CHAPTER SIX | Holly
CHAPTER SIX
Holly
“H oly shit,” Holly whispered to herself, though by the slight widening of Ben’s hypnotic gray eyes, he heard her too.
She swallowed thickly, a strange lump of surprise, confusion, and longing lodged in her throat. Trish’s son was grumpy-no-sweets guy, the same guy she had been kind of obsessing over the last couple of weeks. Holly didn’t think she would run into him again, yet here he was. The universe did have a strange sense of humor, giving her yet another chance to open herself up to a new possibility.
Determined to fully take advantage this time and not take no for an answer, Holly took a moment to appreciate the man before her. His athletic frame was housed in a navy sweater and dark jeans that hugged his muscles beautifully, his hair was perfectly styled just like the last two times they’d encountered one another, but this time he wasn’t scowling. He looked as surprised as she did, but even with that stunned expression, he still looked damn good. Holly took another long look before glancing over at Trish, balking at the woman’s impish smile. Oh god, how long have I been staring at him?
Holly shook her head and tried to get back into professional mode, wiping her hand on her jeans as subtly as possible to remove the sweat that had formed there e, then offered it to him. “Nice to meet you, Ben.”
Hesitantly, he grabbed her hand and pumped her arm firmly but with more care than she would have expected from a stranger. Ben had a strong grip and his hand was warm despite his having just come in from the cooler weather outside. Does he feel the same tingling on his skin that I feel on mine? Is this normal?
The strange cocktail of emotions flooding Holly’s system made her feel almost drunk, only coming back to her senses fully when Ben cleared his throat. “It’s nice to meet you, Holly. Or rather, it’s nice to put a face with a voice.”
Wait, what? No way was this Ben in front of her the same Ben she had spoken to last night, the same one whose voice she’d dreamt of. The string of coincidences was too much for her brain to reconcile, and she dropped her hand from his, immediately missing the feel of his slightly rougher skin. When a pained expression appeared on his face as well, Holly wondered if he too, felt a loss at the discontinued contact.
Saving that question to ponder later, Holly tried to speak as if her mind wasn’t racing to make sense of the puzzle that had just been dumped in her lap. “You’re video game friend Ben? The voice in the headphones Ben?”
The corners of his mouth twitched as if he wanted to smile but couldn’t manage to pull it off. “I usually go by just Ben, but I suppose calling me all of those other names wouldn’t be completely inaccurate.” His voice was just as soothing and honeyed as it had been the other night, though as much as Holly had longed to hear it, she hadn’t ever imagined it would be under these circumstances.
She exhaled and chuckled, slightly hysterically, placing a palm on top of her head and one on her stomach, unable to decide which to do first, laugh, cry, or throw up. How had the two guys she had been fantasizing about turned out to be one and the same? Was this some kind of joke from the universe? He had been such a grump those two times she’d run into him in person, but she had been sure they had some kind of connection. Why was it always him?
When they had briefly talked over the game chat, she had felt that same strange sense of longing. As Holly stood there looking dumbfounded, she couldn’t help but feel as though she wanted to explore it, see what would come of trying with someone unlike anyone she had dated before, known before. Holly didn’t believe in signs, but this felt different, significant . It wasn’t a joke, it was an opportunity. This was a real shot to explore something with this man, and she wasn’t going to waste it.
Holly tried to school her expression, but could tell her eyes were probably still wide with disbelief. Shaking her head, she smiled through it like she always did. “Well, okay then. It is nice to formally meet you grumpy-no-sweets-guy, aka Ben.”
Trish looked between the two of them, a mixture of confusion and amusement on her face. “I take it you two know one another.”
Ben nodded slightly, but said nothing. Maybe he wasn’t comfortable telling the story or maybe he was just being his normal, taciturn self. Henry mentioned he didn’t like peopling , and dealing with her definitely qualified as that. Either way, Holly decided to save him, and herself, any embarrassment. “Oh, Ben and my brother, Henry, are friends and we had spoken before but just never met.”
“How funny.” Trish won the trophy for understatement of the year and Holly was tempted to tell her the entire story because she would probably get a real kick out of it, but ultimately decided that it was Ben’s tale to tell. Trish’s brow furrowed suddenly. “Why did you call him no-sweets guy?”
Holly blew a raspberry out from her lips and waved her hand. “Oh, that. He mentioned one time that he didn’t enjoy sweets like brownies or things like that.” She looked over at Ben and smirked at the memory of his adamant refusal of the treat. “They were good brownies, too. Such a waste.” His cheeks turned a little pink and Holly wanted to do a little shimmy at the thought she had made the seemingly uptight Ben blush.
His mother scoffed. “Oh, that’s baloney. My Benny loves sweets. Why, I’m sure if we were to scour his pantry right now, we would find a half empty box of Junior Mints or a bag of licorice.”
Holly narrowed her eyes at Ben, slightly affronted that he didn’t take her up on her previous offer. “Lying? Not cool, Benjamin. Not cool.” He rolled his eyes and the scowl was back in place, but not quite as firmly as before. Holly counted it as a win and clasped her hands together in front of her, putting on her brightest smile. “Now that introductions are out of the way, shall we take a look around?”
“Absolutely,” Trish said at the same time Ben muttered, “I guess.”
Holly laughed at how completely different mother and son were and threaded her arm through Trish’s before steering her toward the back entrance. “Now, I know the owners, and they have given me full permission to take you all over the property. I thought we could start in the main barn where we could hold both the ceremony and reception before moving onto some of the smaller buildings that would be for one or the other. There are also beautiful grounds near each one to hold either an outdoor ceremony or reception depending on the time of year.”
“That all sounds wonderful,” Trish said effusively before calling over her shoulder to her son who was trailing behind the two women. “Doesn’t that sound wonderful, Benny?”
Holly could hear his aggrieved sigh and smiled at his perpetual grumpiness. Before it would have been an instant turn off, but now that she knew he could be more talkative and open as he had been over the gaming chat, she found his grouchy demeanor somewhat endearing. He was like Crème Brule, and she was determined to crack that hard outer layer to get to the yummy custard underneath.
“Yes, mom. It sounds wonderful.” His flat tone betrayed just how little he actually meant what he said, but Holly appreciated the fact that he was trying his best for his mom.
Holly peered over her shoulder, her smile widening at how Ben was practically dragging his feet behind them. “Keep up please, Benjamin. We don’t want you missing out on anything,” she chastised playfully and winked at him. His mouth did that twitching thing again and Holly made it her new mission in life to get a full blown smile out of the man.
Spending the next hour with the two Williams family members on a detailed tour of Plumberry Farms was more of the same. Holly and Trish shared ideas about flowers and seating arrangements for the ceremony that would take place outside as well as what the indoor reception would look like while Ben shuffled along behind them, taking it all in. Holly couldn’t blame him, the area was gorgeous and she had always imagined getting married there herself, and a lot of the ideas she gave Trish were ones that she had hoped to use for her own wedding one day. As they toured the property, the women bonded over their shared love of all things romance, prompting Holly to invite Trish to the romance book club both she and Hailey attended.
As they walked back toward the main house, Holly’s eyes shifted to Ben. He had spent most of the last hour silent, offering only the occasional grunt of affirmation, but his presence had still felt necessary somehow, as though he added to the day simply by being a steady sounding board for each woman’s more fanciful ideas.
“You know, Benjamin, you could always join our romance book club, too.” It came out as a tease, but she was dead serious, wanting to see if he would blush at some of the racier books they read.
Even without his sardonic expression, Holly already knew the answer. “I don’t think so.”
Determined to keep their banter going, she couldn’t help but press on. “C’mon. It could give you some ideas for your game designs.” Holly bumped him with her shoulder and grinned, wanting, needing to goad a smile out of him. “Maybe then the female characters wouldn’t just be medieval Barbie rip-offs.”
Ben stopped walking and leveled her with a look. “One, they aren’t medieval Barbie rip-offs, and two, I don’t have anything to do with character design.”
Despite his words, there was a spark of humor in his eyes and Holly latched onto it like a lifeline. “But I bet you know the people who do and could suggest they make the female characters more badass. I would actually play a game if I could be like a warrior princess with a sword or a magic scepter, and then I could save the dude in distress. It would be like a visual, interactive romance novel.”
Ben’s eyes widened in surprise before his brow furrowed in thought. “That’s not a completely horrible idea, actually.”
Holly barked a laugh. “Whoa, an almost compliment. I think I might swoon.” She placed the back of her palm to her forehead and pretended to faint, earning yet another mouth twitch. Holly was starting to live for those small movements, taking each one along with the rush of good feelings accompanying them and committing them to memory. If she ever did get that full blown smile, she probably would faint for real.
Trish snickered and Holly glanced over at her, having completely forgotten the woman, her client , was there. “I like this,” she said pointing back and forth between the two of them. Holly noticed Ben shift uncomfortably, but luckily before his mom could say anymore, her phone rang. “Its work. I need to get this.”
As Trish rushed off to accept her call, Holly leaned back against one of the birch trees that grew just near the main house, raising her head toward the sky and enjoying the clear blue day that peeked through the bare branches of the tree. The sun was almost overhead and she closed her eyes to bask in the warmth of it on her face, the sensation only adding to the fizzy feeling that had filled her chest all morning long.
Holly blinked her eyes open for a moment, and after spying Ben staring at her with his hands in his pockets, she closed them again, a slow smile spreading across her face at his attention. “It’s not polite to stare, Benjamin.”
“I wasn’t staring,” he choked, quickly trying to cover it with a cough. “And the name is Ben, not Benjamin.”
She smirked, loving the opportunity to tease him a little more. Holly was never very good at flirting, and while she wasn’t sure this was the best way to go about it with Ben, he was too cute when he was being needled by her. “No nicknames? What about Benji?”
He snorted. “Um, no.”
“Benji-Boo? Jam-Jam?” Holly opened her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, almost offended that no one other than his mother had ever given him a nickname. “You have got to work with me, Ben. How am I supposed to annoy you if I call you what everyone else does? It won’t work.”
Ben stepped closer to her and even though Holly was on the taller side, she still had to tilt her head up a little to meet his gaze. His gray eyes were lighter today, looking less stormy and more silver, and when he rolled his lips inward for a moment before popping them out again, Holly tracked the movement and found herself wanting to trace the fullness of his rosy lips with her tongue. The realization along with the stirring in her core caused her to drop her arms and if it weren’t for the tree behind her, she would have turned and ran.
Instant attraction wasn’t a foreign concept to her, but it was never usually this strong, never making her want to do things she had far too little experience doing. Holly wasn’t totally inept when it came to the opposite sex, but a few make-out sessions and fumbled attempts at going further didn’t exactly make her confident in the area either. She’d always been so focused on love and figured that the sex part would naturally follow. When the first part never happened, she kind of forgot about the second. Now it was there, literally staring her in the face, and she had no idea what to do with it.
Ben’s eyes flicked to her mouth for a second as well, the confirmation that he might be just as attracted to her making her slightly lightheaded. “You could always try not annoying me, you know.”
Despite her inner turmoil, Holly smiled knowingly. “I have a feeling that would be impossible. You strike me as the type of guy who annoys easily.” She shrugged a shoulder, playing it all off as banter when she was still eyeing his mouth like it was dessert. “Besides, if I’m annoying you, you have to pay attention to me.”
Ben shook his head and huffed a humorless laugh. “Holly, I’ve been paying attention to you all day.”
At that admission, her heart beat faster unprepared for what could possibly come next. Before she could address his comment, however, Trish had returned and Ben had stepped back to a more respectable distance. “Sorry about that you two. I need to head into the office for an emergency tooth extraction.” She hugged Ben and then Holly, her eyes bouncing back and forth merrily between the two. “Benny, I will call you later and Holly, I will see you next week at the flower shop.”
Holly was grateful for the reminder that she was there to do a job, not attempt to flirt with the woman’s son. Why not do both? Holly dismissed the thought, at least for the moment. “Absolutely, and I’ll email you about the details from our tour today.”
“Sounds good.” Trish waved goodbye and ran over to her car as Holly and Ben started walking toward theirs, though surprisingly, Ben was still behind her when she got to her driver side door.
Holly smiled at the gentlemanly act, her more wanton thoughts from earlier making a turn back toward something a little more innocent. “Oh, you didn’t need to walk me to my car, but thanks.” It was a sweet gesture, and the fact that he had done it had the already floaty feeling in her body increasing significantly. If she didn’t hold onto something, she might just float away.
“Always happy to do an escort mission.” Ben’s mouth drew up into a kind of half-smile, and Holly was so excited about it she almost didn’t catch the jest.
When it finally dawned on her, she chuckled, buzzing slightly that they’d only just officially met and already had an inside joke. “Ha, ha. I’m not some helpless character, you know. I can escort myself around from one point to the next just fine, thank you very much.” Holly opened her car door but paused before slipping inside, narrowing her eyes as she remembered what else he had told her about escort missions. “Or was this more about gaining experience and practicing skills?” Ben shrugged his shoulders in reply, a tiny smirk on his face. “What does that mean? What were you even practicing?”
Ben chuckled, the sound rusty but still very pleasant. “Not telling.”
She scowled and poked his chest. It was very firm and she had to try really hard to focus on their interaction and not on wondering what that chest looked like without a bulky sweater covering it. That was a thought for later on that evening, and possibly even the next morning if she had time. “I’m going to figure you out sooner or later, Jam-Jam. You can’t hide from me.”
His expression shuddered for a moment at her comment before turning slightly playful again. “Drive safe, Holly.” He moved toward his SUV but called back to her over his shoulder, another sarcastic look on his face. “Try not to back into anyone on your way home.”
“Very funny, Benny-Boi.” Holly slid down into her seat and started her car, pointing it back toward Sunset Cove. She waved at him out of her rolled down window before driving away completely going over their interactions from the day the entire way home.
Ben hadn’t been as talkative or as sunny as his mom or Holly was, but he seemed less grouchy and more thoughtful today. He hadn’t offered up a lot of opinions, but he had paid attention to everything the two women were talking about and didn’t check out or bury his head in his phone like someone else might have. Ben definitely wasn’t the type of guy Holly would typically go for. He was hot, no doubt about that, but he wasn’t a cheery person, seeming to prefer his own company to just about anyone else’s. There was something about him that spoke to her though, and she wanted to find out what that something was. Holly could tell he wasn’t going to make it easy for her, but she had meant what she’d said. She was going to figure him out, and she would break through as many walls as he could put up to do it.