Accept This Dandelion (12 page)

A shrill ding stopped Ben inches from Renee’s lips. “Saved by the bell,” Ben whispered.

Renee opened her eyes and swiveled away from Ben. They were having a good time together, but there were still other women involved. Her heart was dangerously close to being on the line. She needed to pull back now while she still could. “What was that?”

“My printer. Your creation is complete. But let’s take a look later.”

“I don’t get to see it now?”

“Not yet.” He waved his finger in the air. “First, we eat.”

Renee followed Ben through the apartment to a small cooking space. “This isn’t the main kitchen,” he explained. Renee wasn’t surprised. It looked like any other ordinary kitchen. “I have a staff taking care of the main kitchen…you know, for events and such. But it was awkward warming up a can of soup there, so I had this small den turned into a cooking space.” Ben shrugged. “It’s silly, I know, but I wanted to live comfortably in my own home.”

Renee nodded. She didn’t think it was silly at all, and she admired that Ben desired somewhere to call his own. She was sure the other kitchen had beauty and high quality stainless steel appliances and other finery, but this kitchen looked like a normal place to cook a meal. Ben seemed even more down to earth and human to her.

Renee backed up to the counter and jumped, placing herself in the center of the kitchen. “What can I do to help?” She attempted to see around his shoulder as he pulled a few things from the fridge.

“Not a thing. You’re my guest, and I want to impress you with my culinary skills. That way, if the artwork isn’t to your liking, perhaps you won’t notice since your stomach and taste buds will be singing.”

“My taste buds can sing?”

“Sure,” Ben answered. “You know…
me me me me
like before.”

Renee chuckled and found herself well entertained as Ben chopped, sliced, sautéed and scurried around the kitchen for the next half hour. When she could hardly stand the smells filling the room, he finally turned. “Dinner is served, my lady.”

Ben held his hand out to her, and she jumped down. She didn’t know if they would move to the formal dining room/conference room or plop down right there in the small kitchen.

“This okay?” Ben set water glasses on the miniscule table.

“Perfect.” Renee smiled as she sat at one end.

Ben set a steaming plate in front of her. “Spaghetti.” Renee inhaled the spicy scent before her.

“My specialty. I’ve been boiling noodles for as long as I can remember.”

“But you did so much cutting.” Renee placed the paper napkin in her lap. “I usually just pour out some sauce from a can and call it good.”

Ben laughed. “Me too, but I have a special recipe for sauce, and I like to make it fresh if I have time.”

Renee took a bite and closed her eyes. She would never be able to eat canned sauce again. “This is delicious,” she said before swallowing.

“I’ll tell my nana you enjoyed it. I used her recipe.”

Renee ate faster than she should have on a date, but enjoyed the spaghetti so much she didn’t want to slow down and allow it to cool. Normally, she spun noodles on her fork before eating, but with this dish, she slurped up long noodles so fast they hit her nose on the way by. After one particularly sloppy bite, Ben leaned over with his napkin and gently tapped her cheek.

“You’ve got a little sauce…well, everywhere.” His eyes gleamed.

“Sorry.” Renee raised her napkin to her lips. “I’m an enthusiastic eater. It’s a good thing we’re not taping today, or they’d surely do a close up of me right about now.”

“That they would,” Ben agreed. “One more moment to add to the montage at the end of the show.”

“Montage?”

“Yeah. Don’t you think they’re going to put all of your tricks together into some sort of blooper reel?” he asked. “You know, the mouse dance, the fire, the race car debacle…I could go on.”

“No, don’t.” Renee grinned along with him.

The smile slid off Ben’s face. “Those are all things I love about you, Renee.”

Renee frowned as she set her fork next to her plate. “You love when I push you into a pool?” She tried to lighten the serious turn the evening had taken.

“Well, maybe not so much. But the fact you had the guts to do it, yeah. You’re just so…I don’t know…real.” Ben paused and rose as he reached for Renee’s hands to help her stand. “Do you remember what you told me the first night?”

Renee nodded. She remembered every detail. She felt so smooth when she asked him to close his eyes. She planned to ask him if she sounded familiar to place herself on the radio radar before anything else.

“You actually wiped the makeup from your face…with my handkerchief. I couldn’t believe it.” He shook his head. Renee couldn’t believe it herself. “But after that, you explained that what I would get from you was nothing but the truth. And Renee, I think you’ve come through. You are a genuine girl who is not afraid to be herself in any situation. You would never lead me astray.” Ben paused and pulled her closer. “What I’m trying to say is that you aren’t shy about being who you are. And I happen to like who you are.”

Renee was speechless as Ben put his hand on the side of her face and wiped his thumb across her cheek. He drew her closer and whispered, “You had more spaghetti on your face.”

Before Renee could wonder if she had bad breath from his tasty creation, Ben’s lips were on hers. His kiss was light and soft, but she quickly melted. At first, her mind whirred about what he said. The idea that she was being true to her character in every situation and would never lead him astray made her stomach turn. Renee was being herself, but she was leading him down the wrong path just by being on the dating show. As he parted his lips and deepened the kiss, she could no longer think of anything.

After a few moments passed, Ben pulled back and placed his forehead on hers. “Do you want to see the creation?”

Renee managed to murmur a quick, “Yes.” She followed him back to his work studio, her hand neatly tucked into his. Her heart raced inside her chest, and she didn’t know if it was because of the kiss they shared or the anticipation of seeing the artwork he created using her image.

Ben sat her on the couch in the studio while he grabbed the piece from the printer and inspected it. Renee waited for what seemed like an eternity, though it was only a minute. She wanted nothing more than to be in Ben’s arms again, and she wasn’t sure how to address those longings. She needed to be smart about her situation, but her heart was taking over. Which should she listen to? Her head or her heart? She generally had logic and letting herself fall for Ben wasn’t a particularly logical answer to her predicament. She didn’t want to get hurt and she really didn’t want to talk about her failure on the radio, but she would have to if she fell for Ben and got dumped.

Renee hadn’t come to any conclusions when Ben returned holding a large 11x14 piece of photo paper before him backwards. All Renee saw was the white backing. “Are you ready?” he asked.

She nodded and shifted on the couch as he sat down beside her, keeping the photo close to his chest.

“I give to you”—Ben paused—“what I am going to call…
My Chosen Weed
.” Ben turned the photo around.

Renee leaned forward. The image on the sheet held her lips, blowing. It must have been one of the last shots he took. In front of her lips was a bright white dandelion, which Ben had inserted with his software. There wasn’t much fluff left on the dandelion and it looked like she had blown most of it away. But instead of the fluff floating away, it looked like it stuck to her lips. Renee sat back and took in the picture. She noticed flowers…or weeds in the background. A sea of dandelions. There were intricate little details she never would have thought to place into a picture. And he created the piece in a few hours. While talking to her at the same time.

“Wow.” She tried to mold her thoughts into words. “You have a real talent, Ben.” She reached for the picture to take a closer look. “I really think this is something I could stare at all night and still not see it all.”

“You like it?” Ben bit his lip.

“Like? I love it.” She wasn’t sure what she would take away from the experience as a whole, but she did know this picture was something to cherish. She could look at it and remember how special she felt, even if it was the last close moment they shared. “I really don’t know what to say.”

“That’s strange for a radio personality, right?” Ben teased.

“Very.” Renee leaned back against Ben’s arm on the couch and held the picture up at another angle.

Renee couldn’t take her eyes from the piece. She liked the security of Ben’s arm around her shoulders. The whole day had been better than she ever expected. She got to know Ben on a friendly level and she enjoyed every detail she learned about him. He was down to earth, easy going, and nothing like the media made him out to be. Sure, he dated a lot of women, but only because he hadn’t found the right one yet.

When she finally put the photo down, Ben pulled her to her feet. “There’s one more thing I want to do.” He wrapped his arms around her waist.

“What’s that?” Renee held the large photo off to one side to avoid crushing it.

“In honor of honesty, I need to tell you the truth like you promised to do for me.”

Renee blushed. She had been honest about a lot of things including her personality and attitude towards life, but she still wasn’t being completely truthful with Ben.

“You know the show title…
Accept This Dandelion
?”

Renee nodded.

“I got it from you.”

“You what?”

“When you came in for the audition, I was there, in the control room. You said your favorite flower was the dandelion, and the idea captivated me. I asked Mike to change the title of the show.”

“You changed the show name…for me?”

“Well, not really for you, but because of you.” Ben squeezed her waist.

“What was it going to be?”

Ben shrugged. “Something about daisies.”

“I like daisies.” Renee placed one hand around Ben’s neck while keeping the other at bay so the picture was safe.

“But you like dandelions better.”

“True.” Renee glanced over at the picture and remembered how she said something about enjoying the white fluff dandelions made and how it spread far when someone blew on the weed. Apparently, Ben remembered it too. “Hey,” she said. “Did you have any part in getting me on the show?”

“In the interest of honesty, I suppose I have to answer that.” He placed his lips against her cheek.

“In the interest of honesty…”

“If I remember correctly,” Ben spoke softly, “I told Mike you were the one.”

Ben’s finger hesitated over the phone. He needed to call the other two women, but he had trouble doing so. His date with Renee had gone well…almost too well. He smiled as he thought about her leaning against his arm as they talked late into the night. And the shock on her face when she woke up several hours later still snuggled up by his side on the couch.

More than anything, Ben remembered her soft and sweet lips on his. It was easy to admit he was attracted to her from the first moment he saw her, but now something deeper existed. He was falling for her. Hard and fast.

Ben only intended for the date to last three or four hours. He wanted to work on a ConArt project, have dinner, chat a little and wrap things up. But their talks stretched on and they simply couldn’t get enough of each other’s stories. They talked until their mouths were dry, and when the comfortable silence settled in and Renee’s breathing evened out, Ben fought sleep. He didn’t want to waste a single moment with Renee. Instead of drifting off, he gently stroked the hair from her face as she dozed.

If she had awakened and noticed him staring, she would have thought him creepy and run for the hills, but he couldn’t help it. In all of the dozens of women that hung on his arm in the past, he never found anyone like Renee. Something about her made him light up. No matter what she said and did, he was always surprised, and he didn’t want this experience to ever end.

When she jumped and woke in the wee hours of the morning, she gave him a sweet smile, and he relaxed his hold on her. He wanted to pick her up and carry her to bed, where he could keep her in his arms for the rest of the night and beyond. But he respected her and permitted her to set the boundaries. She allowed him one last, long kiss and asked to go home.

Ben wasn’t sure how he fell for Renee so fast. It was almost like she cast a spell over him from the moment they met. He recognized her different character when she said she liked dandelions better than any other flower. He should have known he was in trouble the moment he changed the name of the show to reflect her preference.

Ben punched numbers into his phone. No more stalling. To be fair, he had to go on private dates with the other two women. No one could compare to Renee, but he promised all of the remaining contestants a little of his time off camera. His challenge would be to hide his attraction until the last show. Until that day arrived, he would go through the motions, treat the participants as friends, and let them down gently. If he hadn’t already shocked the station and the audience by letting four women go on one date, perhaps he would choose Renee now and forget everyone else. But he thought he needed to honor his contract for the show and let things play out on camera.

Plus, Ben was certain Renee was the real deal…the one. If he let people watch him fall in love with her on TV, his reputation would be mended as well. Two birds…one stone. Since he didn’t plan on taking Renee for granted or ever breaking up with her, the public would view him as a man of his word. He was just like everyone else. There was one right person for him, and her name was Renee.

As Ben put the phone to his ear and listened to the first ring, he couldn’t believe he thought of love and Renee in the same instant. Was he falling in love with Renee?

“Hello?” a breathy voice on the other end answered.

“Hey, Tracy.” He sighed. “It’s Ben.”

* * *

Renee floated through the next few days. She didn’t want to analyze anything, but instead focused on how she felt. She still didn’t like Ben seeing two other women, but she put that out of her mind and concentrated on the fact that she had officially fallen for him. She couldn’t predict how things would end on
Accept this Dandelion
, but she was optimistic she and Ben would be together.

Renee viewed the show alone that week, much to Janice’s dismay. She ignored the phone when it rang off the hook as she and Ben kissed in the alcove next to the racetrack and again when she blew smoke from her car and fainted into Ben’s arms. She finally turned her ringer off once Ben kissed the other two women on screen. She didn’t like seeing that part one bit. The scene was almost as bad as her car crash. She couldn’t look away.

Instead, Renee got close to the screen. She wanted to check out the details on Ben’s face as he kissed them. It was torture. When Ben pressed his lips against hers, she thought his eyes told her everything she needed to know. They were dark, passionate and glowed in the dim light of the alcove. She had seen the same expression on him the several times they kissed at his apartment. His amused look told her he wanted more of her.

As she watched him kiss Eva and then Tracy, she searched for that look. Was she headed for heartbreak? Had she fallen for a man who wanted someone else? Renee examined his expression each time and nearly convinced herself she was safe. After he and Eva kissed, he raised his eyebrows and made a slight noise. He had a happy, satisfied appearance, but he didn’t seem anxious to go back for more. And when he kissed Tracy, his expression had intrigue, but once again, he didn’t have that same sparkle.

Renee shook her head. She couldn’t believe she sat with her nose practically pressed to the screen analyzing Ben. She didn’t want to admit love for him yet. She could still get hurt. But if she wasn’t mistaken, the affection may be mutual.

Renee always hoped “the one” would come to her someday. She put her career first for so long, she struggled to imagine how it would happen. There were a few radio groupies she eventually relented to dating and the occasional blind set-up, but no one she was ever serious about…until now.

And because of a local reality show, she had Ben McConnell on her hands. Of all people. She never dreamed she would fall for a man like Ben. Had he been in a line up, there’s no way she would have chosen him, knowing his background. And she couldn’t choose him now. The choosing was up to Ben. Until he offered her a final dandelion, Renee had to keep her desire in check. As for the radio show gig…it seemed less important. If she got the job, great. She would enjoy being on the air with Chuck in the morning show slot. If the job went to someone else, so be it. With Ben, she could enjoy love…the most important part of life.

* * *

Renee wasn’t sure how to approach the next radio interview with Chuck. During the past interviews, she opened up a little bit about behind the scenes items and tried to make fun of herself in order to come across friendly and approachable. She wanted listeners to appreciate her personality. The more comments that came from them, the higher the likelihood she had of getting the job as the morning show co-host across the counter from Chuck.

Being on the radio was a pipe dream Renee had from childhood on. She didn’t realize it could be a real job until college, but she encountered the airwaves a few times before then. The first time she was on the radio, she was just a child. She called into a radio contest to tell the announcers about the gift she gave to her father on Father’s Day. She purchased a hose nozzle because he wanted one, but once she was live on the air, she was flabbergasted and all she uttered was “nose hozzle.” She knew it was wrong once it came out, but no matter how many times she tried, it came out the same.

Renee got better on the radio after studying communications in college, and her first real job went relatively well with only a few hiccups. Now, Renee had a solid job at one of the biggest stations in the area, and she was happy with her career. She enjoyed the behind the scenes script writing, and the work she did with the promotions team, but she loved connecting with listeners more than anything. Listeners often told her they felt as if they knew her when they met her in person at concerts and other station events. She made instant friends. Renee believed her passion for radio would only grow if she got on the morning show. Her career would take shape and she could start to do things for others in the community through her platform.

The grapevine, aka Janice, revealed Renee as a serious contender for the position. The station manager had a few candidates from out of the area, but since Renee already worked there and her public profile grew by the minute because of the TV show, she was a favorite. All she needed to do was finish the show.

For publicity’s sake, it might be better if she got dumped on the show. She wouldn’t enjoy talking about the event on the air, but she could come up with funny reasons why Ben wouldn’t want to be with her…he’s afraid of fire…he can’t keep up with me on the dance floor…he doesn’t know how to swim. Looking back at her time on the show thus far, she’d given Ben plenty of reasons not to choose her.

But Renee no longer cared whether she did what she needed to do for the sake of her radio job. Honestly, she just wanted Ben.

When she entered the studio the morning after the latest show aired, Renee longed to spill her guts on the airwaves. She wanted listeners to hear about the most incredible man she’d ever met. She wanted to admit she started the journey for the wrong reasons, but stayed because of her growing love for Ben. But she didn’t know if Chuck would let her have her say. She had to play the morning by ear and see how it worked out.

“Morning, rising star.” Chuck gave a swift wave of his hand.

“Right back at ya.” Renee tried to keep her voice light, but her body grew heavy with anticipation. She didn’t want Chuck to sense anything amiss.

The song ended through the speakers. She had cut her entrance close. “Ready to roll?” Chuck spoke too loudly as he placed his headphones over his ears.

Renee gave him a curt nod and put headphones on as well.

“100.4 KGBR. Good morning,” Chuck said smoothly. “Just a couple of short weeks away from finding out who the popular Ben McConnell will pick to be his latest girl, and today we have with us our very own Renee Lockhart, one of the last three contenders in the picture. Renee, how does it feel to walk away from every show with a dandelion in your hand?”

“A little sticky, Chuck. Did you ever play with dandelions as a child? They get pretty slimy…fast.”

Chuck threw his head back and laughed. “Okay, okay.” He held his hands up and waved them in surrender. “I need to be more specific. Here’s one you can’t avoid. You kissed the guy, right? And now that you’ve seen last night’s show, you know everyone else did too. How does that make you feel?”

Renee took a deep breath. She could discuss her emotions all day, but she didn’t have to like it. She tried to avoid thoughts about the other contenders and their tender moments with Ben. But she couldn’t ignore the man who she was interested in happened to be dating two other women. Renee could let her jealous side rage, but instead, she stuck to a light, comical answer. “I’m just glad I wasn’t sloppy seconds…or thirds.” She grinned. She wasn’t relaying her affection for Ben, but she hoped to get a chance later.

Chuck laughed again and picked up his questioning where he left off. “What did you and the other girls make of Clara running off with Labrian?”

Renee whistled. “That was really something. I know the process is moving quickly, but Clara really took the fast track with Robby.” Renee chuckled. “But seriously, if he can make her happy, I wish them both the best of luck.”

“Is that what you’re going to say to Ben if he chooses one of the other two ladies or will you be totally heartbroken?”

This was her chance. “To be honest, I don’t think Ben has a choice.” Now where did that come from?

“What do you mean?” Chuck tilted his head with interest.

“I’ve learned a lot about Ben in a short amount of time. He’s not the guy everyone thinks he is, and I believe I’ve seen his true side.” Renee didn’t want to reveal too much and get Ben in trouble for their secret date. “He’s a man who follows his heart. If he does what his heart tells him to, it’s not a matter of choice, and I’ll certainly wish him the best.” Renee wanted to add that she hoped she would be able offer him congratulations in his relationship with
her
at the end of the show, but Chuck interrupted.

“Do you think he’s in love?”

“I seriously hope so.”

Chuck raised his eyebrows and moved on to the next song as he pulled his headphones from his ears.

“Wow.” He squinted at Renee across the counter. “You’re smitten, aren’t you?”

Renee curled her lips into a grimace. “I am, Chuck. I really am.” She wished he had asked her that when they were on the air. She longed to admit her love to the masses. It was time Renee came out of her shell to tell anyone and everyone who would listen. She had fallen for Ben McConnell, and she desired nothing more than a “happily ever after” ending to their TV love story.