“Regina decided long ago that living her life honestly was worth the public pain. When you know more about her work, you’ll understand why. It’s true I was her patient, but I learned a lot just from watching Regina live with her own choices,” Alexa told him.
“The media hears ‘sex therapist’, and everyone laughs like someone is telling a dirty joke,” Ben said, thinking of Alfred and Daniel. “I’m an honest guy by nature and tend to just say what passes through my mind. I don’t have Regina’s wit or her ability to just tell people to go to hell.”
“Oh that comes with time,” Casey chimed in, his eyes darkening. “You don’t want to know what I’ve been asked about Alexa. I’ve perfected the art of scowling and refusing to comment. You can choose not to answer and it gets easier with practice.”
Ben nodded. “I’ve thought of that. It still helps to hear you confirm it.”
Alexa pleated her napkin. Casey reached a hand across to place it over hers.
Ben noticed the bond between them was very strong, despite their challenges. It had been worth the trip just to see them together. It gave him hope about his relationship with Regina.
Alexa smiled at Casey, and then back at Ben. “Talking about sex is Regina’s life’s work. She’s not afraid of being uncomfortable herself nor of passing the discomfort along to others if she thinks it’s necessary. It’s one of the things I like best about her, even though it scares the hell out of me most of time.”
“I know what you mean. She’s the most honest woman I have ever met,” Ben agreed, “but she scares me, too. I imagine she has that effect on everyone.”
“None of this is really helping you, is it?” Alexa asked, raising her eyes to the ceiling instead of looking at Ben. “Let me think. You need to know how people stay in Regina’s life without getting mauled by the media on a regular basis. Okay,
Saint McCarthy
—I mean Lauren—does it by living a pristine life. Lauren has the whitest, mildest reputation I know. Regina and I are her only black marks. As for me, well frankly people expect Regina to be friends with a woman like me.”
Ben felt a guilty flush, but covered it with a sigh and nod.
Alexa narrowed her eyes and took a slow trip checking out Ben’s entire body. “Frankly, I don’t know how it would work if Lauren or I were sleeping with her. She’d have to be really good for Lauren to get involved with her. I have lower standards.”
Ben smiled again, his perfect white teeth sending Alexa into a delighted sigh.
Casey pinched Alexa again under the table, making her jump in alarm before patting his thigh. He would pay for that one, Alexa concluded. She was teasing, not flirting.
“Regina and I haven’t gone public yet with our relationship, but the one picture of us in the paper told a lot more story than most know. I didn’t run screaming from Regina’s bed, during or after the fact,” Ben said flatly, wanting Alexa to understand how important Regina already was to him. “I have no intention of ever doing so. That’s why I have to figure something out about handling her notoriety.”
“Good for you,” Alexa told Ben sincerely. “So when are you planning on going public with your relationship to her?”
“From what you’re telling me, looks like it’s the next step. So soon, I guess,” Ben said, deciding he would never know what would happen with the media otherwise. “I think I’ll ask her out for a date.”
Alexa laughed, thinking it was interesting that a public date seemed far more intimidating to Ben than whatever he’d found in bed with Regina Logan. She couldn’t wait for Thursday night to find out the truth about it from Regina.
“Casey and I are having an engagement party next month. Want to come and bring your notorious woman? ” Alexa asked. “It will give you a reason to check out Sydney’s clothing line.”
“Sure,” Ben said grinning, wondering why Regina hadn’t asked him to go with her.
The thought was immediately followed by a mental slap on the head about his prior comments about Alexa. He had some ground to mend there.
“Thanks for inviting me, but I think I need to work my way up to your party. Besides, I don’t think I can stay away from Regina so long anyway. I would miss her fire too much.”
Alexa sighed and patted her heart, recognizing a euphemism for sex when she heard one.
Ben and Casey both just laughed.
Though he still owned the home he had lived in with Catherine, when she died Ben had felt the need to buy a place and make it just his. The condo was small, but tasteful. It was sparsely furnished, but gave him a sense of sanctuary. It was also a small step toward starting over.
Ben figured one day he would sell both the old house and the condo and buy something new. Now when the thought crossed his mind about future homes, he thought about sharing them with Regina. In fact, a great many of his decisions were starting to factor in adding her to his life.
Ben was just picking up his cell phone to call her when the doorbell rang.
Not expecting company, Ben checked the peephole first. Outside the door stood a dark-haired girl wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses, a short black leather skirt, and ankle boots. She was holding a steaming pizza box. It was so fresh Ben could smell it through the door.
He opened the door a crack, leaving the safety chain in place.
“Can I help you?” he asked.
“Pizza delivery for Kaiser,” the girl said, her voice impatient with him.
“Sorry. You have the wrong address. I didn’t order pizza,” Ben told her, alarm bells going off inside him.
“Order was from a Logan to deliver to a Ben Kaiser at this address,” she explained tersely. “It’s already paid for, mister. You want the pizza or not?”
“Just a minute.” Ben couldn’t imagine why Regina had ordered a pizza for him, but he closed the door and slid the safety chain away.
When he opened the door again, the girl barged passed him to get inside.
“Excuse me—,” Ben began, only to be interrupted.
“Close the door,” she demanded, whipping off her glasses.
It took Ben a couple of beats to recognize the pizza delivery girl was Regina in disguise. He smiled and shook his head as he took in her outfit.
“Nice skirt. Black leather looks good on you,” he told her as his gaze dropped to her legs before coming to rest on her face and hair. “Being a brunette definitely does not suit you though.”
“You’d be surprised, Benjamin. No one recognizes me in this outfit. I can go anywhere,” Regina told him, pushing the still hot pizza into his hands. “Hungry?”
Ben answered her by claiming a searing kiss before heading to the kitchen with the pizza.
Regina tagged along behind him, pulling off the cap and attached wig as she paused in the doorway of his tiny kitchen.
Ben put the pizza on the counter and started setting a small table for two.
“Aren’t you going to grill me about my disguise? Question me about why I’m here?” Regina asked before grinning at the don’t-be-ridiculous look Ben gave her.
As she watched Ben set the table, Regina unpinned her hair and let it fall to her shoulders, finger combing the waves. She needed a mirror, but she didn’t want to give Ben too much time to dwell on why she had shown up at his house uninvited.
“No. We’re going to talk about this incognito stuff over dinner and decide what we’re going to do about it,” Ben said rationally, proud of himself for not instantly trying to wrestle her out of the skirt.
His noble thoughts about just talking lasted for the three seconds it took Ben to notice her messed up red hair and agitated hands.
“I really don’t like cold pizza,” Ben told her, striding back to where she stood. He put a hand in her hair and tugged her head back roughly to peer into her face. “You look like some guy had his way with you already. Keep in mind I’m supposed to be the only reason you look this way.”
As Regina laughed, Ben greedily fastened his mouth to hers. She put her arms around him and went up on her toes to meet him evenly. He pressed Regina against the door jam and kissed her thoroughly until she started to melt against him.
“If you’re naked under that leather skirt, I might shock both of us,” he warned, his body tense with arousal.
“Unfortunately, I’m not naked,” Regina replied, putting all the regret she could manage into her tone.
Taking her word as truth, Ben relaxed his hold and pulled away. He walked back to the table, his hands unsteady as he placed shiny and mostly unused silverware beside the new plates he had bought to furnish the condo. Ben put two pieces of pizza on each plate, and then motioned for Regina to sit. He retrieved two bottles of water from the refrigerator and took the chair opposite her.
Ben took a healthy bite and watched Regina do the same. She pulled a big chunk of cheese off with her fingers, licking her fingers after depositing it into her mouth. He doubted she even knew she was humming in contentment. God, he loved to watch the woman eat. She relished everything—in or out of bed. If he continued to watch her much longer, he wouldn’t be able to eat.
“Okay, I have to know. Why the disguise?” he asked finally, wanting to know her reasons as much as wanting a distraction. “Protecting your identity or my association with you?”
“I guess a little of both,” Regina admitted. “After I do a TV interview, there is always a time period where the scandal hounds follow my every move. Like every other media-shy celebrity, I go into stealth mode until it passes. Sometimes the routine is annoying. Sometimes it’s fun like today. I bought the leather skirt because I hoped I was going to see you. Do you think it’s hot?”
Ben leaned around the table, his gaze traveling to the skirt hem now halfway up her thighs as she sat.
“Worth every penny—definitely hot,” he confirmed.
Regina sighed with satisfaction. “I can see it in your eyes,” she confessed. “You have the most expressive face, Ben. I love that about you. Somehow you managed to get to fifty without the normal shutters most people keep closed so tightly over their emotional reactions. You’re definitely the most attractive man I have ever met.”
Ben smiled. “Glad you think so. Want to go on a date with me? You can even go as yourself, no costume required. I can’t stand it when you cover up your hair anyway. You can still wear the skirt though if you want. If I were sexist, I’d suggest knee boots and a top showing some cleavage. I try not to be the type, but you make it hard not to be—and I mean that in every possible way.”
Regina laughed, wishing it could be so simple. “If we dated openly, the media would have a field day with you, your family, and your company.”
“Actually, all eleven board members of my company think I should at least take you out on one date. They have a fantasy about capitalizing on the publicity of it,” Ben said, frowning. “I’ve been given company permission to date Dr. Regina Logan, the notorious sex therapist. My family likes you. Some of them have even been your clients.”
Regina paused in mid-bite and put the pizza back on her plate. She swallowed carefully before she allowed herself to speak.
“So let me get this straight—you discussed our dating at a company board meeting or something?” Regina surmised, shaking her head and laughing. “That’s—I don’t even have a word to describe my shock. I’m guessing by your frown you weren’t too thrilled about having your dating life blessed.”
“Pretty much accurate,” Ben admitted. “Conflict doesn’t bother me, but I’m a private person. I’ve never had to deal with much more than society page gossip. I’m not sure how I’m going to handle being on the front page of newspapers. I went to visit your friend Alexa to get another perspective on it.”
Regina’s eyes opened wider in astonishment. “You’re kidding me? You went to see Alexa? When? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Today, actually,” Ben said, smiling, the lines at his eyes crinkling. “I didn’t tell you because it was sort of a reaction to the board meeting discussion.”
Ben watched her pick up her pizza and take another bite, all enthusiasm for it gone. He was sorry he’d ruined her enjoyment of it.
“You’re the only notorious woman I’ve ever known, Regina. I needed another perspective and went looking for expert advice,” he explained, trying to see if Regina was mad or hurt beneath the shock. “I even talked to Casey about how it was for him.”
“Did you get any helpful information?” Regina asked, finishing her pizza and swallowing.
She stood, carrying her dishes to the sink, already dreading the answer. So far Ben had talked to both her best friends about her and she wasn’t sure how she felt about his investigations yet.
It kept slipping her mind that Ben was used to controlling his world and pretty much everything in it. The complication of knowing her must seem like a test of his will.
As she loaded her dishes into the dishwasher, Regina’s gaze landed on the picture of them attached to the refrigerator door with magnets. She walked over and touched it, sighing at the honest desire on both their faces.
Here was yet another sweet, unexpected gesture from Ben. She looked back at him still sitting at the table, calmly watching her.
All kinds of emotions threatened to overwhelm her, and the urge to cry was coming up in the middle of them very quickly. Ben Kaiser was a tantalizing combination of naïveté and wicked male. She hadn’t been able to predict him yet, and he continued to surprise her. The last thing she wanted to do was ever change a single damn thing about the truly best man she had ever met.
“I’m not upset that you talked to Alexa and Casey,” she said softly. “I’m just—surprised that you would go to so much trouble, I guess.”
Ben rose to take his plate to the sink as well, not saying much as he rinsed his plate and loaded it in the dishwasher with hers. The simple intimacy of the moment was so normal—so much what they both wanted and needed.
Ben walked over and put his arm around the back of her like he had the day the picture was taken. Regina yielded to the embrace completely this time and sighed against him in welcome. He loved the contradiction Regina was, standing in the middle of his tiny kitchen in her brave black leather skirt, looking so longingly at the picture of them. He figured his expression probably told her volumes about how he felt, even though she seemed reluctant to acknowledge the strength of what was between them.