Yours For The Taking Part 32

"Are you worried?"

Was he supposed to play the big strong man part, or tell the truth? He chose the truth since Gina was not one to stand for even white lies. "Yeah, I'm scared to death. You?"

"Uh-huh. I don't think my heart has slowed down since Annabelle called me this afternoon."

"Thanks for rus.h.i.+ng to the hospital. I wouldn't have blamed you if you hadn't."

"Really?" She looked surprised.

"Really. I've spent the last week thinking about what I've done, how I've handled things."

"We've both made mistakes. Believe me, I've had a few people point them out to me today. I hate it when they're right."

"Yeah, there's no shortage of that going around. Before I left Gramps this afternoon, he read me the riot act. To give the old man credit, he didn't say anything I hadn't already said to myself a thousand times."

"So you took a long run to think or to get away?"

"To think."

"About?"

"What I could do to get back to where we were before we left the ranch."

"I don't think that's possible. We can't take back what happened. We just have to decide where to go from here."

Ben spent the rest of the walk in a daze. Before he knew it, they were back at the front door. He walked the girls in and waited for Gina to tell him to leave. After all, she'd just said they couldn't go back. He'd been trying to re-learn the art of breathing ever since.

Gina took the leash off Jasmine and put her keys back in her pocketbook. She shuffled from foot to foot, clearly uncomfortable. He stood between her and the door waiting for the ax to drop. She bit her lip and looked up at him, her big eyes s.h.i.+ning in the light of the chandelier. "Are you coming to bed?"

Ben's stomach took a dip. "I guess that's up to you. If you want to toss out a pillow, I can take the couch."

"Is that what you want?"

He closed his eyes and prayed that he wouldn't say the wrong thing. He opened them to find her standing so close that if he took a deep breath, they'd touch. He placed his hands on her shoulders and ran them down her arms to hold her hands. Sliding them behind her back, he pulled her close. The feel of her against him had him stifling a groan. "I've made it abundantly clear I want to be wherever you are. But when it comes down to it, it's your call, Gina. I've given up trying to steer this relations.h.i.+p. Whenever I've tried, I've hit the skids, so to speak."

Gina bit her lower lip and he held back the urge to soothe the redness she'd created.

"Just because we can't go back to the way we were at the ranch doesn't mean we can't go forward. Come to bed."

Ben let out a breath and picked her up. Jasmine barked and jumped around his feet.

"What is it with you mountain men always feeling the need to carry me around?"

Ben decided not to press his luck and say he was the only man allowed to carry her anywhere, especially to bed. He took the steps two at a time, careful not to tread on Jasmine. When he made it to their bedroom, he let her slide down the length of his body. Jasmine jumped on a doggie bed in the corner and turned a few circles before lying down with her paws crossed in front of her.

"She's not sleeping with us?"

Gina shrugged. "Only if she has doggie nightmares, or if one of us feels the need to cuddle."

"If I'm going to be cuddling with someone, it's not going to be Jasmine."

Ben's words sent a s.h.i.+ver through Gina that was impossible to disguise. The way he watched her was unnerving. She took a deep breath and opened the top b.u.t.ton of his s.h.i.+rt. Her hands shook and no matter how many times she told herself she'd already seen him naked, this time felt like the first.

Gina tackled the second b.u.t.ton as he pulled her blouse from her waistband. His thumbs caressed her stomach as his hands held her hips. She fumbled her way down the b.u.t.ton band and pulled his s.h.i.+rt from his pants. She'd like to think she'd forgotten how wonderful he looked, but she hadn't. She'd seen him every night in her dreams, kissed him, made love to him, only to awaken alone and needy. It was almost a relief to know that tomorrow morning she wouldn't wake reaching for him only to find a cold empty bed, or worse, Jasmine.

Ben unb.u.t.toned her jeans; blood rus.h.i.+ng through her ears m.u.f.fled the sound of the slide of the zipper. She reached for his belt buckle and his hands stayed hers. "Wait."

She raised her eyes to his; Ben's look of uncertainty stopped her. "What's wrong?"

Ben took a deep breath and blew it out. He shook his head as if to clear his mind. "Gina, I can't do this. If you are looking for comfort or a roll in the hay, I'll grab a pillow and sleep on the couch. If you want me, I'm yours for the taking, but I want this to be a fresh start. I want this to last forever."

For whatever reason, Ben was always the one in the relations.h.i.+p to know exactly what he wanted to do, and he always seemed to have no problem steering her in the direction he wanted to go. Now, she was the one leading-which on one hand was nice since she always resented the fact that he'd spent most of their relations.h.i.+p ten paces ahead of her on so many levels. But along with the leaders.h.i.+p position came the pressure to make the right decision, and live with the consequences. It was not as easy as it looked. She'd never been the one to step into a relations.h.i.+p and if she removed his belt buckle, that's exactly what she'd be doing. She'd always been the one to run away, and that's what she'd done with Ben. The feelings she had for him scared her down to her toes, but after she'd left him, those same feelings followed her no matter how far she ran, even across the country. There was no peace to be had, no escape; running hadn't worked for either of them.

Gina pushed away Ben's hands and slid the leather strap through the buckle, gave it a tug, and pulled it free right before she went up on her tiptoes and kissed him hard, letting go of the anger and fear she'd carried with her all her life. Ben wrapped his arms around her and for the first time since she left him, she felt at home.

The rest of their clothes and any uncertainty they held were shed before they made it to their bed. For a moment, she looked into his eyes and found everything she'd lost, and everything she'd longed for over the last weeks. His hands slid over her body, dragging her close, caressing, exciting, tantalizing. It was familiar and new at the same time.

Gina ran her hands over Ben's chest and down toward his stomach as he rose above her. Her legs wrapped around his waist urging him on. He entered her in one long, slow thrust. A feeling of completeness washed over her. They stilled, their eyes met, and she found everything she never knew she'd searched for. "I love you."

He looked as surprised as she was. She hadn't planned to say it, especially while they were making love. She'd never said those words to any other man. Okay, she'd told Joe she loved him, but that was a totally different kind of love, so it didn't really count.

A slow grin spread across Ben's face. "I know."

"You know? I tell you I love you and that's all you have to say?"

He slid out of her and then reaching beneath her, held her hips and slid back deeper. "Sweetheart, if you didn't love me, I wouldn't be making love to you now." And he did, he loved her slow and gentle. Teasing her, caressing her inside and out, driving her to the brink of sanity and letting her hang there, still wanting more. He drove her up and then higher. His slow and steady pace keeping her from reaching her climax. Gina raked her nails across his shoulders and bucked beneath him, arching her back, urging him on. When she kissed him and sucked his tongue into her mouth, he lost all control thrusting deep and hard, sending her over before finally groaning her name, stiffening in her arms, and coming. He thrust within her twice more before collapsing on top of her.

Still inside her, he kissed her softly, and then rolled onto his back. She rested her head on the pillow of his shoulder and listened to the beat of his heart slow to a normal pace.

"Do you think Joe's going to be okay?"

He trailed his hand down her side. "Yeah, he's too stubborn to die."

"That's good. I hope you're right."

"Gina?"

She raised her head so she could look him in the eye. "Yeah?"

"I love you."

She kissed him and settled her head back on his shoulder. "I know."

The knock on the door woke them. "It's getting late, guys. Are you ready to go to the hospital?"

Ben rolled, pulling Gina along with him. "What time is it?"

Gina pulled her sleeping mask off and looked at the clock. "8:30?"

"s.h.i.+t." He rolled off the bed. "We gotta go."

They quickly showered, dressed, and ran downstairs. Trapper looked up from the paper he was reading. "Sleep well? Or maybe I should rephrase that, sleep at all?"

Hunter spit out his coffee, and Fisher looked over at Karma. "You owe me twenty."

Kate walked out of the kitchen and smacked all four of her kids in one fell swoop. "Hush. You leave Ben and Gina alone." She turned to Ben. "It's about time you two got up. There's coffee in the kitchen and then we have to leave."

There was a knock on the front door and Gina went to answer it. "Can I help you?"

"Gina Reyez?"

"Yes, that's me."

The man handed her a manila envelope. "You've been served."

"What?"

Ben swore under his breath. "Gina, don't."

He moved as if in slow motion as she opened the envelope and pulled the papers up. Her eyes widened, she nodded, and shoved them back in the envelope.

Karma went over to her. "What's that?"

Gina shook her head and stuffed the envelope into her bag. "Divorce papers."

Kate turned. "What?"

Everyone in the room turned on Ben, but at that point, he couldn't care less what they thought. He cleared his throat and addressed his family. "Why don't you go over to the hospital? Gina and I will be along in a few minutes." A horn beeped outside. "The cab's here. Go on."

Everyone gave him nasty looks as they hugged Gina on their way out. The door closed behind them, and the silence was enough to choke him. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?"

"Gina, I was afraid you were going to move out if I didn't file for divorce right away. I wanted to make sure you kept the house and the money. I just wanted you to be okay."

"And you thought I'd be okay without you?"

Sam, who'd been silent the whole time, stepped forward. "Gina, it's not like you gave the man much of a choice."

She turned on him. "Sam Corrigan, stay out of this. It's between me and Ben."

Tina moved in front of Sam and put her hands on her hips. "Like h.e.l.l it is. We've been here from the beginning. We're your family. Believe me, dealing with you for the last week hasn't been any fun. You gave the man no alternative, so you have no right to hold it against him now that you've changed your mind."

Sam looked out the front window. "Ben, your family is still outside. Why don't you go to the hospital and let Gina calm down a bit. I'll make sure she doesn't pull another disappearing act. You need to be with your grandfather now."

Ben was torn. He couldn't believe his luck-all bad. Gina still hadn't looked at him. He turned to Sam, "Okay, I'll go, but if she isn't at the hospital in an hour, I'm coming after her."

He took one last look at his wife and left.

Gina walked to the window and watched Ben leave. She took a deep breath and thought about all her options. When she turned around, Sam and Tina were staring at her. She smiled knowing exactly what she was going to do.

Tina's eyes went wide. "Oh my G.o.d. I know that look." She shook her head. "That look is trouble. That's the look of determination." Tina turned and pointed. "Sam, lock the door."

Sam stood in front of the door. "What are you going to do, Gina?"

Gina looked over her shoulder and c.o.c.ked her head as she headed upstairs. "I'm going to put on my best suit. I have an appointment to make with my lawyer. After all, a deal's a deal."

Chapter 20.

Ben paced the halls doing his best to avoid all the nasty looks from his family. He checked his watch. Gina should have been back hours ago. As soon as Gramps got out of recovery, Ben was going back to Brooklyn to try to find her. Just when they'd gotten things worked out, fate stepped in again and blindsided him. He turned to pace back, and found Trapper leaning against the wall twirling his hat on his finger.

"You really did it this time, Benji. How the h.e.l.l are you going to get out of this one?"

"d.a.m.ned if I know. She's the one who insisted on the divorce. I only put the wheels in motion to make sure she stayed in the house and kept the money."

"You should know it takes more than a week for the average woman to calm down. And Lord knows, Gina is anything but average. I think it would take a lot longer for a hot-blooded Latin woman like her to get over it."

Ben stood in front of him and tossed his keys up in the air, catching them. "As if you would know." Ben gave his keys another toss. "You've never spent any more than seventy-two hours with any woman, and I'd bet that most of that time was spent in bed not talking."

Trapper nodded and twirled his hat. "You'd be right. I've never done anything as dumb as marrying one of them with a prenup big enough to choke a horse, and then gone and fallen in love."

"Why do you look like you're enjoying yourself?"

Trapper smiled. "Maybe because I am. I told you it was a bad idea."

"That's really helpful, Trap, thanks."

"What do you want me to say?"

"Maybe you could help me get out of the mess I'm in."

Ben tossed his keys, only to have Trapper catch and pocket them. "That's annoying as h.e.l.l." Trapper moved over as Fisher and Hunter joined him against the wall. "You're going to have to do a whole lot more than grovel."

Fisher nodded. "Oh yeah, you don't file for divorce and say 'Oops, sorry, my mistake.'"

Hunter snorted. "I'll say. I don't know what you're going to do to make it up to her. You already bought her the biggest house in Brooklyn, and even that didn't impress her." He rolled the brim of his baseball cap. "I got this on the street corner for ten bucks. It's nice, huh?"