Chapter 32 Sarah
SARAH
Was it possible to get turned on just from hearing that a guy enjoyed reading your favourite book?
Now I could officially confirm that, yes, you definitely could.
As I soaped myself up in the shower, I imagined Ben’s hands roaming over my skin.
Ben was reading my book.
And he liked it. No. He said he loved it.
Fuck.
That was amazing.
What he’d said was true. I shouldn’t care whether or not he liked it because reading was subjective. But you still couldn’t beat the buzz of knowing someone enjoyed the same book as you.
Especially knowing that it was him.
Somehow the fact that he was a non-believer before and this book had converted him made it even sweeter.
It looked like he’d read almost a third of the book, which meant it wouldn’t be too long until Virginia and Rocco got down and dirty in his office.
Damn.
I wondered if Ben would be up for recreating scenes from the book like Jess told me Theo had?
My fingers slipped between my legs and I started touching myself.
Wait. What the hell was I doing?
I couldn’t start getting myself off in the shower when Ben was literally right outside. Okay, there were several metres between the bathroom door and the patio, but still. What if I came so hard I screamed?
Or worse, what if I called out Ben’s name when I did?
I needed to calm the fuck down.
And anyway, I couldn’t be having these kinds of thoughts about him. I was supposed to be pretending we were together, not acting like we were. Although something told me that if we were a couple, I wouldn’t be resorting to touching myself in the shower. I reckoned Ben would offer to do that for me…
‘Enough!’ I chastised myself before turning the temperature dial to a colder setting. I needed to cool off and get my head in the zone.
In just forty-five minutes I would come face to face with Trent for the first time in over a year and I needed to look amazing.
Yeah, I knew it was stupid. I didn’t want him back. It was more that I’d love to feel confident. Like a fuck you and by the way, here’s what you missed out on kind of thing. After all, no one wanted to bump into their ex looking like shit, right?
Once I got out of the shower and wrapped myself in a towel, I paused.
My underwear and clothes were outside. I should’ve brought them in with me. I couldn’t exactly get dressed in front of Ben. There wasn’t even a dressing gown to cover up with.
No big deal. As long as I tightened the towel around me, it’d be fine.
I opened the bathroom door and peeked around it slowly to see if Ben had come inside. The coast was clear, so I stepped into the bedroom.
As I walked towards my suitcase, I looked over at the patio area. There was a thin white curtain so I could see that Ben wasn’t out there. Oh.
I picked up my phone to see if he’d messaged and sure enough there was a notification. He’d gone for a walk. Phew. At least I could get dressed more calmly.
Once I was almost ready, I messaged him, conscious that he’d also need time to shower. I could carry on doing my hair and make-up outside the bathroom in the meantime.
A few minutes later there was a knock at the door.
‘Yeah?’ I called out.
‘It’s me,’ he replied. ‘Okay to come in?’
‘Course!’
The door opened and when he stepped inside, I tried not to swoon.
Did this man ever look terrible? We’d had an early start, been travelling loads and he still managed to look like he’d stepped off a photoshoot.
‘Wow.’ His eyes popped. ‘You look… incredible.’
Ben’s eyes roamed from my feet up to my thighs, then lingered on my chest before reaching my face and scanning back down to my feet again.
‘Oh, thanks,’ I said, my cheeks heating and my body tingling.
I was wearing a sleeveless, knee-length royal blue dress. As soon as I'd tried it on, I knew I had to have it. It fitted me like a glove and accentuated my curves. I felt good in it.
‘Your ex is going to be kicking himself,’ Ben said. ‘I can’t wait to see his face when I walk in with you on my arm. He’s going to feel like an idiot. A very jealous idiot.’
Ben stayed rooted to the spot and our eyes locked again.
Even though it’d taken ages to get my eyeliner flick just right and apply this crimson lipstick (I’d even used lip liner and an actual lip brush), I’d happily let Ben smudge it all if he wanted to throw me down on that bed and ravage me.
‘I should…’ Ben broke the eye contact. ‘Go in the shower.’
‘Yeah, er, sure. Go for it!’ My voice squeaked and I groaned inside.
He hurried past me, went over to his suitcase, pulled out a wash bag, then strode into the bathroom.
Once the door closed, I exhaled.
God.
I was so attracted to Ben it was borderline painful.
I had to stop thinking about him.
After dragging myself back to the long mirror, I put on some mascara and gave myself another once-over before sliding on my heels.
My phone rang and I sat on the bed to answer it.
‘Hi, Mum,’ I said, my chest tightening. When I’d gone to oversee the rehearsal dinner, she still hadn’t been back from a trip into town, so it was the first time we’d spoken since I’d arrived.
‘Are you coming to the rehearsal dinner?’ she asked. ‘Everyone’s already here.’
‘I thought it was at eight?’ I said, my face creasing.
‘We decided to meet up a bit earlier.’
‘I didn’t know. I only just finished making sure everything was set up an hour ago and I had to come back to get ready.’
‘Okay. Well, hurry up. And Adrian said you have a new boyfriend that you’ve brought to the wedding?’
‘Yeah,’ I said quickly, hoping that I sounded natural.
‘Good. Hopefully now you can put the past behind you instead of holding that silly grudge against your sister and lovely Trent. Don’t be long.’
She hung up and I let out a frustrated scream.
Silly little grudge?
Lovely Trent?
Why didn’t she get it? Honestly.
‘You okay?’ Ben raced out of the bathroom.
Holy. Fucking. Hell.
I thought shirtless Ben was hot.
But turns out that shirtless Ben with a white towel wrapped around him with droplets of water rolling oh-so-slowly down his muscular torso was even hotter.
My mouth fell open, then as I watched a drop of water disappear under his towel, I bit my lip.
I wanted to be that drop of water so badly. I wanted to take that journey and slide between his legs, over his cock and…
‘Sarah?’ Ben said, louder this time. ‘Are you okay? I heard you scream.’
I snapped out of my thoughts and dragged my mind out of the gutter.
‘What? Er…’ My brain scrambled as I tried to remember what he’d just asked me. ‘Oh, er, no, I mean yeah, I’m okay. I… my mum said something that annoyed me. I’ll tell you about it on the way. I was just frustrated, that’s all.’
‘Oh, okay.’ His shoulders relaxed.
God. Look at his shoulders.
Get a grip, woman.
‘I’ll be ready in ten,’ he said, walking over to the wardrobe, then taking out a shirt and a pair of trousers that were on a hanger.
He was more organised than I was. My stuff was still in the case.
Once he was safely in the bathroom, I squeezed my eyes shut and repeated in my head:
I will not fall for Ben. I will not fall for Ben.
But when he reappeared in the bedroom and I saw how fit he looked, I knew I was fighting a losing battle.
‘Shall we go?’ He walked towards the door.
‘Y-yeah.’ I stood up. ‘Let’s do this.’