wouldn't be too obtrusive. Yeah, that looked good. The sales lady grabbed his left hand, and measured his ring finger. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wanted to correct her and put up his right hand, but he couldn't quite think straight. The euphoria pouring off of Andi had him light-headed.
Twenty minutes later, they walked out — though he felt like he staggered — with their receipt in hand. They could come back in two days to pick the rings up, since they needed to be sized for each of them. Both moms looked misty-eyed, and Andi again bounced around in excitement. Ben did his best to act casual, but he guessed he probably had a little extra spring in his step. Though he wanted to spend the rest of the day with his writing books, he no longer cared as much about that as long as he and Andi were alone.
Chapter 9
"Ben, Andi, time for dinner," Trent called from downstairs.
"Coming!" Andi yelled back. She closed the browser on her computer. She smiled down at Ben, who lay next to the bed, engrossed in his writing book. He'd already filled a couple of pages in his new notebook. She'd spent more time watching him than browsing the Internet. She could watch him do anything for hours — Mom told her to get used to it since even after all these centuries, she still did the same thing with Dad — but when he wrote, his sexiness factor went up tenfold. The way he concentrated while creating stories or poems was unlike any look he had doing anything else. It took every ounce of her willpower to not crawl into his lap and devour his mouth. Not that she needed it today as they'd had an intense make-out session as soon as they'd got home from ring shopping.
She shuddered with delight. She had an engagement ring, and it was so pretty. And sparkly. Okay, maybe she didn't have it at the moment, but in two days, when it was resized, she'd be wearing it. Because of the style, she wouldn't have to take it off often, either. And when she transformed into her true form, it would blend in like her clothes, necklace, and earrings did. She also couldn't wait to see what Melissa had to say. Most kids probably wouldn't notice or know the significance, but Melissa would. She might be her friend at school, but her spoiled, childish behavior made these little twists so much fun. Now she'd really throw herself at Ben; what she couldn't have, she would want more than ever. Andi should warn him, but that could wait until their drive to school on the first day back. No need to have him dwell on it.
They'd obviously taken too long because Dad shouted up the stairs this time. "Alexandria! Benjamin! Dinner!" No doubt he figured they were making out. At least he didn't make too much of a big deal out of it anymore.
"Ben," she said, "we should go down before Dad gives himself an aneurism."
He nodded, read for a few seconds more, and then marked his place. Dang, that was hot. She hurried him out before Dad burst in and dragged them down to the table, but Mom must've told him to calm down, as he was already seated when they got down to the dining room.
"I want to hear all about the adventure today," Dad said. "Since you two have been unavailable all afternoon."
"Chill out, Daddy. Ben spent most of that time reading and writing."
"Yeah, and at the beginning, she jumped me."
Both moms snorted laughter while their dads groaned. She couldn't help letting out a giggle, but she still smacked him in the shoulder for throwing her under the bus. Then they sat down while Mom placed lasagna in the middle of the table, and Heidi poured everyone milk.
"So?" Dad said before anyone could dish up a helping of dinner.
"I noticed a strange-looking guy following us, and Ben confirmed he was evil, so we led him outside."
"You noticed him before Ben?" She enjoyed the pleased tone in Dad's voice.
"Yeah, he was totally stalking."
"He said he was from the Nightmare Syndicate," Ben added, "and that his group has the Demon of Dreams held captive."
"They're
James Kakalios
Tara Fox Hall
K. Sterling
Jonathan Maberry
Mary Balogh
Elizabeth Moynihan
Jane Hunt
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley
Jacquie Rogers
Shiloh Walker