Chapter 10

Tessa woke up the next morning in bed next to Benson. At some point in the night, she’d scooted closer to him, and she found her head on his chest. She lifted it off him to see if he was awake and aware of what she’d done. She had no memory of cuddling up to him. When she stirred, it must have woken him because when she looked at him his eyes met hers.

A wide smile split across his face, and two dimples appeared. “Good morning, sleepyhead.” She sat there staring at him for a moment, mesmerized. He was such a gorgeous man. Better looking than anyone she’d envisioned herself with. And that body. She’d about fallen over when she opened the door to the bathroom last night and had found him shirtless. He was completely ripped. How was this guy her husband?

She held a hand over her mouth. “I probably have the worst morning breath.”

“You smell fine.” Her hair was right next to his face. “Actually, you smell pretty good,” he said.

Butterflies fluttered in her belly. She needed to get out of this bed before she did something she would regret later. She pulled back the covers and got out of bed. “I need to go to the bathroom.” When she’d barricaded herself in there and done her business, she washed her hands and brushed her teeth. She looked in the mirror. Her face looked flushed. You’d think she’d had a better night than she’d had, by the looks of her. She brushed through her hair and then stepped back into the room.

“We have a flight to catch,” Benson said. “Let’s grab some breakfast on the road before we get to the airport.”

“Sounds good to me. I’ll just take a shower after you’re done in the bathroom.” By the time they were both showered and dressed and they had their bags all packed up, their Uber had arrived.

“I’m surprised you didn’t get Ol’ Bessie dropped off so we could ride in her,” Tessa teased once they were sitting in the back seat and on their way.

“Oh, man! I should have thought of that.” Benson grinned at her. “To be honest, I thought you might not want to ride around in her. I’ve been told she stinks.”

“Is that why you always want to take my car places?”

“I don’t usually let girls ride in Bessie. I’ve learned from experience that women don’t always appreciate her as much as I do.”

“I wouldn’t mind taking a ride in Ol’ Bessie,” Tessa said. “She’s a famous pickup truck, after all. I would think it would be necessary as a rite of passage as your wife.”

“I suppose you have a good point there.” Benson grinned broadly. “We could take pictures and everything.”

“I bet your fans would love that.”

“Now you’re talking.”

“We should take a picture of this moment, and you can post it to your social media,” Tessa suggested.

“Look at you, getting on board with the plan.”

“The plan?” their driver asked.

Oops. Benson had almost blown their cover. “We have a plan to document every step of our honeymoon. We don’t want to forget anything.”

Benson threw her a grateful look.

She smiled back at him.

* * *

They arrivedthat evening at their resort. Tessa was blown away by how beautiful everything on the island was. The air was balmy and smelled sweet. She’d ended up falling asleep against Benson on the plane. She hadn’t meant to, but she had to admit that he felt nice. So far, everything had gone smoothly on their honeymoon, other than the room mix up the night before, but that had ended up working out to her advantage. It had been nice to wake up next to Benson. And he had been a perfect gentleman.

She didn’t know what the room arrangements were going to be at the resort, but she suspected it was a single king bed and no other options for sleeping. She wasn’t going to ask Benson to sleep on the floor for their honeymoon. But it was dangerous for her to let him sleep in her bed every night. She would have to find a way to get through it without letting her heart get involved.

She could do that, right?

“What’s on the agenda for the rest of the day?” she asked Benson as they rode to the resort in the back of a limo.

“We’re going to get checked in and grab some dinner. I thought it might be nice to go take a walk on the beach after that.”

“That sounds lovely,” Tessa said.

They pulled up to the resort, and they stepped out of the limo. Everything was posh and open to the air. “This is gorgeous,” Tessa said.