Never.

Whoa.

Panting, he held her like that for a long time as she drew in deep breaths. Kissing her neck, her jaw, and then the side of her mouth, he opened his eyes to find her smiling at him.

"Faster, huh?"

He nodded. "Yeah, faster."

Wrapping her arms around his neck tighter, she kissed him again, her lips lingering against his as they both pulled in air. Laying them down slowly, he pulled out of her and moved his thumb slowly along her face.

"I think we should do this every time I come home late," he suggested and she giggled, the most heavenly sound, as she pressed her chest to his, her heart still beating out of control.

"I bet you do," she said, sleepily. "God, you wear me out."

"Glad I'm not the only one," he said, exhaling a long breath. "Round two will commence in a jiffy."

She bubbled with laughter. "A jiffy?"

"Yeah, shh. Rest your eyes, but do not go to sleep," he demanded, setting her with a look. "We both remember what happened last time," he teased and she smacked his arm, a sheepish grin on her face.

"I'm not going to leave yet. But I do need to go before Angie wakes up."

"Yeah, of course."

He moved his hand along her back and then down the curve of her ass. She shook with a shiver before looking up at him. Gliding her fingers along his jaw and the coarse hair, she whispered, "I like being with you, Benji."

Turning his head to her, he smiled. "Like? Shit, sweetheart. I love being with you. Highlight of my day-hell, my year."

Her eyes widened a little bit and then her sweet lips curved as she nuzzled against him. "Well, then."

"Just saying."

"So I guess you like me."

"Like? Yeah, I guess." She shook against him with a giggle. "Do you like me?"

"Nerd. Yes. Or I wouldn't be here."

"Just making sure," he said simply as her nose moved along his shoulder. "You can be hard to read through all the sass and excuse after excuse."

"I'm gonna stab you."

"And threats. Lots of threats."

She giggled. "If it's so bad..."

"Please, you're a teddy bear," he scoffed. "A prickly one, but a teddy bear."

"You're insane."

"I know."

She didn't say anything for a moment and then she looked up at him, digging her chin into his shoulder. "You told Jayden about us?"

He smiled in the hopes it would defuse some of her anger. "I wanted to make sure it was okay for me to proceed with you."

She eyed him. "And if he would have said no?"

"I would have lost a really good friend," he said automatically. "'Cause I'm not ending this with you. Whatever this is."

Her lips quirked as she looked at his neck, drawing in a breath through her nose. "You told the cop I'm your girlfriend."

"And you said I was your friend," he reminded her and she looked up at him.

"I don't know if I'm ready to admit you're my boyfriend."

He'd figured that, so he shrugged. "Labels are overrated, anyway-"

"But I want to try," she admitted and his face broke into a grin. "It's insanely early and it's probably dumb. But I agree, we aren't fuck buddies. You mean more than that, but we really haven't dug into who we are. And it worries me that you might not want to be my boyfriend when you see all of me."

He eyed her. "I mean, the same could go for me, babe. So, we can jump in or we can keep skirting the edges."

She looked away, chewing her lip. "What do you want to do?" she asked then and he reached for her, tipping her face up to his.

"I want to be with you. Everything else will fall into place."

Her eyes lit up as she leaned into his hand. "That sounds like a plan."

"I thought so," he said with a nod. He felt good about where they were. He wanted more, but he understood she had to be comfortable too. He didn't want to rush them, he didn't want to burn them out, he wanted this to last.

Kissing her forehead, he nuzzled against her as she whispered, "If I close my eyes, I'll fall asleep."

He nodded, his lips dragging against her forehead. "Well, then, we need something else to do."

"The sex?"

He scoffed. "Not yet."

She looked up at him just as he looked down at her, and they both smiled. "Bath?"

Her eyes lit up. "Bath!"

Of course, Benji's gorgeous house would have an even more gorgeous bathroom. Everything was very modern, two vanities that were probably the size of her whole bathroom back at her old apartment. It was crazy and amazing, and she never wanted to leave. The shower was completely glass, with three different showerheads and even a place for someone to sit. It was really nice. But that wasn't the best part. No, it was the huge garden tub that would probably fit the whole Assassins team in it. All this for one man-it was such a depressing thought.

"Why did you buy this big ol' house for just you?" she asked as she lowered deeper into the hot water, the spa going, the jets hitting her in the ribs. It felt so good. Even with all the room in the tub, she sat between Benji's legs, her back to his chest as his hands slid up and down her thighs.

"Well, not only did I love the way it looked, but I also wanted a big house so I could fill it with a family one day."

She smiled. "I'm pretty sure there aren't many men like you," she said, cuddling closer into him. A bath had been a good idea and she wished she didn't have to leave, but she only had three more hours until she had to head home. She had even set her alarm just to make sure.

"We are a rare breed," he teased against her ear and she giggled, squirming against his lips. "Women need to pay attention to the dorky, geeky guys."

"Guess so, but I wouldn't put you in that category."

"No?"

"No, you're too hot."

He smiled. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah, after I decided you weren't a child molester, I thought you were hot."

He paused, a little disbelief in his voice as he asked, "You thought I was a child molester?"

"Hey, I was mad. All men were either pedophiles or assholes."

"Man, damn that Jayden," he muttered, kissing her jaw. "But, hey, look at you now. I think you knew all along I was okay."

"Yeah, okay, I guess," she teased, and when his fingers bit into her thighs as he nibbled on her neck, it caused her to giggle. "I was a bitch. I'm sorry."

"Another apology. Wow."

"Shh, take it and run," she said and he kissed her hard on the cheek.

Holding her close, he kissed her neck and then her jaw once more. "I don't want you to leave."

"Me either," she whispered. "This is nice, and this kind of stuff doesn't really happen for me."

"Because you don't let it and no one ever wants to try to fight you for you."

Her lips tilted. "So you wanted to fight me for me?"

"Um, yeah, and I still will," he declared, his arms coming around her belly, hugging her from behind. "As long as you want me to."

"No one fights for me. I do the fighting."

He smiled against her cheek. "Well, how about you fight for what you need to fight for, and I'll fight for you."

"I don't understand."

"I don't either, I just want to be there for you," he said honestly and she smiled, her body trembling with happiness.

"Sounds good to me."

"Good," he decided, kissing her once more, his hands moving along her stomach. Silently, they relaxed, the water so warm and soothing against her skin. Her eyes fell shut as she cuddled against Benji's thick, gorgeous body. He was covered in bruises, but it wasn't a surprise to her. He was a hockey player, a defenseman who blocked a lot of shots. They were kind of sexy. "I have a question."

Opening her eyes, she said, "Okay?"

"There is a tattoo on the back of your neck. Explain."

She smiled as he moved her hair off her neck, running his fingers along the ink. "It's for my family," she said softly, moving her hands up his thighs. "We all have Sinclair written somewhere on us, I added the peonies to mine along with Angie's name."

"It's beautiful."

"Thanks," she said and then she sucked in a deep breath.

She needed to ask about his tattoo, but before she could, he said, "Another question."

"Inquisitive today," she teased and he chuckled against her ear.

"Yeah, so River Moore, Baylor's dad, is not your real dad. But he's marrying your mom, right?"

Lucy nodded. "Aw, you listen when I bitch."

"You do it a lot, so yeah," he teased and she elbowed him in the gut, not hard but he faked hurt anyway. "Meanie." He didn't mean it as he chuckled against her cheek. "Anyway, before you beat me up, where is your real dad? Do you know him?"

She paused and leaned her head into his. "Yeah, my mom and dad got divorced about three years ago, give or take."

"Oh, you never speak of him."

"'Cause I hate him," she said simply. "He broke our happy home. My family is so close, all of us. I mean, Jude shits glitter. Everyone knows in seconds, we're that close."

He laughed. "Yeah, I can tell."

"Yeah, well, even though my dad was kind of tough on us, he was our dad and we loved him. But come to find out, he had another life with another woman. Broke my mom's heart, broke all our hearts. Over the years, he's just kept on being shitty. Like, he's never apologized to any of us, and he just keeps causing issues."

"Wow. That's sad."

"Oh, you have no clue. He almost physically fought my three brothers. He stalled on the divorce and cut my mom off financially when she was stay-at-home mom, so she had to go back to work. He refused to let the boys get access to their trust funds to help our mom. Then he tried to buy Jayden back, but Jayden hates him the most, so there was no help there. But Jace, he just wants to be loved, you know? He wants his whole family together, and my dad tried to buy him to keep him from all of us because Jace was in a bind with his wife and they were pregnant. It was a mess." She inhaled deeply. "Wow, I really went off there. Sorry. Gosh."

What in the hell? She never did that. Never talked about her dad.

All of a sudden, she had diarrhea of the mouth.

This guy... Man...

"No, I want to know. I'm sorry that happened, baby. That blows."

"Yeah, he's a dick, which is why I don't talk about him. It just sucks 'cause Angie loves him so much, and he's always been good to her. But I can't do it. Sometimes I feel like such a piece of shit for not allowing him time with her, but I'm still so mad at him."

"Has he tried to see her?"

"Once or twice, but I can't, and I know that makes me a shitty person."

But Benji shook his head. "You know what's best for your daughter. You're her mother, Lucy. You have to trust your gut."

"Yeah, exactly," she said, turning to look at him. "Like, what if he tries to buy her off? She's young and impressionable, and fucking Rick already does enough of that. So, no, I can't do it."