Desire (#4) (4 page)

I told Benjamin about the session when he got home. His jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed as I spoke.

“It’s just a family thing,” I said. “The counsellor thinks it will help.”

“Do you want to go?” Benjamin asked, tilting his head and watching me intently.

I shifted, uncomfortable under his intense gaze. “Um, I think it might help Tina.”

Of course I didn’t want to go. But I did want to help my sister.

Benjamin looked thoughtful as he loosened his tie. “You don’t have to stay there, do you?”

“Uh, no,” I said, momentarily distracted as he began to unbutton his shirt. “It should only take an hour or so.”

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll arrange a car to take you and pick you up.”

“Don’t argue,” he said when I opened my mouth to protest. “You are not driving all the way to Providence in your truck. I’d be worried sick.”

He lifted his shirt, giving me a perfect view of his defined abs and taut chest.

Was he doing that on purpose? Trying to distract me so I didn’t argue? I blew out the breath I’d been holding. Dammit. If he was, it was working.

LATER THAT EVENING, COLIN came to call on Benjamin.

“Lovely to see you, again, Kate,” Colin said warmly, as he shrugged off his suit jacket.

I took his jacket and hooked it on the coat stand by the front door of Benjamin’s apartment.

“How’s your sister getting along in Providence?”

I thought it was sweet of Colin to ask after her. “She’s doing pretty well so far.”

He apologised for stealing Benjamin away to talk business, and after they headed off to Benjamin’s office, I made my way downstairs to make a cup of tea.

We’d run out of Earl Grey in Benjamin’s small kitchen, but I thought Mrs. Wicker might have some squirrelled away in the main kitchen.

I loved the large kitchen downstairs. Unlike the rest of the house, which was a little too fussy for comfort, the kitchen was the epitome of warm homeliness, with its scrubbed countertops, flagstone floor, and gleaming copper pots hanging from a rack on the wall.

Mrs. Wicker stood by the sink, holding the kettle as I entered the kitchen.

“Great minds think alike,” I said. “I’ve come down to see if you have any Earl Grey tea left. We’ve run out.”

“I was just about to make a pot. You’re welcome to join me if you have the time.”

Both Mrs. Wicker and Carter, the butler, lived in the staff accommodation at Cliff House. I knew Mrs. Wicker was heavily involved in the church, and local charities, but Benjamin had told me she didn’t have family of her own. I wondered if she was lonely. I was sure Carter wouldn’t be much company.

“That would be lovely,” I said.

Mrs. Wicker filled the kettle with water then walked across to the old-fashioned four-oven Aga and set the kettle on top of the stove to boil.

While we waited for the kettle to boil, we sat down at the large wooden table.

“Is Benjamin working?” Mrs. Wicker asked.

I nodded and pulled a face.

“Yes, he seems to work a lot,” I said. “Colin came around to discuss something about one of their projects.”

Mrs. Wicker got to her feet when the kettle began to whistle as it came to the boil.

“It’s nice to see them working so well together,” Mrs. Wicker said. “Especially after everything that went on between their fathers.”

“Yes,” I said, pretending I knew what Mrs. Wicker was referring to.

I didn’t like to gossip, but I wanted to know more about the mysterious Benjamin Easton and his family. The Easton family history intrigued me, and Benjamin didn’t seem keen to talk about his family’s past.

“It’s a good job Benjamin and Colin have managed to move forward,” I said, watching Mrs. Wicker pour the boiling water into the tea pot.

“It is. For a time, everyone thought the Easton family would be fractured forever.”

“Oh?” I prompted.

Mrs. Wicker carried the teapot over to the table. “The old man, the boys’ grandfather, must have known what he was setting in motion. After he gave the entire inheritance to Benjamin’s father, it tore the brothers apart. They never spoke another civil word to each other again. Then Benjamin’s mother left before his second birthday.”

“I thought Benjamin’s mother had passed away,” I said, shocked. I hadn’t realised his mother had abandoned him.

“She passed away when Benjamin was a teenager, but she hadn’t seen him for years.”

“How awful,” I said, thinking of Benjamin as a child growing up in this vast house without a mother.

“You can’t imagine it, can you? A mother leaving her little boy like that.”

I watched the steam rise from our cups as Mrs. Wicker poured the tea.

“Colin and Benjamin grew up together,” Mrs. Wicker said. “They got on well, despite the feud between their fathers. But it all boiled over when their grandfather passed away. He left Benjamin’s father everything and didn’t leave Colin’s father a cent.”

I nodded I remembered Mrs. Wicker telling me this part of the story when I first came to work on the mural.

“Colin’s father exploded with rage and promised to destroy the Easton legacy,” Mrs. Wicker said. “He took young Colin away to a school in England.”

“But Colin and Benjamin are close now?”

Mrs. Wicker nodded, sagely. “Yes. It could have destroyed their relationship forever. But they made it work. Benjamin reached out to Colin after his father died.”

“And Colin’s father?”

“Drunk himself to death, apparently. He died while Colin was studying at Oxford.”

“How sad.”

“Yes. A sad life. All that money and none of them were happy.”

“What about Colin’s mother? What happened to her?”

“Oh she’s living in South Carolina now, I believe. She left Colin’s father over his drinking and remarried.”

I could see why Benjamin didn’t have a high regard for families.

“It must have been very hard for Colin too,” I said.

Mrs. Wicker smiled. “He’s an Easton through and through. And Benjamin has involved him in the company and the estate. You know, sometimes I think Colin loves Cliff House more than Benjamin. Well, you saw for yourself how interested he was while you were working on the murals.”

I nodded.

“Speaking of which,” Mrs. Wicker said, “they need an artist to do some restoration work at the Newport Preservation Society. Would you be interested?”

“Yes, very interested.” I set down my mug of tea as Mrs. Wicker explained what she thought the job might entail.

It sounded perfect. I sipped my tea and thought this had been a very productive evening: A possible job and information from Mrs. Wicker that made me feel I knew a little more about the enigmatic Benjamin Easton.

ON THURSDAY MORNING, I got myself ready for the counselling session. I struggled to decide what to wear, eventually picking out a smart, navy pant suit and a white blouse. I didn’t know what I would be expected to do at this session. I half feared it might turn into a finger-pointing episode, with Tina blaming me for everything that had gone wrong in her life.

When I left the master bedroom and walked along the corridor towards the main house, I saw the door to Benjamin’s home offices was open. That was odd. I thought he had to be in the main office all week.

I peered inside and saw his assistant Geraldine sitting guard in the reception area.

She looked up and spotted me. “Ah, Miss Taylor, what can I do for you?” Her eyes narrowed. She hadn’t forgiven me for getting together with her boss.

“Um, is Benjamin busy?”

“I’m sure he’ll make time to see you, Miss Taylor,” she said with a tight smile.

She picked up the sleek, chrome handset on her desk and spoke to Benjamin in a low, sultry voice that pissed me off.

“Go right ahead,” she said and gestured towards Benjamin’s office door.

“Thank you, Geraldine,” I said and walked past her desk, trying not to be intimidated by her perfect coiffed hair and immaculate outfit.

Benjamin opened the door before I reached it.

“Hi,” I murmured. “I thought you had to go into the head office today.”

He took my hand and pulled me inside the office, closing the door on Geraldine’s prying eyes.

“I thought this counselling session would be difficult for you,” he said. “I … wanted to help.” He seemed to struggle over the words.

I was so touched I had to look away, so he didn’t see the tears in my eyes.

Sometimes he could be so calm and cool with me, and other times like this he said the sweetest things.

We sat in the back of the chauffeur-driven Mercedes, and Benjamin held my hand all the way to Providence.

I tried not to get my hopes up, but I really wanted Tina to make it this time. I missed her so much. The drugs took my sister away and twisted her into someone I hated. Now I had a chance at getting her back.

When we reached the large red-brick building, I hesitated. I was scared this would all go wrong, that I might do something to mess up Tina’s recovery.

I took a deep breath and reached for the door handle.

“Wait,” Benjamin said. “I wanted to say … I’m no good at this stuff, Kate. I know you deserve better, but I am trying.” He ran a finger lightly along my jaw. “I want you to be able to turn to me with things like this. When you’re hurt, when you’re upset … I want to make it better.”

I burst into tears.

A look of sheer terror appeared on his face. “No, Kate! I didn’t want to upset you. I was trying to make you feel better. Shit. I’m no good at this. Please, don’t cry.”

“I can’t help it,” I said in between hiccoughs. I struggled with my purse, trying to extract a tissue.

“Jesus, Kate. I knew I wasn’t good at this relationship stuff, but I didn’t think I would make you cry.”

“You are good at it. You’re great,” I said and sniffed back tears. “I…” I stopped dead. Holy crap, I nearly said I loved him. Jeez, was I trying to scare him away permanently?

I wiped my eyes furiously. “You’ve been great. I couldn’t have wanted you to do anything else.” I smiled at him. “I’d better get inside. I don’t want to be late for Tina’s session.”

He nodded. “I’ll wait here,” he said, his eyes fixed on me, still concerned, as I climbed out of the car.

The counselling session wasn’t as bad as I expected. Of course, I’d been expecting wild accusations and yelling, so that wasn’t saying much, but I was really pleased at how it turned out.

We just chatted about things, our early childhood, mainly. We laughed over the silly scrapes we got into when we were kids and shed a few tears when we remembered our mom. That part was sad, but in a good way. I knew Tina loved Mom, but I was so mad at how she’d treated her that I’d managed to forget the good times. Talking things through didn’t solve all our problems at once, but it was a start. It was still early days, but things were looking good.

Afterwards I walked out to the parking lot, and when I was still twenty feet away, Benjamin got out and opened the car door for me.

That little gesture told me he’d been looking out for me, that he cared. His eyes searched my face. I knew he was trying to see if I was okay.

I stretched up on tip-toes and kissed his cheek.

He smiled. “What was that for?”

“For being so completely and utterly perfect,” I said.

His face grew serious. “I’m not perfect, Kate. Not by a long way.”

But he was perfect for me and that was all that mattered.

I DIDN’T WANT TO be alone after we arrived back at Cliff House. As we walked up the winding staircase towards the apartment, I glanced sideways at Benjamin and bit my lip.

“Do you have to go back to work this afternoon?” I asked him.

He looked across at me, then guessing my intention, he grinned. “Did you have something else in mind?”

“Perhaps.” I grinned back.

We walked faster, and when we arrived at the entrance to his apartment, I was breathless with anticipation.

“I have a surprise for you,” he said.

My insides clenched with desire. “A surprise?”

“Yes. Are you up for something different?” he asked, his dark eyes full of promise.

Different? What sort of different?

My mouth grew dry as I imagined all sorts of naughty things.

In the master bedroom, Benjamin walked over to the closet and pulled a box down off the top shelf.

Hmmm. A shoe-sized box. He really liked shoes.

A pleasant sensation tingled between my legs. I really liked the shoes too.

He opened the grey box and when I saw the contents, I gasped.

Holy crap. They were some kinky shoes.

I looked up at him with wide eyes. Did he really want me to wear those? They looked dangerous!

He met my eyes with a scorching gaze.

Uh, I guess that was a yes then.

I reached inside the box and pulled out one of the shoes. The shiny, gold leather was really quite attractive, but it was the tiny spikes set into the leather that made my hands tremble. I ran a finger over the spikes. Mmm, not quite as sharp as I’d feared.

“Try them on,” he whispered.

I swallowed and placed both shoes on the floor, then I kicked off my normal boring flats. Putting a hand on his arm to steady myself, I slid my feet into the shoes. They were a little tight but bearable.

He made a looping gesture with his hand. “Turn around for me.”

He tilted his head, watching me intently as I strutted around the room. I felt the blood rush to my face as I saw my need reflected in his eyes.

The wetness between my legs made me squirm.

He walked towards me and grasped the bottom of my shirt and yanked it over my head. He pressed his mouth on mine, kissing me hungrily. My hands automatically sought out the bulge in his pants. I stroked and caressed his erection through the material, and he moaned softly into my mouth.

His hands reached down to the waistband of my pants, unbuttoned them then slid his hand inside.

“Oh,” I moaned.

He gently stroked me then slipped a finger deep inside me.

“Always so wet and ready, Kate,” he said.

I nodded. I was always ready for him.

“Now for the something different,” he said.