Page 40 of Welcome to Forever
“With plants, yeah. Anything green. I just wish I had the same touch with Ben. Sometimes I see him struggling and I feel so helpless.” He motioned toward one of the benches that lined the paths and they sat.
She felt immediately warmer with his body shielding the wind. “I don’t think growing up is supposed to be easy. That’s why kids have parents to help them through it, and I know you do that for Ben.”
“Yeah, well I try, but Ben only has one parent at the moment.” His lips compressed into a hard line.
“Where’s Ben’s mom?” she asked, hoping she wasn’t prying too much.
Looking down at his hands in his lap, he blew out a long breath. “In Afghanistan right about now. She volunteered for another deployment. Sometimes I think she loves those soldiers more than she does her own son.”
“I doubt that’s true.”
He looked at her. “Would you leave that boy on purpose? I wouldn’t. Jessica grew up in foster care. She never had that sense of family. I guess that’s part of the reason why.” He sighed heavily. “It’s hard on Ben. It doesn’t help, either, that he’s different from the other kids.”
“Sounds tough.” Unable to help herself, she reached over and squeezed his hand gently, urging him on.
“I’m not trying to be a downer. Never discuss your ex on a date. Isn’t that the number-one rule in the book of dating?”
Kat sucked in a breath at the mention of the d-word, pulling her hand back to her own lap.
“Not that this is a date,” he corrected.
“Right. It’s not.” She hadn’t woken this morning expecting that she’d be spending her night walking around with Micah through the most magical gardens she’d ever seen. Dates were planned. This wasn’t.
He held her gaze for a long, pulse-igniting beat. “It just feels like one,” he said, his voice low, meant only for her.
She couldn’t argue his point. It did feel like a date. She was wearing his jacket, and he was sitting so close to her right now that their legs were brushing up against each other. She swallowed. If she didn’t look away at this very moment, he’d probably kiss her. And secluded on their bench with no one else around, no one would have to know.
She kept her eyes locked on his. They were magic eyes, with a myriad of browns mixing together, light and dark.
Then his body leaned in slowly as if to tell her a secret. And yeah, she really, really wanted to hear that secret. Her heart pounded in her chest as he moved even closer. So close she could barely think, barely breathe. Then her eyes started to close. She’d worry about the consequences of kissing Micah tomorrow. Tonight, she didn’t want to worry. She just wanted to kiss this man until her entire body melted into one big, feel-good puddle.
When nothing happened, her eyes fluttered back open. He was watching her with a large grin stretching along his face. It was a good face, she decided. One she could stare at for a very long time.
“What?” she asked, her chest rising and falling as if she’d just sprinted across the parking lot.Why the heck wasn’t he kissing her right about now?
“Just checking,” he said. Then he leaned in and kissed her.
She moaned softly as his tongue touched her outer lip, and then reached inside her mouth. His hands moved up her shoulders, pulling her gently to him. Bracing both hands on his chest to keep from falling into him, she kissed him back, and it felt good—too good.
After a long moment, the kiss slowed like a ride at an amusement park. She half-expected her hair to be up in the air, a huge mess from their roller-coaster kiss.
“What were you checking?” she asked when she had words to speak again.
“If you were ready for me.” He smiled. “IfIwas ready for you.”
“And?”
He kissed her lips again, more softly this time. “And I’m still not sure.”
—
It was almost midnight before Micah left the gardens. After walking Kat to her car at the close of the exhibit, he’d returned to help with cleanup. Now, he blinked through heavy lids as he drove home, unable to keep his mind on anything other than the woman who’d been on his arm all night.
What was he getting himself into? He was supposed to be focusing on Ben. That’s what he’d decided after his brief thing with Nicole. Ben needed one hundred percent of his attention, and that left no room for a relationship.
So why had he kissed Kat tonight?
Because she was beautiful. That’s why. Not just that, but funny, too. And smart. And she was incredible with Ben and the other kids. She was great—which left him with a choice. He could either pretend like nothing had happened tonight, or he could entertain letting someone else into his and Ben’s life.
