Now and Again (12 page)

“Guys, your mom said to tell you she loves you,” Layla said, walking over to them. “Tyler, she’s so proud of the way you take care of your sister.”

The boy met her eyes but said nothing.

“Thanks for your help,” Elaine said as she escorted the children out the door. Layla’s shoulders dropped as she turned to Ben.

“You okay?” he asked softly. She shook her head, feeling disgusted.

“I’m a real asshole for coming in here with a $500 handbag like I’m a good person or something,” she said. “Those kids were
hungry
. And who knows how long it’s been since they’ve had a bath. I didn’t know what to say or do—”

“You did fine, Layla.”

Her eyes widened as she stepped closer to him. “I didn’t do fine with their mom,” she hissed in a whisper. “I didn’t know what to say.”

“You can’t fix everyone.” Ben’s hands rested on her shoulders. “You came over here, did your best, and made sure the kids were okay. That’s all anyone could ask.”

“My world revolves around me, Ben,” she said, shaking her head. “Shopping and socializing and billing major hours.”

“You’re here, aren’t you?”

She smiled weakly and nodded.

“Let’s go see about those dishes,” Ben said, sliding his arm around her shoulders.

“Is this the grossest house you’ve ever been in?” she whispered.

He laughed lightly. “Not even close. I went in some places when I did domestic calls on patrol where I should have tied a rope to the front door to find my way back out.”

Layla glanced at the tower of dishes in the sink, batting away the buzzing flies. There was no room left on the counter, so she stacked the dirty dishes in a pile on the floor to make room for dishwater.

She tried to block out how much she’d paid for the designer suit she wore as she reached for the water faucet. This was going to be a messy job. But the whining noise that greeted her when she twisted the handle said otherwise.

“No water,” she said to Ben. “I’m gonna call Melanie to stop by here when she can. There’s nothing else I can do.”

“Want some company tonight?”

“Yes. As long as you don’t mind me taking a bath and laying around in my pajamas. I’m kind of drained.”

“The same pajamas as the other night, I hope?”

Layla smiled at his hopeful, raised eyebrows. “Sure. But maybe with a different pair of boxers?”

Ben had moved closer and was now looking down at her, just inches from her face. “Yes,” he said softly. “Let’s go.”

***

Layla had tried to counterbalance her grungy old gray sweats with a red, curve-hugging v-neck t-shirt. Though she was dressed for painting, she still wanted Ben’s attention.

“Did you say someone’s coming to help us?” Emma asked as she poured light brown paint into a tray. Layla was glad to see her younger sister wearing old overalls over her tank top. With her bandana, she looked grungy. If Layla was going to spend several hours painting Emma’s bakery, she didn’t want her sister looking better than she did.

“Yeah, Ben’s coming by when he gets changed after work,” Layla said.

Emma gave a small squeal. “Ben? You’re still seeing him, then?”

“I haven’t scared him off yet … This place smells less like piss than it did the first time I saw it, Em.”

“I’ve been here cleaning every day,” Emma said. “Cole comes after work. It’s way more work than we realized.”

“Well, it’s looking a lot better.”

The creak of the ancient front door opening made them both turn that way, and Cole smiled as he came in.

“Hey,” Emma said, smiling broadly.

“Hi, babe.” Cole crossed the open wood floor and kissed Emma. “Hey, Layla.”

“Hi.” Layla dipped her roller into the paint tray. “You’re sure you want me to do this? I’ve never painted anything but my nails.”

“Go for it,” Emma said. “There’s a drop cloth.”

Cole started cooing at Emma and Layla turned toward the wall to roll her eyes. Those two were a bit much. She thought about the real estate purchase contract she needed to finish at work. The firm’s client was doing a land swap for a downtown parcel, and it was a fairly complex deal. Though she enjoyed the challenge, she’d been having a nagging restlessness over working for corporations lately. All she really got out of it was money.

An arm reached around her waist and Layla jumped. She knew from the familiar feel of the hard chest against her back that it was Ben.

“Hey,” he said, his breath warm on her ear.

“Hi.” She crouched to set the paint roller in its tray and smiled when she looked up and saw all his large arm muscles, thanks to his old gray Chicago Marathon t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off. She checked out the rest of him and paused for an extra second on his large thigh muscles, which bulged in his black athletic shorts.

She stood, tilting her chin up, and Ben took the hint, bending down to kiss her. Layla wrapped her arms around his neck, reveling in his sandalwood scent.

When they pulled apart, she reached for his hand and led him to the other side of the cavernous room, where Cole and Emma were painting.

“Guys, this is Ben,” she said.

“Ben, it’s so great to meet you!” Emma said warmly, reaching up to hug him. “Wow, you’re tall!”

Layla’s eyes shot to Cole, and from his glare she was sure he liked seeing Emma hug Ben about as much as she did.

“So this is the future bakery?” Ben asked, sliding an arm around Layla’s waist.

Emma’s eyes glistened with her usual enthusiasm. “Yes! What do you think?”

Ben studied the high ceiling and considered. “Looks like plaster and lathe, how old is it?”

“Um, I don’t know,” Emma said.

“Are you using a contractor?”

“There’s nothing here we can’t handle,” Cole said, moving to stand next to Emma.

“That’s good, it’ll save money,” Ben said. “You do wiring?”

Cole looked reluctant. “No.”

“Have you had it looked at?”

“No, should we?” Emma looked concerned, and Cole glared at Ben.

“You mind if I look at your meter and breaker box?” Ben asked.

“I thought you were a cop.” Cole narrowed his eyes skeptically.

“I am, but I worked for a building contractor summers in college,” Ben said, walking across the vacant room. “This the door to the basement?”

“Yeah, I’ll go down with you,” Emma said.

Layla didn’t even want to know what was in the basement of the building that was a poster child for condemnation. Probably stuff with lots of legs. She kept painting in slow, even strokes, hearing Ben and Emma walk back up from the basement and into the kitchen.

They came back in after a few minutes, and Emma’s brows were furrowed.

“What’s the matter?” Cole asked, walking to her side.

“I just … I think I might have been a little too impulsive about this building,” she said, rubbing her temple.

Cole shot Ben a dirty look.

“Look, it might not be a big deal, I just think you need to get it looked at,” Ben said to Emma.

“What?” Layla asked, putting down her roller and walking over to them.

“If this is gonna be a bakery, she’s gonna need to upgrade the electrical service,” Ben said. “Between air conditioning and commercial ovens, there’s no way the service here will be enough. And I saw knob and tube wiring in the basement, which won’t get past inspection.”

Emma groaned and rubbed her temple some more.

“But you guys knew you’d have to put money into this place,” Layla said. “It’s a disaster. Maybe you should get a contractor to manage the remodel.”

“I don’t have a contractor or new wiring in the budget!” Emma’s eyes were huge and brimming with tears.

“Wait a minute, we can manage this on our own,” Cole said, reaching for Emma’s shoulders. “You can’t let this guy come in here and tell you we need an electrician and just take it at face value.”

Ben arched his brows at Layla and gave her a small grin. He wasn’t ruffled by Cole’s rudeness, but she was.

“He knows what he’s talking about,” she said sharply. “You two don’t know shit about remodeling an old building. You should have done due diligence and you didn’t, and you’re just pissed that you’re getting called on it, Cole.”

“What?” Cole’s face twisted with anger as he turned to Layla, glaring.

“Okay, let’s all keep cool,” Ben said, his arm brushing against Layla’s as he moved closer to her. “Tensions can run high when you’re under stress, and opening a business is stressful. I shouldn’t have offered my opinion when you didn’t ask for it. I’ll just paint with Layla.”

“No, I’m glad you said something,” Emma said, sighing.

“What qualifies him?” Cole asked Emma, his voice still agitated.

“He’s done all this before on house construction,” she said. “And he owns apartments and does all the work himself.”

“You do?” Layla turned to Ben.

“Just the building I live in,” he said. “It’s a four-plex and I live in one of them.”

“I want to call an electrician,” Emma said to Cole in a low voice.

“Okay, we will.”

“We’re just gonna paint,” Layla said, pulling Ben by the hand. He gave her an apologetic look as she handed him an unused roller.

“Looks like I made quite an impression with your family,” he said.

“Cole’s not family,” Layla said. “And Emma needed your advice. I believe in telling it like it is.”

“I believe I’d like to know what you’ve got on under those sweats.” Ben gave her a sexy smile, and Layla flushed under his gaze.

“Maybe you can come home with me later and find out.”

“Maybe?” Ben’s voice was amused.

“If you’re good.”

“Guess you’ll have to go to bed alone, then, because you don’t make me want to be good.”

“Is that right?” Layla’s body heated as Ben reached around her hips to pull her close.

“Oh, yeah,” he said in a low tone. “If it was my two weeks, you’d be getting fucked more than once tonight. Bet you’re glad you don’t have to deal with that.”

“You guys don’t have to stay if you’d rather . . . do something else,” Emma called from across the room. “Really, you can paint another night.”

“No, we’re painting,” Layla said, breaking away from Ben and reaching for a new roller. He winked when she handed it to him and she felt the burn of his sexual energy coursing into her.

She forced her mind back to the land swap deal as she painted what had to be the biggest wall in all of modern architecture. Aggravation set in when she stepped back after 45 minutes and saw that Ben had covered more than twice as much space as she had.

“You guys have brushes?” Ben yelled to Emma and Cole.

“Back in the kitchen,” Emma called from atop the ladder she was painting from. Ben walked that way, and Layla decided to follow him and check out the kitchen since she hadn’t seen it yet.

Ben was sorting through a pile of brushes when she entered. It was a wide open room, with dilapidated counters along one wall and not much else. Layla wondered how Cole and Emma were going to transform this space into a kitchen.

“Wow, this is quite a project,” she said.

“Yeah. My building needed a gut reno when I bought it,” Ben said. “Took me six months.”

“What made you want to do all that work?”

He shrugged as he selected a brush from the pile. “I like working with my hands, and it gives me financial security. It was a good investment.”

“You like working with your hands?” Layla approached him with a coy smile.

“I can do some pretty great things with my hands, boss. Want me to show you?”

Layla was sure her face gave away her answer as she gazed up at him from just a foot away. She reached up to the taut ridges of his biceps, and as soon as her fingertips touched his skin, Ben scooped his hands beneath her ass and picked her up, his mouth crushing into hers as he pulled her body against his.

She moaned against his lips, surprised by his force. He carried her to the counter, sitting her on it, his lips never leaving hers. He wound one of his hands around her ponytail, tugging it back to expose her neck and chest. His mouth slowly worked its way from her lips to her jaw line before he kissed her neck with an intensity that made Layla wrap her legs around his waist, pulling his hips against her.

His other hand had wandered beneath her shirt, and he teased one of her nipples with his fingertips. He was gentle at first, but then he squeezed so hard Layla gasped, the scruff on his cheeks scratching her neck at the same time.

When Ben scooped a hand over her ass again and pulled her body tightly against his, Layla felt his hard erection pressing against her stomach through his jeans. She reached for his cheeks, wanting to kiss him deeper, get closer. Something about knowing he wanted her so badly made her even hotter that wanting him did.

“You feel so fucking good, Layla,” he said, his voice a rough growl against her lips.

“Ben—”

“Oh, sorry.” The unexpected sound of another voice made them both freeze.

Layla looked around Ben’s shoulder and saw Cole looking embarrassed as he studied the floor. Ben pulled away, disappointment etched on his face.

“Um, we were just . . . catching up,” Layla said, sliding down from the counter. She had a flash of déjà vu from when she’d caught Cole finger banging her sister on a kitchen counter last year.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, I just came in for a brush,” Cole said, crossing to the folding table they were sitting on. He grabbed one and left the room.

Layla laughed nervously when they were alone again, but Ben gave her a dark, hungry look as he adjusted himself.

“We should go finish painting,” she said.

Chapter 7

Ben hadn’t asked Layla if she wanted him to come over when they’d finished painting, he’d just automatically followed her home.

“Hope you’re hungry, I called for delivery from the 24-hour deli,” she said when he walked in her apartment. “It’ll be here soon. Do you mind waiting for it while I go take a shower?”

“No, go ahead.” He ran a hand through his hair as he sat down in a leather recliner. Tension had taken hold of his entire body. His craving for Layla was with him every day now, from the moment he woke up hard until the moment he drifted into fitful sleep.