"Oh no. I want to be inside of you, and I want it now. I'm sorry, sweetheart, but this time I'm on top."

Gina wasn't quite sure how he managed it, but before she knew what happened, she was flat on her back looking into the eyes of one very determined man. Ben's jaw clenched as he rolled on a condom. His mouth covered hers, stealing the air from her lungs, breathing the breath that escaped as he entered her in one long, slow thrust. Ben stilled, staring at her, searching for something, as if he wanted to see into her soul. Too close, too much. She closed her eyes, shutting him out and kissed him. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she moved beneath him.

"Gina, look at me."

Her eyes locked on his as she reminded herself this was just s.e.x. The fact that they were technically married didn't make a bit of difference.

He slid out slowly and thrust back filling her to the hilt. "G.o.d, you feel so good." His kiss stole her thoughts and filled her with feelings she couldn't name, feelings she didn't want. All she wanted was more. More of him. She sucked on his tongue, urging him on to no avail. He kept up a slow, almost leisurely pace, tormenting her, driving her up, and keeping her on the edge of madness.

"Ben, please."

"Tell me what you want."

"I want it all." Her nails bit into his shoulders, she swiveled her hips and dug her heels into his back. He grabbed the headboard above and let loose. Her o.r.g.a.s.m crashed around her as his hips pistoned. One o.r.g.a.s.m rolled into the next. She'd never experienced anything like it. It was unbelievable. "Oh G.o.d. Yes!"

Gina met him thrust for thrust, and every time, he seemed to go deeper, hitting her cervix, filling her with a combination of pleasure and pain. Her whole body spasmed, she arched her back as his control snapped. His jaw clenched, his face shined with sweat, and his muscles quivered. Ben groaned out her name and came, thrusting again and again until he collapsed on top of her.

She held him as mini-explosions shot through her. He was heavy, but a good heavy. Her body felt as if it melted into the mattress, and when he tried to move, she stopped him. "Stay for a little while."

"I'm crushing you." He rolled them both over as if she were weightless. She scooted lower, feeling him grow inside her as he tried to hold her still. "Gina, if you're ready for round two, I have to get rid of the condom."

"No, I'm just getting comfortable. I'll behave."

"Right, like I believe that one. I was born, just not yesterday."

His hands ma.s.saged her back and her a.s.s, causing sparks to shoot up her spine and her breath to catch. She looked up at him and smiled. "You keep that up, and I won't be responsible for my actions."

He eased himself out of her and left her feeling empty. "Promises, promises." He gave her a sweet kiss before he scooted out from beneath her and walked naked to the bathroom. Her eyes closed and she listened to the water running. She must have fallen asleep and awoke with a start when she felt the warmth of a wet washcloth gently wiping her off. Her eyes shot open and heat ran to her face as embarra.s.sment hit her. "What are you doing?"

"I hogged the bathroom, I thought you might like to freshen up."

"I can do it myself."

"Sure, but why should you?" He actually looked mystified.

She didn't know what to say to that, so she just took the cloth from him and ran into the bathroom, grabbing his shirt on the way. When she returned to bed clad in his jersey, he was waiting for her. Why couldn't he just fall asleep after s.e.x like every other man? There was no escape. Madre de Dios Madre de Dios, what had she gotten herself into?

"Are you coming back to bed?"

"Where else is there to go?" She really wished there was someplace. She wasn't used to having a guy stay with her.

Ben looked concerned. "You're not getting weird on me, are you?"

Gina sat down on the bed and pulled the covers over her legs. "No weirder than usual. I'm just not used to this."

Ben scooted closer, pulling her into his arms. "What?"

Gina threw her hands up. "You know, talking after s.e.x, sleeping with someone. All of this togetherness c.r.a.p. It's just not natural."

He scooted down in bed pulling her along with him. "You slept with your sister."

"Yeah, but you're definitely not my sister. I don't sleep with men."

Ben pulled her against him so they were spooning, his arm cushioning her head. "You slept with me last night."

"That's when I thought you were gay. Now I know you're not."

"And that's a problem because?"

"Because you have an erection pressing against my a.s.s and you're talking to me. I don't usually have conversations with men I have s.e.x with." She scooted back against him as his hand slid into the v-neck of her shirt, toying with her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Talking can be highly overrated." He pinched her nipple and slid his erection between her legs, teasing her.

"Exactly."

Ben awoke slowly, reached over to grab Gina-wishing he'd brought more than two condoms with him-and encountered nothing but cold sheets. He cracked his eyes open, wondering if she'd gone to the bathroom, but the door was open and the shirt he'd ripped off of her within minutes of her putting it back on was still lying on the floor. "s.h.i.t."

He got out of bed and stomped to the bathroom. The shower was still wet. She couldn't have gone far. He brushed his teeth, threw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, and went looking for his wife.

He walked bleary-eyed to the coffee pot and poured a cup.

"Your wife is in the office."

Ben looked up to find Kate standing beside Buck, a long-haul trucker who had been trying to win Kate's affection for as long as Ben could remember. "How's it going, Uncle Buck?"

Buck, a bear of a man, twirled the ends of his red mustache. "Pretty good, Ben. Though Kate's not too happy."

Ben nodded and smiled at Kate. "I take it you met Gina?"

Kate had her arms crossed looking like a bear ready to roar. "She made coffee. No one makes coffee in my kitchen but me. She and your grandfather have had their heads together all morning. They're like peas in a pod, those two. They wouldn't even let me fix them breakfast. They said they were too busy working."

Ben's hackles rose. What was Gina doing with his grandfather? He and Gina were supposed to be on their honeymoon, for G.o.d's sake. She was supposed to be in bed with her husband, not getting involved in the family business. "What the h.e.l.l are they working on?"

Kate shrugged her shoulders. "Beats me. All I know is I have better things to do than wait around for all of you. I'm making breakfast. If you're too busy to eat it, that's your problem. You can just tell that to your grandfather and your wife."

Ben held up his hands in surrender. "They'll stop what they're doing to eat whatever you serve. I'll make sure of it."

Buck finished his coffee and rinsed the cup before setting it on the drain board. "I better be off; the truck won't drive itself."

Ben nodded to Buck and left them alone to say their good-byes. He stepped inside the office, and sure enough, Gina sat at the desk wearing another ridiculous cowboy outfit. This time it was painted-on jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt that fit her like a second skin. She had cat's-eye, rhinestone gla.s.ses perched on her cute little nose and was running her long, red fingernail down the column of a spreadsheet.

"Here's your problem, Joe. The receivables are off. See?" She moved closer to his grandfather and highlighted the line.

Ben cleared his throat and the two of them flew apart.

"Ben, hi. I was just helping your grandfather with one of his underperforming companies." Gina rose and started talking with her hands, which meant she was uncomfortable. Well good. She should be.

Ben caught the t.i.tle of the spreadsheet. Oh, yeah. He'd looked the very same spreadsheet over two weeks ago and told his grandfather the exact same thing. What was the old man up to? "I see."

Gina wrapped her arms around his waist so he bent down for a kiss.

"I was up early and you were sleeping so soundly, I didn't want to wake you. I got up because I needed coffee. I think I might have made a bad impression on Kate, though. I take it she doesn't like anyone in her kitchen."

"She'll get over it. She's making breakfast. If you want to get out of the doghouse, you'd better eat. Kate's a little sensitive about that." He looked at his grandfather. "Gramps, you know better than to p.i.s.s Kate off first thing in the morning."

"Well, s.h.i.t, son, what's the point of eating? That woman won't feed me anything but tree bark anyway."

"At least someone is listening to your doctors."

Gramps took off his gla.s.ses and smiled. "Gina's got one h.e.l.l of a business head on her shoulders. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hire her?"

"Because she has a job she loves in New York and she's not here to work. We're on our honeymoon, remember?"

Gina stiffened in his arms. "Joe just asked me to look over a few things. I'm not working. I'm just not used to sitting around doing nothing."

"If you were in bed with me when I woke up, you'd have your hands full, believe me."

Gina rolled her eyes.

"Breakfast is ready," Kate yelled down the hallway. "Come and get it before it goes cold."

Ben turned toward the door. "We're on our way." He took Gina's hand. "Come on. I hope you're hungry."

Kate had gone all out on a traditional Irish breakfast. There were two plates set for Gina and Ben and a bowl of bran flakes, a gla.s.s of tomato juice, and a pill sitting at the head of the table just waiting for Gramps. No wonder he wasn't looking forward to eating.

Gramps sat, pushed the bran flakes away, and snarled. "Give me a d.a.m.n plate, Kate. I can't eat this c.r.a.p."

Kate stood beside him and huffed. "You'll eat what I serve you and you're lucky to get it."

Gramps leaned over and whispered something in Gina's ear that had her laughing as she served herself a plate full of bacon, sausage, potatoes, and eggs and moved her plate closer to Gramps. Every time Kate's back was turned, Gramps would steal a bite of Gina's food, leaving Ben feeling like the odd man out. He told himself he was being ridiculous, but s.h.i.t, it rankled him to see Gina getting along better with his grandfather than she did with him.

Gramps stuffed a piece of Gina's sausage in his mouth and swallowed it before Kate turned around. The old guy was lucky he didn't choke.

"Ben, what are your plans? Are you gonna take Gina up to the ranch?"

"I have to call Delbert to make sure the bridge is pa.s.sable, but yeah, I'd hoped to. We need to do some shopping before we go, though. Gina didn't come prepared to go up to the mountains."

Gina took a sip of her coffee and set her cup down. "I packed exactly what you told me to-jeans, boots, shirts I can layer. I even brought a jacket."

Ben sat back in his chair and tried not to laugh at her. "Sweetheart, you brought boots with four-inch heels. You won't last an hour wearing those in the mountains. No, you need a whole new wardrobe."

Gina's brows drew together and she squinched up her nose. "Don't expect me to wear ugly clothes."

Gramps stole a piece of bacon off her plate and pointed it at her. "s.h.i.t, Gina. You could wear a d.a.m.n potato sack and make it look like it just came off the rack at Saks Fifth Avenue."

Kate stepped over to him, took the bacon right out of his hand, and pushed the bran cereal in front of him.

"Kate, would you let me be? Can't a man steal a little bit of bacon from his granddaughter?"

"Not if you're gonna use it as a pointer. You're gonna have to be quicker than that. You're getting slow in your old age."

Gramps threw his spoon on the table. "Tell me about it. You ain't gettin' any younger either, Kate."

She smacked his shoulder right before she took a bite of the bacon and walked toward the stove.

"Smart-aleck woman."

"Ornery old goat."

Ben took Gina's hand. "You about done there?" He really hoped she was because all he could think about was kissing her everywhere.

She pushed her plate closer to Gramps, nodded, and wiped her mouth on her napkin, taking off all of her lipstick.

Ben pulled her out of her chair. "You look good like that."

"Like what?"

"You wiped off your lipstick." He stole a kiss. "You don't need it."

"You need gla.s.ses, cowboy."

Ben picked up their breakfast dishes, leaving Gina's for his grandfather, and took them to the sink. "No, but we do need to clean our room before Kate sees it. She'll start yelling about how she's not a maid." He rinsed them and put them in the dishwasher.

Kate went back to the table, gave Gramps a cup of coffee-probably decaf knowing Kate-and took Gina's plate away from him. "At least one man in the family has a few brain cells left. Of course, it's because I pounded it into him. You need to tell Gina about the time you had to clean the entire house for a month after that party you threw while your grandfather was out of the country."

Ben shushed her. "Kate, I thought we had a deal."

"Ha, shows how much you know. I called him the very next morning and told him all about it."

Gramps threw his napkin down on the table. "I'm old, but I'm not deaf. Don't be talkin' about me like I'm not here. And h.e.l.l, I was proud of the boy. It was about time he loosened up and had a little fun. You were what, fifteen?"

"Sixteen. I hated having to clean the house, but it kind of grew on me."

Kate winked at Gina. "You can thank me later. I made sure all my boys pulled their weight around the house. They're all great cooks, they clean, and Ben even seems to enjoy it."

Gina laughed and leaned on the counter beside him. "That's a load off my mind. I was wondering how I was going to clean a five-story brownstone. Now you've given me ideas. I'm sure Ben's going to look great wearing an ap.r.o.n."

If someone was gonna' dress up, it certainly wouldn't be him. But he'd have no problem with Gina putting on some of that lingerie he'd seen peeking out of her suitcase and drawers. Ben grabbed Gina's hand and pulled her from the kitchen, hurrying her to the bedroom. Kate's and Gramps' laughter followed them down the hall. He pulled Gina into the room, kicked the door shut, and backed her up against it before he slid his mouth over hers, lifting her off her feet.

Chapter 9.