4. Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Emory
The traveling and the confrontation has been exhausting, so I sleep longer than I meant to. It also doesn’t help that I struggle with falling asleep because I don't expect my body to react to Ben the way it does. I have his picture. I know what he looks like, and yet being in the same room as him, it made me a little—okay, fine—a lot lightheaded and lustful.
I gather my things, which doesn’t take long since there’s been no need to unpack, and I make the bed. I head out of the room with my suitcase and freeze when I notice Ben on the couch, typing on his laptop with hot coffee on the table. It's an odd sight—this big, burly mountain man with a small laptop in his lap, pecking at the keyboard. It's, dare I say, adorable.
I take a deep breath, square my shoulders, and continue into the living room. I'm just going to thank him for letting me stay the night, apologize again for the confusion, and head out of here. Hopefully I can get my job back. Or maybe I can find somewhere else to live and have a change I desperately need. The town Evergreen Lakes is gorgeous. Maybe I can start over there. It’s further down the mountain and seems big enough to not run into Ben and his mom, but small enough not to be overwhelming. I’m tired of living in a city and would love to pick up hiking. And a place with gorgeous lakes and never-ending trees is a dream.
Ben startles and snaps his head up toward me. I frown as I get a look at him; his eyes are red, his hair a little disheveled as if he’s been running his hands through it a lot, and he looks like he didn't sleep a wink. He frowns when he spots my suitcase.
Clearing my throat, I paste on an embarrassed smile because this is the most humiliating thing to ever happen to me, and that’s saying a lot. "Good morning. Thanks again for letting me stay the night, and I'm sorry for all this. I'm just going to get out of your hair."
"You don't have to leave." His voice is rough from misuse which sends tingles all over my body. "At least let me make you some breakfast."
"That's okay. I can get something later." I turn to leave, no reason to be even more of a nuisance, but I hear the laptop slam shut, and watch as Ben moves to stand.
"Please, stay. I've been up all night reading your letters. I've even been responding to them, so you can get to know the real me. Not the mother version of me."
Frozen, I glance over my shoulder and look him in the eyes as I can't believe he's doing that. "You have?"
He nods and clears his throat. "Yes, I have. My mom sent me everything last night, and, well, I would really like to get to know you better."
"You would?" Confusion, elation, hope, weariness, they all invade me, but I have to admit, it's far too tempting to stay. This is why I came here, to get to know and marry this man. If he's putting in this effort after what happened, shouldn't I take this second chance and hold on for dear life?
"Yes, I would. I've been emailing you back. I started from the first email. Why don't you start reading while I get dressed and make breakfast?" He stands tall, but I catch the way his right-hand fidgets at his side, and I melt a little more for him.
Something tells me this man isn't used to being out of control or out of his comfort level, and for him to put himself out there, for me, is the sweetest thing. And I'm dying to read what he has to say.
"Okay."
He grunts and his beard lifts a little, but I can’t tell if he’s smiling or not because it’s such a small gesture. However, his stoicism makes me swoon a little because the man is hot. Somebody I never imagined would be interested in getting to know me, now that he knows what I look like. I figured I got away with it more when our images are withheld. To get to know me as me.
He has me sit down, hands me his laptop, then gets me some coffee without asking how I like it. The first sip has me sighing; he did read my emails because he knows how I like it, and it’s the best coffee I’ve ever had. Ben leaves me to read as he changes and makes us breakfast. This morning is turning out way better than I expected.