Page 114 of Dearest Protector

I shrugged. “I never had a reason to go there before. I didn’t have you to share it with.”

Honestly, I’d been too busy working to see the island I’d bought on a whim because I’d gotten a deal on it. Mostly, it was a very high-end rental.

I never would have enjoyed it as much if Ariel hadn’t been with me.

Now, I’d never rent out the place again. We’d had way too many intimate and carnal moments in that place in almost every room of that home. It would forever be our escape when we needed to get away together.

I’d taken plenty of time off work in the last month, and I hadn’t thought about work even once during our private time together.

It had taken me a while to find some kind of work/life balance, but having a woman like Ariel had made it pretty easy to remember what was really important to me.

She smiled wider. “Then I’m glad that we got to see it for the first time together.”

Hell, me too, sweetheart. Me, too.

I’d probably never forget the look on her face when we’d flown into that secluded location in the Bahamas or her expression of pure joy as we’d explored. She’d shot pictures of the entire island and the beaches.

Yeah, we’d spent a lot of time naked there, too, but I’d managed to get dressed several times to explore with Ariel and to take her off the island for a few more adventures.

It was probably the best week of my entire life.

However, there weren’t really any moments that I spent with Ariel that weren’t special in some way.

She still technically lived in her apartment, but there were very few nights that we didn’t end up in the same bed.

Thankfully, Leland Brock’s ass was in jail where he belonged, so I didn’t have to worry on the rare nights that she wasn’t in my bed.

I wanted her to come live with me, but things had been so good that I hadn’t wanted to push my luck.

“We’re landing,” I told her. “Put your seatbelt on.”

She looked surprised. “Already. That was really fast.”

Yep. It was a short plane flight. We hadn’t even had time to make use of the bedroom, which was unfortunate for me.

“We’re landing in New York,” I informed her. “I have something I want to show you and someone I want you to meet.”

“Do I need to be nervous? Is this someone important to you?” she asked hesitantly.

I shook my head. “You never need to be nervous, even if we were meeting someone I know, because no one will ever be as important to me as you are. But in this case, we’ll both be meeting this person for the first time.”

She frowned. “Maybe I should have dressed a little better for this.”

“You look gorgeous,” I told her simply as I took her hand.

She was wearing a pair of jeans that hugged her beautiful ass lovingly and a colorful blouse that made her blue eyes darker than usual.

Ariel was stunning, no matter what she wore.

Again, I wondered if I was doing the right thing by springing this on her without some warning, but it was a little late to worry about that now.

We didn’t say much until we were in the limo headed for Chelsea on the West Side.

“Okay, Ben, you’re killing me right now,” Ariel said anxiously. “You’re way too quiet, and I don’t have a clue where we’re going. I mean, I trust you, but are you okay?”

Fuck!I should have known that her first thought would be about me because I was more silent than normal.

“I’m fine,” I assured her as I finally realized I needed to give her some kind of warning. A surprise was one thing, but the thought of possibly blindsiding her emotionally was completely different. “I’m just concerned that this might not be a pleasant surprise for you. I know you wanted to know more about your father, but I’m not sure how much you want to know.”

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