That One Night (That One Series Book 1) (8 page)

As I finish showering and step out to grab a towel, the door to my bathroom opens and a frantic looking Ben barges in, while I try to cover my bits and pieces. The fact that he has seen me naked before doesn’t mean I’m willing to be this exposed and vulnerable in front of him again—not after the way things went down.

“What the hell?” I bark at him.

“Archer, he isn’t in his crib. He is nowhere in the house.” He seems genuinely worried—actually panicked is more correct. His eyes are wide and frantically searching the room.

“Ben, chill. Dean and Alex are taking care of him so I—or we—could sleep in. They often take him on their bike rides in the mornings.”

“Shit, they scared me. You need to tell me about all the arrangements that are in effect here. I was about two minutes from calling the cops.”

Just then he realizes where he is and that I’m not fully clothed. His eyes travel from my head down to my toes and back up. The towel might be covering the most important parts but there is still a lot of skin on display—glistening wet from the shower. I feel self-conscious and look away for a moment. As much as I love my figure, it is, after all, a post baby body—with not only additional padding in the right places, but also a tummy that is not so flat anymore. But my worry is unnecessary—when I look back at Ben I can tell by the straining zipper of his jeans that he seems to appreciate the rounder, softer me. I can’t help but feel flattered and relieved.
Because apparently I
’
m a glutton for punishment.

For a second, we look each other in the eyes, and I swear, we are both a moment from pouncing on each other. But we’ve been there, done that—it did not end all that pretty.

So I decide to break the tension that is making me tingle in all the right, yet unwelcome, places.

“I would like to get dressed now. Would you mind?” I shoot him an annoyed look.

“Sure, sorry.” Mumbling, he closes the door behind himself as he leaves, but not before casting another glance at my body.

So much for a relaxing shower—not only are my emotions mixed up now, but I feel all hot and bothered. Damn him for having this kind of effect on me.

The rest of the day is spent introducing Ben to everyone and showing him around. Though Dean and Ben know each other from high school, they were two years apart and never ran in the same circles, so other than their pre-made opinions, they don’t really know much about one another, which might explain why Dean is giving him an evil glare anytime possible—I guess having had to deal with the heart-broken me didn’t leave Dean unscathed either.

After the bathroom incident, I make sure Ben and I aren’t alone, since my hormones are still raging. I can sense him stealing glances at me though, and it feels like I’m getting electrical shocks. And there is nothing I can do about it. I hate and love the effect he has on me, knowing full well that if I don’t guard my heart and body against it, it’ll be my undoing.

As the evening nears, it’s time to get Archer ready for bed.

“Want to learn how to give Archer a bath?” I cock my eyebrows at Ben, the challenge clear in my voice.

“Definitely.” And he takes off with Archer in his arms toward the bathroom. Cocky bastard.

Once Archer is sitting in the bathtub, he forgets about the existence of anyone or anything else. He loves the water that much. Splashing around like he’s possessed, he giggles and laughs. It’s tiring to give him a bath, but definitely heart-warming to see him this happy.

Ben and I are both kneeling in front of the bathtub and he’s taking every opportunity to touch me—a brush of his arm here, an accidental touch there. My skin burns and tingles wherever he’s made contact.
Why don’t I just stick my finger in the electrical socket and get this over with.
I don’t want the feelings I had for him to resurface. They didn’t really help me the last time around and I doubt they will this time. So I do what I do best in these situations and lace my voice with as much sarcasm as I can.

“Do you want to sit on my lap? If not, how about you move an inch or two.”

He shoots me one of his lopsided grins. The bastard is definitely aware that he’s getting under my skin and it’s exactly what he wants. Him and his dirty fucking tricks. I huff and turn my attention back to Archer, who’s playing with the toys he has in the tub.

By the time he’s done with his bath, half of my hair is wet and my shirt is clinging to my body. He sure likes to express himself in the water.

“Planning a wet T-shirt contest?” Ben lifts an eyebrow at me.

“You wish.”
Yeah, apparently I am out of witty comebacks. Great.

We start drying Archer off and I let Ben do most of the work. He needs to learn to be comfortable around a baby if he’s planning on sticking around. Just when he’s drying off Archer’s feet, I notice the tell-tale sign. Archer is scrunching up his nose, which he only does when he’s about to pee. I should warn Ben, but the evil bitch that resides deep inside of me makes me keep my mouth shut.

“Look, isn’t he adorable? The way he scrunches up his little nose. Is he ticklish?” Ben blows raspberries on Archer’s tummy.

“Not particularly.” I suppress the laugh that is about to erupt, but Ben has known me long enough to know something is off. As he turns to look in my direction, Archer starts to pee and manages to pee all over Ben’s shirt. I can’t hold in my laughter any longer and am laughing so hard, I’m actually doubling over. Archer is smiling too, but I guess his smile has more to do with the fact that his bladder is happier now.

Ben looks down at his shirt and then looks at me, his eyes having a devilish glint to them. But then he abruptly turns back to Archer, cleans him up and dresses him—executing all of the tasks like a pro. When Archer is dressed, he sets him down onto the bedroom floor and then he turns back to me, removing his shirt in one swift movement and dropping it to the floor. My mouth goes dry and the room suddenly gets way too small and too hot.

Stop thinking with your vagina. Brain, where are you?

“So, you thought this was funny.” He moves toward me, reminding me of a panther on the prowl.

Despite the fact that my lower parts seem to have woken up, I can’t stop myself from giggling again. What the hell is wrong with me? I don’t giggle.

“Yeah, pretty much,” I say through my laughter. “You should have seen your face.”

“Really?” A devilish smile now joins the glint in his eyes and I know I’m in trouble.

Giggling, I try to move around him to get out of the bathroom, but he grabs me around the waist and moves me against the wall. His arms on either side of my head trapping me.

“Would it still be this funny if I threw you into the bathtub?”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Oh, is that a challenge?”

By that time his body is just inches from mine, and I can feel the heat emanating from him. Suddenly, the mood has shifted from the playful banter to something more serious. We look at each other, but after a few seconds I can’t handle the proximity anymore. I can’t let him in—not again. I don’t trust him to stick around and I know I couldn’t handle him leaving again after letting him in. I can’t fall apart again.

Just as he moves his face closer, I duck under his arm and rush out of the bathroom, grabbing Archer off the floor and bouncing him up in the air, making him giggle.

“Who’s Momma’s cute little boy? You are.” I make my way to the bed, not paying any attention to Ben, but feeling him watching me.

“You might want to put on a shirt. I’ll feed him in the meantime and then you can read something to him if you want.” I decide to ignore what just happened, or didn’t happen, or nearly happened.
I’m way in over my head.

He seems to shake off whatever thought he had and gives me another one of those looks; the ones that make me feel like he can see right through me.

“I’ll be right back then.”

As soon as he’s out the door, I exhale loudly, the air rushing out of my lungs. It won’t be easy having him around if the tension stays this way.

Dean comes into the room and sits down in the armchair.

“You alright?”

“Define alright,” I laugh at him. “I’m torn between wanting to rip his throat out, or his clothes off. Neither is a reasonable option.”

“You still have feelings for him?” Dean asks, although it sounds more like a statement. He knows me too well.

“Yeah, sure. Feelings of anger, hate, dislike.”

Dean just gives me a look that tells me he knows I’m full of shit.

“I don’t know. I...I just wanted to get Thanksgiving over and done with and come back to my life. I have learned to deal with him not being here, with him just having left. And now...now I don’t know. I’m feeling too much all at once.”

“And you want to shut your emotions down like always, huh?”

“Honestly, I’d love to just climb under a rock and hide there until all of this sorts itself out. But unfortunately, that isn’t an option. I can’t let him in again. I don’t want to get hurt once more. I don’t have that strength in me.”

Just then the door opens and Ben walks in freshly showered and in a clean shirt. I hope to God he hasn’t heard our conversation, but if he has, he isn’t giving anything away.

“Ready to put the little man to bed?”

I nod my head and Dean gets up, coming over to kiss the top of my head as he’s about to leave.

Archer is done drinking and I get up from the bed, still holding him in my arms.

“You can sit down in the recliner over there,” I point to the corner. While he turns around, I hide my boob in the safety of my shirt.

“You can read or sing to him. He likes both. He really loves “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, but it gets him too giddy. It’s more of a daytime song, better not sing it now.”

“No problem,” Ben chuckles. He takes Archer and helps him get comfortable in his arms. It’s hard to believe that they’ve known each other for only three days. It seems like they belong together—and I guess they do.

Since Ben is taking care of Archer, I decide to tidy up a bit, especially the bathroom needs it. While I bend down to collect the toys out of the bathtub, Ben starts singing to Archer, and as the first line leaves his mouth, a sob escapes mine. It’s one thing hearing the song on the radio, a whole different thing to hear Bill Whiters’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” in Ben’s gruff voice. He isn’t necessarily a born singer, but there is so much emotion behind it, that I feel like it’s going to bring me to my knees. And I can’t help but wonder if he’s trying to tell me something through the lyrics. But then I reprimand myself for this foolish thought.

I splash some water on my face before walking out. The girl in the mirror is vastly different from the girl I used to be just two years ago. And at the same time, they are still very alike. I realize yet again that life can change in a moment. It’s never stagnant, but flows constantly—taking us places we might not want to go, but it’s easier to just let the tide take us along on the ride instead of fighting against it. And yet, I’m fighting against Ben coming back into my life; trying to hold onto every surface in order not to get swept away and pulled under.

Exiting the bathroom, I notice that Archer has fallen asleep in Ben’s arms. I can’t help thinking that if not for our history, or the current situation between us, this would be a hallmark moment. Suddenly, I realize it is. Even if it’s not in the traditional way, it’s a father getting to know his son and falling in love with his face, his smile, and his little-boy charm. And it’s a son finally having a dad.

Ben is focused on Archer and hasn’t noticed me yet, so I move as silently as possible over to the dresser and grab my cell phone that’s laying on top of it. Opening the camera app, I focus it on father and son bonding and snap a picture, knowing it will be something both of them will enjoy looking back at. The flash alerts Ben to my presence and his mouth lifts into a grin.

“Trying to be sneaky, huh?”

I simply smile back, not wanting to answer with some stupid, witty comeback and ruin the moment. Instead, I can feel myself sinking into a contemplative and slightly melancholic mood—unsure if I should be happy or sad, elated or depressed. There are too many things happening all at once and it’s hard to stay on top of everything.

“If you don’t mind putting him to bed, I’ll go get ready for bed myself. I’ve got classes tomorrow and work after, so I need as much sleep as I can get.”

We’ve talked earlier about him watching Archer while I’m gone during the day. Normally, Mrs. Walsh, our next-door neighbor, would watch Archer in the morning and whoever came home first, would take over. Mrs. Walsh has become part of the family really quickly and that way Archer isn’t dealing with strangers. She’s an older lady in her mid-sixties, but more often than not, she seems like she’s our age. Having outlived three husbands, she’s in no way bitter or sad, but seems to just take life one moment at a time. She’s a firecracker, and has become a reliable and beloved friend to all of us, as well as a grandma substitute for Archer. Although, I sometimes think that the main lesson he will learn from her is how to be a trouble-maker.

The first meeting with her left quite the lasting impression. It had been during the move and we nearly ran her ass over when she shot out of nowhere on her inline skates in front of the moving truck, forcing us to hit the brakes and hold our breath, hoping we hadn’t killed an old granny. Turned out, it was her second time on inline skates, and she wasn’t quite there yet when it came to controlling where she was going. Funnily enough, the scare we got was bigger than her own. Although she had seemed alright, we still decided to invite her inside and make her a cup of tea, which led to a wonderful friendship between all of us.

She helped us move in and was always bringing over home-baked stuff for me while I was pregnant, explaining that the baby needed comfort food. Though, I guess it was more the talking the two of us did, while sitting together until the wee hours of night, that she enjoyed. Her children are grown up and have moved far away—her son living in Scotland, while her daughter pretty much travels the world. We quickly became her surrogate children and with that, she became Archer’s grandma. A better grandma than my mother.

Mrs. Walsh was there for me when I needed a mother figure in my life. Since then, she has watched him countless times and is always there for all of us when we need her. At the same time, we help her out whenever she needs anything, and try to keep her as safe as possible when she decides it’s time to try something new and have fun. Basically, she’s part of our family now.

It’s good to know she’ll be there to help Ben out. I don’t want to undermine his qualities as a dad, but this is still all very new to him. He hasn’t had time to grow into the role and has never been around babies. It might be unfair, but I’d rather not take any chances. Therefore, knowing she’ll be just down the road if he needs anything, and will check up on them occasionally, gives me some peace of mind.

“Sure, I better start getting some practice,” Ben says, looking down at Archer, running a finger down the side of Archer’s face.

I smile at him, nodding my head. An awkward silence erupts and we remain immobile, staring at each other. I guess both of us have so many things to say and ask, and neither one knows where to start. So before I end up blabbering some non-sense, I nod my head at him.

“Well, I’ll go then.”

I turn around and walk into the bathroom, closing the door and leaning against it. I wait a few minutes and only exhale slowly after I hear my bedroom door click shut.