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"I need to get back to work soon." He glances at his silver wristwatch. "Do you want to meet up tonight?"

It's casual. This entire thing feels as though it's moving towards more casual. I doubt it's my imagination telling me that. I can sense it and feel it. "Are you hooking up with other women?"

His shoulders tense as his eyes scan my face. "Where did that come from?"

A simple no would have sufficed just fine, Doctor.

I scratch my finger over my ear. "I'm just curious."

He stretches his legs beneath the table, kicking my foot in the process. "Sorry."

I don’t respond because I'm suddenly aware that I've been investing countless hours in trying to mend his broken relationship with his brother. Why am I doing that when we've never discussed being exclusive? He's not offering anything beyond uncomfortable silence now, which I know is, code for 'hell, yes, I'm fucking other women.'

"I need to get back to work." I'm lying. I have the rest of the day off and my hope was that he'd steal a few minutes away to join me in his bed. "I've got a lot to do today."

His hand bolts to my wrist, pulling it firmly into his grasp. "Kayla, sit."

Apparently commands are part of the twins' mutual DNA. "Why?"

"I want to say this right." His hand slides across my wrist to cup my hand. "I don’t want to fuck it up."

I stare at our hands unable to pull my gaze to his handsome face. I don't want this to be the moment when he pulls a Parker on me and tells me it's over. We haven't really started yet and losing him now would rip me to shreds. "Fuck up what, Ben?"

"I know you just ended things with that guy in Boston weeks ago." He swallows hard before pushing a rush of air out between his lips. "I've been trying to figure out where your head is with that."

Seriously? All those random Parker related questions in bed were about this? "I've told you where it's at." I feel a driving need to reiterate the point. "I'm over him."

"Don't date anyone else then." His hand pulls mine towards him. "Don’t fuck anyone. Let me be the only one."

Chapter 14

"Ben was born exactly seven minutes after I was." He points to the clock on the wall in the restaurant. "Seven minutes."

"You're older than him?" I don't try and mask the fact that I'm not shocked by the admission. "Somehow that doesn’t surprise me at all."

"I'm more mature." He grins. "You think that's it, right?"

"No, Noah." I take a small sip of the herbal tea I ordered. "That's not it. I think it's because you're so bossy."

"I'm bossy?" He runs his finger along the rim of the paper coffee cup. "Did Alexa tell you I'm bossy?"

"Alexa?" I cock a brow. "I don't need anyone to tell me. I see it myself."

"Don't take this the wrong way, Kayla..." His eyes dart around the near empty café before they settle back on my face. "Don't let this get to your head but you're actually kind of fun to hang out with."

"You'll never admit that again, will you?" I push my hand towards him across the table. "If I tell Lex you said that, you're going to deny it."

"I will." He nods slowly. "It's our little secret."

Correction. It's one of our little secrets. The list is growing longer day-by-day. Today, while Alexa is at yoga and Ben is on duty in the ER, Noah and I are meeting in a small café in mid-town. He asked me to meet him here via text message an hour ago. I agreed without thought. Noah is my direct line to Ben's past and his future. I want to understand everything about the man I'm now officially in an exclusive relationship with.

"Has Ben ever talked to you about this?" His hand traces a path down the scar on his cheek. I don’t stare at it. I never have. When I first met Noah it was impossible to ignore it. It's long, jaded and speaks of the violence of that night.

I answer without any hesitation. "We don’t talk about you that much."

/> "Why not?"

Anyone who doesn’t know Noah Foster may find that question arrogant. That's not why he spit it out. He wants to matter to his brother. I've seen it in his eyes and hear it in his voice more and more. "We talk about other things."


Tags: Deborah Bladon Ruin Romance