Page 93 of Dearest Protector

Dear God, could there be any other choice for me?

Maybe I didn’t need him financially, but every cell in my body needed and wanted this man.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, savoring the sensuous feeling of his mouth on mine.

He held the back of my head, holding it in place while he devoured my lips.

I was swept away, and my knees were weak by the time he let me come up for air.

“Ben,” I breathed out, my head spinning from the ferocity of that kiss.

“I swore I wasn’t going to touch you,” he said as he held me tightly against his body. “But it’s almost fucking impossible for menotto touch you. My dick is hard the second I see you or when I even think about you when you’re not around. But that’s notallI want from you, Ariel.”

Still dizzy from that kiss, I asked, “Then exactly where do we go from here?”

“We…date,” he said firmly. “I treat you like an incredible woman deserves to be treated, and you decide when you’re ready for something more. We skipped the whole dating part of this relationship, and you fucking deserve that.”

Honestly, I was ready to haul him into my bedroom and strip him naked, but I was wary of going too fast, too.

I loved Ben, and that was never going to change.

I was always going to need him, and I was always going to want him.

Maybe I was independent now, and I valued that independence. But Ben was essential to my happiness.

But maybe we both needed to heal from this bump in our relationship before we really moved forward.

We’d jumped from friends to lovers quickly last time, and it had screwed with both of our heads.

“I won’t try to get you naked. Just don’t expect me not to touch you, because I think I just proved that isn’t going to happen,” he added belatedly in an unhappy tone.

I laughed delightedly as he took my hand and led me into the apartment.

I locked the sliding door behind us, my heart a thousand times lighter and more hopeful as I went to gather my things so we could go have dinner with the people we both cared about.

Chapter 24

Ben

“So,” Ian said expectantly a few hours later as he handed me a beer. “How did it go? You picked her up to come here. You must have talked.”

“We did,” I answered briefly.

I watched as Ariel, my mother, and Katie had a discussion near the pool, their chairs close enough so they could chat comfortably.

Ian and I were still seated at the table where we’d eaten earlier.

I couldn’t take my eyes off Ariel.

I couldn’t hear what the women were talking about, but it didn’t matter. All I wanted was to feast my eyes on the woman I thought I’d lost because of my own stupidity.

It felt like it had been years, not weeks, since I’d seen her.

“Earth to Ben,” Ian said drily as he waved a hand in front of my face. “Are you going to fill me in on what happened? What’s the status on your relationship?”

I reluctantly pulled my eyes away to focus on my brother. “We’re dating. It’s probably best if I just sit back, wait, and be patient. I’m not going to get impatient and screw this up, Ian.”

I felt better now that we’d at least be seeing each other on a regular basis.

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