Hm. It was spectacular and she was excited.

Her design skills were tingling.

Getting out of the car, she grabbed her bag from the back and then locked up before heading up the walkway. The house was gorgeous, with big windows and incredible stonework. The door was massive, and Lucy had always loved big doors. She wanted one on her house when she finally was able to buy. Reaching up, she used the old-fashioned doorknocker she was sure was just for looks. But she had to. It was too awesome not to use.

The door opened and the homeowner said, "Yes! You used the doorknocker. Awesome, right?"

But she missed all that.

Because standing in front of her was the man who had been starring in all her dirty daydreams.

Benji.

If Benji thought Lucy was hot in that red dress the night before, nothing could prepare him for the forest-green dress she wore as she stood in front of him on his porch. It hugged every single inch of her, stopping right at her calves. It clung to her breasts something insane, and he didn't even need a peek of them for his mouth to water. Nope. She was completely covered and still completely lethal. Her hair was cascading down her shoulders, a braid along the crown of her head tucked behind her ear. Her eyes were wide with surprise, and he assumed she hadn't known it would be him she was designing for.

He liked the O her mouth made, and he especially like the red lips she had.

"Benji?" she finally gasped and he grinned.

"The one and only. Wanna come in?"

"This is your house?"

He laughed. "Yup. Nice, right?"

"Uh, yeah," she said, her eyes still locked with his. "You called for me to design your house?"

"Yeah, Jayden told me I had to." That made her snap her mouth shut, her eyes narrowing a bit, and he thought he may have offended her. "I looked you up first and checked out their house and then some of the other guys, and I was impressed. I need someone because-don't judge me, okay?-my house is not adultish at all."

He was rambling, and his hands were shaking. Probably because she was standing on his porch. Looking at him. She was on his turf, and he should have the advantage. But he didn't feel as though he did. "Aren't you supposed to come in?"

She didn't move, her eyes looking away as she pulled in a breath. "Are you sure?"

He looked at her, confused. "Um, well, yeah. It's chilly out and I think your legs could get cold, so maybe you should come in. Just so you don't get hypothermia and die."

Her lips quirked into a grin as she looked up at him. "Was this a ploy to get me to go out with you?"

"I mean, that's actually a wonderful idea. And if I had that kind of game, I might have set up a dinner for you. But sadly, I didn't, and I really do need someone to decorate my house," he said with a grin and she smiled back. "So will you come in?"

"Okay," she said simply as she walked past him, her perfume making him dizzy. Jesus, what was that scent and could he bathe in it? "I really don't think you can un-adult this house. I mean, it's gorgeous."

"Right?" he said, shutting the door behind her. "I thought so too, but then I moved in, and, yeah..."

As she walked into the living room where a gamer chair and a mini-table for his drinks sat, he looked at her as her eyes widened. "I take back my previous statement. This is a bachelor pad. My brothers would kill for a TV like that."

Benji nodded as he closed the distance between him and his TV. "Most guys do. It's my pride and joy," he said, gently caressing his eighty-inch, LG baby.

"Wow," she said, looking around. "This place is bare."

"Yeah. My stuff's all still in boxes in the shed, but before I unpack any of it, I need help."

"I'd say so," she said, setting down her bag and getting her notepad.

"How'd Angie's recital go this morning?"

She looked up and smiled. "The girl is as graceful as a herd of buffalo."

He laughed. "Yeah, she skates hard. I couldn't see her as a dancer."

"Exactly," she said, exhaling a breath. "She wants to quit, which is gonna be hell when I tell her dad."

That made him pause. He wanted to offer to be there. He also wanted to offer to smash the dude's face in, but it wasn't his place, so he just nodded. Unsure what to say next.

Thankfully, she beat him to it. "Well, show me the rest of the house."

So he did. They walked through the kitchen, and she made little sounds of pleasure that shot straight to his groin. "This kitchen is immaculate," she gasped, running her fingers first along the marble countertops and then the white cabinets. "It's naked in here."

It would be nice if she were naked in there, but he couldn't say that. "Yeah, I don't know what to put in here."

"Oh, wow, it has a reading nook," she said, going into the little den that had a fireplace. "You could sit here and read while the fire burned."

"Good idea."

She looked up at him. "You read?"

"Yeah, I do," he admitted and she smiled. "I even have geeky reading glasses."

Her lips parted a bit and she looked dazed, but then she looked away quickly, taking a deep breath. "Onward, Paxton."

He took her upstairs, and as they walked around, he decided he loved having her in his house. It was easy to say she loved design, and while they walked from room to room, she was drawing and taking pictures. Her eyes widened when she saw something she liked. And when her brows touched, a little wrinkle appeared between them. It was sexy as shit.

Being in his bedroom with her was probably the hardest thing he had ever done. She walked around his bed three times, yes, he counted. And each time, he wanted to tackle her into it and kiss her until they both were breathless. When she bent down to measure something, all he could do was stand there, staring at her ass like a sixteen-year-old checking out his hot teacher. She was just so gorgeous.

"Do you have any ideas for what you want in here?" she asked, standing up and looking back at him. He cleared his throat, covering his groin with his hands to hide his massive hard-on. This girl was going to be the death of him.

"Nope, no clue. I don't know what looks good. I just want to seem like an adult, you know? I don't want a bachelor pad. I want a home."

She nodded slowly. "So I can get rid of the gamer chair?"

He scoffed. "Whoa, now, let's not get ahead of ourselves."

Grinning, she wrote something down and then shrugged. "Okay, isn't there one more room?"

He nodded and headed for the last room. He saved it for last because he wasn't sure how she would react to it. If she thought it was a bachelor pad before, she wasn't ready for what he was about to show her. Opening the door, he looked back at her as she entered, her eyes bigger than quarters. "I kind of want, like, a way to display them. I can't decide between cases or shelves. I don't know. What do you think?"

But she was speechless, her eyes wide as she took in all his action figures, Lego sets, and Star Wars collectibles. Like his prized lightsaber that he had gotten signed by Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars movies.

"I think you have more toys than Angie does," she said, cutting him a look.

"Collectibles."

She pressed her lips together. "So you want me to design a room for your collectibles," she said, saying the last word very slowly. "I mean...wow."

He held her gaze, pretty sure she was teasing him. "Yeah, don't laugh at me!"

But she did. "I've never seen so many toy-collectibles," she said, correcting herself, and he shrugged.

"Hey, you know what they say about a man who collects," he said with an exaggerated wink.

"Yeah, he's a nerd."

"Ha. No, he's patient. It takes time to collect all this."

She didn't look convinced as she walked around the room. The heels of her black pumps clicked against the hardwood. Which, of course, made his mouth water. Those calves...man. "I've never done a collectible room," she said, more to herself. "Because usually adults don't have them."

"Because they aren't awesome," he said simply and she smiled.

"I didn't peg you for a nerdy kind of guy."

He looked over at her. "Well, if you would have gone to dinner with me, I would have told you."

Her eyes darkened as she nodded slowly. "I guess so."

He watched as she looked around, her eyes scrutinizing a lot of what he had. But then he thought maybe she was a closet nerd because she got excited when she looked at all his Star Wars figures. When she paused in the middle of the room, only inches from him, to mark something on her notepad, he rocked back on his heels, tucking his hands in his pockets just so he wouldn't touch her.

He wanted to brush her hair off her shoulder. Just to press his lips to her neck. He knew it would be soft. That she would smell like heaven.

Man, this was a bad idea.

He should have hired someone else, because having Lucy Sinclair in his house, looking as fucking sexy as she was, was going to make him combust.

"So what do you think?" he asked roughly, sucking in a breath.

"I think I can do some pretty awesome stuff in here, along with the rest of the house, but-" She paused, looking up at him. "It isn't going to be an overnight thing. I mean, I have a blank canvas and you have no clue what you want, so it's gonna take time to get it right, you know?"

Time. He had that. As long as he was spending it with her. "Sounds good to me. I'm not going anywhere. Well, I mean, I do have games, but we have email."

She nodded. "Okay, so let's head downstairs and-"

Her phone rang and her eyes widened. "Crap, sorry. I usually have it on silent, but when Angie is gone... And then there was this weird smell in my apartment... Hold on," she said quickly, answering her phone. Benji heard a man on the other end, and for a second he thought it was Rick, but then she shook her head. "You're kidding me. What?" she said, turning so her back was to Benji. "When can I go back? Tuesday at the latest! Can I come get some things? Jesus. Okay. No, I understand. No, I do, and I appreciate you working to get it all fixed. It's just an inconvenient- No, thank you. All right, keep me posted. Thanks."

Disconnecting the call, she let her arms fall to her sides, her notebook and phone hanging in her hands. She didn't say anything, just breathed in deeply, letting out her breaths in a whoosh.

"Lucy? Everything okay?"

She only shook her head, and he walked around her to look at her face. She was holding in her tears, her face flushed red as she sucked in another breath and let it out. "I swear, if I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have any."

"Is everything okay?"

She closed her eyes. "Can you, like, turn around or something? I need a moment, and I really don't want you to see me lose my fucking shit right now."

Panic was in her voice, which made him panic a bit. "Can I do something?"

She shook her head and her voice broke as she met his gaze. "I don't even know what you could do."

Holding her watery gaze, he knew what he could do.

He didn't even think, really, he just acted. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her to him, and it was like a fire had been set at his toes. Nothing but heat exploded between them as their bodies lined up, his arms holding her. She tensed, like he expected, as her nose pressed into his chest. But he just squeezed her tightly, resting his head on hers.

Sure of himself, he said roughly, "I think you need a hug."

She didn't move at first. She only stood there and he squeezed her, loving the feel of her in his arms. He had wanted this from the moment he saw her. When she dropped her phone and notebook, wrapping her arms around his waist, a grin curved Benji's lips as she slowly relaxed in his embrace. She smelled so good, felt like pure bliss in his arms, and he wanted to nuzzle his nose in her hair but wasn't sure how that would go. He was surprised he was able to hug her, but it was obvious she needed it.

When she let out a long breath, her heart pounding against his chest, he held his own breath, fully expecting her to pull away.

But she didn't.

Instead, she wrapped her arms tighter around him, nuzzling her nose into his chest and whispered, "Yeah, I think I do."

Oh, why did she hug him?

Why in the world did she let that happen?

Because, now...

Now, she didn't want to let go.

Every part of her body that touched his was seriously on fire. She had wanted this since the moment he asked her out. To touch him. To feel him against her. Even in her wildest dreams, nothing could touch the reality of him.

Benji.

He smelled like heaven. All rugged and manly, with a side of spice and sex. Mmm, he smelled fantastic, and Lord, he hugged like a dream. Like he was meant to hug and only hug. Nothing else. She'd seen him play hockey and he was great, but she was pretty sure the guy hugged better than he played. She had never been held so tightly, so protectively.

And she just felt safe.

Perfectly safe.

She didn't want him to stop, which was bad. She wasn't supposed to be this close to him. No, because deep inside her, the fear that something could come from this was screaming loud and clear. Maybe she was jumping the gun, but if he even made the simplest of moves on her, she was pretty sure she'd be naked in two seconds flat. Her whole body was aware of him. The way he breathed, so deep, so strong. The way his lips felt against her head, it was sweet, almost like she was a child who needed support and reassurance that everything was going to be okay.

And she needed that more than he'd ever realize.

God, how she needed this man's arms around her. Badly. After the call from the landlord that confirmed the odor she smelled was actually standing water behind the fridge, which led to the discovery of a burst water pipe and then all hell breaking loose, Lucy had found herself homeless. They weren't even sure if she could work in the building on Monday. Which meant she would be going to her mom's, and if she saw River's ass, she was going to lose it. She just couldn't catch a break. One thing after another, and it was really starting to weigh on her heart. And ugh, her mom had just picked out her wedding dress, which meant they were probably doing nasty things, and yeah, she didn't want to be the third wheel to that lovefest.

No, she wanted to stay right here.

In Benji's arms.

No matter how bad that was. No matter how much she knew she needed to let go and move away, she held him. Like a life preserver in rough waters. Because that's what her life was. Freakish, fucking monstrous waves of shit that kept hitting her right in the face. She almost started to cry, but then his arms held her tighter, almost like he knew. Knew she was about to lose her fucking shit.