Page 22 of Dearest Protector

Something inside my belly somersaulted at the thought of having an intimate dinner with the hottest guy on the planet.

I knew he was probably just being courteous. That it was probably my imagination that made me think it was anything more.

Ben wasn’t and never would be interested in me as anything other than an assistant.

Still, I was so damn tempted.

I’d been alone for so long that I’d forgotten what it was like to have company for dinner, or anything else for that matter.

Katie and I were and would always remain close, but she had Ian now, and he was her priority, as it should be. But that had changed our dynamic, and it wasn’t like we could just get together on a whim or chat forever on the phone every night.

Ben’s expression was intense, and his eyes were beckoning as they stayed locked on mine.

Do it, Ariel. There’s really no reason why you can’t be friends with this man.

Maybe Ben didn’t want to get naked with me, but would it really hurt to not be alone for one evening?

Honestly, I craved some kind of human connection, and there was no one I wanted to get to know more than I wanted to know Ben Blackwood.

Okay, so maybe Ididwant to gethimnaked, but my curiosity and my desire to get closer to him in other ways was stronger than my sexual attraction right now.

I also couldn’t shake the feeling that he genuinelywantedme to stay.

I finally shrugged off my apprehension. “You don’t mind company?” I asked, trying to make sure he wasn’t just being polite because I’d end up eating dinner alone at my condo.

“There’s nothing I’d like more than to spend the evening with you,” he answered gruffly. “Stay and have dinner with me.”

Breathless from his extended, persuasive gaze, I finally nodded.

Maybe it was strange that someone like Ben Blackwood would value my company, but I had to wonder if part of him didn’t need some kind of real human connection, too.

Chapter 5

Ariel

About an hour later, I’d almost completely forgotten about my nervousness and my misgivings about hanging out with Ben.

Did that mean I no longer wanted to get him naked?

No. No, it didn’t.

But as I got more comfortable with him, it was easier to curb my carnal instincts and just enjoy his companionship.

Sure, I still imagined what he looked like in the raw, but more importantly, I could appreciate him as a person and not a possible sex god.

My second glass of the excellent Cabernet wine that Ben had selected for dinner had probably helped disperse my anxiousness, but he was also an extremely charming companion.

Ben had shared that he was more a whiskey drinker, so he’d made a drink for himself, and had left the entire bottle of wine for me.

At his suggestion, we’d let go of all business while we were eating dinner.

Even though we were actually from two different worlds, we had some things in common.

Like me, Ben had always been a workaholic who had a limited personal life, and the two us were able to commiserate with each other in that respect.

While he enjoyed seeing a movie or getting out on the water whenever he could, he didn’t have time to do those things on a regular basis.

He’d destroyed my preconceived ideas about how someone like him lived his life.

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