Five Ways to Fall (Ten Tiny Breaths, #4)(65)

Another way in which Ben appears to be supremely skilled.

“Are you disappointed? I chickened out,” I admit, struggling to sound unaffected.

The hand that nestles my neck forces my head up to face a set of sparkling blue eyes. “Nothing here is a disappointment, Reese.” Wedging his free hand between the small of my back and the pool wall, he crushes me with his body and a mind-numbing kiss that ends all thought process.

Except one. “Did you bring a condom?” I whisper against him, wondering how well they work in pools and knowing that he needs to get something on himself very soon.

He chuckles as I feel his arousal jump to attention against me. “Do you think I go anywhere without a—”

His words are cut off as a blinding floodlight suddenly shines down on us from the house. We turn in unison to find an old lady standing by the sliding glass door, her frail little body clad in a pink robe, her hair set in curlers, bifocals sitting on her nose, and a rifle pointed at us.

“Ah, shit,” Ben mutters. “I take it Granny wasn’t invited to the wedding?”

“Stay still!” she yells in a reedy voice, squinting at us. Her hands are trembling. From fear, or anger, or old age, I’m not sure. But I’ll admit that I’m more than a little concerned that one of us is going to end up with an accidental gunshot wound because of it.

“Just let us get dressed and we’ll be gone in a minute,” Ben offers, but she’s apparently having none of that, her head already shaking side to side.

“Why you young folk think it’s okay to fornicate in the pool my grandkids swim in . . .” She works her bottom lip as though maybe her teeth aren’t firmly in place. “The police are on their way!”

Ben’s forehead falls against mine with a quiet curse.





Chapter 20




BEN





“Can I grab a ride back with you?” Dan asks the officers as they turn to leave. One of them offers me a lazy salute and a smirk as he passes by. I recognize him as a customer from Penny’s. Not that that connection was enough to keep us from getting into trouble tonight.

I called Dan and asked him to intercept the cops in case Reese was wrong and they could find a reason to haul our asses down to the station. I’m pretty sure Reese is right and they can’t charge us with trespassing. I’m not 100 percent sure about the indecency charges and I’d rather not have to figure that out while in handcuffs.

I think I know how Reese has avoided a criminal record up until this point: she’s a compelling liar. When Granny announced that the cops were coming and Reese saw the look on my face, she immediately turned the tear tap on, swearing that Sara—how Reese remembered the woman’s name is beyond me, unless this entire stunt was premeditated, which, given Reese’s reputation, could very well be—told us we could come over for a late-night swim. The old woman was sceptical, but she at least allowed me to dig my phone out of my pants pocket to call Dan.

All of this while still in the pool because she wouldn’t let us get out. She said she didn’t trust us not to run. I’m sure that’s mostly true, but I damn well know that with the light shining down on us the way it was, glasses or not, the old coot was getting a good eyeful.

If I had known she was pointing an eleven-year-old’s BB gun at us, I would have pulled Reese out and run.

Dan arrived just minutes after the cops, driving the blitzed homeowners and their kids home. Apparently Sara bowled out of the car and stumbled inside to pass out on the couch, so she couldn’t corroborate Reese’s story. Jim, the husband, was thankfully a little more lucid. He quickly brought towels out for us and sent his mother inside with the boys, swearing up and down that his wife did in fact invite us to use their pool. I think everyone standing around that backyard knew that was a fat lie, but no one, including the cops, wanted to deal with this tonight. Seeing as we hadn’t hurt anyone, and our “public nudity” was on private property at night and hadn’t offended anyone besides Granny, the cops were happy to leave with a warning.

All because I can’t think with the right head when there’s a naked girl around.

“Can I please go back to my bride now?” Dan asks me, his tone full of irritation.

“I’m sorry, man,” I mutter, buttoning up my shirt. Fuck, am I going to get the gears about this one later!

“Thank you, Dan,” says an already dressed and very sheepish-sounding Reese.

Dan exhales and then softens. “Don’t worry about it.” Running a hand through his blond brush cut, he adds in a very cop-like tone, “But let this be a lesson to you, young lady. This is the kind of stuff that happens when you hang around with a guy like Ben.”

Stealing a glance Reese’s way, I see her lips pressed together tightly, like she’s fighting the urge to laugh. She merely nods in silent agreement.

And all I can do is shake my head at her.



Jack saw you drop me off this morning.



Reese’s text couldn’t have come at a better time. Or worse.

“Ben! A moment?” Jack calls out as I speed past the open door, hoping to go unnoticed.

“Shit,” I mutter under my breath. With a low exhale, I slide my phone into my pocket and turn around to make my way into Jack’s spacious office. I hoped it would be empty in here, on a Sunday afternoon. I should have known better.