HE WAS HERE. OH my God, Ben was here.
I leaned into him the whole way to his rented SUV, and I let him help me into the passenger seat just to have his hands on me a second longer.
I didn’t know how I’d survived ten days without him, but I did know this. I couldn’t go back. I didn’t want to. And all the reasons why I was so angry with him, and every insurmountable thing about us, it’d all disappeared the second I saw him.
He’d come for me.
Maybe even a part of him had come for Marcus.
I’d never wanted to be with a professional musician, the crowds, the fans, the girls—there were a million reasons. But it was hard to feel like any of that was insurmountable when he’d left his tour to be by my side.
He got behind the wheel, and I reached for him, wrapping my fingers around his strong wrist. “Thank you for coming.”
His gaze, more intense than I’d remembered, curled into my stomach and heated my blood. Then his quiet voice closed the space between us and filled my heart.
“I’ll always come for you.”
“Even when I shut you out?” I felt so guilty.
“Next time I won’t wait ten days.”
“Next time you’re on tour, I won’t shut you out for ten days,” I promised.
He cupped my face. “I’m never going to let that happen again, and Marcus is going to be okay.”
I bit my lip to keep my emotions in check. “He is going to need surgery to fix the broken bones in his face.”
“They’ll take care of him here.”
He sounded so sure, I almost believed him. “I’m afraid he’ll want to fight again, but what will happen if he gets hit in the face?”
“We’ll have to convince him not to fight.”
“We?” I knew Marcus wouldn’t listen to him, but I didn’t want to be alone in this anymore.
The corner of his mouth tipped slightly and his expression softened. “Yeah, baby, we.”
Heat hit my cheeks, and I almost smiled. “I like it when you call me that.”
“I like when you call me,” he threw back.
This time I did smile, out of embarrassment and selfishness, but I smiled.
“That’s what I wanted to see.” His own smile spread across his face, and he kissed me once before starting the SUV. Squeezing my hand, he pulled out of the hospital parking lot, and I remembered the rest of what Marcus was up against.
“There’s something else,” I blurted.
Ben glanced at me. “What?”
“A fighter from the gym where I found Marcus came to the hospital. He said Marcus owes him money.”
Ben’s hand tightened on the steering wheel. “He came to his room?”
I knew what he was getting at. “No, André was there, and he stopped him. He never made it inside Marcus’s room.”
“Then how do you know he wants money?”
Shoot. “I was in the hall stretching my legs when they came out of the elevator,” I admitted.
“They?”
I took a breath and let it out. “There were three of them, but the one who said Marcus owes him money, Killian Crowd, he was the ringleader.” I debated telling him the rest. “I kinda had to get past him in the gym to get to Marcus.”
Ben’s jaw ticked. “Tell me everything, Elyssia, right now.”
I told him. Start to finish.
Without a word in response to me, he pulled his phone out and dialed. “It’s Stark. Elyssia told me about Killian Crowd… I understand, but I want to know exactly what he thinks Marcus owes him, and I want him to know he won’t be fighting for him anymore… Understood… Thanks.”
“André?” I asked.
“Yes.” Ben hung up and pulled into the underground parking of a luxury high-rise building right on the ocean. “You aren’t going to be alone with Marcus until this is resolved.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but Ben stopped me.
“Nonnegotiable, Elyssia. I’ll keep Luna or one of his men there at all times, but I don’t want you going in or out of that hospital alone.” He pulled into a parking space and cut the engine.
I appreciated his concern, but he had to know that was unrealistic once he went back on tour. “When do you have to go back?”
He turned to me. “I won’t leave until we know Marcus is okay.”
“Ben, your tour.” He would be disappointing tens of thousands of fans. I wasn’t on social media, but I’d seen his accounts. Next to Myles, he had the most followers. “You can’t leave midtour because of me.” Not again.
“Already a done deal.”
“You need to go back.” I couldn’t be responsible for ruining his career. “I mean, not this minute, but soon.” As much as it killed me to say that, because I wanted him around all the time, I didn’t want to be selfish.
He smiled and stroked my cheek. “Let’s take this upstairs.”
For the first time since he’d shown up, I noticed how tired he looked. “Of course. I’m sorry, you must be exhausted.” I got out of the SUV.
Ben opened the back and grabbed two bags, one of which was mine.
“You have my bag?” From the motel?
“I had André check you out,” he answered, unapologetically. “Come on.” He led me to the elevators, and when we stepped inside, he pressed the button for the top floor.
Suddenly uncomfortable, I forgot about him having my stuff packed up and I glanced around the granite and mirrored interior of the elevator. “This is a nice building.” I snuck a peek at us in the mirrored side panel. Ben was so tall and blond and muscular, and tonight in a fitted T-shirt, no longer hiding his tattoos, he looked every bit the rock star. I, on the other hand, looked small and rumpled in my sweatshirt, and my hair was a mess. I self-consciously tried to smooth my long locks down.
Ben kissed the top of my head. “Stop. You’re beautiful.”
I was small chested and thin from running and karate, and I felt like a child standing next to a man. “When did you rent this place?” Was he planning on moving here? Did he remember me saying I’d always wanted to live on the beach?
The elevator doors opened, and he led me down a marble and granite hallway that only had two doors, one at each end of the long corridor. He slid a key into the lock and opened the door, but then he paused and glanced down at me. “I don’t rent. I bought it last year.” He stepped inside and hit a few lights.
It was as if a whole new world lit up before my eyes.
Polished white floors, a gourmet kitchen, designer showcase furniture, and an entire wall of floor-to-ceiling glass that was a spectacular view of the ocean at night. We were so high up, it felt like I could reach out and grab the moon.
Ostentatious, impeccable and beyond expensive, it was one hundred percent how you’d think a rock star would live.
I both hated it and loved it.
“You’re not saying anything.”
My stupid brain searched for something to say. “Has Marcus been here?” Did he even know about this place? It was a thousand times more luxurious than his Ocala condo, and that was saying something.
I didn’t realize I’d walked up to the windows until two strong, warm arms wrapped around my waist and his reflection appeared in the glass. “I’ve never brought anyone here.”
Relief quieted the churn in my stomach. “Have you ever slept here?”
He carefully watched my reflection in the glass. “I have.”
“When?” Nothing looked lived in, everything was perfect. Too perfect.
“Two times over the past year.”
He’d been in Florida, and he’d come here instead of coming to Ocala? “Oh.”
He kissed my shoulder. “I came for the closing and the second time to see my lawyer.” His lips landed on my neck. “I was in and out in less than a day each time.”
The tension in my body eased somewhat. “Oh.”
“If I’d known you’d wanted to see me, I would’ve made arrangements.”
I looked at his reflection. “When did I ever not want to see you?”
He didn’t hesitate. “The past ten days. When I first came home.”
I turned to face him and looked up at his serious blue eyes. “Are we fighting?”
His chest rose and fell twice as he studied me. “I’ve laid everything out for you. You know what I want. You knew before I left to finish the tour. You either want me.” He paused a fraction of a second. “Or you don’t.”
Panic swelled and the urge to immediately say I wanted him was overwhelming, but I needed to get everything out in the open. “What happens when you go on your next year-long tour?”
“We discuss it upfront and come up with an agreement we both can handle, or I don’t go.”
“Simple as that?” It sounded too easy.
“I want you more than I want the band.”
I believed him, but the band wasn’t what drove him to play. “What about the music?”
“I’ll always play, but it doesn’t have to be in a rock band that tours constantly.”
“You would be happy not touring?” Not being the famous hot drummer?
He stroked my cheek, but he didn’t smile. “I’m happy right now, with you.”
“You don’t look happy.” He looked almost angry.
His breath exhaled, and the side of his mouth twitched. “I’m still pissed you stayed in that motel, let alone walked into that gym on your own. And I’ll get over you shutting me out.”
“I’ll get over you not telling me where Marcus was.” I already was. He’d apologized in texts and in his messages.
“Good.”
We stared at each other. With every second and every breath, a need, so palpable and thick, grew until it was overwhelming. I wanted to strip off my clothes and give him whatever he wanted, but one more thing was bothering me. “Why did you buy this place?”
“It was an investment based on Neil’s recommendation. This is one of the buildings his company built.”
It was a logical and smart investment, but I couldn’t help it, my heart was disappointed at his reasoning. “You could have invested anywhere.”
He studied me a moment. Then he said the last thing I was expecting. “I needed an exit plan.”
Oh God, what did that mean? “Exit plan?”
He nodded once. “I wasn’t going to live in the same town and watch you find a life with another man.”
My heart broke. “Ben—”
“I wasn’t finished. This place was my exit plan, if I wound up needing one.” He inhaled. “But it was also something more.” He stroked my cheek. “You always said you wanted to live on the beach.”
Time stopped. Then my entire world swirled together for the first time, and I kissed him.
No grace, no poise, no reservation, I threw myself at him and I kissed him with every dream I’d stored away for eight years.