ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (278 page)

Chapter Four

I was already a good way into the next section of fence when Ben finally came into sight. Despite seeming to be in good shape, he looked slightly worse for wear when he came into view, struggling over the large hill that led to the portion I was working on. For the first time since I had gotten back to work I set down my tools and with a slight smirk I watched him make his way to me. I couldn’t help but to let out a small laugh as he stopped by my side, clearly out of breath after the short walk.

“I didn’t think it would take you an hour to get here,” I chuckled as Ben finally regained a normal rate of breathing.

He looked up at me, humor dancing in his bright blue eyes. He gazed down at the expensive looking watch on his wrist and with a smile he met my eyes once more, my humor completely draining now as he stared intently at me. “By my count it took me 36 minutes,” he laughed.

My mouth popped open, he was smiling at me; it was the same crooked smile that make my heart flutter and heat rise in my body. “Still, I thought you were here to help?” I questioned, a little more harshly than I had intended.

Despite my words the smile on Ben’s face didn’t falter, if anything he looked more curiously at me. Under the intensity of his eyes I felt my heart beat faster, I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what caused it, but I knew that as I looked into his eyes I felt close to helpless. “That’s what I intend to do, if you’ll let me?” Ben asked softly.

He moved a little closer, leaning against the fence post I had just hammered into the ground. “Why wouldn’t I?” I shot back.  My eyes drifted down to Ben’s arms and his muscles flexed casually causing new emotions to claim free reign of my body, how was it that this guy could have such a big impact on me?

Ben’s eyes softened and he laughed lightly. “I know this is your ranch Katie, I’m not here to take it from you,” he said with a small shrug.

I glared at him, my defenses going up at his words, he was right, this was my ranch. “I’m glad you know that,” I said roughly.

Ben only smiled, so annoyingly at ease with the conversation that was causing my body to react in such a way. “Shall we get started?” Ben questioned the seriousness of the last minute seemingly already forgotten.

“Started?” I scoffed; if he wanted to get started he should have been around seven hours ago.

“Go easy on me ok, yesterday I was sat at a desk, today I’m on a ranch,” Ben said, his eyes glazing over slightly and to my shock he seemed a little hesitant to say the words.

“Why are you here?” I questioned, this time feeling slightly guiltier that my words were far from nice.

Ben’s smile dropped now and to my amazement he actually looked sad, guilt was slowly creeping its way through my body and I hated the fact. “Your dad said you needed help,” he said with a casual shrug and as quickly as the sadness had come it disappeared, leaving me wondering whether I had even seen it in the first place.

I stared at him for a moment in silence, pondering his words; they seemed to hold sincerity, it was like he really had just come because he was needed. Not quite ready to accept the thought that it wasn’t all an act just yet I shook my head. Freeing myself of the unwanted thoughts I instead pointed to the fence post I had just put up. “These need to be put up every three feet,” I directed.

Pulling out my spare mallet from the tool box I tossed it in Ben’s direction slightly impressed and a little annoyed when he caught it with ease. “Make sure they’re in firmly,” I stated.

Ben smiled and nodded, surveying the mallet in his hands with what looked like curiosity; I doubted if he had held one before in his entire life. “Yes boss,” he grinned.

My brow rose at the new nickname, unsure of whether or not I liked it. Ben paused and for a moment it looked like he wanted to say more, after a second of awkward staring he turned on his heels and walked towards them where the next post needed to go. I watched him leave, a strange sensation now bubbling in the depth of my stomach, there was just something about him, something that intrigued me.

We worked in silence, it was a comfortable sort of silence and to my growing amazement Ben actually managed to keep up with my pace. Within an hour we had got more of the fence done than what I could have completed myself in twice as long. It was nice, in a way, not to work alone; it had been so long since I had any kind of company around the ranch, especially from someone who was roughly the same age as me. Even without conversation it was relaxing; something that work on the ranch hadn’t been in as long as I could remember. Perhaps having Ben around wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened, at least for the short term.

As often as I dared and much to my own annoyance I diverted my eyes from the fence to watch Ben. He completed each post without complaint and while it was clear he was getting tired he carried on, the same as I always did. Mindlessly I positioned the part of the fence I was working on, my eyes still on Ben and started to hammer the wire into the posts. Ben was lifting the next post, his arms flexing as his carried the heavy post and placed it carefully in the pre-dug hole.

In a moment of distraction my hand slipped and then there was pain, so much pain that tears streamed down my cheeks. The hammer in my hand slipped free from my loosened grip and collided with my foot.

A hiss escaped my lips as I stumbled backwards, I wasn’t sure which was worse, the searing pain in my hand where the hammer had first hit or the numbing pain in my foot where it had landed. How could I have been so stupidly careless? Before I realized what was happening Ben was at my side, his hands quickly wrapped around my waist and lowered me gently to the floor.

“Katie?” he questioned softly, worry tainting his words. My heart fluttered as my cheeks blazed a dark shade of red. I was uncomfortable with Ben being this close; his body was so temptingly pressed against me. The last thing I wanted to think about was why I felt that way.

Chapter Five

I cradled my hand to my chest with my one good one and looked up into Ben’s bright blue eyes, surprised to actually see so much concern there. I held his eyes for a moment longer, the pain seemingly lessening the longer he claimed my eyes. “Are you ok?" he asked again, kneeling down at my side this time.

With a shake of my head I snapped out of the mesmerizing look and instantly the pain resurfaced. “I’m fine,” I lied as another shot of agony surged through my hand, making me wince. I had never been so careless before, if it wasn’t for Ben and his unknowing ability to distract me I would have been ok.

“You’re not,” Ben stated simply.

I frowned at him as I tried to pull myself up from the ground, only managing to simultaneously fall awkwardly on my hand and foot at the same time. Before I could try it again two warm strong arms wrapped around me and pulled me from the muddy floor. Where I expected Ben to simply place me on my feet he instead brought me up to his chest and rested me gently in his arms.

“What are you doing?” I questioned warily.

“Carrying you,” Ben stated. He shifted me carefully in his arms so I lay princess-style in his grip.

“I have work to do,” I complained, trying as best I could to free myself from his strong grip.

Ben held me closer, his arms not showing a single sign of relenting as he cradled me to him. “No anymore you don’t,” Ben said as he started walking back down the hill.

Awkwardly I lay in his arms, the steady beat of his heart becoming more and more prominent with each step he took. I had no idea how he could carry me, especially after the laborious hour of work we had just done, yet he seemed to have no trouble. “Put me down,” I demanded.

“Not happening, I doubt you could walk anyway,” Ben said with a slight chuckle that held more relief now than his concerned one had done previously.

“I can walk fine,” I grumbled, knowing though that it was unlikely, the pain in my foot seemed to be showing no sign of letting up, it was definitely going to hurt more in the morning.

“Now we could test that and you will end up hurting yourself more or you could let me carry you,” Ben said and as I looked up at him I could see he was grinning.

“You don’t need to carry me,” I shot back. It wasn’t so much the pain that was bothering me now, more so how comfortable I felt in the man’s arms, how content I was to be this close to him.

“I know, but it would take too long to watch you crawl back,” Ben said with a laugh. Much to my annoyance a small smile crept onto my lips and with no ready retort I let my head rest against his arm. He was right and the option of crawling back to the farm was definitely not a favorable one.

I looked up at Ben as the sun shone down on his brown-blonde hair; it was a strange color, almost like gold in this light. With Ben so focused on the path in front of us I allowed my smile to grow just a little. He was handsome, that much I couldn’t deny myself and he made me smile. As much as I found him being here annoying I was starting to like it, having him around was starting to have its benefits.

“Home sweet home princess,” Ben said and slowly I felt he heat fade from my body and my feet touch down on the floor.

I glared up at his smirking lips. “Princess?” I questioned, unsure of whether I was amused or angry.

“Fitting I think, I did carry you princess style after all,” he said with a casual laugh.

My cheeks heated up in response and I was more than aware of the heated blush that was spreading across my cheeks. “I didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter,” I groaned.

Using the wall as support I slowly made my way to the kitchen chair, Ben followed closely behind, his arms hovering mere centimeters away from my body. “You liked it really, I can tell,” Ben said with a smirk.

My cheeks flushed darker; there was no way he could know that. “If that’s what you want to believe,” I retorted.

Ben sat down next to me and it only took a moment for my eyes to drift to his. We were so close now it was almost unbearable, my stomach fluttered in response and I suppressed a groan; I couldn’t be like this around him. “Oh I don’t believe, I know,” he stated.

My body froze at his words, so strangely dark, so heavy with something other than the innocence of the conversation. I was imagining things, I had to be, yet as he looked at me, his eyes searching my own, it far from felt like it. “Do you want to be here Ben?” I questioned, unsure of why I even needed to ask it.

From the second he had arrived he looked nothing less than at home at the ranch, now though as the question settled between us he was frowning. “Of course I do,” Ben said with a smile, the frown disappearing quickly.

I couldn’t bring myself to doubt the words, deciding instead to take him at them, to trust him. “It might not be so bad that you’re here,” I said, trying my best to sound casual.

Ben grinned widely, the smile reaching his eyes. “I knew you would come round sooner or later,” he chuckled, “I just didn’t think it would be this soon,” he added with a smirk.

“And I didn’t think I would regret my words quickly,” I groaned only to earn another laugh off Ben.

“You blush a lot,” Ben said suddenly.

Instinctively my hand went to my cheek and sure enough warmth was spreading quickly across it. “Is that a problem?” I shot back, trying to hide my increasing embarrassment.

Ben reached across to me closing the small space between us, his hand cupped mine gently. I froze, unsure of where exactly to look other than at his intense eyes. I breathed in deeply, the pressure on my cheek was warm; his hand was so soft against my own. “It’s cute when you blush,” Ben said quietly.

Slowly his hand moved and his fingers trailed down my cheek, cupping my jaw gently. My breath hitched in my throat as I stared back into his addictive blue eyes, I could so easily loose myself in them and the thought terrified me. “I should go,” I whispered. I didn’t mean the words, I didn’t want to leave yet I couldn’t stay, I knew that.

Ben leant closer and my eyes flickered shut, his lips were a mere breath away now, gently brushing against my own. My body was fighting itself, my mind in a constant debate, to stay or go. “I know,” Ben breathed softly against my lips.

A shiver ran down my body as arousal surged inside of me and then the soft pressure was gone before it could even begin. My eyes drifted opened and my carefully placed defenses slowly began to crumble. Before I could give in to the temptation I stood up and awkwardly on my painful foot I walked away. I knew what would happen if I stayed and it was something I was far from ready for.

Chapter Six

As I had predicted I felt so much worse the next morning; awaking to a stiff pain in my foot and a sharp ache in my hand definitely didn’t constitute a good start to the day. With moan and a slight limp I tumbled out of bed, thankful that my body clock hadn’t failed me like the rest of my body seemed to have, I was still on time at least. Having finished early yesterday I was further behind on the fence than I wanted to be and that from experience meant nothing good.

I dressed as quickly as I could, testing the limits of my throbbing hand, it would hold up to a day’s work and for that I was more than thankful. Unlike the previous day the kitchen was empty when I wandered downstairs and for a moment I let myself believe that things were back to normal. I started my morning coffee going and only as I pressed the cup to my lips did I notice that I wasn’t alone in the room. Slumped in the corner, looking worse for wear was Ben.