The Mills & Boon Sparkling Christmas Collection. Kate Hardy

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       Chapter Eleven

      Eva’s world felt different. She was waking in the same bed, in the same house but instead of turning to check the time, she turned the other way to see Ben lying beside her. In the soft morning light still half asleep, Eva could almost believe it was all a dream. But the gentle fall and rise of his chest told her it was real. She could reach out and touch him if she wanted. But for now, she allowed herself a few moments to luxuriate in simply studying his sleeping form, content to watch him as memories from the previous evening flitted pleasurably through her mind.

      Last night, just for those few hours she had felt different. She had felt carefree in a way she hadn’t for years. She hadn’t been a mother, a widow, a business owner. Just herself, Eva. She had been transported to another world, a world of dancing and laughing and Ben. They had stumbled upstairs touching and teasing – Eva making Ben guess which door led to her bedroom. Then they had fallen silent, nervous to take the next step. She had felt madly self-conscious about her body, unsure she would know what to do.

      But when Ben had gently removed Eva’s dress, the look on his face told her she needn’t have worried. His eyes devoured her body and Eva had fallen into his arms, their lovemaking urgent and frantic as they discovered and explored each other. And then later Ben had made love to her again, this time slowly – the most sensual experience Eva had ever known – until finally they had fallen asleep.

      Now she stretched out and sighed softly. No Jamie, no guests. Just her and Ben and it felt wonderful. Deep down she knew this was something she hadn’t come close to before. She thought of Paul, how he had swept her away in a tide of excitement. She felt guilty for thinking it – he was the father of her child after all – but he hadn’t aroused the feelings now engulfing Eva. It scared her, excited her. It made her feel strong yet vulnerable. It made her want to reach out and grab it and yet at the same time run and hide from it.

      She knew she could get hurt so badly. She felt like something in her was awakening for the first time and she loved and hated Ben at the same time for making her feel like this. She could see now all the barriers she had built to keep herself safe and knew in one night Ben had smashed them all down.

      She studied him for a few moments, her eyes savouring his toned, lean body, which had brought her such joy last night. And then she felt the cold hand of reality begin to slide over her. Anxiety and doubt crept in as she wondered what would happen now. What had she done? Quietly she slipped out of bed, pulled a T-shirt over her head, padded through to the bathroom, and looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes held an undeniable sparkle and her skin glowed. It was still quite early but she knew Heather would be up – she was a fellow lark; the woman never slept in.

      ‘Hi, Eva. Everything all right?’ Eva smiled at the sound of her friend’s voice.

      ‘I’m a bad mother.’

      ‘Okay. And why’s that exactly?’

      ‘Ben’s in my bed!’

      Her friend only missed a single beat before responding. ‘And how does that make you a bad mother exactly?’

      ‘My son goes away for the first time ever and I bring a man home! What kind of a mother does that make me?’

      ‘Er, the human red-blooded kind?’

      ‘Well you would say that. But I feel like a terrible human at the moment.’

      ‘Eva, think about this. Ben’s a nice person isn’t he? He’s intelligent … oh yes and he’s flipping gorgeous. You’re probably just in shock this has happened. Please, Eva, just for once, enjoy the moment.’

      Eva felt her shoulders relax, allowing Heather’s words to infiltrate some part of her brain. ‘You’re right.’

      ‘You shouldn’t be talking to me. Go and be with him. I’m assuming underneath all that worry, you have a huge smile on your face?’

      Despite herself, СКАЧАТЬ