"We can't drive in together," Aria admonished him. "How obvious would that be?"

Ben laughed and tossed a balled-up pair of socks across the room at her. "You're taking this secret romance thing very seriously, huh?"

She batted away his fabric missile with ease. "And you're acting like we should be shouting it from the rooftops."

Ben crossed the bedroom and took her in his arms. Kissing her cheeks and then her forehead, he sighed. "It does kind of suck. It's only been a day, but I feel like I could stay in this bed with you for years."

Aria murmured softly against his chest. "I know. You can't call out sick two days in a row though, and I'm not sure my body can handle another full day sex-a-thon."

"Never know until we try," he teased.

Yesterday had been one of the best days of his life, maybe almost as good as their weekend together. He'd called out of work, and they'd spent the day in bed with delivery food and sex.

A lot of sex.

Damn it, he wanted her again now even though they'd just had a quickie in the shower while getting ready for the day. "Shit, Aria. You might be my drug. I can't get enough of you."

She twisted away from him with a flirty smile. "You're crazy."

No argument here.

They quickly finished getting dressed and headed down to their separate cars. He'd go to the office as usual, and she had the photo shoot for the movie promos.

"Are you going to stop by the shoot today?" she asked, leaning over the top of her open car door.

"Maybe." He stepped closer to her, his hands in his pockets. "Tell me you want me to."

He wasn't asking, and he liked the way her eyes darkened and her cheeks flushed when he did so. She'd resist it, but she loved when he was commanding, and he loved that about her.

Aria shrugged, but the corners of her lips were tilted north. "I wouldn't hate seeing you."

"And tonight?" he asked, not taking her bait. "I'll text you the address to my place, and meet you there when you're done with the shoot."

"I might be able to pencil you into my calendar."

Ben kissed her goodbye, chuckling against her lips at her continued attempt to act nonchalant. "You better, baby." I love you. The words almost tumbled out of his mouth, but he held them back, shocked at how natural the urge to say it felt. "See you later," he said instead.

She looked hesitant for a moment, then nodded. "See you at work, boss."

Ben laughed and headed for his car parked a few spots away. Climbing into the driver's seat, he took a moment to take in a deep breath. The hole he'd been feeling in his life for months, maybe years, was gone. Even the brief period of time he'd been married to his ex, he'd never felt like this. He'd never felt complete.

With Aria, he felt whole. He felt invincible. She had so quickly become everything to him, fit perfectly into every part of his heart, and he'd do anything he could to keep her there. It was absolutely risky and insane, considering how quickly he'd fallen for her, but that didn't diminish the truth.

When Ben finally arrived at work, a few people asked about his absence the day before, but he feigned a stomach bug because people didn’t tend to ask follow-up questions of those things. The morning went by quickly as he attempted to catch up on the work he'd missed from the day before.

He was just starting to think about lunch when his office phone rang.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hey, baby," the familiar croon of his ex-wife came over the line.

Ben's jaw clenched, his fuse already shortening at the very idea of having to talk to a woman who'd hurt him so viciously. "What do you need, Marion?"

Needing something was the only reason she ever called nowadays.

"Need?" She feigned hurt, but he didn’t buy it for a second. "Oh, Benny, come on. Can't a lady just call to catch up with her former lover?"

"Former husband," he corrected. "Never was that much love between us."

"Hurtful," she continued. "But not entirely wrong. We had a good thing going back then. You've got to admit both of our careers flourished together—the eternally sexy diva with her hot, young playboy. We were quite a pair in this industry."

"Until you tore us both down with that tabloid shit storm." Of course, the takeaway from their marriage for her would be about business. Everything was a transaction to get what she wanted.

"A woman scorned, Benny...you know the saying."

Ben's jaw clenched tighter. "Right." Her lack of remorse was unsettling. He'd done nothing to deserve her wrath, except not love her. “Making me look like an idiot kid who fell for a-Mrs. Robinson-type didn’t work in either of our favors, Marion.”

Marion sighed through the line. "Benny, can we have lunch? I'd really love to see you and catch up. Talk about more…pleasant…topics."

Shit. If she wanted to meet up, then she needed something big. Probably money. He’d already paid a hefty sum in the divorce that she easily could have lived off for years, and yet, nothing was ever enough for her. He may have been portrayed as the cougar’s boy toy in the media back then, but he had always been the real breadwinner and brains of the operation.

Thankfully, he was older now and no one mistook him for a boyish nobody anymore. He’d worked hard to cut his ties in the press with Marion, and was finally beginning to be judged for his own merits. "I'm busy, Marion. I've got a new job and can't be taking lunch breaks right now."

"I heard. Head of Shepherd Films...congratulations, Benny." Her voice softened even further, almost lilting with overt sexuality. What was her angle? "I also heard you have a new film casting soon."

Ah, there it was.

He rolled his eyes, letting out a long exhale. "And you want me to cast you? Is that why you're calling?"

She huffed. "Benny, I'm insulted. I would never ask for favors. You know how seriously I take my craft."

What a load of bullshit. She'd only ever starred in B-List movies, and was now on reality television shows regularly. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but in Marion's glory days, she'd been rumored to be the next big thing. Her shitty attitude and diva behavior ended that almost before it began—not to mention their divorce splashed across Page Six making both of them look like a big joke in their May-December romance gone south.

"I'm not in charge of casting, Marion." Not entirely a lie.

"Benny, I just need an audition. I can earn it on my own. I know you can get me that, right?" she crooned, and his stomach turned at her desperation.

"The answer is no, Marion. Goodbye." With that, he hung up the phone.

Ben scrolled through his phone and pulled up his texts to Aria. How's the shoot going? he typed out.

She didn't answer right away, which made sense if she was busy, but still left him antsy. Clicking on the intercom, he buzzed his assistant. "Jackson, can you order me a couple sandwiches for lunch?"

"Sure, Mr. Lawson!" Jackson replied, ever the eager employee. "Should I use the card on file?"

"Yeah. Feel free to get yourself lunch on the order, too."

"Thank you!"

Ben clicked the intercom off and sat back, sighing. He felt…unsettled. Which was odd since that morning had been such a high. All of yesterday had been, actually. Still, something felt…off. Ominous.

And it wasn't just the phone call with Marion, though that certainly had his guard up.

It all just felt too...easy. He was too happy. A feeling he wasn't accustomed to.

Ben realized how ridiculous that sounded. On paper, he should be happy. He had always enjoyed success, wealth, and an easy life. But it had been so empty.

His mother had died when he was young, and he barely remembered her. His father was always working and just had him tag along when he couldn't find someone else to pawn him off on. He'd filled his youth with dates and brief flings, and when he thought he should get married, he'd settled down with the next relationship that came along.

But it had all been superficial. It had looked good on a glossy magazine spread, but deep down, under the silence and lonely nights, none of it was what it seemed.

"Mr. Lawson?" The intercom buzzed. "Sandwiches are here!"

That was quick. Ben stood from his office chair and put on his suit jacket, adjusting the lapels. It had only been a few hours since he'd last seen Aria, but damn, he missed her, and he was eager to get down to the shoot for lunch to see her.