Two Is a Lonely Number Read online

  Ben smiled at how irate she was at the injustice.

  “Seriously. Do they do any kind of psychological check on people before certifying them as foster parents?”

  “There are some good ones.” He had experienced one or two decent “parents” over the years—mostly when he was little. His social worker had always moved him out after a few months. Apparently there were rules against getting too attached.

  No rules against being neglected or hit. Technically he was sure those rules existed, but that would mean having a system where the kids could come forth without fear of worse retribution.

  Kicking him out of that last house had been a favor, though he sure as hell hadn’t seen it that night. But fear of what could happen to him had kick started his life. He had learned back then that if he wanted anything in life, he had to bust his ass to get it.

  He wasn’t fool enough to believe that he would have been able to accomplish anything if it hadn’t been for Jules and her big heart. Even at fifteen years old.

  “Remember when my parents started to suspect I was in some kind of trouble because I was being so sneaky?” Julia’s pure, joyful laughter filled the room.

  Ben nodded. “Yeah. I remember having to hang out at the library until they closed when your mother worked from home. You had to watch TV with her to make her fall asleep early.”

  “And when you had to go and be all useful, doing yard work and stuff? They were really suspicious then! Couldn’t figure out how we suddenly had landscaping elves among us.”

  “I had to repay them for the hospitality they didn’t know they were giving.”

  “I think they knew.” Julia’s smile grew bigger. “Even my parents aren’t dumb or blind enough to not figure it out. Heck, that was the winter I first started doing my own laundry so I could sneak yours in, too.”

  “You were too good to me, Jules. My little ruby with the carrot top.” He squeezed her hand.

  “A carrot top is green, mister know-it-all.”

  Once their shared laughter subsided, Ben stood up.

  “All right. Let’s get you set up in a room.”

  “You’re okay with me staying for a bit? I’ll get things figured out, I just didn’t know where to go.”

  “Julia Miles. Your first thought should have been to come here. That should have been your only thought.”

  “Thank you, Ben. I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch.”

  “Eh, what’s four or five years between friends?”

  “I’m a terrible friend.” Julia’s chin fell to her chest as she hugged herself, pulling her hoodie tight against her burgeoning belly.

  “Nope. Just a human one.”

  “I wasn’t ignoring your phone calls or emails. I kind of got caught up in the whirlwind of my life and pushed everyone away. I had no right showing up here like this. Oh, God. Do you have a wife? A girlfriend? She won’t be happy to have me here. I should have considered that, I’m sorry.”

  “No wife. No girlfriend. No problem.”

  A twinge in his chest made him falter for a moment before continuing on to the room he used as a home office. Why did it bother him so much to say he wasn’t attached?

  Could it be because it felt like a lie?

  “Give me a second and I’ll change my sheets so you can take the big bed. I’ll take the futon in the office.”

  “No way. The futon would be perfect for me. I am not kicking you out of your room.” She held her hand up to ward off his argument. “Don’t argue with me, mister. You won’t win. Besides, firm is better for me with this giant gut of mine.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever won an argument against you, Jules.” Upon her request, Ben gathered towels and directed her toward the shower. He wanted to call the police to report her abuser, but she adamantly refused. She wanted to hide and recuperate. She didn’t want to go through the stress of dealing with him.

  He had no choice but to respect her wishes.

  After she showered and applied make-up to her bruises, she almost looked like nothing terrible had happened to her.

  “I thought the pregnancy glow was a myth, but you wear it very well.”

  “You’re such a charmer, Ben. Some things never change.” She smiled and blushed. “I hate to be a pain, but I’m ravenous. Finally feeling safe brought my appetite back full-force.”

  Embarrassed to have a virtually empty kitchen, Ben took her to town for dinner.

  “You sure you’re okay going out like this? I can grab take-out if you prefer.”

  She hesitated before responding. He was an idiot to bring her out in public when she was still so scared.

  “No, I’m okay. I won’t let him have that kind of power over my life. I feel safe here. With you. He doesn’t know where I am, and he’s probably still too drunk to notice I left.”

  Ben squeezed her hand to show his support.

  No one batted an eye to see him dining with a beautiful woman. That was his thing.

  Eyes did grow wide when they noticed her belly.

  He knew the rumor mill would have a blast with this tidbit.

  Wouldn’t be the first time Ben Knight had been the subject of small town trash talk.

  Julia began to curl up into herself the longer they were in public. She only managed to eat half of her food before getting nervous again and pulling her hair over her face as if to shield herself from view.

  He wrapped his arm around her when it was time to depart. His glare warned off any of the busybodies who considered approaching them for questioning.

  She was exhausted from her long day, so he kissed her forehead and sent her off to bed soon after they returned to his place.

  He poured himself a whiskey and spread out on the couch, fighting the urge to run off to Karly.

  He didn’t want to leave Julia here alone. What if her abuser managed to track her down?

  Besides, Karly wouldn’t want to see him again so soon. She hadn’t even wanted him there before.

  He didn’t want to appear desperate—when had Ben Knight ever been desperate for a woman?

  Then again, if he could be around Karly, he didn’t give a shit how it made him look.

  “Fuck.” He downed his drink, picked up his keys, and wimped out before completing his mission.

  For not the first time in what seemed like an eternity, Ben went to bed a lonely man.

  Chapter Five

  “I can’t believe you made me come out for this, Ava.”

  Karly snarled at the kids who launched marshmallows at her from their newly made marshmallow shooters.

  “We come to the Healing Springs Birthday Celebration every year. You always pretend to hate it, but by the end of the night you’re always joining in on the karaoke contest.”

  “That’s because I’ve usually been imbibing Harvey’s special apple cider.”

  “Well go for it! You don’t have to avoid alcohol just because I can’t have any.” Ava rubbed her belly. “Besides, it never bothered you to drink enough for both of us before.”

  “Not in the mood.”

  “Oh, come on, Karly. Look! There’s an adult version of bobbing for apples. Let’s do it!”

  “I am not sticking my face in a bucket of water after all those other people have done the same. That’s disgusting.”

  “Why so cranky?”

  Karly let out a sigh. She couldn’t tell Ava why her emotions were all over the place. Yet she couldn’t fake a good mood, either.

  So she used Ben as a scapegoat.

  While picking away at a fluff of cotton candy, she told Ava all about how he tracked her down at her apartment, stayed to help her work, and his unexpected invitation to the gala and how she couldn’t refuse.

  “Karly. Are you talking about Ben Knight? The same Ben Knight that I know? The one whose life mission seems to be to love and leave every gorgeous woman in his path?”

  “I don’t know if ‘love’ is the right word for what he does, but yeah. That one.”

  Ava whistl
ed. “He is so into you.”

  “No he’s not. I think he sees me as a challenge.”

  “He’s already had you. I’ve never seen him with the same woman twice. Cole jokes about it all the time.”

  “Look over there,” Karly pointed toward a child as he attempted to put a carved pumpkin over his younger brother’s head. “That is what’s wrong with the world.”

  “Oh, I think it’s cute.”

  “Of course you do,” Karly mumbled. What she wouldn’t give to be in her comfy sweat pants with a pint of chocolate milk.

  “Oh look! There’s a chocolate-making stand. And Harvey is pulling out the old stilts—think he’ll do a face plant in the mud again this year?”

  “Considering I’ve lived in this town for five years and I’ve never seen the man sober, I’m guessing there’s a good chance there will be some planting of the face.”

  “Poor guy. At least he never gets seriously hurt. I don’t know why he can’t give up on the idea of rejoining the circus. I think those days are far behind him.”

  “I think I should move.”

  Ava stopped in her tracks.

  “What? Don’t say that! It’s not April Fool’s Day!”

  “I’m not April Fooling. I don’t know if there’s much left for me here.”

  “Karly, stop it. You can’t even think of leaving me when I’m about to have a baby. My baby needs his or her auntie. And I need you. Besides, your photography business is flourishing. Why would you pick up and move now?”

  “Forget it. You’re right.” Karly stared into the distance. Running away from her problems wouldn’t solve anything. She’d still have to live with the consequences, but without a support system.

  “Phew. You had me scared for a minute there. Let’s go make some chocolate and forget about those crazy thoughts of yours.” Ava linked her arm through Karly’s. “Besides, where else can you have celebrations like this on an almost biweekly basis?”

  “That isn’t exactly a selling point, Ava.”

  “Oh, you love it. And speaking of love. Look who’s here. He doesn’t normally make appearances at these things. Wonder if he’s looking for a special somebody?”

  Karly tried to resist the urge to look over, but she lost the battle.

  “Looks like he already found a special somebody.”

  Walking beside the devil in question was a petite woman with a hood pulled over her head. Bright red curls escaped from the hood, flying across her mostly hidden face. Karly imagined she’d be flawless. Only the best for Ben.

  She should know. He had been with her, after all.

  “Let’s get out of here.”

  Ava quirked an eyebrow at Karly’s reaction.

  “Someone is bothered by something that normally wouldn’t bother them at all…” Ava’s voice trailed off annoyingly.

  “Would you stop reading into things? There’s nothing between us. Get over it.”

  “Okay, okay. I’m sorry. Wishful thinking on my part. I just want to see you happy.”

  “I am happy. Let’s go see what’s over there.”

  Ava jogged alongside Karly as Karly power-walked to one of the pop-up shooting games. A gun was exactly what she needed to play with right now. Even if all it did was shoot water into a clown’s mouth to blow up a balloon. She could use her imagination.

  Concentrating on the game, she tuned out the other players. She was insanely competitive, and even though Ava was humming some stupid love song, she remained focused.

  Was it wrong to imagine Ben’s head as the clown?

  The bell rang, signaling a winner. The stupid balloon on the stupid clown next to hers inflated first. She turned to congratulate the winner, but her fake smile quickly turned to a very real scowl when she saw who the winner was.

  “Ach. Seriously?”

  “Well hello to you, too, sweet cakes.”

  She rolled her eyes and turned toward Ava. She had vanished.

  “I’ll kill her.”

  “Who do you plan to kill?” Ben leaned back, stretching his long, jean clad legs into her space.

  “None of your business. Have a good night.”

  She turned to leave, gifting him with a view of her backside as she started to charge away. If Ava thought she could abandon her to his evil clutches, she had a few things to teach her supposed BFF.

  He leapt from his stool and grabbed her arm.

  “Why so harsh?”

  “Why so interested?” she questioned back.

  He looked her up and down, taking in her open leather jacket and the tight, curve hugging shirt she wore underneath.

  “How could I not be interested?”

  “You are such a pig, you know that?”

  “I’ve been told…”

  His eyes twinkled. He didn’t care about his reputation or how he behaved toward women. Worse, he reveled in it.

  “I saw you here with another woman. Again. Did you send her on an errand so you could screw around behind her back?”

  “Who said anything about screwing?” The lanterns and carnival lights danced across his shiny teeth.

  “You make me want to slap you.”

  “Hey, I’ll try anything once.”

  She turned away to leave, but he moved to block her.

  “How do you even find these women with such low self-esteem?”

  “Come with me to my car. I have something to show you.”

  “Nice line. I’m all set though. I don’t play with men while they’re already on dates. Sweet offer, though.”

  “I’m not on a date.” His voice was low as if he were hiding something. “Come to my car. I’ll explain things to you.”

  Something about the tone of his voice and the way he looked around to be sure no one could hear him had her intrigued. What harm would come of her going to his car? For just a minute.

  “Okay. But this had better be good.”

  He tried to grab her hand, but she pulled it away and quickly shoved both hands into her jacket pockets. She would not dishonor the woman he came with by being seen holding the man’s hand.

  He really was a dating sociopath. Maybe he figured if he was only sleeping with a woman, he didn’t owe them any kind of respect or loyalty.

  She hadn’t thought he was that low, but she was wrong on occasion.

  He opened the passenger door for her and waited while she got in. Her stomach tossed and turned with an excitement she couldn’t contain. What the hell was she doing? And why was it turning her on so damned much?

  Maybe she was worse than he was.

  “The woman you saw me with is an old friend. Nothing more. She decided to watch the outdoor movie and she knew I was coming to see you.”

  She looked at him skeptically. She had never cared before whether men lied or not—she was in it for one thing only. But this man had created a baby with her, and she needed to know if he was a compulsive liar or a true sociopath.

  She couldn’t detect any deception.

  All she could detect was the powerful lust between them.

  She was so screwed.

  “I got this for you.”

  He leaned over to open the glove compartment. She held her breath to keep from breathing him in. She bit her lip to stop herself from bending forward to kiss his head.

  When he straightened back into his own seat, she released the pent up breath.

  “You okay?”

  “Mmhmm.”

  He held out an envelope. She accepted it, curious as to what he wanted to give her.

  She pulled out a full-color program for the Halloween Gala.

  “This is incredible. Thank you so much.”

  She perused the pages of art, thrilled to have such a cherished memento. She’d keep it forever.

  “Thought you might like to have that.”

  “You thought right. Thank you, Ben.”

  He shrugged, as if the gift held no meaning. This program was priceless to her.

  “It came with the tickets. I don’
t dare give you the tickets with it because I have no doubt you’d ditch me.”

  She grinned.

  “You think I’d ditch you?” Her eyelashes fluttered rapidly. “Sweet, innocent me?”

  “Sweet, yes.”

  He leaned forward, dangerously close to her face.

  She watched his lips turn upward as the faint hint of a dimple she hadn’t noticed before taunted her.

  “Innocent? That’s questionable.”

  Sparks jumped from his body to hers. She wasn’t sure if she had stopped breathing, if the world had stopped turning, or if he had hypnotized her into not caring about anything but the stubble on his jaw and the Adam’s apple that appeared when he cocked his head to the side.

  He was going to kiss her, and she was powerless to stop it.

  She wanted it. She wanted him.

  Oh sweet jelly beans, she wanted him so bad.

  She closed her eyes, willing herself to remember why getting intimate with him was a terrible idea.

  For starters, he was the father of her baby. What could be worse than getting intimate with the father of your illegitimate, unplanned baby?

  And he was a player. So was she, but she had no doubt he couldn’t be reformed. Nature was forcing her personal reformation.

  Running out of excuses. And air. His lips would touch hers any second…

  A loud knock on the window had her jumping, banging her head into his sexy jaw.

  “What the hell?”

  Ben whipped around to confront the intruder. A bright flashlight beam blinded both of them.

  Ben fumbled to put his key into the ignition so he could roll the window down.

  “Jenkins. What the hell are you doing?”

  “Trust me, this isn’t my favorite duty in the world. Constantly getting called in to interrupt courtships. I’d much rather be doing real police work, like arresting a criminal. Hell, I’d rather be doing paperwork then breaking up the horny citizens of Healing Springs. Pardon my language, Miss Karly.”

  She laughed at his apology.

  “Then why are you here?” Ben inquired.

  “I had reports that the two of you were steaming up the windows. There are children everywhere. You want to get all hot and bothered, you each have bedrooms. Doesn’t anyone in this town appreciate privacy?”

  “We were only talking, Officer.” Karly cleared her throat, annoyed at the squeakiness of her voice.