“What I got was moral support from both Alexa and Casey. Turns out, it was better than advice or information,” Ben told her, wrapping her in his arms more tightly. “Go out on a date with me, Regina. Let’s see what happens.”
“You have no idea how bad it can be,” Regina told him sadly. “Can’t we just stay like we are a bit longer?”
“I don’t like sneaking around,” he said firmly. “I know you don’t either, no matter how hot you look in your disguise.”
Ben ran his hands down the front of her skirt and felt something underneath. He tugged up the skirt a few inches and saw garter belt snaps holding up black lace-topped stockings. He touched the small band of naked skin revealed on each thigh. He ran a hand up all the way to her hip, pushing her skirt even higher until the soft leather was bunched at her waist.
Ben closed his eyes to hide the sheer animal lust he felt when he found Regina wasn’t wearing anything but the garter belt and hose.
“Shame on you for lying, Dr. Logan,” Ben told her sternly, his grip on her tightening to keep her pinned to him. He could feel the back snaps against his legs and the coolness of her naked backside through his dress slacks.
“I’m wearing everything but underwear, so technically, I’m not naked. It wasn’t a lie,” Regina said in her defense, laughing as Ben growled in her ear.
“Okay—I don’t like cold pizza either,” she confessed. Her laughter completely disappeared as Ben ran a hand down the inside of one thigh and then back to her core.
Then his traveling hand left her and she heard the rasp of his zipper.
Regina bit her lip in excitement when she felt him slide his erection between her thighs from behind. She melted more with each repeat of the teasing back and forth action between them.
“Tell me to stop now or brace yourself on something,” Ben warned, whispering the threat in her ear. “I don’t know how
nice
I can be about this. I’m still mad you lied to me. It was going to be against the doorjam.”
Regina raised trembling hands to the refrigerator door as Ben lifted her hips just a fraction and slid into her from behind. Dizzy with pleasure, Regina stared at the picture of them while he stroked in and out until he was completely inside her. Ben reached around then, bringing one hand to the front to cup her, stroking the front of her with his thumb, his knuckles brushing his own erection while keeping his thrusts shallow and regular.
“You never really answered me, Regina. Are you going to date me?” Ben slowed the rhythm he started, nipped her ear, and then kissed the back of her neck again. He intentionally held Regina so tightly she couldn’t move, held her impaled on him while she braced herself. For Ben, it was the closest to his animal side he could get and still be civil. He wanted what he wanted from her, and damn it, he was going to get it one way or another.
“Answer me,” he ordered, his voice hard, almost as hard as he was inside her.
Regina could barely think, and wondered how Ben could calmly ask her questions.
“Ben, please,” she implored, when he stopped moving altogether. She could still feel him throbbing within her.
“Please yourself—I’m still waiting for an answer,” Ben said firmly, his grip strong on both of them as he held himself still. Her vibrating body was a trial to his self-control. It was one more reason he liked her.
“Okay, yes. Yes. Yes. I’ll go out with you,” she promised rashly, tension unwinding when Ben started to thrust once more.
“I think I may have found a way to win every argument,” Ben bragged, laughing and picking up the speed of his thrusting, delighted when he felt her clenching around him.
Regina swore at him even as she climaxed.
Ben laughed wickedly. He lasted another couple strokes, and then groaned in her ear as he found his own release.
Grateful for the small size of the kitchen, Ben reached out for a chair and pulled it under him, bringing Regina back into his lap as he sat. His arms still held her tightly. And Ben had a new appreciation for the benefits of his well-used weights.
“When this lust thing dies down a little,” Regina told him through her gasps for breath, “your sex magic won’t work on me anymore. Then we’ll see who wins arguments.”
Ben sighed and hugged her. “Yeah, but I’m hoping you’ll be madly in love with me by then, and I can exploit that.”
“Ben—I don’t. . .” Regina looked for words, but couldn’t find the right ones.
“Shush,” he interrupted, not willing to hear her denial while he was inside her. “I know. It’s only been a few weeks, and it’s too soon. Forget I said anything okay? My male ego is urging me to stake a claim to you. I’m never going to be able to use this kitchen again without seeing you braced on the refrigerator door.”
“Holy shit, Ben, I’m still impaled on you. How much more claim to me do you want?” Regina said, laughing.
“When you’re ready to hear the answer, I’ll tell you. Until then, we’re just going to talk about our date,” Ben said seriously.
Regina felt his heartbeat thundering and his hands unsteady on her, telling her a lot more than his words. She squeezed back the tears that threatened again, swallowed around the tightness in her throat, and fought not to care so much that she would give up her life to be in his.
Instead, she pushed aside her concerns. It took all her composure to do so.
“So where are we going on our date?” Regina asked him at last, turning her head around to kiss his cheek before rising from his lap and severing their connection as gently as possible. He watched her walk to the kitchen sink and grab several paper towels. Catherine would have been running to the bathroom to make repairs in private, but it probably wasn’t fair to keep celebrating how much he liked Regina’s irreverent sexuality more.
“How about dinner tomorrow night at Nomad’s?” Ben watched Regina wriggle the skirt back down over her hips as he straightened his clothes as well. “Probably not a good idea to wear the leather skirt again though, unless you just want more pictures of me with lust in my eyes.”
Regina laughed. “I don’t get it, Ben. It’s not like I’m next year’s supermodel. How can you feel this way about me?”
She wrestled her hair back into an assortment of clips and pins, preparing to stuff her hair back under the hat. When she turned back to look at him, Ben’s wicked grin said he knew she reveled in his attraction for her despite her insecurities. Regina closed her eyes and swore at how worried about his affection she sounded. She didn’t like feeling it or that it so obviously stroked Ben’s ego.
“I’m not very good at being someone’s girl,” she admitted, feeling pathetic and weak. “I haven’t had a lot of practice.”
Ben walked over to her to hand Regina the rest of her disguise. He stopped her hand before she covered her red hair.
“Tell Marvin I’ll be by around seven to pick you up.” Then he kissed her deeply. “The bathroom is down the hall if you need it. If you have to leave, you’d better go before I get another urge to show you just how much I like that you’re my girl.”
“Marvin,” Ben said, inclining his head as he walked into the lobby. “How’s it going?”
“Sharp suit, Mr. Kaiser. You got a date or something tonight?” Marvin asked, grinning at the bouquet of flowers in his hand.
“Sexy red-head on the fourth floor,” Ben replied, as Marvin swiped his access card on the elevator and motioned him inside.
Regina answered on the first ring, and Ben’s jaw dropped.
“Wow,” he said, because his first sight of her scrambled his brain.
She was wearing black again, yet another dress hugging every curve. A sheer fabric covered her from neck to wrist, and under it was a satin fabric struggling to contain her breasts. Her spiky heels brought her exactly eye-to-eye with him.
“Excuse me, I’m looking for Dr. Regina Logan?” Ben stood on his toes pretending to look over her head into the house.
“Sorry,” Regina told him sadly, “you just missed her.”
Ben frowned as he deliberately looked Regina over from head to toe. “Well, I’m not into dating supermodels, but I guess I could make an exception for you. You look amazing tonight.”
Ben handed her the bouquet of flowers, and Regina immediately put her face in them.
He smiled at her, completely happy with her reaction.
“It’s probably been ten years since a man brought me flowers,” Regina said, sighing. “Come in while I put these in water.”
As Ben walked by her, she noticed his clothes. Ben always looked like a magazine model, but there was something over the top about his clothes tonight.
“Nice suit,” Regina said, studying it more closely. “Looks like a SydneyB.”
“That’s because it is one,” Ben said proudly. “Sydney gave me his card the day I visited.”
“Didn’t Alexa warn you? Sydney has potential clients investigated,” Regina warned, shaking the bouquet at him.
“Not me. I guess he thought I was a nice guy,” Ben said, shrugging.
Regina snorted and hurried to the kitchen.
*** *** ***
When they stepped out of the elevator, Marvin turned his head so they wouldn’t see him smile. They were in the middle of a heated debate over which car to take. Personally, he was siding with Mr. Kaiser this time.
“Ben, no one will recognize us in the CRV. It’s a stealth vehicle.”
Regina had the keys in her hand trying to hand them to Ben. Ben was holding his hands in the air refusing to take them.
“No. Not just no, but—hell no. We are not putting these clothes into a CRV. It’s the BMW or your Porsche. I don’t care which one,” Ben told her firmly.
“We can’t take Harry. People know him too well,” Regina said, leaving out the fact the Porsche’s license plate also said LOGAN on it. “I guess it’s your BMW.”
Ben fished the keys out and put them in her hand even as he snatched the CRV keys from her. “Great. You can drive.”
“Me?” she squeaked. “Why? Isn’t the guy supposed to drive on a date?”
“Normally—but I’ve seen you drive your car. Now I want to see if you can handle my stick,” Ben said, as if his logic made all the sense in the world.
They both turned shocked faces to Marvin when he burst out laughing. Marvin waved in apology and turned his back to them as he struggled to compose himself.
“Fine,” Regina told Ben through gritted teeth. “I can handle any stick.”
They heard Marvin laughing uncontrollably as they stepped outside.
“Well, we’re certainly off to a good start not drawing any special attention to ourselves,” Ben told her, feeling like a teenager again when he realized where Marvin’s mind had gone. Which, when Ben considered it, was probably ninety-nine percent of the reason he wanted to watch Regina drive his car.
Regina went to the driver’s side and slid into an incredibly soft driver’s seat that adjusted itself immediately to fit her backside. She looked at Ben, who burst out laughing at the expression of exquisite pleasure on her face.
“My God,” Regina said reverently. “Your car just gave me an orgasm.”
“That’s just the first peak,” Ben teased, noting her widening grin.
Regina stroked the gearshift, taking her time as she tested the feel of it in her hand. Ben squirmed in his seat, hoping he wasn’t going to have to adjust himself in front of her.
“If you’re done with the foreplay, you might want to put the key in the ignition. This is not her first time to be driven,” Ben told her sharply, trying not to watch her as he buckled himself into the passenger’s seat.
Regina snorted at him. “Be patient. It’s my first time in a BMW,” she chastised softly, “and I hate to tell you this, but this car is a he—not a she. In fact this car is all male, and then some.”
“Male, huh? And how did you arrive at that educated conclusion, Dr. Logan?” Ben asked, truly perplexed over her pronouncement.
Regina started the car and sighed, checked the mirrors, and then looked at Ben, shaking her head sadly.
“
Hello?
” Regina said incredulous at his lack of understanding. “Do you see this long, hard thing in my hand? Everyone knows only boy cars have a stick.”
Ben laughed and swore, embarrassing no one but himself by his colorful words.
Regina laughed and put the car in reverse, swinging them out of her parking lot and off into the night.
Dinner was mediocre, but neither of them cared. They were too absorbed in their conversation to worry over the food. Later, they were even oblivious to the other diners as they argued over which dessert to share. They settled on chocolate mousse with raspberries, and dueled with their spoons over the last bite.
Ben drove on the ride back to her place, with Regina’s hand under his on the gearshift, even when they pulled back into her parking lot.
“You drive well,” Regina told him, approval in her voice. “I might even let you drive Harry sometime.”
Ben looked at her, his gaze on her as sharp as emeralds. “Are you going to invite me up or are we having sex in my car? I’ve already thought of several different ways it could work.”
Smirking, Regina shook her finger at him. “I’m on to you now, Ben Kaiser. You know damn well my body does a little happy dance when you say things like that. I think I’ve even figured out why you’ve had so few women in your life despite the sexy growl and an innate ability for knowing exactly how to give a woman what she wants.”
Regina looked at him seriously, lust in her eyes as well. “Whatever woman was lucky enough to get your full attention in high school and college must have hung on with both hands until you pried yourself loose from their sated bodies. Your wife must have been a hell of a woman to keep you all to herself for twenty-five years. I admire her immensely.”
“Imagine Alexa with blond hair, brown eyes, and the same sparkle,” Ben supplied, giving himself a moment or two to think fondly of Catherine.
“Well, damn. I’m in trouble then. I don’t have any sparkle,” Regina said sadly, staring out the front windshield of the BMW and crossing her arms.
Then she snapped her fingers with an idea. She tugged Ben over to her, holding his hand hard in her lap while she whispered a few things she did have in his ear. Releasing him finally, Regina quickly got out of the car.