A Wayward Heart (Chapter 18)

"Get a room!" Trent said as he threw a nerf water ball at them causing Eva to come to her senses.

She pushed Ben away and slapped him in the arm. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I liked it better when y'all were sneaking around," Charlie said.

"You all knew?" Eva asked looking around.

"I saw you coming out of the guest house." Charlie said.

"I saw y'all kissing in the stables." Trent said.

"I saw y'all making out behind the barn." Michael said.

"Le vi en la cocina, en el granero, y en cama de camión." Felix said in Spanish.

Ben laughed obviously not as puzzled as Eva was. She waited for Ben to translate but he just shook his head. "Lo siento. Fue su idea. Yo quería que fuera al aire libre. ¿Qué puedo decir? La quiero."

"What did you just say?" Eva asked getting extremely frustrated with them.

"¿En serio? Tú la amas?" Felix asked as if Eva hadn't interjected.

"Si. Yo sé que estoy loco." He looked at Eva and smiled. "He said he saw us in the kitchen, barn, and truck bed. I apologized and said that you wasn't ready for everyone to know even though I wanted it all out in the open." He left off the part of admitting out loud that he loved her. He was crazy but he couldn't stop the feelings.

"That's all? Never mind, I don't want to know." She looked around at the other men smirking and knew there was more but she left it alone. It was probably best that she didn't know.

"See I told you there was nothing to worry about," Ben said pulling her close. He kissed her sweetly on the tip of her nose.

She took his distraction as the perfect moment to strike. She reared her hand back and sent water up into Ben's face. She quickly pulled away and started to swim to the side but he grabbed her foot and pulled her back. He picked her up and tossed her back into the water. This started a war between the men and the women, even Daphne joined in on the fun.
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Playing in the water wore Maddie out, so Eva volunteered to put her down for a nap. When she returned to the pool Ben was stretched out in a lounger. The others were playing volleyball in the pool. "She's out like a light." Eva said.

"Thank you." He pulled her onto his lap and began kissing her. This is what he wanted, to be free to kiss her whenever he wanted without sneaking behind a building or something. Eva's displeasure with his blatant public display of affection was obvious, but he couldn't resist it any longer. Plus seeing her prance around in her little skimpy zebra striped bikini tortured him enough, so when Garrett tossed her in the pool, Ben decided that was his opportunity.

Eva pulled away. "What were you thinking kissing me in front of everyone like that? What if they didn't know? That could have been disastrous."

He simply smiled. "But it wasn't and now we are free to do this." He began kissing her again. Things quickly started to heat up so Eva pulled away.

"I'm going to get a shower. Val, Chloe, and I are driving to the city to go to a piano bar. Oh and we won't be back until tomorrow." She kissed him and jumped up, tossing a towel in his lap before disappearing into the house.

Ben brooded. They finally get to be out in the open and she was leaving town. Not if he could help it! He jumped up and ran into the house. After a few minutes on the phone, he ran outside and gathered the men.
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Val and Chloe congregated on Eva's bed as Eva came out of the shower wearing only a towel. "What's going on?"

"The guys are up to something," Chloe said. "Let me rephrase, Ben is up to something. He came in right behind you and then came back out and huddled all secretive with the guys. Any idea what's going on?"

Eva shook her head. "Not a clue. He didn't come up here." The dresser creaked as Eva rummaged through clothes. She tugged on her underwear and shorts as she held the towel around her. "I was thinking, maybe we should invite Daphne."

Valerie shot Eva a look as if Eva had lost her mind. "What? Why would you think that? She hates us."

Dressed now, Eva tosses her towel into the hamper. "She doesn't hate us. She's intimidated by us. I mean put yourself in her shoes. She's in love with a guy who only sees her as one of the boys, which is fine when you are the only girl around, because no one else is getting his attention. But when you throw in three women whom he is drooling over, you would get a little territorial too."

"Esposito, you are going soft. Since when are you considerate to those who have been nothing but rude to you?" Val asked.

"I feel bad I was kinda mean to her earlier. Plus everyone needs girl time once in a while." Eva left the towel in her and motioned for the women to follow her as she made her way outside to find Daphne. They found her cleaning out one of the stalls. "Hey, we're going to a piano bar. You wanna come?" Eva asked.

"Why are you inviting me?" Daphne asked confused by Eva's kindness.

"Because you are one of the girls and we think you would enjoy it. It's a good opportunity to get dressed up and feel feminine." Chloe said.

"I don't have anything to wear," Daphne said.

Eva took her left hand and Chloe took her right hand and started pulling her towards the main house. "You can borrow something of mine. I have plenty." Eva applied her makeup as the others got a shower. The women threw on comfortable clothes, grabbed their makeup, hair products, and all of Eva's dresses and shoes. As they walked out to Val's car Eva noticed that the guys were nowhere to be found. She excused herself and walked to the guest house.

Ben answered the door in a pair of blue jeans and a towel around his neck like he had just gotten out of the shower. He looked so sexy that it took all of her willpower to resist the urge to take him to the bedroom. "We are about to leave. We'll be back sometime tomorrow."

He didn't protest he just leaned in and kissed her. "Okay, you girls have fun. Try not to get into too much trouble."

"I'll call you when we get there." She kissed him bye one last time before catching up to the women.