keys.”
Wrong. Wrong.
This was so wrong.
He snagged her arm before she could disappear down that hall. “What is it?”
She tugged her arm free.
Fuck that. He scooped her up in his arms, carried her to the couch, and sat down with her in his lap.
“What are you doing?” she asked, squirming in his hold.
“What are you doing?” he retorted, tightening it. “Why are you freezing me out? Are you that mad about the dogs?”
“No, of course not,” she said, and her tone told him that was the truth.
But there was something else he’d missed, something he was going to get to the bottom of. So, while he wouldn’t hold a business rival on his lap, he would hold them accountable, at least until he understood the motivations that went into the process.
And that was the part he was severely missing.
The motivation for Stef shutting down.
Not the dogs. Not the argument. She seemed to be having as much fun bickering as he had . . . until he’d said . . . what?
He couldn’t pinpoint it.
She’d stopped squirming, going still on his lap, and Ben scrambled to tease out the answer to what he’d done.
He was no closer to the answer when she gave him a clue.
“Just go,” she whispered.
And he remembered her talking about her friends, the light and happiness . . . and the way she’d said, “How much I’m going to miss them when it’s over.”
Over.
When it’s over.
Not if it would end someday, but as though her friendships ending with them was a forgone conclusion.
And she’d come to the conclusion that he wanted things to be over.
Which couldn’t be further from the truth.
But they’d known each other for no time at all. How could he possibly convince her that he wanted to see where this went?
That he wanted her, hopefully forever.
“Stef,” he said. “I want to get to know you better, too.”
“Right.” A nod, her eyes meeting his just for a moment, but then they darted away again, drifted back down to her hands.
“You going anywhere today?”
Silence.
Then her lips pressed flat.
“Stef?”
“No,” she whispered.
“I’ll go take care of Sweetheart, drop her at my place, but I’m coming back.”
“Right,” she whispered again.
And he knew in that moment that words wouldn’t mean much to her.
That was okay. He would just have to show it to her.
Carefully, he set her on the