Proposal in Room 309 Read Free Page B

either…
    She felt Ben sit on the side of the bed, felt him pull a strand of hair off her cheek. She rolled over to look at him and her breath caught at the emotion flickering in his eyes…was that trepidation? Anxiety? What on earth…
    ‘Are you ok?’ she asked, sitting up.
    One big muscled shoulder lifted and fell. ‘Sure, why wouldn’t I be?’
    Joely bit the inside of her lip, searching his eyes. Yep, it was still there. ‘You’re worried about something.’
    Ben held her look and she sighed when she saw the shutter close in his eyes. She hated when he did that, hid his emotions from her. ‘I’ve just had amazing sex with the woman I adore and we’re about to have dinner in a world-class restaurant. Nothing is wrong.’
    Uh…yeah, that wasn’t the truth. And she couldn’t believe how much it hurt to know that he’d evaded her question. It wasn’t what he did, they did…they were always unfailingly honest with each other.
    ‘I’m going to shower. Or do you want to go first?’
    God…now he was being polite? What was going on with him? Ben - her Ben - was never polite. He was straightforward and bold… Joely felt a ball of cold anxiety in the pit of her stomach as he walked back towards the bathroom.
    Was this their last hurrah, was he thinking of calling it quits? Was this fancy hotel room and reservations at the restaurant a way to pave his way to a kiss off? The last couple of months had been hectic with them both working long hours but everything was fine with them….wasn’t it? Would she be even able to tell? She came from a home where break ups came out of the blue and, because she was too busy studying; she’d hadn’t really had a proper, adult relationship before Ben. She wasn’t clever when it came to people and emotions…
    Joely bit her lip and felt frustration with herself. You’re looking for ghosts where there aren’t any, she told herself. You’re having a major over-reaction here, blowing everything out of proportion. Get a grip, you idiot.
    She would, Joely assured herself, as soon as she managed to dissolve the ball of anxiety lodged deep in her duodenum.
    ***
    Standing at the vanity, in front of the massive mirror in the bathroom Joely pulled her long hair into a twist and anchored it with a couple of pins she held in her mouth. Standing in her black strapless bra and panties, she saw Ben lean one shoulder into the frame of bathroom door, his black tie hanging against his white dress shirt.
    ‘I can’t believe that we have reservations for the restaurant here,’ Joely said, swiping blush across her cheeks.
    ‘Food and sex, two of your favourite things,’ Ben replied. He folded his arms and crossed one ankle over the other. ‘Are you happy, Jo?’
    Surprised at the out of the blue question, Joely jammed her mascara wand into her eye. ‘Ow, dammit, ow…hell.’
    She slapped the palm of her hand over her eye and cursed, knowing that she’d smeared the eye shadow she’d carefully applied to get those smoky eyes that were all the rage at the moment.
    ‘Dammit, Ben…you have to give me some warning if you’re going to ask a question like that.’ Joely grabbed a cotton wool pad - thank you Chatsfield housekeeping! - and swiped it across her eye.
    ‘I didn’t ask you to donate a kidney, I just asked you if you were happy,’ Ben retorted.
    ‘You know I am.’ Joely wiped away the mess and picked up the eye shadow to start again. ‘Why would you even doubt that?’
    ‘Do you want to change anything, mix things up a bit? Add something new?’
    If she angled her head she could see the edge of the bed, the now very messy bed. The pillows were on the floor, her feet had been on the headboard at one point, the covers were a tangled mess. Joely sucked in a deep breath. Oh boy…they had a pretty inventive sex life but that was all it was…creative. Inventive. Different positions, a little this, some of that but nothing that she couldn’t handle and nothing she felt