them and I hadn't felt the icy fingers of fear grip me. Then I opened them again so I could meet his gaze when I said, "And I love you too, Ben."
"Is it that difficult to say?" he asked.
I shook my head. "I'm just not used to saying those words to anyone."
He pulled me down for a kiss. "Then maybe you should practice. We'll start with twice a day and work our way up from there."
I pinched his nipple in punishment, but he only laughed and rolled us so that I lay beneath him.
The floor was cold beneath my back and I hissed when my overheated skin pressed into it.
"That wasn't nice," I said, pouting a little.
"Let me make it up to you."
Then, he kissed me and I completely forgot about the floor.
At least until he lifted his head and looked down at me. The corners of his mouth curled slightly.
"So, since you're in love with me now, will you tell me about your tattoo?"
I laughed and pulled him down so that my mouth was right against his ear. "It says No secrets."
He pulled away and frowned. "That's it?"
I had to laugh again. "I can see that you're let down but you should consider whose secrets I'm referring to—mine or yours."
Ben dropped a little more of his weight on me and I grunted, which made him smirk. "I have nothing to hide from you, so I'm guessing those words apply to your secrets."
"When it comes to you, I have no secrets."
I hadn't intended the words as a declaration of love when I'd gotten them inked into my skin, but they were.
Our heart's desires, the things we craved but held so deeply inside of ourselves that we rarely admitted them aloud—those were the secrets worth sharing.
And when I gave my heart to Ben, I shared them with someone who would guard them fiercely and forever.
24
Two hours later, I was freshly showered, again, and my ass was planted on the countertop next to the stove in Ben's kitchen. He'd set me up there and given me a glass of water because my stomach started growling so loudly that I couldn't ignore it anymore.
And he made me spaghetti.
Watching him cook something for me just because I wanted it, well, it hit me right in the gut. I'd told him what I wanted and he made it happen.
And he'd been doing that for me since the beginning. I had missed the obvious because I was too scared of my own emotions to evaluate his actions.
His actions expressed his love for me just as effectively as his words.
My heartbeat stuttered in my chest when it hit me that I'd almost run away from this.
This man and his love were worth the risk. He was worth everything inside me.
Ben's voice pulled me out of my deep thoughts when he asked, "So what things are you good at that helped Cam and Brody?"
I blinked at him several times, my exhausted brain taking a moment to catch up with the question. Then, it clicked. "Oh, I'm good at finding information. Especially on the internet."
His hands paused in the process of opening a jar of tomato sauce. "What exactly does that mean?"
I tried to look innocent but knew I failed when he sighed.
"Please just tell me you didn't commit any felonies."
"Um...."
"Never mind. Am I going to have to hide you from the feds?"
I shook my head. No way. I'd covered my tracks well enough. I hadn't stolen anything or messed with her information. I'd just looked at it, printed out things I thought would be helpful, and snuck back out. Though once I saw how much Brody was paying her every month, I was seriously tempted to drain her bank account and donate the proceeds to a shelter or food bank, but I figured she would need the money once Brody was through with her. Even if she didn't deserve it, she was Jacks' mom and I loved that little girl. I didn't want to do anything to make Jacks' life any more difficult than it already was. And considering some of the things I'd found out about her mom...well, she definitely had it rough when she wasn't with her dad.
Ben studied me with narrowed eyes before he finally dumped the sauce in a pan and turned on the burner beneath it. "Let me know if that changes."
I grinned at him, which made him sigh. "You're dying to know what I found out, aren't you?"