Page 30 of Wickedly Innocent

Ben moved his hands behind hisback and I saw his shirt move slightly before he spoke. “I was justlooking for some Tylenol, Mel said you might have some,” he said.He moved his shirt back into place and his hands toward the frontof his jeans. He nervously wiped his hands down the dark denim. “Ihave a … killer headache.”

I frowned at him before steppingcloser. A nagging feeling at the back of my brain told me he washiding something from me. But I was also hiding something as welland I needed to get him the hell out of my room.

“You should’ve knocked,” I said asI walked toward my suitcase. I clenched my hands around myself as Istepped closer to him, making sure all my bits were covered underthe robe. “I could’ve been in the middle of getting dressed.”

I looked from him to my suitcaseand back again. He smiled sheepishly before stepping to the side.“Right, I … the door was open so I didn’t think you were here,” hesaid as he stared down at me.

I looked down at my open bag then.The clothes looked like someone had gone through them to findsomething, which made sense because he said he was looking forTylenol. Whatdidn’tmake sense was the fact that I couldplainly see the travel bottle of pills through the mesh compartmentalong the top of the case. I’d packed it right beside my othertoiletries. If he’d been looking for pills then he should’ve beenable to see them as soon as he opened the bag.Why would herifle through my clothes if what he was looking for was clearly inanother place?

I unzipped the compartment andshakily grabbed the bottle. “It’s right here,” I said as I handedit to him. Ben looked down at me and shrugged his shoulders beforeglancing toward my bathroom. I swallowed thickly while resistingthe urge to look behind me.If he saw Ian he would say so,wouldn’t he?

“Huh,” he huffed before he turnedtoward me. The look he gave me confused me. He had a secret gleamin his eyes as he smiled down at me like he knew something Ididn’t. “Sometimes things can be right in front of your face andyou still don’t see them for what they are.” He cocked his head tothe side. Something darker flashed over his features but it wasgone in a flash. If I’d blinked I would’ve missed it.

He grabbed for the bottle and hishand lingered longer than necessary. I sniffed and pushed thebottle into his hand before taking a step back. Ben had never mademe uncomfortable before but that’s exactly what he was doing rightnow.

“I hope your headache goes away,”I murmured as I hugged my middle again.

His brows furrowed as if he wereconfused before shaking his head and smiling down at me. He palmedthe pills and stepped into my space. I avoided eye contact,choosing to stare at the wilted flower tattoo on his neck, as hestared down at me. When he pulled his other hand up and toward myface, I flinched away from him. He chuckled to himself but itsounded almost humorless. He stepped away from me, then.

“Me too, though that’s not theonly thing that pains me lately,” he said as he headed toward mydoor. I stared after him as he walked away. His head swiveledtoward my bathroom again and he kept his gaze locked on the opendoor as he exited my room.

The back of my eyes burned as Irushed after him. I grabbed the door and slammed it while pullingin harsh breaths. I felt as though I’d just run a marathon and myheart was refusing to calm down.

What the fuck was that?

I’d been around and alone with Bena million different times and he had never made me feel like this.Like I was guilty of something dirty. Like he knew exactly what I’dbeen doing in the bathroom. I had the overwhelming urge to lock thedoor as soon as he left me. I felt … threatened.

“He’s in love with you,” Ian’sdeep voice sounded in the bathroom doorway and I jumped around.

“Fuck!” I yelped.

“Exactly what he wants to do toyou, Bambi,” he said as he pushed away from the door and stalked myway. He’d wrapped a towel around his waist while he’d hidden fromsight. At least now when I looked at him my brain wouldn’tcompletely short circuit.

“Did he see you?” I asked as Icalmed my wild heart.

Ian stepped into my space andkissed my forehead before pushing my hair behind my ear. “No.” Heshook his head. “But he knows something’s up with you. He can sensethe change in dynamic. I don’t like it,” he warned darkly.

I swallowed again before I pushedaway from the door. I shook my head, I didn’t know what was up withBen but that didn’t make me less of a friend to him. “He’sharmless,” I said as I stood in front of my suitcase again. Iblindly fingered through my clothes to find something to wear. Annawouldn’t wait forever so I needed to get a move on.

“Hmm,” Ian hummed before openingthe door. “We’ll see about that. I realize he’s a friend to you,but know this, Bambi…” He paused, waiting for me to look up at him.“If he touches you, ’ll kill him,” he promised before stepping intothe hallway and disappearing.

It should’ve scared me, the way hewas staking claim to me as if I were some sort of prize to be won.Or even the fact that this was still new, still fresh, and he wasalready having strong inclinations toward me. I should be endingthis before it got even more complicated.

So why did I crave him even morenow?

Chapter Thirteen

“What about this one?” Anna askedfor what felt like the thousandth time. This time she held up abright neon-yellow, cold-shoulder blouse. She held it against hercoat-covered chest and posed ridiculously with the garment. Icouldn’t help but giggle at the silly face she plastered on asthough she were posing for a photo shoot.

I had to admit, she would’velooked stunning in it. The bright yellow complimented and reallypointed out the bright blue in her hair. “I think you would rockit,” I said before she placed the shirt in the ever-growing pile oftry-ons.

We’d been at this now for the lasttwo hours. After a very tense breakfast at the cabin, we’d comestraight to town. The meal had been made awkward in my eyes becauseof the staring match that happened between Ian and Ben. Nobody elseseemed to notice their pissing match besides me.

I’m not sure what had gotten intoBen all of a sudden, but it was as though he was marking histerritory, with me being the territory. I’d known him for a longtime and he’d never acted like this when it was any other boy fromschool that was interested in me. I thought Ian and I did a wellenough job at hiding our attraction for one another but it wasobvious Ben had picked up on it. He’d even made a point to sitright next to me while I picked at my waffle this morning.

The morning was made even moreawkward when Anna laid out our itinerary for the day. We were tospend most of the day shopping in town and exploring the littlebusinesses that littered the main street. When she was in themiddle of explaining that we would drive down the mountain as soonas breakfast was done, Ian cleared his throat and announced that hewould drive us.

My face flushed bright red as hestared between a scowling Ben and myself before smiling at hisdaughter. Anna was none the wiser at the display of dominance asshe smiled brightly and thanked him for playing chauffeur.