Authors: Kim Smith
She worked on the book for a long time, getting the words situated just as she wanted them, then she relaxed and went downstairs. When she strolled into the kitchen, she was a little more than surprised to see Ben’s sister-in-law, Nikki, standing at the sink.
“Hello there,” she said, pulling out the stool and seating herself on it.
Nikki turned around and smiled as she wiped her hands on the dishtowel draped over the stove handle. “Hello yourself. How’re things?”
Kitty stretched and said, “Lovely. Things are lovely.”
“You have that strange smile on your face that makes me think you and Benton are getting along a tiny bit better than lovely.”
Kitty felt the smile burst across her face. “And right you are. He’s a wonderful man, Nikki.”
“He’s madly in love with you,” Nikki said, moving closer to her.
“I know. It’s in the very lines of him,” Kitty answered, feeling slightly uncomfortable. The obvious question of what came next filtered through the air between them.
“So? What now?” Nikki asked.
“Now, I don’t know what happens. I mean, he’s a wonderful man and I could see myself spending far more time here than anticipated.” She struggled to explain.
“But I don’t see myself as settling down, if that’s what you’re asking. It’s not in me, I’m afraid.”
“Getting to this place again in his life has been a long hard battle,” Nikki said, quickly. “You can’t ruin it. It’ll kill him. He needs you.”
Kitty stared at her for a few moments. “He needs someone to love, that’s true. Whether I am the someone remains to be seen.”
Now Nikki straightened and a tiny frown appeared between her eyes. “You don’t understand, Kitty. He’s been through such a painful loss. I never believed he’d find love again. I know he has never wanted it. What he had with my sister was enough for him for a lifetime he always said. I just saw him a little while ago, and it was like having her back again. He was humming! You can’t sit there and tell me this isn’t what you want, what every woman wants? A man with a will to love? Come on!”
Kitty slid from the stool and stood with one hand on the bar, before gazing into Nikki’s angry eyes. “My life’s been difficult as well, Nikki. I won’t allow more pain to come into it. For either of us. I see now that I was wrong. Terribly wrong in leading him on this way. Things have gotten. . . out of hand. I’m sorry. So very sorry.”
Then she turned sharply and strode from the room. She waited until she was safely behind her bedroom door before she allowed the tears to flow. It was time to leave. She’d stayed far too long.
Chapter Seven
The tiny cottage was clean and neat, its hardwood floors scrubbed and polished until they shined. She wandered through the rooms with memories of her childhood filling every facet of her being. The trip from the modern conveniences of the little inn and Benton Jessup for the homeliness and solitude of her parent’s house in the countryside of Clare was a mystery. It was as though she’d closed her eyes and slept through the entire trip. She’d fallen into bed upon arrival and had stayed there for a whole day.
Now it’d only been a week, and he’d tried to call a dozen times, but she wouldn’t take his calls. He would get the message soon, she hoped. There was nothing between them but a night of passion she’d kept trying to tell herself. The problem was she didn’t believe it. There was something between them that she’d always wanted. The same thing all couples in love had between them. She refused to give into it, though. She had to be strong. They had no future together. He had his business, and she had her writing career. Maybe he’d see that soon.
He had to forget her, forget them. She’d fled The Inn in hopes she could do the same. He touched some place deep within her soul, some place she had no idea even existed, and now that it was uncovered, she would spend the rest of her life trying to bury it again.
Standing in her mother’s comfortable kitchen with the kettle on the fire, promising tea in a few moments, she looked through the window into the front garden, and wondered what life would be like without that sort of emotion in her life.
The book was finished, and she planned on posting it today. Her agent would be thrilled. The romance was everything she had promised, although she was sure it could only be that way in her books. Love of that caliber happened only in the pages of a romance.
As she stirred the hot liquid in her cup, she immersed herself in the indulgence of sorrow. She missed the banter over tea with Ben. She missed his puttering in the kitchen, and his touch whenever she was near. Things would be so lonely now.
She wandered through the small house. What was left for her? What could she do? She would make another trip to New York. Her editor would insist on it. Would she be able to fight the urge to go down to see Ben?
A noise in the front of the cottage drew her attention away from her misery.
She skirted the table and entered the parlor.
Her heart thundered in her chest. “Ben?”
He stood with one hand wrapped around a suitcase, the other thrust deep in his jeans’ pocket. “Kitty, I . . .”
“What are you doing here, Ben? You shouldn’t have come.”
He dropped the case and in one stride was standing beside her, his hands warm on her shoulders. “Kitty, you left without saying anything. I couldn’t let things end that way.”
She tried to turn away, but he held her fast and lifted her chin so that she was looking at him. “Kitty. I love you. I’ve loved you for a long time now. What makes a woman run from that? Why did you leave?”
It was impossible to avoid his insistence. He’d come a long way to hear her reasons. “Ben, you need someone who will share your life, stake your soul with ties that will transcend time. I’m not sure I can do that!”
He ran a hand through his hair. “You think I want someone to wallow around and agree to every damn thing I say? What’re you, crazy? I want someone who knows her own mind, who challenges me, who says ‘no’ more than she says ‘yes’ just so when I wear her down, it will be fresh and new. I want you, Kitty.”
“What about your business? What about The Inn? You have so much going for you. I’m like a string blowing by. You’ll forget about me in a few months.”
He shook his head. “Never. The Inn needs a woman. I realize that now. It wasn’t the same after you left. It’s more hollow and empty than ever.”
She pulled away for a moment, trying to get a grasp on what he was saying. Finally, the light poured in as though someone had pulled open the blinds to her heart. “I’m terrible at cooking.”
“I’ll be the cook then. I don’t need a cook.”
“I love Ireland.”
“We’ll have two homes. We can live in two places. There are many months in a year. Hell, maybe I’ll open another Inn here.”
“I have to go to New York. A lot.” She looked at her feet before trying to sidle away.
“I’ll carry your bags.”
She stopped and he moved to her, bending his long body over her, his lips burning a trail up the side of her neck, past her ear, across her cheek, and to her lips. “Marry me, Kitty,” he whispered into her mouth before he sealed her answer with his tongue for a long searing kiss.
He let his hands roam over her body, until she moaned.
“If you don’t say yes, I’ll keep this up until you beg.”
She allowed him to scoop her into his arms and sweep her onto the small sofa, continuing his savage journey using his mouth. Finally, she answered him, breath coming in hot rasps. “I will, Ben, I will.”
He eased his assault ever so slightly. “You mean it? You don’t want to take it back?”
She groaned. “No. Marry me, Benton Jessup, but just never stop doing this.”
“You’re mine, Kitty. Mine alone. Forever.”
She gazed into his eyes then took his hand and placed it over her heart, pounding with the thrill of his love. “You’d only to look here.”
“I’m home. Finally, I am at home.”
Outside the wind picked up and rattled the shutters on the ivy-covered cottage, but inside they never realized it.
The End
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