I was hard, Christ was I hard, and she knew it, and there was something insanely sexy about that. About the way she slowly moved her hips and that damn noise that sat in the back of her throat. The one that sounded like need. And want. And desire.
I didn’t know what the week of silence was all about and I didn’t care. All I knew was that she was here, and I was happy that she was here and I was suddenly wishing we were alone. If Eden wasn’t in the house I would have pulled her inside and had her naked before she had a chance to say Geronimo.
Or at the very least I would have tried my damnedest.
But I wasn’t alone and I knew that Eden was most likely watching us from one of the windows. With a sigh I let Georgia go, though my hand slid down her forearm until I settled her small hand in mine. Without a word we turned and retraced my steps until we found our way to the back yard.
Eden burst out of the house—I knew she’d been spying—a giant grin on her face as she stared down at us from the deck.
“So, Benjamin, you’ve been keeping a secret from me.”
I didn’t bother to deny it. “Eden, this is Georgia.”
Georgia tugged her hand from mine and I didn’t let her go easily—I didn’t want the connection to end.
“Hi,” Georgia said slowly, an adorable blush staining her cheeks. “I’m sorry about before. I was kind of rude and I thought…” she stumbled over her words. “Well I just…”
“You thought I was a puck bunny?” Eden shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.” Her gaze swung to me. “I can see why Ben was so anxious to get back here. He even blew off our family barbecue and our nana was not happy about that.”
That was an understatement, but I’d promised to make it up to Nan, so we were good.
Eden glanced my way. “I’m gonna drive into town for the pizza because it will be quicker than waiting for them to deliver. Can I have your keys?”
“Sure, they’re on the table in the front hall.”
Eden nodded. “Nice to meet you, Georgia.”
She disappeared inside the house and I looked at the girl beside me. “So,” I said, my voice low.
A shy, nervous grin stole her mouth. “So,” she repeated softly.
“You came.”
For a moment her heart shaped face fell and I took a step forward, my hand under her chin, tugging her face up to meet mine. “Hey, I don’t need to know what last week was about. I get that there are things about you that I don’t know.” I bent forward and slid my mouth across hers. “Things that you need to figure out, but I’m happy to take all the time we need.”
“I thought,” she said hesitantly, before exhaling her warm breath against me. “I didn’t think I could do this. You. Me. But I want to…I want to try and see what happens.”
The girl was killing me. Staring up at me with those huge blue eyes that made me feel as if they could see down into the bottom of my soul. Stumbling over her words. Biting that bottom lip. Where the hell had she come from? Had I been waiting for her? Was it chance? Or fate?
Did I really care?
I held out my hand. “You want to see the barn? I did a purge and organized it for you.”
Surprise knotted her forehead and for a second I thought I had blown it because she didn’t reach for my hand and she sure as hell didn’t seem excited.
“What do you mean?”
I shrugged, trying to make out that it didn’t really matter if she wasn’t into my idea, even though it mattered a hell of a lot. “I just thought…I know how much you liked that barn and well, Matt explained that you were staying with him because you’re trying to decide what to do with college and stuff and I just thought…” I heaved a breath and ran my fingers across the day old stubble on my chin. “I just thought you might like to use it as a studio. You know, for your painting.”
Okay, she was going to think I was an absolute loser. What kind of guy offered up an art studio to a girl he was just getting to know? For the first time my idea—the one that had seemed so right when I’d arrived this morning—kind of sucked and I frowned.