An Act of Persuasion(53)

“Yes, but then I can’t tweet at hash-tag Bachelor with everyone else watching at the same time. Talk about what the girls are wearing, predict who is going to get the boot, that kind of thing.”

That was doing it. Now he was getting annoyed.

“We’re supposed to be on a date. I hoped we could spend the time talking, not watching television.”

She shrugged. “Sorry. This is me on a date.”

“This is you in a snit.”

Perfect, she thought. Anna moved her feet over the edge of the lounge and stood. “Look, if you don’t want me here, I can go.”

But moving a little too fast she tripped over her flip-flops and the glass in her hand fell to the deck shattering around her feet.

“Don’t move,” he barked at her.

Anna stood motionless while Ben bent to pick up the largest of the jagged glass around her feet.

“Sorry about the mess,” she mumbled.

He said nothing. Simply picked up the pieces and took them inside to throw away. When he came back he had a damp towel in his hands. “Sit down.”

Anna sat on the lounge chair while Ben crouched in front of her. He carefully removed her flip-flop and then used the towel on her ankle and foot picking up any stray bits of glass that might have hit her. He did the same routine with her other foot, picking it up, running his hands around the bottom of her calf and ankle checking for the tiniest pricks of blood.

Then he used the towel on the flip-flops making sure not a single shard remained. When he was done, he slid the shoe on each foot and looked at her.

“You want to tell me what this is about?”

No, she really didn’t. “I think I should go. I’m obviously in a mood. Let’s blame it on hormones and call it a day.”

Ben straightened and cupped her face in his hand. “It’s not hormones. You’re acting like someone who has been backed into a corner against her will. You’re frightened. I know fear when I see it. But why? I told you I wasn’t going to jump you as soon as you walked through the door. Even though you and I both know you wore those pants to be provocative.”

Anna stood and Ben was forced to step back from her.

“I wore them to be comfortable.”

“You wore them to tempt me. Or maybe test me. I’m not sure. Did you really think something as simple as clothing would make me break my word to you?”

No, it wasn’t that. It wasn’t any of the things he thought. She simply didn’t want to be here with him. It was too hard. It was too much to think about and worry and wonder about. It was too hard to keep her wits about her when he was rubbing her feet and checking for small pieces of glass in the event she might have been pricked. Too hard to remind herself that he did that because of the baby and not because he cared about her.

He cupped her face again, moving closer until she could see the individual hairs in his eyebrows, and the new gray streaks that were appearing at his temples as his hair grew in. “Anna, talk to me.”

“I want to go,” she said quietly. She felt weak. She felt so impossibly fragile. She felt as though if he continued to touch her the way he was doing, then she would shatter, just like the glass had.

“You mean run. Again. Only this time I won’t let you.”

“Because of the baby.” She swallowed. “I knew it. I’m trapped with you because of it.”

She saw a faint reaction in his eyes. Pain. Pain she’d inflicted.

“Why are you doing this? I thought...I thought you said...”

“What? That I loved you?”

“Yes.”

“I thought I did.”

“Thought. You. Did.”

Anna caught his wrists and pulled them away from her face. She couldn’t look at him when she said it. She wasn’t nearly that courageous. She looked down and all she could see were their feet so close together. “I don’t know. Maybe it was an infatuation or a crush. These past few days I realized there is a ton of stuff we don’t even know about each other.”

Ben didn’t say anything, although she could still feel his scrutiny, still feel him studying her. Like she was some fascinating new specimen of humanity.

“I was, what, twenty-two when I started to work for you? Hell, what girl that age wouldn’t be in awe of the mighty Ben Tyler?”

Again, nothing.

“You didn’t even see me until that one night. Never looked at me. Really looked. How could I love you when you didn’t even know who I was as a person?”