Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
ISABELLE
Ben had instantly disappeared outside, his food all but forgotten as Alex cursed and stormed off himself.
Seb gave me the smallest shrug and followed him into the study. The sound of Alex’s gruff complaints trickling around the now-closed doors.
Emboldened by Ben’s newfound comfort, I raced upstairs to grab my jumper, slipped on my boots and trudged over the crisp snow towards the outhouses.
Sticking my head inside the large barn, I found the lights on inside.
A small stove burning in the corner, the enormous space oddly warm despite its size.
I paused at the way the barn was laid out.
At one end sat machinery, all in different conditions, some with panels open and internal workings exposed, others clean and unbothered.
Nearer still were items of furniture, several cleanly painted, if the smell was anything to go by.
Some were in states of refurbishment, paint stripping, or drawers held together by clamps.
Another worktable held a window, the panes of glass missing.
This was a blend of a mechanic’s and a woodworker’s studio. And evidently Ben’s space the same way the office appeared to be Alex’s.
Withdrawing from what felt like an invasion of Ben’s personal space, I ducked my head into several outhouses, storage spaces, stables with tack but no horses, until I arrived at the outhouse nearest the property. The sound of metal-on-metal told me I had located Ben.
“Ben?” I called out softly, but he didn’t reply.
“Ben?” This time it was louder, and the noise inside stopped.
Walking inside, stone steps descended ahead of me into a cellar. A shock of blond hair appeared at the bottom before Ben stepped into the light cascading down from outside.
“I brought your food?”
He paused briefly. “Come down.” He disappeared.
I stepped forwards, then hesitated. “I don’t want to intrude?”
My question went unanswered, so I followed him down.
The ceiling was low, but lights dotted around the space, casting a soft glow.
On inspection, I saw they were wind-up lanterns.
An old-looking generator occupied the centre of the room silently.
A workbench beside it was covered carefully in tools, and a stool by the side of the machine had Ben perched on it.
“I brought your food,” I reminded him.
“Thank you, Izzy.” He didn’t stop working.
“Do you want to eat it?”
His head popped out of the open panel, and I thought briefly I’d offended him, but his nose scrunched and a small, naughty smile lifted his uneasy features.
“Would you like me to eat the sandwich you made for me?”
The question caught me off guard. I wanted him to eat full stop. Would it being my sandwich make him more likely to concede?
I decided on honesty.
“I’d like you to eat either way?”
He liked the response because the smile became a grin, and he stood, grabbing the stool and approaching the bench where I had placed the sandwich, mine still in hand. I’d considered eating it by the lake-pond.
“Sit.” The stool was placed beside me.
“Really?” I looked around the room. “This is fairly close quarters?”
He frowned, and I stopped any further argument. He had managed to channel some of Alex into his disapproval.
“Okay.” I dropped onto the stool.
He lifted the sandwich and took a slow bite, then repeated the action purposefully. I mirrored him, both of us having lunch in total silence that I was surprised to find didn’t feel uncomfortable now.
“Where do you live?” Ben observed me, anticipating my reply.
“London,” I answered honestly again. I had no intention of telling him lies; the walls he had were easing, and I thought that any insincerity on my part would only tarnish it.
“Where are you going?” He was straight to the point.
I placed the crust of my sandwich on the plate, picking at the apple I had sliced for myself.
“Away.” Some of the peace I’d found in the earlier hours of the day fractured slightly.
“Alone?” Ben was deliberately leafing through the questionable elements of my reality. A single woman, alone, no wedding or engagement ring. And, I now realised, completely unknown in a small, tight-knit countryside community.
“Thankfully.”
I chanced a look from where I was torturing my discarded crusts to see Ben watching with sympathy.
“Seb will have something to say about that.”
“Huh?” He’d lost me.
“Not finishing the food.” He grinned.
I laughed before taking a section and making a point of eating it, which earned me another dazzling Ben smile.
“You like working with your hands?”
He nodded, turning to the generator and running his hands through his hair, mussing it and disappearing into thought, giving me the chance to gather the pots and leave him to get lost in his work, the sound of metal-on-metal resuming.
Seb was perched against a low wall when I emerged into the sunlight, two cups of coffee steaming on the snow-cleared surface.
“I came to check on Ben but saw you guys were chatting.” He dipped his eyes to the empty plates. “You got him to eat.”
I shrugged as if it were nothing, but something akin to pride surged in me.
“I figured we could have these by the lake, now that the TV is out for the count.” He pushed his bottom lip out but couldn’t keep it up for long, laughing and leading the way.
He nudged me towards the metal bench beside the gazebo, which had also been swept clear of the endless snow. A towel had been laid over it to dry the remaining dampness.
I grinned and sat, accepting the steaming coffee while he settled in next to me.
“Who has a lake?” I broke the easy silence.
“They have a lot.” He looked wistful for a moment. “And also, not a lot.”
“How so?” I twisted away from the frost-tipped view over the body of water to give Seb my full attention. His big black coat was pulled close around him. He slowly unzipped it, lost briefly in thought. Winter was odd that way, bitter cold, but the sunlight could boil you from the inside.
“Asset rich, cash poor. For now.”
“Oh.” The thought that I was another mouth to feed made me shift uncomfortably on the seat.
“They get by. I mean, just wait until you see the manor. It needs a lot more work, but we can’t go feeling sorry for them quite yet.” He leaned in to jostle me lightly with his shoulder, and my guilt lifted.
“I’d like to see it.”
“I’m sure Alex will take you?” he suggested.
I laughed deeply at that. “I don’t think we’re quite there yet.”
He scoffed, sipping the coffee again. His free arm coming to rest along the back of the bench behind me, and I could feel its presence as if it lay along my bare skin.
Lifting it slowly, he pinched a lock of my silver hair, and I began explaining before I really realised. “It’s genetic, from my–” shit. “Father. I get it from my father.”
I’d not spoken about my family, and a cold that didn’t relate to the snow took up residence where my stomach had been.
“I like it.”
I cocked a brow at him, but he simply shrugged at my incredulity.
“What? I do.” His fingers gave the strand the gentlest tug, leaving my mouth parted on a tiny gasp. His palm came to rest on my shoulder, a comfortable pressure grounding me when the compliment had me unsure what to say next.
“I like all of you.”
I blew out my disbelief in a short exhale.
“Isabelle,” he chided. I looked into his eyes and found absolute, open earnestness looking back at me. “I’ve spent the whole day searching for a distraction because every second that I am unoccupied, my mind drifts to you. In the shower room.”
My heart thudded when he shifted closer to me, hand gliding up from my shoulder to gently cup my neck, thumb ghosting along my jaw.
“The way you looked at me.”
My eyes dropped to his chest, unable to hold his earnest gaze, but I forced them back up over his mouth, finally meeting his eyes once again.
“The way your breath caught.”
I took a jerky breath, my body proving his point.
“I can’t think of anything else since I suggested getting filthy in the shower.”
“I think you actually suggested getting clean in the shower,” I corrected.
His head tipped back in a laugh. “We could do both?”
I smiled, butterflies now swirling in my chest. “If only.” My smile was rueful, the closest I could get to an outright no, because my body revolted at the idea of telling him no, but the faintest hint of logic and self-preservation was resisting the picture he was painting for me.
He shifted forwards, our knees pressing together and the new point of contact driving my pulse higher, all awareness at his fingers on my neck, thumb on my jaw, knee against mine.
“Maybe someday soon you’ll tell me what you’re running from, because I don’t think you’re running to someone.”
He paused, offering me the opportunity to argue, but I didn’t. There was something about these men that wiped away any desire to hide.
“But I’m a transparent man.”
I smirked at that. It was an understatement.
“And I’m not exactly subtle.”
Now I laughed.
“Right?” he chuckled but turned intense once again. “But I would happily try to protect you from whatever it is you’re trying to escape.”
I sighed, and he slipped his fingers from where they caressed my skin to place them over my mouth, stopping me from speaking.
“And if you won’t let me keep you…”
I murmured against his fingers, but he shook his head, tutting, and I quietened under his hushing.
“…I’ll accept what little you’ll give me while we are here,” he finished.
He paused again, fingers still resting against my lips, letting the moment drag out between us. Then he slowly lowered them, giving me the chance to respond.
He chewed on his lip, the first sign of nerves I’d recognised on him. I’d seen him concerned at Ben’s condition, frustrated with Alex, irritated when I’d failed to care for my knees. But not doubting himself.
Finally, I found the words. “Why? Why me?” I gestured to my face, then body.
Teddy’s feelings for me grew from a protectiveness that morphed into possession.
I was sure of it. And I’d had other men interested in me.
All of them were an absolute surprise. But no-one quite like Seb.
Seb was beautiful in every way. And I’d assumed his flirtation was his nature, mixed with proximity. Harmless flirting.
It was his turn to be silent for a moment, surprise turning into disbelief, then a slow smirk crept over his face.
“If that’s your only objection.” He closed the distance between our bodies. “Then I’d like to inform you I won’t be accepting any further questions at this time.”
My laugh was swallowed as he leaned in, his lips sealing over mine.
The contact was electric. I kissed him back immediately. My palms rising to fist in his t-shirt, I drew him closer to me, and he groaned in response, hand tangling into my hair and taking back control of the kiss.
His tongue pushed past my parted lips and into my mouth, finding mine and stroking it. I moaned in response. Moaned. My head was beginning to spin.
Slowing, he dragged his teeth over my bottom lip, and my hands slipped from where they held him, gliding down his chest, catching the ridges of his abs and halting there.
He broke away with a small sigh.
“You’re shaking.” His words were uttered against my lips, and I realised I was, but I was too proud to admit it wasn’t the cold causing it.
Before I had any opportunity to argue with his observation, I was being pulled upright, Seb tucking my hair gently back from where he’d left it dishevelled.
Then he grabbed the mugs and plates and led me back towards the house, where a furious-looking Alex stood staring at us through the window.