Page 104 of Dearest Protector

Oh, dear God.

I blinked, taking in his muscular body once he’d opened the door.

He was wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants.

His upper body was completely bare, and I salivated as I took in every muscle and dip beneath that huge expanse of bare skin.

Ben was breathtakingly gorgeous. Always.

He looked like he’d just rolled out of bed, which I personally thought was a really hot look on him. Then again, when did this mannotlook smoking hot?

“Ariel?” Ben questioned with a frown. “What in the hell are you doing here? What’s wrong?”

“I decided I needed to tell you that thing that I told you I wanted to tell you in person,” I babbled, still dazed by all of that bare skin as I stayed glued to his doormat. “I’m not going to stay long.”

He reached out and pulled me gently into the house, closing the door behind us. “Please tell me you didn’t walk here,” he said gruffly.

I shook my head. “I didn’t. Your security guys brought me. They’re waiting out front.”

“Thank fuck!” he cursed as he stared at me. “Are you wearing your pajamas?”

“Yes. I wanted to cover them up. I wasn’t all that comfortable hopping into the car without a bathrobe,” I explained.

“It’s not that I’m not happy to see you,” Ben said carefully. “But—”

“I love you,” I blurted out, finally freely saying the words I’d wanted to say for a long time.

Ben’s expression changed to something broodier. “What?”

“I choose you, Ben, because I love you. Not because I need you to survive, but because you’re the only man on the planet I want.”

Pure relief spread over his handsome face as he replied huskily, “I’ll spend the rest of my damn life making sure you never regret your choice. But would you mind repeating that first part again?”

“I love you,” I said again, clearer this time. “That’s the thing I needed to tell you in person. That’s it. I love you. I just decided you needed to know, and it’s not something I should really say on the phone the first time. Now that I’ve told you, I feel better, so I’ll just go—”

“Oh, hell no, you won’t,” Ben growled as he put his hand on the door to keep me from opening it again. “Did you honestly think you were going to say that to me and waltz your gorgeous ass back out this door again?”

My breath caught as he trapped me against the door, his big body in front of me, and a hand planted beside each of my shoulders.

“Are you upset?” I asked as I looked up at him, his eyes stormier than I’d ever seen them.

My always rational, always patient Ben looked like he was about to completely break.

He shook his head. “No. I’m fucking humbled. And now I really wish I had said it first because I’m pretty sure I felt it before you did. I love you, too, Ariel. Probably have since the first time I saw you, and I definitely did the first time I saw you again here. You’re probably the bravest woman I’ve ever met.”

I let out a sigh of relief, my heart about to soar out of my chest because he’d said it, too.

“Not so brave,” I argued. “I probably could have mentioned it before it was almost two am on a sleepless night. I’m not sure why, but I couldn’t let another moment pass without you knowing how I felt. You did say the ball was in my court.”

“I didn’t want to rush you or pressure you by telling you that I loved you too soon,” Ben said regretfully. “I fucked up once. I didn’t plan on doing it again. I need you in my life for the rest of my life, and I was willing to wait as long as necessary to get that commitment.”

I could see it now, how worried he was about scaring me away.

Like that was ever going to happen?

Ben Blackwood was my soulmate.

I’d forgiven him a long time ago for lying about our previous encounter.

---