Adversaries and Lovers (9 page)

She was in the process of slipping it out of her duffel bag so she could hide it behind the tree until they returned, when Ben glanced her way and said, “Let's go.”

She quickly stuffed the suit back inside, shifted the duffel bag onto her shoulder, and walked toward him. As she approached, he propped his hands on his hips and eyed her with a cat-swallowed-the-canary smile. She looked at him, warily. “Why are you smiling like that?"

He shrugged. “No reason. Get in the boat and I’ll release the winch.” The curve of his lips brought to mind the Machiavellian smile she’d seen at the reception when he’d whispered something to his father. She grabbed the handrail to launch herself into the boat, then on a whim, glanced back to find his smile yet wider. She turned to face him and eyed him dubiously. He was up to something. “Have I done something to amuse you?” she asked.

Ben lowered his gaze, stared for a moment, and said, “I know my intentions are honorable, but I don't know about yours. You told me that you had no intention of swimming with me again, that the swim fin promotion was your only reason for coming today, yet you brought your Sealskin but forgot your portfolio. What am I supposed to think?”

Kate glanced down at the duffle bag and saw an iridescent-green strap poking out from the partially opened zipper. Then she looked to where her portfolio stood propped against the tree. Heat rushed up her face. “I’m a little forgetful at times,” she said, her voice wobbly.

Ben arched a brow. “You didn’t forget your suit.”

“I don’t know why I brought it. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision,” Kate said, knowing she couldn’t possibly sound convincing to Ben if she didn’t sound convincing to herself. “I still have no intention of swimming with you though,” she added.

Ben walked over to where the portfolio stood, grabbed it in one large hand and returned it to her, saying, “This should be an interesting day.”

“Not if you’re counting on my going swimming with you to make it that way,” she called after him as he went to release the winch. But he waved her off, and as she climbed into the boat, she knew the issue of swimming together was still wide open.

With the boat bobbing on the water, Ben waded knee deep, gave it a shove, and hopped aboard. He started the engine and headed downriver. As he stood at the wheel, Kate sat on a seat near the back. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of the wind caressing her face. But before long, she found herself staring at Ben's broad-shouldered frame and wide, sun-bronzed shoulders as he navigated the speeding boat along the winding shoreline. As she stared at him, she had a bizarre urge to walk up behind him, wrap her arms around him from behind and rest her head against his broad back. She’d feel the beat of his heart beneath her palm, and he’d cover her hand with his, and the musky aroma of his exotic aftershave would drift to her nostrils...

Her fantasy crumbled when he announced, “Cooper’s Landing, next stop.” He slowed the engine and turned the boat toward shore, and it glided between the rotted tops of several old piers. Pulling up to a wharf, he cut the engine, jumped onto the dock and secured the boat, then hopped back on board for Kate's duffel bag and portfolio. After setting them on the dock, he offered his hand, which she took, and she hopped ashore.

Retrieving her things, Kate walked up the plank wharf and stopped at the head of the dock to study the agglomeration of antiquated buildings that lined a dirt road: a has-been cafe, a store with a tall false front, a structure that looked like an abandoned feed store. Other buildings were in varying stages of reconstruction—a train depot, a one-room schoolhouse and a small building with the words ‘CITY HALL’ written in faded letters across its weathered facade. But what dominated all was the large, time-weathered structure sitting on the edge of town, its row of high windows peering down at the river below. So this was Cooper’s Landing, Ben’s abandoned town that his grandfather mentioned.

She glanced back at Ben, who stood with his hands on his hips, he said, “Cooper’s Landing isn’t much now, but it will be in a couple of years. Come on, I'll show you around." She followed him to the cooperage, where he unlocked a heavy, arched entry door, sending it creaking open on its strap-iron hinges.

To Kate's surprise, the motorcycle was parked inside. Ben wheeled it out of the building, while saying, "While the boiler's heating up, I'll take you up the hill and show you a nice view."

Kate looked at him with a start. "Up the hill... on
that
!?"

"It climbs nicely," Ben said.

"Yes but... isn't that kind of dangerous."

"Yeah," Ben said. "You'll have to hold onto me."

Kate looked at the extended seat where she'd be sitting. Things were different now. Although she was apprehensive about going up the hill on the giant motorcycle, she did like the idea of sitting behind Ben with her arms around him.

"Wait here," he said. "I'll go fire up the boilers." He went back inside, and a few minutes later, returned, looked at her worried face, and said, "We'll be up the hill in less than a minute." He reached into the saddle bags and brought out a black leather cuff and said, "These are our new arm guards. You can test them for me."

"Arm guards for what?" Kate asked, looking at the long black cuffs.

"Brush when riding off road."

took her arm and wrapped one of the cuffs around it. While he fastened the row of clips that held it snuggly against her arm, Kate said, with a chuckle, "I hope we don't run into anyone hiking up there or they'll think we're members of a motor cycle gang."

Ben laughed. "Yeah, but this motorcycle gang member plans to make a whole lot of money off these things." After he'd fastened the other cuff, he said, "Okay, climb aboard, and this time hold on tight. It might be a little bumpy."

Kate settled behind Ben and wrapped her arms around his waist. But before putting on his gloves, he moved her hands tighter around him, and said, "That feels better."

Kate said nothing, just continued to hold onto him as he put on his gloves, revved up the engine and shot forward. In moments they were climbing up a steep dirt path that quickly took them to the top of the hill where he followed a narrow road that appeared to be an old logging road. After riding along the top of the hill for a little ways, he circled back, returned to where they'd crested the hill and stopped, then cut the engine.

Kate untangled her arms from around him and got off the bike, and Ben climbed off to stand beside her. As they looked down on the abandoned town below, Ben said, while pointing, "Over there will be a marina with a dozen berths for boats, and the feed store down there will have shops in it." He placed one hand on her shoulder, and continuing to point with the other, said, "The school house will be a coffee shop, and the train depot will be an old-fashioned ice cream parlor and candy shop. The track bed is already a bicycle trail so bikers can make Cooper’s Landing a destination point.”

Kate barely caught his words, her mind focused on the warmth of Ben's hand against her bare skin. “And will there be a restaurant serving lobster with truffle butter by then?” she asked.

Ben laughed. “Only sandwiches, soups and tea cakes. It’s going to be a tea house. But you will have lobster in truffle butter today. It’s packed in the cooler on the boat.”

Kate glanced up at him. “You’re not serious?”

“I told you we’d have lobster," Ben said, looking down at her, "and I never go back on my word. One of the reasons I fired up the boilers, so we could heat it up."

"You fired up boilers just to heat lobster tails?" Kate asked.

"Among other things."

"Other things like what?" Kate asked, curious.

"You'll see when we go inside the cooperage."

 "And what are your plans for that?" Kate asked.

"To make it into a pub. I'm about to start renovations on it. Once it's finished, it'll be the best pub on the river, and the only one accessible by boat. It'll also have a wine-tasting room so boaters, bikers and anyone else can eat, drink and be merry.”

Kate heard the animation in Ben's voice. He was excited about this place.

...tends to keep the world at arm's length... spends his time hiding out at that place of his when he should be getting on with his life...

Maybe like his house, it was another place to hide from the world, for whatever Ben's reason. “Will you be fixing up one of those little houses down there so you can spend time here?” she asked, trying once again to tap into that part of Ben that seemed unreachable.

Ben shrugged. “No. It’s purely a business venture. Except for the cooperage, I’ll hire all the work done, then either sell or lease the buildings when the project’s finished.”

Kate realized how difficult, if not impossible, it was going to be to make Ben understand that most people weren’t the detached maverick he was, that possessions mattered, especially to old people who'd cherished those possessions for the better part of their lives. “Does everything you do boil down to dollars and cents?” she asked, turning to face him. “Doesn’t anything touch your heart?”

To her surprise, Ben moved his hand down to her waist, and with his fingers curved around her bare midriff, looked steadily at her and said in a quiet voice, “You touch my heart, Katie.”

Kate found his use of her nickname endearing. It made her feel special. It also made her want to throw her arms around him and kiss him. She started to move toward him, but before she could act on it, the rustling of limbs, not more than ten feet away, startled them. They looked around to find a raccoon peering at them from within his cover of brush. He quickly turned and scurried back into the undergrowth and was gone. “We'd better go back before his buddies take off with the lobster tails and everything else,” Ben said. He dropped his hand from her waist, and started for the motorcycle, and Kate plodded along behind.

Ben revved the engine, and as they headed down the hill, Kate leaned heavily against him, closing her eyes so she wouldn't have to look down the steep incline, but in only a few seconds they were down. Ben parked the motorcycle outside the cooperage, and after they'd climbed off, Kate removed the arm guards and handed them to him, and said, "Am I supposed to come up with an ad for these?"

Ben laughed. "No. They're part of a marketing plan, a token gift to throw in for the motorcycle jockeys to give to their girls."

Kate arched a brow and said, with irony, "That should get their hearts tripping."

Ben gave her a wry smile. "You'd be surprised what turns some women on."

"I won't comment on that," Kate said. "So, lead the way."

Ben nudged her through the doorway to the cooperage and led her through a maze of corridors, bays and rooms while explaining what he had planned: walnut paneling would cover the walls, the floors would be refinished just enough to retain their character, and antique wall fixtures would cast a warm glow over all. Twenty-eight tables, thirty-two booths, and a massive central bar were already commissioned and in the making.

The tour ended in a remote part of the building where a huge, elliptical tank made of wooden staves dominated the room. Curving around one end of the tank was a cedar deck. "It's a cask that was used for storing wine," Ben explained. "The staves are made of oak and they're five inches thick, and the cask holds eight thousand gallons."

Kate peered over the high sidewall, and said, “It’s filled with water.”

Ben nodded. “Go ahead, stick your hand in.”

Kate reached over the edge and dipped her hand into the water. It felt warm. She turned to Ben and said, “Surely this isn’t what I think it is?”

He shrugged. “After a long day working on a project like this, there's nothing better than sitting in a giant hot tub.”

Kate peered through the unbroken surface of the water and saw what looked to be seats with gently sloping backs, undoubtedly Ben’s craftsmanship. She could almost feel her body immersed in the water, her head resting against the arch of the wooden head rest, her arms floating on the surface, Ben beside her. He’d pull her onto his lap. And she'd curve her arms around him and snuggle against him, and kiss him...

“While I unload the boat, you can change into your suit," Ben said, cutting into her musings, “then we'll prop your mock-ups along that shelf—" he pointed to a ledge along one wall "—and sit in the hot tub and brainstorm.”

“I don’t know about this," Kate said. "It seems a little quirky." It was definitely not the way she’d planned to present her ideas.

“Yeah, it might be a little quirky," Ben agreed, "but I get my best ideas while sitting in that tub.” Then he added, in a serious tone, “I’m not trying to lure you into my tub, but it is true that when you’re relaxed, the ideas begin to flow, and I want the swim fin ad campaign to be the best it can be. You can change behind that screen over there," he said, pointing. He chucked her under the chin and left the room.

Kate stared into the vat. The water looked inviting, and Ben’s words sounded earnest. And she was being overly sensitive about parading around in a swimsuit in front of a man who was used to seeing models flaunting their stuff all the time.

Grabbing her duffel bag, she stepped around behind the wood screen he'd pointed out and changed into her suit. While she arranged her mockups on the shelf, Ben returned with a sawhorse, which he placed to one side. He clipped a utility light onto it and aimed the light in the direction of the mockups. Then he shrugged out of his tank top, kicked off his flip-flops, and doffed his cut-offs, leaving him standing in his Sealskin suit. "I'm ready when you are," he said.

For the stretch for several heartbeats, Kate stared at him, not because of his state of undress, but because of his near perfect body. She'd been aware of it the day at the pool, but this was the first time she'd been able to observe him closely. At art school she'd sculpted from male models, but none compared to Ben's exceptional physique.

Ben snapped on a utility light that was clipped onto the sawhorse and aimed the beam at the line up of illustrations. Kate walked up to stand in front of them, and Ben came over and stood behind her. Resting his hands on her shoulders, he peered over her head. While waiting for him to comment, Kate could feel the heat from his body against her back, a heady reminder of how it had been in the elevator, which brought her thoughts to the pool and their intimate contact...