Come with Me (Let It Be Me #2) (15 page)

“Yeah,” she responded. “I hope they both never touch those things again.”

“Was it alcohol or drugs?” he asked. His voice seemed clipped.

“Drugs,” Liz replied.

She suddenly saw Ben tighten his grip on the steering wheel, his shoulders and arms stiffening – just like the last time when she mentioned his parents.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Liz asked, concerned, turning to look at him. 

“It’s a touchy subject for me,” he admitted. “I have strong feelings against drug-use.”

Liz tried to think why that could be. One thought entered her mind.

“W-was it you?” she asked. She couldn’t imagine Ben having had addiction problems before. 

He shook his head. “No. It was my parents,” he said. “In a word, they were crackheads.”

Liz sucked her breath. She didn’t expect that one.

“They died in a car crash while my brother and I were in school,” he said. “The doctor’s report showed high levels of cocaine.”

Liz instinctively reached out to touch his arm, but quickly pulled away when she realized what she did.

“How old were you when this happened?” she asked.

“Tenth grade,” he said. “My brother was away for college under scholarship. He couldn’t get home soon enough. Alex’s parents took me in for a while until he did.”

Liz then realized the depth of Alex and Ben’s friendship and their authentic connection to the foundation.

“But they’ve been using drugs for as long as I could remember,” he said. “Good thing Charlie and I were rebels in a good way. Instead of following their footsteps and ruining our lives, we did all we could do to be unlike them.” 

“Yes, that’s wonderful,” Liz said, full of admiration. “Where is your brother now?” 

“He and his family are in Connecticut,” Ben said. “He and his wife moved there to raise a family. Good thing they’re close enough so I could see my niece and nephew once in a while.”

“That’s great,” Liz said. She didn’t have any nieces or nephews. It would have been a joy to have at least one.

They were quiet for a few minutes as Ben made his way to her place. He didn’t need the GPS this time anymore.

When he reached her street, he found an empty spot to park his car. Before he turned off the engine, Liz looked at the clock at the dashboard to see it was past two o’ clock in the morning. It may not have been the best hour, but Liz knew it was an opportunity to talk to him, as she promised Brian.

“Ben, I – uh – I never got to thank you for the flowers,” she said.

Ben exhaled, like he was also waiting for her to say something.

“I’m so sorry, Liz,” Ben said. “I was mad at someone; I took it out on you. The night before, I bumped into someone from my past – my college girlfriend. We were together for three years, and it turned out she was playing me all those years. She never introduced me to her parents because I was poor back then, and they were expecting her to marry the senator’s son.”

“I’m so sorry you had to go through that,” Liz said, looking at him and feeling for him. It would be difficult to know that someone you thought you knew for that long a time was lying to you. What more if you loved that person.

Ben shook his head, in shame. “It was only after she told me this that I realized I must have had an idea what she was doing,” he said. “I knew I wasn’t enough for her, and that it was because of money.”

“So was that why you were pretty cold to me when I started with RHS?” Liz asked, realizing the truth now. “You found out who my father was.” He didn't have a good impression of people who grew up privileged.

She saw Ben cringe.

“I didn’t know you then,” he said. “Still that doesn’t excuse me for what I did and how I treated you in the beginning. But I hope you could find it in you to forgive me.” 

Liz thought for a second. Ben’s momentary prejudice rooted from a hurtful experience. Somehow the first impression he had of her reminded him of someone who also judged him. But he seemed he has realized his wrong and was sincerely sorry.

“Don’t worry, I forgive you. I understand, really,” Liz said. “And I appreciate the flowers. I just didn’t have the chance to thank you.”

“Because you’ve been avoiding me all night. Not that I could blame you,” Ben said.

This time it was Liz’s turn to cringe. Her heart started hammering, knowing she had something she needed to say.

“Ben, um, there was actually something I needed to say,” Liz started. She rubbed her palms against her skirt. With all the things she and the dress have been going through that night, Liz might just have to end up paying for it.

“What is it?”

“Um, I think we need to take a few steps back.”

“What do you mean?” he asked. 

“I love working for RHS,” she declared. “I wonder how I got so lucky finding it and for me getting the position.” Her attention then turned to her clutch bag as she snapped and unsnapped the clasp repeatedly. 

She turned to peer at him and took a deep breath. He was looking so good even in the ungodly hour. What she was going to say was going to more difficult since she had no choice but to be honest. “I need to ask you for a favor. Please stop being kind to me – talking to me outside work, offering me rides, opening doors for me, sending me flowers – you’ve more than made up for how you treated me before. But the problem is, you’re starting to make me feel things I shouldn’t be feeling. I have to remember myself that you’re my boss but it’s been getting harder.”

Ben was shocked; she could clearly see that from his mouth hanging open. He probably didn’t expect Liz to find meaning to his kind gestures.

She didn’t realize she was crying until a tear rolled down her cheek. She hastily wiped it away with her right palm. She offered him a tearful smile, as she shakily unclasped her seatbelt. 

“I hope we can just forget this ever happened. Maybe we can just start again, just as boss and employee. But thank you nevertheless for your kindness,” she managed to say. Grabbing her purse, she got herself out of the car. The parking spot Ben got was a couple buildings down, so she quickly took off her shoes. With one hand holding on the pair of shoes and the other holding her clutch, she raised her skirt as she quickly walked towards her building. 

Her thoughts were going in lightning speed; she wasn’t sure what she was actually thinking.

And she dared herself not to look back even once. 

“Liz,” she heard as she was about to punch in her code at the panel.

She spun around to find Ben at the sidewalk.

Seeing him, she felt scared, sad, and embarrassed. Her heart was pounding. Her ears were ringing. She was still teary from all the emotions.   

He took a couple steps up until their eyes were almost aligned. Liz could smell him. She could almost touch him. 

“What if,” he started slowly, “What if I was feeling things I shouldn’t be feeling, too?” 

Liz dropped the shoes she was carrying. She did not expect this at all.

“Ben…” she started to say, but Ben cut her off.

“We might have something worth pursuing,” Ben said earnestly, as he raised his hands and wiped her tears away with his thumbs. “I really like you, Liz. You’re strong and beautiful, and you’ve got such a generous heart. I don’t think I’ll ever find anyone else like you.”

She floated with his words, but she quickly crashed back down to reality. He made it sound so simple, but he’s forgotten it was more complicated than that.

“But –“ 

“What if I told you we can forget about work first,” Ben said. 

“How can we do that?”  Liz skeptically asked. 

He suddenly leaned forward to kiss her, taking Liz by surprise. He rested one of his hands on her neck and the other was holding on to her jaw. 

The kiss was slow and gentle, and Liz was consumed immediately. The kiss was like Ben – thoughtful, caring and generous. 

And sexy. 

Ben deepened the kiss, nipping on her lower lip until she opened up for him. He let his tongue play with hers. 

Liz immediately felt like she was seeing stars and fireworks. She felt the burn spread immediately around her body, making her want more. She raised her arms to place her hands on his waist, holding on.  

Ben broke the kiss after a while, making Liz immediately feel empty. He rested his forehead on hers, keeping his hands where they were. Liz felt her heart still beating rapidly, surprised by the way she reacted to the kiss. She’s never really kissed anyone that way in public, but with Ben she didn’t care. In fact she couldn’t remember of any other kiss that was as hot as that. 

Liz’s mind was still spinning. She couldn’t believe what was going on.

“Come on, Liz,” Ben urged, his voice ragged. “You have to see we’ve got something here. Let’s see how it goes then I promise I’ll think of something that will make it work for all of us.”

She tried to process what he said. Maybe she could try trusting him on this one.

“Okay,” she finally agreed. She really liked him and obviously they had a connection. Being with Ben felt right and wrong at the same time. But he did say they would work it out.

Ben grinned, and Liz couldn’t help but smile back.

He leaned forward to kiss her again, showing Liz that maybe she made the right choice.

Chapter 21

Ben

 “Hello?” Ben heard Liz’s soft voice as she answered her phone. Ben wondered if she was nervous.

“I didn’t wake you, did I?” Ben asked. It was seven in the morning the following day, and he wanted to surprise Liz. He was already dressed in his attire for his meetings that day – coat and shirt over slacks and loafers. He was an early riser. He already had a short run in his area and went back home to shower and change. Since he still had time to spare, he thought of passing by Liz’s place to bring her breakfast. He didn’t realize it was early still until it took several rings before Liz answered. 

“No, I’ve been up for a while now,” she said.

“Are you at home?”

“Yup, I’m not leaving until this two this afternoon when I go to the library,” she said.

“Ok great,” Ben exclaimed, relieved. “I’m here downstairs.”

Liz was quiet for a while.

“Still there?” he asked, grinning. She mustn’t have expected him to come back so soon. 

“Yeah, sorry,” Liz said. “Okay, I’ll buzz you up.”

Ben jogged up to the door and he heard it unlock after a few seconds. 

Clutching his breakfast loot, he got in and walked up the stairs. He still remembered from sending the flowers what unit she was. 

Last night still seemed surreal for him.

Her spiel left him speechless, because he only realized until then that his instinct to be with her and to get to know her for the past weeks was because he liked her and cared for her.

But he knew as soon she got out of his car that he couldn’t let her go.

He hasn’t figured out yet how it will work out, but he was sure he didn’t want to give up on it even before giving it a chance. 

He didn’t stay the night though. He left after she agreed, seeing she had a long day and that she needed her rest. He didn’t tell her though that he would be coming first thing in the morning.

Liz had the door opened when he got to the third floor, but she wasn’t there waiting for him.

He knocked, but went ahead and let himself in. He looked around as he closed the door behind him. 

It was a decent-sized apartment that Liz has decorated beautifully. It was simple and homey, but also accentuated by a couple pieces that knew cost a bit. He recognized the Egg Chair and a Joan Miró painting. Her home decorating was similar with the way she dressed – a mix of quality and practicality.

He hasn’t seen Liz, so he just made his way to her small round dining table and placed the paper bags on it. He was bringing out the boxes of pastries when she appeared.

She looked like she just took a shower. She was just dressed in a tank top and cotton shorts, making her look younger yet still as beautiful. The sight of her made him feel warm and excited.

Out of impulse, Ben hastily closed the distance between them. It only took a few steps that Liz didn’t realize what was going on until he took hold of her upper arms and leaned down to kiss her. The kisses from the previous night seemed like they were from a dream. But kissing her that morning, he was convinced the night’s events were all real.

Her skin was still moist from the shower. She smelled like lavender and fruit, and it was quite intoxicating. Liz responded immediately, giving Ben the courage to push it a bit. He trailed kisses from her mouth, down to her jaw, and further down until he found the pulse at her neck. Liz moaned.

He stopped while he still could, though it was a challenge.

“Just so you know, I didn’t come just for that,” he told her gruffly, painstakingly leaning back and smiling at her. 

Liz smiled shyly. “You’re here early,” she said, her voice shaking a bit. Ben could see her eyes were glazed. He grinned, glad his kiss had that effect on her. 

“I just wanted to make sure you weren’t changing your mind,” Ben said, winking. He took her hand and reveled in the smoothness of her skin and how her hand fit his perfectly. “And you look beautiful this morning. I wasn’t able to tell you last night how beautiful you were then too.  I could have told you as soon as I saw you, but you were busy avoiding me.” 

Liz immediately blushed. “I was also working,” she told him.

Ben laughed, knowing why she was avoiding him the previous night. He tugged at her hand and led her to the dining table.

“I hope you haven’t had breakfast,” he said.

“I haven’t,” she confirmed.

“Great, because I brought enough to feed an army,” he said. 

He opened the two boxes of pastries to show an assortment of croissants, donuts, bread pudding and muffins.

“Good lord, those look good,” Liz said. 

“I also got your cup of tea,” he said, remembering her preference. "Hope it's still warm enough."

She looked up at him gratefully.

“Go have a seat,” she said. “I’ll just get us some plates and forks.”

Ben sat down to arrange the boxes and the cups so they would have spaces for the plates.