Chapter 14
Victoria
The text came about five minutes before Victoria pulled to stop in the parking spot in front of her house.
It had been an extremely long day and she’d worked extra hours in the hope of preparing herself for next week’s trial.
All while still fuming at the audacity of Jules and the way he’d spoken to her.
She was tired and hungry and not really looking forward to at least two more hours of reading, writing and preparing.
But Ben was sitting on her front steps, a bunch of colorful balloons tied to her railing.
Victoria grabbed her briefcase and climbed out of the car, pressing the alarm button on her keychain to lock all the doors and engage the alarm.
Moving up the walkway without smiling was difficult.
He looked like a delivery guy, dressed in faded blue jeans and a fitted black t-shirt, motorcycle helmet painted in bright red, black and silver between his legs.
His beard was thin and freshly trimmed casting a dark and dangerous look to his facial features.
Then again, she’d never seen a delivery guy with a diamond encrusted Cartier watch on one wrist and a top of the line racing bike as his mode of transportation.
“Working late?” he asked as she came closer to the steps.
She lifted her briefcase and sighed. “Upcoming trial.”
He nodded. “Got time for a break?”
“Not really,” was her instant reply. “You on your way to a birthday party?”
He smiled and stood up, his entire six plus feet towering over her even more as he stood two steps above her.
“I thought they looked more cheerful than flowers,” he told her while untying the balloon bouquet from the railing. “Do you like them?”
She gave up and grinned when he thrust all the balloons right in her face. “I like them alright,” she commented while swatting them away. “But I’d like to get into the house so I can put my bags down.”
“Here, let’s do an exchange,” he offered.
Ben stepped down, taking her briefcase and her purse and giving her the strings tied together that kept the balloons from taking a sky ride. She was still smiling as she moved up the steps and unlocked her door.
“By the way, I forgot to thank you for having my window fixed,” she told him when they both walked inside and she closed the door behind them.
She let the balloons go and they all disbursed heading directly to the ceiling. Blues, greens, yellows and reds floating in a happy circle around her living room.
“No problem. I wanted to install a security system on the house but I wasn’t sure if you were a homeowner or not,” he said.
Victoria didn’t believe him for one second. If Ben knew about the incident with the window in the first place, before she’d even been taken to the hospital, and knew enough to get it fixed without her consent, she was sure he knew that she was only renting this house.
“Right. Well, thank you for not doing that. I’d like to make that choice on my own,” she replied.
He nodded, placing her bags down by the entryway into the living room. “So why don’t you go up and slip into something comfortable and come for a ride with me?”
“A ride?” she asked startled. “With you? On your bike?”
“Unless you want me to carry you. I mean, I can, but I think you’d have more fun on the bike.”
He was too good looking for his own good.
And too smooth. Already her tired bones felt relief even though she hadn’t done anything to relieve them.
The heaviness in her shoulders felt lifted as she stared back at his cheerful gleam.
He looked like he didn’t have a care in the world and it was starting to feel like it might be contagious.
“Give me five minutes,” she said and walked away.
She was halfway up the steps when he yelled, “I’ll give you ten while I make this phone call.”
He moved deeper into the living room, standing by the window that had recently been repaired. “Yeah,” he said when Devlin answered. “We’re heading out for a ride.”
“You think that’s wise considering the circumstances?” Devlin asked.
“I think it’s necessary,” was Ben’s quick response. He couldn’t stay away from Victoria. And if they were in the house together they’d certainly find a very physical way to pass the time. But their thoughts would inevitably return to the obvious.
“Ace picked up a tail on her this evening. White mini-van parked four doors down.”
Ben frowned and moved closer so he could adjust the blinds and glance out the window. “Where are you?”
“I circled the block after Ace texted me. You were still sitting on her steps like a love-sick puppy. So I pulled up behind the bastard as he parked. Tags run back to a auto dealership owned by Pena. My bet there’s a rookie behind the wheel trying to earn his stripes. She’s his first job.”
“It’ll be his last.” Ben swore.
Dev agreed. “Go for your ride. I’ve got your back.”
“Where’s Ace?”
“I’ll tell him to stay on the house until you get back.”
Ben could see the white mini-van down the street.
The windows weren’t tinted so the two men sitting in the front seats were clearly visible, definitely amateurs.
They wore dark sunglasses and black baseball caps and a part of him hoped like hell they made a move on Victoria tonight.
He hadn’t had a chance to get to the gym in the last couple of days so adrenaline buzzed along his system like an addict needing a fix.
He’d beat the hell out of them with his bare hands there was absolutely no doubt in his mind.
“Where’s Trent?” he asked Dev.
“He’s following up on your earlier call to City Hall. If everything pans out we might have this situation under wraps before the trial starts on Monday.”
Ben nodded, one hand gripping the cell phone at his ear, the other clenching into a fist at his side. “That sounds good to me.”
“And if not—” Devlin replied, purposely letting his words drift into the silence.
“I’m ready,” Ben stated slowly, lethally.
“So am I,” Dev replied.
“You’re ready for what?” Victoria asked from behind him.
Ben disconnected the call, stuffing it back into his pocket.
He turned to face her and had to swallow quickly before speaking.
She wore jeans again, these as form-fitting as the others she’d had on last night.
Her t-shirt was navy blue with tiny rhinestones edging the neckline.
On her feet were black Timberland boots that looked way too sexy to be functional.
Her head was tilted slightly as she arched an eyebrow in anticipation of his answer.
“I’m ready for our ride,” was his reply.
She was skeptical, he could tell, but she brushed it off. “Well, let’s get this over with. I’m starving.”
Moving closer he took her hand and led them to the door. “So, I’ll entertain you, and then I’ll feed you. Deal?”
Going through the door ahead of him she turned back, resignation clear on her face. “You’ve got a deal.”
The warm breeze felt like heaven against the bare skin of Victoria’s arms and cheeks.
It had been years since she’d ridden on the back of a motorcycle, and truthfully the last ride was nothing to write home about.
But this one, she’d known the second he’d suggested it, that this would be a memorable moment.
It was with Ben, after all.
Her fingers tingled as she’d wrapped her arms around his waist and held tight.
He drove with speed and agility, like this bike was actually an extension of him.
It moved right along with his body, the power thrusting against her thighs and buttocks.
There was a freedom here. A strange sense of weightlessness that made everything else seem insignificant.
Laying her cheek against his back she embraced that feeling, let it engulf her and prayed she could hold on to it just a little bit longer.
Time had seemed to stand still except that the sun was almost finished its descent as the bike came to a slow stop.
Victoria heard the engine go silent and felt a shift as he put down the stand.
She thought he would get off immediately, but he sat there his hands falling from the handlebars to cover hers at his waist.
Even that felt good. It felt safe.
And that made her more nervous than she cared to admit.
She pulled her hands away and maneuvered herself off the bike.
Her fingers tingled, she suspected at the loss of warmth from touching him.
In response, she thrust them into her front pockets and walked a few steps.
They were at some type of canyon. She hadn’t been paying attention to where he’d been driving which really was unlike her.
But this was an open space, very dessert-like with its dry dirt ground and palm trees that looked parched as they stretched skyward.
Still, the view was magnificent, capping the tops of the buildings that decorated the infamous Strip.
The city skyline looked like the tiny depictions captured inside snow globes.
There were no fake white flakes to accentuate the scene but the silky haze of dry heat settled over the surrounding land.
It would be quite breathtaking, if the man who’d brought her here hadn’t already stolen her breath.
“We’re safe here,” she heard him say from behind. “Nobody followed us.”
“How do you know that?” she asked, not that what she was thinking had anything to do with someone following them.
No, perhaps it was the serenity of the ride or of being close to this man—she wasn’t sure which—but she hadn’t thought about their current situation. Which, just proved how being around him was throwing her off balance.
He removed his helmet, placing it on the handlebar before swinging a leg over the bike to stand.
“Remember I told you my cousin’s a private investigator? Well, he’s assigned someone to watch you and I until this situation with Vega is over.”
“Oh great,” she said shivering even though it was anything but cold out here. “So I’m being watched by even more people?”