Living Again (29 page)

Two hours later, Ben pulled into her driveway and hopped out. A grin felt permanently plastered on his face. First, Kayley loved him. Second, they had the most amazing night (and morning) he’d ever had in his life. Finally, she was going to meet his family today. He hadn’t brought a girl home to meet them since Zoey. They had heard all about her, but he hadn’t felt ready to bring her over until he knew that she felt the same way he did.

As he got to her front door, the door swung open. Kayley stood in the doorway with Alexis on one hip, a huge beach bag and her purse on the other.

“Here baby, let me help,” Ben reached for her bag but Alexis flung herself into his arms instead. “Okay, I guess I’ll take you, Princess.” Kayley smiled, leaning over to kiss him quickly. Of course she looked adorably hot with her blonde hair braided, her face fresh with only lip gloss, and a short, practically see through cover up that showed him she was
not
wearing a muu-muu. “Want to take just one car?”

“Sure,” Kayley agreed. “Let’s take mine so I don’t have to switch Lexi’s seat. It’s a nightmare, and wouldn’t be fun in that nice sports car of yours.” He walked with her to the car and settled Alexis into her car seat. She smiled and put her baby hand on his.

“Poow,” she said, nodding her little head.

He ruffled her hair. “Yes, we’re going to the pool. Lexi going to swim?” She nodded again and she smiled at her, walking to the trunk to help Kayley with the bag.

“I got it,” she smiled, slamming the trunk shut. He closed in on her and pushed her against the trunk, his nose touching hers. “Ahhh, so you really weren’t being a gentleman,” she teased. He nipped her nose with his teeth.

“What are you wearing under that sexy-as-hell cover up? Because all I want to do right now is go back inside and have you give me a private show like you did last night.”

Kayley blushed and he kissed her lips. “I’m wearing a bikini, just like you asked. I couldn’t find a muu-muu.”

“The pink one?” Ben stepped back, trying to look through her cover up.

She shook her head. “It’s a surprise.”

Ben shook his head at her. “Uh-uh, woman. You can’t do that to me. We’re going to have lunch with my
family
, and you want to embarrass myself by uh- showing my enjoyment seeing you in that suit for the first time?”

Kayley winked, pushing away from the car and walking to the driver’s seat, closing Alexis’ door on the way. “I guess you will just have to control yourself.”

Ben’s mouth dropped open. She was a little temptress! He walked to the passenger side and slid in. Leaning over the console, he put his lips to her ear. “There are a
lot
of bedrooms at that house.” With that, he sat back in his seat and buckled his seatbelt, not making eye contact with her.

Kayley sipped her tea, watching Alexis completely in her element. Lindsay’s little girls were adorable, and they were having a great time playing in the pool together. Krista, Lindsay’s four year old, swam like a fish in the pool, while Ella, who just turned two, and Alexis hung around the steps with floaties on their arms.

Lindsay sat next to her at the side of the pool, watching the girls with her. Ben’s little sister was breathtaking. With stick straight blonde hair that hung down her back and the same gorgeous blue eyes as her brother, she could’ve been a model. Her tanned, toned body definitely didn’t look like she had two children, and pretty recently. Ben was right, she was wearing a small bikini that actually made hers look tame.

Lindsay’s husband Paul sat across the pool deck with the guys, drinking beer and playing corn hole. He looked like the absolute opposite of the tow-headed people in this family. He had dark hair and dark eyes, and looked like a bodybuilder. Kayley guessed that was why Lindsay was so defined, too. Their little girls resembled a mix of them. The oldest had his dark hair and Lindsay’s eyes, a beautiful combination, and the little one had Lindsay’s hair but Paul’s eyes.

Ben caught her eye from across the yard and smiled. She smiled back, reassuring him that she was okay. Even from there, he made her stomach flutter. She loved him. Her eyes ran over his body, appreciating again how fine that man looked in anything he wore, but how much she liked seeing those low hanging board shorts on him.
I need to install a pool
, she thought.

Karen Nichols sat down next to Lindsay and Kayley, holding her own tea. “Why, hello girls,” she said. “Well, look at these three. They are just best buds, aren’t they?”

“Gramma! Look! Alexis is playing with us!” Krista turned to Karen, beaming.

“I see that! She just fits right in here, doesn’t she,” Karen replied, looking at Kayley. “And so does her Mom.”

Kayley smiled at the beautiful woman that brought Ben into this world. “Thank you. Today has been so amazing. Lex doesn’t get to be around other kids all that often, and she loves the girls. Both of you have made me feel completely comfortable.”

Lindsay removed her sunglasses and looked at Kayley. “I knew my big brother was in the love the first time he mentioned your name.”

Kayley’s eyebrows went up, and she felt the familiar butterflies in her stomach. “Oh yeah?”

“After Zoey, he was so negative, so against being in love again,” Lindsay started. Ben’s mom nodded in agreement. “He was so lonely, but he wouldn’t admit it. He just kept saying he was fine, that he didn’t need anyone. We all knew differently, of course.”

“I will never, ever forget the look on his face when he came to lunch at our house that Sunday,” Karen reached over and placed her hand on Kayley’s. “It was right after your birthday, I think he said.”

Kayley blushed, remembering. She nodded her head. “Probably. My best friend Emily threw me a birthday party at her house, and she invited Ben. They had become quite the buddies trying to get us together.”

“He walked in,” she continued. “And he headed right for me. He gave me a big hug and a kiss. Not that he isn’t affectionate with me, but this was just…different. His face was lit up, like his smile was going to split his face. I looked at him and said, ok Ben Nichols, what in the world happened to you and who is she?”

Lindsay sighed. “Yeah. I couldn’t believe I was seeing him look like that. Mom and I were in the kitchen preparing food when he breezed in like he was a feather floating in the wind. His feet hardly touched the ground.”

Kayley laughed. “You two! You have to be slightly exaggerating.”

Lindsay shook her head, looking out at the girls again and then back to her. “I’m not exaggerating, I swear! We knew right away something big was going on with him.”

“So then,” Karen picked up. “He looked at me, grinned that adorable dimpled grin he’s made us all swoon over since he was a baby, and said…”

“Kayley,” Lindsay finished in a breathless voice, fanning herself. “Her name is Kayley.”

Kayley dissolved in giggles at her imitation of Ben. “I highly doubt he said it like that.”

Lindsay laughed, too. “Well, okay, not exactly, but pretty close.”

“He said your name, then he drifted away, like he was off on a desert island with you.” Karen glanced over her head at the guys in the yard. “All day long, he would just sit there, with a little grin on his face. We did finally get out of him who you were and some information about you, like about your little girl and how he met you. I remember wanting to cry, thinking that finally, this man was going to let someone in again. You know the story about that little wench, Zoey, right?”

Kayley’s eyes widened at the name she called Zoey. “Yes, I know the story. He told me not long after we started seeing each other. You know I’m a widow, right?”

Both women nodded. “I was so sorry to hear that,” Karen said sympathetically. “But, I’m glad that you’re here, with Ben. He’s never been happier in his life. I know that for sure.”

“Thank you for making me so welcome here today. It’s always nerve-wracking, meeting the parents- and siblings- for the first time. But all of you have made me feel like you’ve known me forever.” Kayley swallowed the lump in her throat, so grateful.

Lindsay hugged Kayley quickly. “Anyone that can make my brother love again is a miracle to us. He loves you, and your baby. That’s amazing.”

As if on cue, Alexis turned in the pool and looked across the yard, yelling for Ben. Ben looked immediately, knowing her voice. Dropping his bean bag for the game, he headed across the yard, much to the disappointment of the guys. Apparently Ben was very good at corn hole.

“She calls, then I go see the princess,” Ben called over his shoulder, making his way across the yard. “I’m coming, Princess!” Before he dropped into the pool, he leaned over, cupping Kayley’s face and kissing her gently.

“Hey baby,” he murmured. “Having fun with the girls?”

Kayley grinned at him, gripping his chin with her fingers and planting another kiss on those amazing lips. “I am. We’re talking about you.”

“Uh oh,” Ben said, stepping into the pool. Alexis kicked furiously to try to get over to him, and he lifted her up and turned her around. She squealed and squeezed him tightly. “Good things, I hope. No embarrassing stories from childhood?” He looked back and forth from his mother to his sister.

“Oh no,” Karen answered. “I’ll leave those for when you marry her and she can’t get out of it anymore.”

Ben looked at his mother, giving her a look, then turned to Kayley, worried that his mom’s statement would freak her out. She met his eyes and laughed. “I can’t wait to hear.”

“Come in the pool,” Ben said, holding his hand out to her. “Please?” He wanted nothing more than to take her over to the corner and kiss her senseless, but knew he wouldn’t. Not without making her want to crawl under a rock. She didn’t freak out over what his mom just said. That was huge.

Ben lay back in the lounge chair, beer in hand. He lowered his sunglasses, training his eyes on the beautiful girl that he loved sitting across the pool deck from him. Every time he was with her, he swore it was the best time. But here, being with his family the entire afternoon, and he knew. He was marrying this woman. He was having as many children with her as he could. Kayley fit right in here like she had always been here.

She was playing in the water with Alexis and his nieces. Until Kayley, he had known how much fun kids were to be around, but now, loving Alexis, he knew what it felt like to be a dad. Kayley threw her head back and laughed at something the girls said, and his heart constricted. She really was the most beautiful woman, both inside and out.

His gaze followed her body in the water. Before today, hot pink had been his favorite color on her, but today, he added black to the list. Hell, she looked good in everything. She had picked a black bikini that covered more than the last one (his favorite one) that she wore, but still showcased her sexy body.

“You got a good one,” Paul said, plopping down next to him in a lounge chair. Popping open his own drink, he lay back to relax after hours of playing corn hole. Ben turned his gaze from Kayley to his brother-in-law.

“I sure did,” Ben said, eyes back on her. She was now holding Alexis to her chest, who was probably getting sleepy for a nap.

“I haven’t seen you this way in a long time, bro,” Paul commented. “It looks good on you.”

“Thanks, Paul. It means a lot. I haven’t been this happy in my entire life. Truly.”

“That’s always great to hear,” Ben’s dad Joe sat down on the other side of him. “She’s phenomenal, son. And that little girl? What a heartbreaker.”

Kayley walked up, carrying a dripping Alexis, who was fast asleep. Ben jumped up, grabbing a towel and wrapping them both in it. Leaning over, he kissed the sleeping girl on the cheek, then made his way to her mother. “Come sit,” he said against her mouth, kissing her but not nearly as much as he wanted to. He settled back in the lounge with his legs split, and she lay against his chest, resting Alexis comfortably on her chest. He reached his arms around both of them and smoothed Alexis’ hair back out of her face. “She’s passed out, baby.”

“She played so hard with the girls, plus it’s several hours past her naptime. It was a fabulous afternoon, babe. Thanks for inviting me.”