Accidental Love (9 page)

“You sure? I can make it quick.”

She laughed. “Tempting, but no.”

After they finished eating they climbed back into bed
together. Jane sat cuddled into Ben’s side as he flipped through the channels
and finally stopped on a movie station. It was a romantic comedy, one she was
sure she’d seen a dozen times.

Ben reached over and took her hand. “Can we talk for a
little?”

“Is there something in particular you wanted to talk about?”

“Yes.”

She looked up at him.

“I really like you, and I know we started seeing each other
on the craziest of terms but from the moment I met you, I knew you were the
one.”

“The one?” Her heart sped up.

“I know it’s a little forward, but I’ve waited years to find
the right woman. And now I have.”

“Me? I’m what you’ve been looking for?”

“Yes. You’re so honest and kind. You’re beautiful and sexy.
You’re smart. And when I’m with you nothing else matters. I want to wake up
every day with you and your crazy dog and cat. I want to fill my unused house
with children and have you as their mother.”

Jane’s eyes watered, and she tried her best to hold the
tears back. “I really like you too. Is it safe to say that somewhere along the
way we accidentally fell in love?”

“It was no accident.” He pressed his lips against hers. “Do
you want to spend your life with me, Jane?”

She nodded. “Do you think our age difference is going to
matter?”

“To who?”

“Won’t people talk? How are my parents going to react?
You’re closer to their age than you are to mine.”

“Jane, look at me.”

She looked into his eyes, and it calmed her immediately.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. The only thing I
know for sure is that I’ve finally found the woman I want to be with, and I
don’t want to give that up just because of what others might think.”

Ben pushed her onto her back and climbed on top of her. His
kiss was deep with passion. The whole world melted away and all that mattered
was him. It didn’t take long before they were both naked and Ben climbed
between her legs to make love to her. He was tender and thorough, making sure
she got everything she needed.

As they made love they looked into each other’s eyes. A
connection was felt so deep in her she would have thought they had actually
attached to one another.

When she fell asleep in his arms that night she knew
everything was going to work out and as long as she had Ben she didn’t have to
worry.

After another successful plane ride, Jane hoped she didn’t
have to do that for quite some time. They made their way to the parking garage
where they would part ways. Ben had promised to come to her place later with
Toby and he would stay the evening with her. She had a feeling he liked her
house better than his own.

Jane leaned against the vehicle as Ben held her in his arms.
Never had she been so connected to someone that she actually hated the idea of
parting ways.

“I really had a wonderful trip,” she told him.

“It was much more enjoyable having you there.”

“Well, I might be out of a job soon and have plenty of time
to travel with you.” Damn, maybe there were more plane trips in her future than
she wanted.

“You’re not going to lose your job. From what I heard on
that tape, you made it clear you wanted him to leave you alone, and he made it
clear he was a pompous ass.”

Jane laughed. “I guess I’ll see you later. I’m going to hate
giving you back this shiny Mercedes.”

“You can drive it as long as you want.”

“You’re just saying that since we’re sleeping together.”

Ben shook his head and grinned. “You might be right.”

She punched his arm playfully. “Careful now.”

He yanked her to him and let his mouth devour hers. Her
engine roared to life. Good God, she was like the Energizer Bunny. If they were
alone she’d likely do him again. But then she remembered they had the rest of
their lives together. Settle engine.

“Okay, I’ve got to go.” Ben left a light kiss on her cheek.

He turned to walk away and she called to him. “Wait, Ben.”
He turned back to look at her. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” He blew her a kiss before walking toward
his vehicle, pulling a rolling suitcase behind him.

Climbing into the car, Jane started it up. It was time to
return to her everyday life. Hopefully with Ben in it now, it would be getting
a lot better.

* * * *

As Ben headed toward his house to take care of a few things,
he couldn’t wait until the day they lived together. Excitement swept through
him and stayed there like he was sixteen and in love for the first time. Jane
loved him.

Their time together had been amazing. He was going to have
to thank Francesca soon. If she hadn’t thought of him and the favor he owed
her, he’d be driving home right now with the same loneliness he’d been feeling
for years. He’d had his fun when he was younger, but it had never been his
intention to be a bachelor for life.

He understood Jane’s concerns about their age difference,
but to him it didn’t seem like such a big deal. He was almost positive that
once her parents saw how much they loved each other, they would be happy for
their daughter.

The first thing he needed to do was go ring shopping. At
first he thought Jane needed the biggest and most expensive one he could find.
But this was Jane. He’d better tone it down just a bit.

He hoped she’d want to start a family right away. He wanted
a little girl who would look just like Jane with dark hair and blue eyes. That
giddy feeling came back just thinking about being a father.

Once home he went directly to his office. He made a call to
the dog sitter, informing her that he was home but to just bring Toby back for
now. He would be out all evening and would pick up Olive and Pepper in the
morning. Next he started his computer up. He had a few things to take care of
before he could go see Jane. He just hoped he could concentrate long enough to
get it done.

* * * *

A few hours later Jane woke from a nap. She hadn’t realized
how exhausted she was until Patty climbed into her lap and as she pet the cat
she dozed off. The cat, of course, was gone now.

She wasn’t sure what time she would be seeing Ben, so she
decided to go online and look through the help wanted just in case she did end
up jobless. It was best to be prepared. There happened to be a new gym opening
in the next town over. Perhaps tomorrow after work she would head over and see
the place.

As she closed her laptop she heard a car door shut outside.
A big smile spread at the thought that Ben was back. Jumping up, she went to
the door to greet him. She flung the door open and froze. Matt was on the other
side.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I can’t believe what you did to me.” The smell of alcohol
on his breath was strong.

“What are you talking about?”

“You recorded me and sent it to the owner of the gym. And
they fired me today.” He narrowed his eyes and glared at her. “And now you’re
going to play stupid.”

“I didn’t send them any tape. I’ve been out of town.” She
knew she needed to stay calm. This didn’t need to escalate.

“Oh, please. No one knew about us but you and me. And I sure
as hell didn’t tape myself and give it to them. They even have a tape from when
you came in my office after I had your car towed.”

She didn’t know about that one. Francesca must have followed
her back. Now that she thought about it, Francesca must have been the one who
turned him in. Who else could it have been?

“Well, it wasn’t from me. Now will you please leave?”

“No, I’m not going to fucking leave.”

“Do I have to call the cops?” Shit, where was her cellphone
at?

“That’s not going to happen either.”

“Get the hell out of here and quit acting like you’re some
tough guy when you’re not. I wish I was the one who turned you in, but I’m
not.”

She started to close the door but Matt pushed his way in and
stumbled into the living room. She wished Ben and Toby were there. It wasn’t
good having Matt inside in his condition. Her mind ran a mile a minute as she
wondered what to do. Was he dangerous? She really didn’t know. He’d done a lot
of things lately she hadn’t expected.

She stepped back slowly until she was on her front porch.

“Get in here. We need to talk about how you’re going to get
me my job back.”

Like hell. Very thankful that she had neighbors on each
side, she started to run across her yard. Jane jogged up the steps to her
neighbor’s house. After knocking, she glanced back toward her place and saw
that Ben had pulled into her driveway. Before going to him she asked her
neighbor to call the police.

By the time she made it back to her yard, Matt was outside
trying to start a fight with Ben. Ben told her to stay where she was. She
watched as Ben held his cool and Matt went off about everything he could. It
didn’t take long before a cruiser pulled up, and Matt got even more hysterical
because she’d called the authorities. This was
so
embarrassing. And she
was sure Ben was second-guessing why he’d even gotten involved in this mess to
begin with.

An officer motioned to her. As she walked over to him, she
knew her face was flushed. Of course the officer who had to show up was
Adam—who was Francesca’s brother and Amy’s fiancé. Could this situation get any
worse?

“Hi, Adam,” she said.

“I thought I recognized you. We have a couple of questions
for you.”

She nodded and followed him to his car. It only took a few
minutes to answer their questions. Adam asked if she wanted to press charges.
She thought about it a moment then decided
hell yeah
. Matt was going to
get what he had coming to him. He’d put her through hell, and she was sure she
wasn’t the first girl but hopefully she would be the last.

She couldn’t help but grin as Matt was handcuffed and put
into the back of a police car. Once they left Ben wrapped his arm around her
and said, “I’m sorry this happened.”

“It’s over. And no one got hurt.” Jane glanced up at him,
giving him a smile.

Ben took her hand and led her back into her house. Toby
padded his way through the living room and plopped onto the couch. Jane sat
down by the dog and was happy when Ben took a seat next to her, wrapping his
arm around her shoulders.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”

“It isn’t like you knew he was going to pull this stunt.”

“Do you know who gave the owners a copy of the recordings?”

“I’m pretty sure it was Francesca. We are the only ones who
had copies and it wasn’t me. And she must have followed me without me knowing
in order to get the second recording.”

Ben pulled her closer. “We owe her a big thank you.”

“In more than one way.”

“I really am glad that this wasn’t as bad as it could’ve
been. I meant what I said before, Jane. I want to spend the rest of my life
with you.”

Jane moved into Ben’s lap, straddling him. Looking into his
eyes she said, “I just have one request.”

“Lay it on me.”

“Can we get a smaller house?”

Ben laughed. “You don’t like my house?”

“It’s just so big, and it’s sorta intimidating. I think we
should find one together.”

“If that’s what it takes to get you to be with me, I’m all
for it.”

Jane kissed Ben and just as she thought things might start
to get hot and heavy Toby barked. Breaking the kiss she turned and looked at
the dog then back to Ben.

“We’d better take this to my room. I think Toby is a little
jealous.”

Ben scooped her up and they headed for her room. She
couldn’t wait until he devoured her body once again. Then when she remembered
it would be just his lips on her for the rest of her life, she wished they
would live forever. She would never tire of this man.

“Seriously, where are we going?” Francesca asked for the
tenth time since getting into Jane’s car.

“I’m treating you to dinner for your birthday. Now sit back
and relax.”

“I don’t like surprises.”

Jane rolled her eyes. She didn’t believe that for a second.
Francesca loved to be pampered. And she probably already sensed that Jane was
driving her to a surprise party.

“I just want to thank you once again for what you did for me
with Matt,” Jane said.

“I just did what any friend would do. And hey, it worked out
great for you, didn’t it?”

Jane smiled. It sure had. She got to keep her job at Hot
Bods, but she was no longer the receptionist. The owners felt like Jane knew
all the ins and outs of the gym and had promoted her into management. It was a
wonderful feeling too. Matt had already passed a lot of work to her, so it was
pretty simple once she got going. Plus, there was more pay and she had the
perfect hours. Life really was going well.

They pulled up to the steak house where Jane had first met
Ben.

“I love this place,” Francesca said. “Ben must be paying.”

“Hey, I’m not so bad off that I couldn’t afford to treat us
to dinner here.”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t hurt having a rich man either, does
it?”

“You know, Francesca, once you stop looking for a rich man
who can pay for everything, you just might find love.”

“Keep dreaming.”

Jane laughed and got out of the car. She walked behind
Francesca and had a grin across her face the whole time. As she followed her in
she laughed as an echo of “surprise” filled the room.

“What in the…” Francesca covered her mouth in shock. “Jane,
I didn’t see a party being here.”

Jane hugged Francesca, very glad that she’d given her a shot
at friendship. She hoped tonight went well since she’d invited Skylar in an
attempt to get them to at least be civil with one another.