“Collectibles.”

She pressed her lips together. “So you want me to design a room for your collectibles,” she said, saying the last word very slowly. “I mean…wow.”

He held her gaze, pretty sure she was teasing him. “Yeah, don’t laugh at me!”

But she did. “I’ve never seen so many toy—collectibles,” she said, correcting herself, and he shrugged.

“Hey, you know what they say about a man who collects,” he said with an exaggerated wink.

“Yeah, he’s a nerd.”

“Ha. No, he’s patient. It takes time to collect all this.”

She didn’t look convinced as she walked around the room. The heels of her black pumps clicked against the hardwood. Which, of course, made his mouth water. Those calves…man. “I’ve never done a collectible room,” she said, more to herself. “Because usually adults don’t have them.”

“Because they aren’t awesome,” he said simply and she smiled.

“I didn’t peg you for a nerdy kind of guy.”

He looked over at her. “Well, if you would have gone to dinner with me, I would have told you.”

Her eyes darkened as she nodded slowly. “I guess so.”

He watched as she looked around, her eyes scrutinizing a lot of what he had. But then he thought maybe she was a closet nerd because she got excited when she looked at all his Star Wars figures. When she paused in the middle of the room, only inches from him, to mark something on her notepad, he rocked back on his heels, tucking his hands in his pockets just so he wouldn’t touch her.

He wanted to brush her hair off her shoulder. Just to press his lips to her neck. He knew it would be soft. That she would smell like heaven.

Man, this was a bad idea.

He should have hired someone else, because having Lucy Sinclair in his house, looking as fucking sexy as she was, was going to make him combust.

“So what do you think?” he asked roughly, sucking in a breath.

“I think I can do some pretty awesome stuff in here, along with the rest of the house, but—” She paused, looking up at him. “It isn’t going to be an overnight thing. I mean, I have a blank canvas and you have no clue what you want, so it’s gonna take time to get it right, you know?”

Time. He had that. As long as he was spending it with her. “Sounds good to me. I’m not going anywhere. Well, I mean, I do have games, but we have email.”

She nodded. “Okay, so let’s head downstairs and—”

Her phone rang and her eyes widened. “Crap, sorry. I usually have it on silent, but when Angie is gone… And then there was this weird smell in my apartment… Hold on,” she said quickly, answering her phone. Benji heard a man on the other end, and for a second he thought it was Rick, but then she shook her head. “You’re kidding me. What?” she said, turning so her back was to Benji. “When can I go back? Tuesday at the latest! Can I come get some things? Jesus. Okay. No, I understand. No, I do, and I appreciate you working to get it all fixed. It’s just an inconvenient— No, thank you. All right, keep me posted. Thanks.”

Disconnecting the call, she let her arms fall to her sides, her notebook and phone hanging in her hands. She didn’t say anything, just breathed in deeply, letting out her breaths in a whoosh.

“Lucy? Everything okay?”

She only shook her head, and he walked around her to look at her face. She was holding in her tears, her face flushed red as she sucked in another breath and let it out. “I swear, if I didn’t have bad luck, I wouldn’t have any.”

“Is everything okay?”

She closed her eyes. “Can you, like, turn around or something? I need a moment, and I really don’t want you to see me lose my fucking shit right now.”

Panic was in her voice, which made him panic a bit. “Can I do something?”

She shook her head and her voice broke as she met his gaze. “I don’t even know what you could do.”

Holding her watery gaze, he knew what he could do.

He didn’t even think, really, he just acted. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her to him, and it was like a fire had been set at his toes. Nothing but heat exploded between them as their bodies lined up, his arms holding her. She tensed, like he expected, as her nose pressed into his chest. But he just squeezed her tightly, resting his head on hers.

Sure of himself, he said roughly, “I think you need a hug.”

She didn’t move at first. She only stood there and he squeezed her, loving the feel of her in his arms. He had wanted this from the moment he saw her. When she dropped her phone and notebook, wrapping her arms around his waist, a grin curved Benji’s lips as she slowly relaxed in his embrace. She smelled so good, felt like pure bliss in his arms, and he wanted to nuzzle his nose in her hair but wasn’t sure how that would go. He was surprised he was able to hug her, but it was obvious she needed it.

When she let out a long breath, her heart pounding against his chest, he held his own breath, fully expecting her to pull away.

But she didn’t.

Instead, she wrapped her arms tighter around him, nuzzling her nose into his chest and whispered, “Yeah, I think I do.”

Oh, why did she hug him?

Why in the world did she let that happen?

Because, now…

Now, she didn’t want to let go.

Every part of her body that touched his was seriously on fire. She had wanted this since the moment he asked her out. To touch him. To feel him against her. Even in her wildest dreams, nothing could touch the reality of him.