take her to task for it. “Try as I might, I couldn’t get him out of my mind, and found that I had to talk to him, so I reached out, and we’ve been together since. So yeah, maybe we’ve been dating for barely more than a month, and maybe that’s not a long time, but maybe it doesn’t always take a long time.” She inhaled, released it slowly, her tone gentling. “Life can change in a minute, an hour. Life can change the moment that you meet someone. Life doesn’t follow a set of rules, and when you find someone who’s worth you taking a fucking risk, you grab on tight.”
Ben was too stunned, too touched by her words to manage to do anything other than just stare at her in awe.
Her color was high.
Her eyes flashed with temper.
But her grip on his hand was gentle.
“For the record,” she continued, Claire having fallen silent, Baine, CJ, and Spence no doubt gaping very much like he was.
She had a heart of fire, a spine of steel, and had unleashed that for him.
For him.
“Ben was that for me.”
She turned, her gaze alighting on his, something warring within her gaze, as though she were trying to come to terms with a decision. Then she seemed to come to it, straightening her shoulders and saying softly, “I love you.”
Electricity shot down his spine.
But before he could recover, she stood. “Excuse me. I need to use the restroom.”
Then she took off across the restaurant, disappearing down the hall, and moving out of sight.
“I like her,” Claire breathed.
Baine grunted in agreement.
CJ and Spence didn’t say anything.
But Ben barely noticed. He was already on his feet, following her.
But she wasn’t in the bathroom.
Wasn’t in either of the two single stalls—a fact he knew because he’d actually checked in both, barging in front of a couple of people waiting and peering inside.
She definitely hadn’t come out of the hall, so the only logical place she could have disappeared through was the back door. He moved swiftly to it, pushing the steel panel wide and searching the dimly lit alley behind the restaurant.
Nothing.
Nothing.
There.
He moved to her. “Stef.”
She turned, blinked up at him, tears clinging to her lashes. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Your friends—”
“Are as in love with you as I am,” he interrupted swiftly. “Claire, especially, as it takes a rare person to both laugh at her stories and to shut her down when she goes too far.”
“I’m—”
“Stef, baby,” he said, tugging her against him. “I love you, but I swear to God, if you apologize one more time, I will not be held accountable for my actions.”
A chuckle bubbled up in the space between them. “Are those supposed to be sweet words?”
“No,” he said, and was relieved to see light enter her eyes. “But these are.” Lightly, he brushed back her hair, brushed a kiss over her forehead. “I look at your face and I’m stunned by your beauty, but the way you look here”—he ran a finger over her lips, her jaw, one eyebrow and then the other—“is nothing compared to the woman in here.” He placed a hand over her heart. “I’ve spent every night with you because I can’t stay away, because the moment I began talking to you, I felt like I was home again, like the sun was shining down on me, the clouds having finally, finally cleared.”
“Ben,” she whispered.
“I saw red lips and curves, was desperate to taste them both, but when I talked to you, when I held you, I knew a taste would never be enough. I want to spend an eternity with you, every night from now until they put me in the ground.”
A tear slid from her eye, and he brushed it away. “Ben,” she whispered again.
He loved the sound of his name on her tongue, hated the sight of her tears, even though these were of happiness. “Should I keep going?”
She laughed as he brushed more tears away, the joy in her stare taking his breath away. “God no, I can’t take it without turning into a complete watering pot.”
“All right,” he teased. “I’ll save them for when we’re in bed together.”
Her red lips twitched. “Okay.”
“Okay,” he repeated, sliding his hand up and down her back, not wanting to let her go, but knowing they couldn’t stand in this alley all night.
Stef seemed equally as reluctant, her arms wrapping around his waist, her breathing slow and deep. But eventually, she must have realized the same thing