Come with Me (Let It Be Me #2) (16 page)

She took the seat next to him when she came back, passing him a plate and fork.

He waited till she selected her first pastry – a chocolate croissant – before he got a blueberry muffin.

“Have you spoken to Brian?” Ben asked, then took a bite into the muffin.

Liz nodded. “I called him this morning. He was already in the hospital. Dave woke up briefly and they spoke. They might let him off today.”

“That’s great,” Ben said, smiling. “I’m glad he’s fine. I really hope they stay away from drugs now.”

“I hope so too,” Liz agreed solemnly. “I think Brian has learned his lesson. I just hope Dave would quit it too.”

Brian took a sip of his coffee when he felt Liz’s hand on his arm. He looked at her.

“You turned out pretty great you know,” Liz said, smiling. “I was pretty lucky growing up in a household wherein my parents were very loving and supportive. I can’t imagine how it was for you, forced to fend for yourself.”

Ben saw her starting to tear up, and he was floored by how compassionate she was. 

“I had my brother, Alex and his parents,” Ben told her assuredly, resting his other hand on hers. “They were my family.”

Liz sniffed then smiled at him. “What are the names of your niece and your nephew? And how old are they?”

Ben smiled, thinking of the kids. “Billy is three, and he loves to sing. He sings along to every TV commercial he sees. Steph is five, and she loves to draw.”  

“How often do you get to visit them?” she asked.

“Lately just every other month,” Ben said. “Then we’d just talk on Skype sometimes.”

“That’s okay,” Liz said. “At least they’re used to talking to you.”

Ben nodded, but knew he should make more time to visit them. He should visit them again soon.

“Go eat,” Ben urged, patting her hand.

She pulled her hand away, and they ate. 

“What is it you were telling Brian about your dress? Why would you return it?” Ben asked, suddenly remembering. He’s been wondering about it as he listened to Liz and Brian’s conversation, but he didn’t want to butt in. 

“Brian works in Bergdorf Goodman so he always get me really get good deals on clothes,” she explained. “But for last night he pulled out a dress for me to borrow.” 

Ben understood then why she always seemed to be wearing nice clothes that looked expensive. Alex has also had sponsors for some of his clothes – and most of them allowed him to keep it.

“A pity you’ll be returning the dress. It looked beautiful in you,” he said, remembering how beautiful she was when she saw her the previous night. He wanted to tell her as soon as he saw her, but he knew at the beginning of the evening that she was uncomfortable. He was grateful for the change of events over the past hours, and still amazed by how things turned out.

Liz looked down at her croissant shyly. Ben looked at her and was still amazed how Liz remained humble given that she was beautiful, intelligent, and lived a charmed life. Her parents did an amazing job. 

“Are you closer to your mom or your dad?” Ben asked, wanting to know more about them.

“That’s tough to answer,” Liz said, grinning after chewing on her food. “I’m close to both to them but in different ways. I could relate to my dad on our love of movies and basketball.”

“Basketball, huh,” Ben butted in. He didn’t know that many women that was into the game.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t have any brothers so my dad brought me to a couple Knicks games then sometimes we’d just watch on TV.”

“That’s cool,” Ben said, impressed. “How about your mom?”

“I could relate to my mom when it comes to charity work and just being around people.”

“It’s good she had you exposed to charity work at an early age,” Ben said.

Liz nodded. “The first time I did volunteer work, we were packing relief goods for the victims of an earthquake in Indonesia. I think I knew then it was my calling. I realized how lucky and blessed I was.”

Ben was so in awe that he found himself leaning towards her and planted his lips on hers, resting his arm on the top of her chair for support. Liz responded to his kiss, as she held on to his head to deepen it. 

They broke apart, both catching their breath.

“You’re amazing, Liz,” Ben said.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” Liz said, teasingly.

“Let’s go out for dinner tonight?” Ben asked.

“Ooh, would that be our first date?” Liz asked cheekily, grinning.

Ben grinned, enjoying Liz’s playful mood. “Technically yes, but I think we’ve kinda been playing around that for some time now, huh?” He remembered that time they had coffee. He only got to realize that when he spoke to her that night, he was both relieved that she broke up with her boyfriend and that he was actually jealous of Liz’s blind date. He was happy he got to have coffee with her and got to know her more though.

Liz blushed, letting Ben know she knew what he meant.

Ben leaned back to his chair, and drank the last of his coffee. “I have a meeting to attend. I need to leave in—“ he checked his watch “—ten minutes.” He looked at Liz and had some satisfaction that she looked sad with the news.

Then he remembered Liz was going to the library. “Are you taking the train to the library?” he asked, concerned. 

“Yeah,” she answered like nothing was the matter.

Ben started thinking. He had meetings running all afternoon; he wouldn’t be able to leave to bring Liz to Stone Homes. 

“I’ll lend you my car,” he said. 

Liz shook her head, like his suggestion was absurd. “Thanks, but I don’t need it,” she said. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me.”

Ben studied her momentarily, knowing she wouldn’t change her mind.

“So this is what I have to keep up with?” Ben teased, grinning. “Your stubbornness?”

Liz laughed. “At least you found out soon enough,” she teased back.

Ben laughed then turned serious again. “You always have the pepper spray I gave–“ 

Ben realized his mistake a little too late when he saw Liz’s eyes widen.

“Shit,” Ben muttered sheepishly, knowing he’s been caught.

“You gave everyone the pepper sprays?” she asked incredulously. Ben cringed. He could almost see the wheels in her brain working. “This was after I told you I took the train to Stone Homes.”

She looked at him and narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know if I should be mad at you for being so sneaky or be flattered that you cared enough.”

Ben reached for her hand. “Of course I did it because I cared,” he said. “I must have known already you were stubborn since I didn’t just give you one directly.”

Liz giggled. “So this is what I have to keep up with?” she teased, using his own words. “Your devious ways?”

 “Just know I’ll always care about you,” Ben said, squeezing her hand.

Liz looked up at him and smiled.

“Do me a favor, will you,” Ben said, resting his hand on her shoulder.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Send me a text message when you get to the library, okay?”

Liz playfully rolled her eyes, but said, “Fine.”

“I better go,” he said, releasing her hand and standing up. “I’ll pick you up at seven?”

“Okay, I’ll be ready then,” Liz said, standing up too. “Where are we going?”

“Let me surprise you,” he said, smiling. He already had something in mind, but he wanted it to be special for her.

Liz raised an eyebrow. “What should I wear then?”

Ben drew out a breath. “That question begs for a response that might not be appropriate for the morning.”

Liz turned red quickly that Ben just laughed. “You’ll look great in anything.”

Liz smiled, still blushing from his comment.

Ben leaned down to kiss her. Since he was about to leave, he made it good. Liz must have noticed because she placed her hands on each side of his torso, bunching his shirt.

He let his tongue play a bit with hers, but had to end it quickly, or else he would have to take a shower again. A cold one.

“It was nice spending the morning with you,” he told her, looking down at her eyes. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of brown, and were still glistening from their kiss.

“Thanks for coming and for breakfast,” she said a bit breathlessly.

“I’ll see you tonight,” he said, kissing her one last time on the forehead.

As he made his way out and jogged down the steps, he was thinking that he hadn’t had such a wonderful morning for a long time now.

Chapter 22

Liz

 Ben’s eyes lit up when she opened the door for him that night, making Liz feel beautiful. Looking at him, she knew she dressed just right for the evening.

She chose an off-the-shoulder dress that had a floral print that stopped mid-thigh. She wore pointed black pumps with it.

Ben was also looking handsome wearing a grey sport jacket over a white dress shirt and dark jeans. His appearance made her sigh. She almost wanted to pinch herself to see if he was really standing there, picking her up for a date.

“You are beautiful,” he said, stepping into her unit, resting one of his hands on her hip and kissing her on her cheek. The move was so smooth that Liz had to stop herself from swooning.

“Thank you,” she said dreamily. 

“I have something for you,” he said. Liz didn’t notice he had his other arm hidden at his back until he maneuvered it to show a single-stemmed red rose.

“Oh Ben, thank you,” she said, smiling, touched by his gesture. “Did you get it from the same snarky girl who brought me the tulips?”

Ben laughed. “Actually yes. She seemed quite happy to find out that we were going out tonight. Beneath her exterior was still a sappy girl apparently.”

Liz giggled.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

“I’ll just get my bag,” she said. She didn’t need a coat since the summer weather was wonderful.

She placed the rose on the console table then quickly got her black shoulder bag from the armchair.

As she locked the door, Ben took her hand. Liz looked at him, surprised and feeling a bit giddy. She liked it whenever Ben held her hand. Ben was quite a romantic.

“So where are we going?” Liz asked.

Ben looked at her. “Do I have to add impatience to the list?” he asked, his eyes twinkling.

Liz laughed. She liked his sense of humor.

They walked to Ben’s car, which he parked along the street. As expected, he opened the door for her.

As she got in, she was enveloped by the subtle scent of his perfume. She watched him as he went around the car to go to the driver’s side. She was still a bit in disbelief that all this was happening. It happened so fast, but as Ben said that morning, they’ve been playing around it for some time now. Whenever they talked in the past, there came a point when it started to feel like a date.

As Ben got in and buckled himself, he looked at her and smiled. The smile was enough for her heart to skip a beat. He started the car and drove.

“No GPS this time?” Liz teased. 

Ben laughed. “And ruin the surprise? Not tonight,” he said. 

Liz laughed. 

Liz thought of observing their route and guessing where they would be going, but she didn’t really care where they were going, so long as Ben put thought in it. So instead, she watched Ben’s movements as he turned the steering wheel, shifted gears, and when his knees moved when he stepped on the pedals. Who knew that a man driving was so sexy?

“You better stop what you’re doing or I might end up turning the car so we can go back to your place,” he said gruffly. 

Liz widened her eyes and quickly looked away, not realizing she was being so obvious. She felt the warmth of her cheeks, for being caught and for the words he just spoke.

Ben chuckled. He then turned a corner and Liz already had a clue where they were going.

“We’re going to The Water Club, aren’t we?” Liz asked, turning to look at him. 

He just smiled.

“Oh I’ve been wanting to go there,” Liz said excitedly. “My mom and dad went there once for their anniversary. Oh Ben, this is perfect.”

Ben reached over to rest his hand on hers, over her lap. 

He drove the car to the drop off, where Liz saw the valet parking booth. Ben turned off the engine, unbuckled his seatbelt, and got out quickly to open the door for Liz. He offered his hand, which she gladly took, as she stepped out of the car.

Ben kept hold of her hand as he gave the valet employee the keys and waited for his stub. They walked into the establishment and was greeted by the receptionist. After giving him his name, they were escorted to their table.

Liz looked around excitedly as she saw couples and small groups of people enjoying their meals in subdued lights and a splendid view of the East River. Liz’s excitement heightened when they were led to a window table. She squeezed his hand.

Ben pulled the chair for her – he didn’t even leave the job to the waiter. 

“This is perfect,” Liz repeated, as Ben sat down opposite her.

“I’m glad you think so,” Ben said.

“Have you eaten here?” Liz asked.

“Eaten, no, but I’ve been here when one of Alex’s scenes in an old movie was shot here,” he said.

The waiter handed them menus and enumerated the specials for the evening. 

They both studied their menus. She eyed the steak and the lobster. 

“I heard the Lobster Thermidor here is excellent,” Ben said, like he was reading her thoughts.

“You made it easier for me then,” Liz said, smiling, putting down her menu. “I’ll have that.”

Ben nodded, then spoke to the waiter. “We’ll have two orders of the Lobster Thermidor, one order of the shrimp cocktail and an order of the summer salad. Then we will have a bottle of Chardonnay.” 

“Very well, sir,” the waiter said.

“How were your meetings this afternoon?” Liz asked him, as the waiter left them.

“Boring,” he said, raising a side of his mouth like a smirk. “Should have just stayed with you.”

Liz laughed. “You could have gotten bored with me too. I stayed in the library for a couple hours finalizing the borrowing system.”

“Never,” he said, sure of himself, and gave her a wink.