Page 7 of Careless Whisper
I shake my head forlornly. “I can’t.”
“Well, when you’re ready, I promise I will make all your problems seem a lot less than they are. I’ll do my best to make you the happiest you’ve ever been.”
I sigh and look away, not really sure what he’s saying but knowing that he doesn’t understand what’s going on right now. He’s just as in the dark about the mess that is my life as we both are in this dark car.
We sit in silence for the rest of the movie and it’s only slightly uncomfortable during the love scene when I’m trying not to picture Ben’s big body and gorgeous face leaning over me as the heroine of the story.
Shivering, I push it down yet again.
I’ve never been so wound up before and it’s pretty damn shocking. I’m still a virgin and I’ve never even looked at a guy. They just didn’t seem worth the effort and then my book exploded and I just didn’t want to risk jumping into the dating pool as a famous woman. I mean, would they want me or the author with a lot of money and the fancy house on the hill to come home to.
The lights go up and I realize that we’ve missed the whole end of the movie. At least I have. There are people walking past the car, staring.
And then it happens.
“Hey! Aren’t you Stephanie Marlowe? The one that wrote that skanky book with the messed-up couple and all the booze and sex?”
And just like that, it’s all back with a vengeance.
All the bad feelings, the strange, bitter looks, the acrimonious words that cut and bite at my skin like a whip lashing at me.
“Yeah, that’s her! Holy shit! What the hell are you doing back here? Didn’t you do enough damage to this town?”
With a muffled curse, Benjie uncurls himself from his seat in the little sedan and stands up to his full height.
“What the hell did you say to her?” The guy pales and his buddies back away leaving him standing there all alone.
Benjie stalks up to him like a lion stalking an antelope on the plains of the Serengeti. He pokes him in the chest and growls, “That woman over there is a personal friend of mine and has been my whole life. You don’t know a fucking thing about her or her life but if you say another fucking word to her that I don’t like, I’m gonna plant a boot up your ass. Got it?”
“Got it.” He slinks away, his tail between his legs and I stare at this stranger. The hot man with the snarly voice that just defended me and threatened the other guy with bodily harm.
The speaker on the car window crackles as the music ends on the screen and a tinny voice belts out the concession jingle one more time.
But I don’t hear any of it. Because Benjie takes off his glasses and smiles and it’s like Superman is now standing where Clark Kent always did.
“Can we go to your place, Benjie? I’d like to see where you’re living now!”
He studies me closely for a minute and then he smiles a smile that warms my insides and makes my belly quiver with naughty feelings. “I think that’s a fantastic idea, Sparkle. Let me take you home.”
Chapter 6
Ben
Some women are natural flirts and they can’t help themselves.
Not my friend. Steph sits in the car, sullen and quiet the whole way to my house. She looks like she’d rather be anywhere but here.
I pull up alongside the curb but don’t pull into my drive. I turn off the car and sit in the dark for a minute, studying her quietly. “Are you sure you want to come in here?”
She looks at me and smiles and it’s the same smile that I remember from when we were young. Bright and shiny like a new copper penny. No matter what happened that day, she always smiled like that for me.
She was always happy to see me.
“I do.”
I step out of the car and open her door, holding my hand out to her. “Alright. Maybe just for a little bit. I don’t want you to get nervous about being here alone with me.”
Her brow lifts and she stares at me, surprised. “Why on earth would I get nervous about being with you? You’re my best friend. The guy who just defended me from an asshole. That guy doesn’t scare me.”