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Not long after our talk, he left, wanting to get back to Hope. I wish he could’ve stayed, but I don’t know if we’re there yet. Maeve walks into the examination room, her riotous auburn curls tied back but still trying to escape the confines of the clip she has holding it in.

“What’s up?”

I wipe down the table before the next client.

“What’s going on with you and Benny? I know you had a date. Everyone’s talking about it and something about a hot kiss.”

She grins cheekily, trying to push my buttons.

“You should know better than to listen to gossip or try to get the tea so you can tell your little coven of gossipers.”

I match her smile as her cheeks go a little pink. She has made good friends with Stacey and Melanie, and she hangs out with a few other women, but the main friends are the two I went to school with. “But FYI, it was a lovely meal at the bistro. That’s all you’re getting.”

“You’re a meanie.”

She pokes her tongue out at me like a toddler.

“Stop being a pain in my arse and bring in the next patient.”

Halfway through the afternoon, my phone vibrates in my pocket. When I check it, it’s a missed call from an Edinburgh code, but the caller didn’t leave a voicemail or text. Curiosity has me calling the number back. It’s a hospital switchboard, but I have no clue why they would call me, so I put it down to a wrong digit being pressed.

Tonight it’s the late-night opening, with the last appointment at seven thirty: a quick check-over and a vaccination booster for a couple of cats. Then we’re done. Ben called to see if I wanted to go to his place, but with it being so late, all I want is a hot shower and something loaded with carbs. As I lock up, my phone buzzes again. This time it’s Ben, or Benny as I’m now beginning to call him, thanks to everyone else’s usage.

Benny: Open the door.

I walk to the front door and pull it open. He stands on the steps with Hope by his side and a huge pizza box in his hands. “I had a feeling you might not be in the mood to cook tonight.”

He nods to the box.

“You’re a mind reader. Your place or mine?”

Hopefully, he says mine because I want a shower. “Yours. I’m sure you want to get out of your scrubs.”

He really is a mind reader. Or he still knows me so well.

“Did you walk?”

His car isn’t parked in the practice’s car park.

“Yes, I thought we may have a beer, so I left the car at home.”

All I need to do is switch off the lights and set the alarm as I walk out the door. He stands just outside the entrance. Isla and Hope are wagging their tails at each other. The young dog is getting better but not ready to start the zoomies, so I call Isla back to me.

We get into my house, and Benny puts the pizza box on the counter in the kitchen.

“Is that going to stay warm enough if I go and have a shower?” I ask.

“It hasn’t been cooked yet. Can I use your oven?”

Intrigued, I lift the lid. Inside is what looks like a gourmet pizza. “Did you make this? Is there no end to your talents?”

“What can I say? You’ll have to see what else I’m good at.”

His voice deepens seductively, as seductive as the heat in his eyes. His attitude is becoming much bolder. It’s almost back to the sexy man I knew years ago.

“I’d like that.”

I lean into him and press a kiss to his surprised lips, but he catches up fast and kisses me back. The quick kiss intensifies, and soon we’re in a heated embrace, licking, tasting, and delving into each other’s mouths. As he moves his hands down and clutches my arse, I pull back. I do need a shower. The image of him joining me, his strong hands soapy as he runs them over my body, floods my mind. It’s too soon for that, but hopefully, it’s not too far away. “Go ahead with the oven. I won’t be long.”

I head to the stairs but feel his eyes on me. When I turn, he blushes and casts his eyes down. “Were you staring at my arse?”

“Maybe.”

He laughs. “It’s a great arse.”

“If you play your cards right, you’ll get to touch it again.”

As I turn back and walk away, I put a lot more swagger in my step.

I love hearing him chuckle almost as much as I love seeing him in my kitchen.

As I strip out of my clothes, I hear him talking to the dogs, but it’s too quiet for me to determine what he’s saying.

The hot water pounds down on my head as I soap myself, my thoughts drifting back to Ben and the evening ahead.

I’m planning on a lot more kissing and touching.

My cock twitches at the idea, throbbing and thickening.

I imagine unzipping his jeans, exposing his dick for me to see after all these years.

Without thinking, I stroke my own.

In my head, it’s his hands on me, gripping me tightly as I thrust into his fist.

It takes an embarrassingly short amount of time to come, and I only just manage not to cry out his name.

After getting my heart rate back to its normal rhythm, I switch off the shower and grab a towel.

I love having the large bedroom with the wet room sectioned off by an almost ceiling-height L-shaped wall.

Seeing as it’s only me here, the need for privacy isn’t necessary.

Or the need for covering myself as I walk around the partition to the bedroom.

Only this time, Ben is standing in the doorway of the room.

“Shit!”

I pull the towel from around my shoulders and wrap it quickly around my hips to cover my dick.

He holds his hands over his eyes. “Sorry, sorry, sorry. I didn’t expect you to only have one room up here. I just came to ask if you wanted some wine.”

“Ben, you can open your eyes. I’m decent. Plus, you’ve seen it all before.”

I gesture at my tattooed torso. “Well, most of it. The art and metalwork are new.”

I won’t mention the Prince Albert through the end of my cock or the guiche that’s sitting happily under my sac yet. He’ll find those himself.

Ben lowers his hands, shock written all over his face.

Then it changes, morphing into curiosity and intrigue.

He lets his eyes roam over my multicoloured chest, the phoenix coming out of the fire over my ribcage, sternum, and pecs.

The reason behind it is obvious and personal.

I wear it with pride. The longer he stares, the more interested my dick becomes and swells beneath the short towel.

It takes him a while to notice, but then he looks down. “Oh!”

Red splotches appear on his neck and cheeks.

“My dick seems to like you staring at me.”

I smirk. “Has the pizza gone in the oven yet?”

He shakes his head, seemingly unable to find any words. I take that as a good sign and drop the towel. His eyes bug out of his face. “What the fuck? Jesus, Jethro, that must’ve hurt like hell.”

“It gives an incredible amount of pleasure, apparently.”

I wink. “Wanna know what it feels like?”

“More than you would believe.”

His answer astonishes me and thrills me at the same time, and I take a few steps closer.

“Ben, baby, I’m all yours.”

I lean in and run my nose up his neck to his ear. “Touch me.”