Chapter 6

6

Ben reminded himself yet again to keep his head in the game. He was at work, and he needed to keep his mind on filming.

Honestly, he couldn't even believe that this was something he needed to remind himself of. Maintaining laser-sharp focus was never something that was a problem for him. In fact, aside from the ability to immediately read people and ascertain what approach they needed in order to close a deal, it was probably his single biggest professional asset.

When it came to work, whether that work was real-estate-agent-related or television-show-hosting-related, there was no one more focused than Ben Stevens.

That is...until this week—particularly until today. Why today? Because today was the day that they were filming introductions and pickups all around downtown Hope Falls, which meant that they were filming in the two-block radius surrounding Lauren's office.

In fact, they were currently filming right across the street from her door.

It seemed that he simply could not stop glancing over at the large front window of her real estate office, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. Every time he caught movement in his peripheral vision, it took everything he had not to whip his head around towards her door to see if she was coming out, hoping that the movement he glimpsed would be Lauren stepping out onto the pavement in all of her refined beauty.

He felt completely pathetic. No matter how hard he tried to break himself from this pattern, it seemed that he couldn't stop. If all of his glances yielded nothing, then he might've been able to quash his impulses, but that wasn't the case. Nope, his efforts hadn't been entirely in vain. He'd been rewarded several times with glimpses through the window of her perfectly styled blonde hair as she moved about inside.

However, that was a while ago. There'd been no sign of her since he'd last caught sight of two clients walking into her office nearly forty-five minutes ago.

Which was actually good news. He didn't know if he could've functioned, even as half-assed as he was now, if the entire time the sight of her was one mere, tantalizing head-turn away.

He didn't really understand why he was acting like this. He wasn't 'interested' in Lauren. She was far too much trouble for him.

Not only did he not enjoy girls who made him work too hard to be in their lives, he didn't even have time for it. So this wasn't a matter of wanting to actually make a play for her. He just found himself powerless to keep his eyes off of her. He felt drawn to her like no one he'd ever met. She was the flame and he was the moth.

It didn't help matters that it'd been several days since he'd last had any interaction with her; three whole days in which he seemed increasingly unable to go for any considerable period of time without thinking about her. As the hours and days passed without any run-ins, he started to grow more and more frustrated.

In a town the size of Hope Falls, what were the chances that you could go for three whole days and not run into someone?

Pretty slim.

Did it mean she was avoiding him?

Quite possibly. She certainly didn't seem fond of him. However, Ben suspected that, underneath the layers of her tightly wound exterior, she enjoyed their verbal sparring as much as he did.

Ben smiled inwardly. It was pretty adorable the way he was able to get her frustrated and flustered so easily. Honestly, it was getting to the point where he wanted to see her so badly that he didn't even care if he had an unpleasant interaction with her as long as he was able to have some sort of interaction.

He didn't stop to analyze what this sudden and unexpected addiction to just being near Lauren Harrison might mean. After all, in less than two weeks, he would be gone from Hope Falls forever, probably never to lay eyes on her again. This was an aberration, an anomaly. He had never reacted this way to another woman before, and he doubted he ever would again. So why not just enjoy it while it lasted? That was his philosophy.

As the shoot was wrapping, Ben was starting to reconcile himself to the idea that he might not encounter Lauren that day at all. As luck would have it, though, that's exactly when she stepped out of her office door accompanied by the well-dressed couple Ben had seen entering an hour ago.

She was speaking animatedly, her hands gesturing engagingly to make her point. It was clear that, whatever her subject, she was very enthusiastic about it. Ben stood, mesmerized by the sight, realizing that this was something he hadn't actually seen before: Lauren in the sales zone. It was hot. It was something she'd never been in in his presence. He realized, with awe, that this woman was the Holy Trifecta . Beautiful. Sexy. Adorable.

A lot of women were beautiful. A lot of women were sexy. A lot of women were adorable. But it was rare that a woman possessed all three qualities. It was charmingly irresistible.

It seemed that Ben wasn't the only one who noticed. The couple that were accompanying Lauren seemed equally taken with her.

As the three of them moved forward, clearly headed for Lauren's car, they caught sight of Ben and the cameras across the street. The woman's face lit up while Lauren's did the opposite.

Lauren's tight expression lasted only an instant; replaced with a countenance of benign professionalism the moment the woman started talking with her. One would have to work very hard to be able to tell that Lauren's placid exterior was completely false, but Ben knew. He had seen that expression enough times by now. It was the same cool, rehearsed, professional smile she wore pretty much any time he was around.

Ben smiled to himself. He couldn't make himself care that she didn't light up with genuine happiness whenever he was around. Rather, just like a mischievous elementary schoolboy who'd just pulled the pigtails of a pretty classmate on whom he had a crush, he was just happy every time she noticed him at all.

Lauren and the couple started to make their way across the street towards him, and he smiled broadly, raising his hand in greeting.

As they reached him, Lauren said with a warmth that would be difficult to tell was false, "Ben. So nice to see you again. I would like to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Carter. They're big fans of Home Sweet Home ."

Ben glowed from within. This was his element. Fans. He could charm the socks off of them. And maybe, he mused, this would even be a chance for him to ingratiate himself with Lauren. After all, if he could make her look good in front of her clients, then she would have to be a little grateful, right?

Ben shook hands with the couple, wearing his highest wattage smile, chatting with them as if he were the one who was lucky to be meeting them rather than the other way around. That was the key to charming fans; always turn the tables, always make them feel like they are the ones who are the most important part of the interaction.

Ben was very appreciative for the position he was in, and fans were the ones who put him there. He was more than happy to take time with them. Their support of the show was what kept him employed.

The Carters then asked, almost shyly, if he wouldn't mind taking a picture with them. Again, just like that mischievous schoolboy, Ben felt a little thrill of perverse glee at the hard glint of annoyance he saw spark in Lauren's eyes when they made this request.

Ben stood in between Mr. and Mrs. Carter, an arm slung companionably over the shoulders of each of them, smiling widely as Lauren snapped the picture and held the camera out so they could survey the results, with which they were quite pleased.

Then, just to stir things up, Ben decided to kick the situation up a notch and make things memorable. He smiled and said, "Lauren, would you like to take a picture with me?"

Lauren gave her best imitation of a gracious smile and, with faux warmth, said, "No, thank you, Ben. That's so generous but I wouldn't want to take any more of your time."

"Oh stop. I don't mind," he dismissed cheerfully, gesturing expansively for her to come stand next to him. "It'll take two seconds."

Her calm exterior was not ruffled—it never was—but in her eyes, he could see that she was quickly growing livid. God, he just couldn't help it. He found her so cute when she got mad.

"Here," he said, pulling his smartphone from his back pocket. "We can even take it with my phone." Ben tapped a few buttons on the screen of his phone, bringing up the camera application. He handed the phone to Mr. Carter, saying, "Do you mind, sir? Just press this button here."

"Oh no, not at all," boomed Mr. Carter gregariously. "Happy to, happy to. That's so nice of you Mr. Stevens, isn't it Lauren?"

Lauren smiled tightly. "Oh yes. So nice," she agreed.

Lauren crossed to him in two steps and turned to face the couple, standing next to Ben. As Mr. Carter held the phone up in front of him, his face crinkling in concentration, Ben slid his hand intimately around Lauren's waist and leaned his mouth down close to her ear, inhaling the intoxicating scent of her. Then he whispered intensely, just low enough so that Mr. and Mrs. Carter couldn't hear him, "Damn, you smell good enough to eat."

He heard the phone's camera click as it took the photo at the exact instant that Lauren pulled away and turned a shocked expression towards him.

Stepping quickly back over to her clients, Lauren didn't respond to his remark. Mr. Carter handed the phone back to him and Ben glanced down at it, looking at the photo. Yup, just as he suspected, he was looking down at her with a wide grin spread across his face and she was looking up at him in shock.

He chuckled, "It's perfect," and then winked at Lauren.

Her only response was her trademark tight smile.

Ben nodded at her and said, "I'll e-mail you a copy of this, Lauren."

Lauren said with a warm tone in her voice for the benefit of her clients, "I'll look forward to that. Thank you."

Ben knew how much it must be costing her to maintain that calm and pleasant tone. As he watched them climb into her Mercedes and zoom off, he shook his head.

Damn . What was it about that woman that made it so much fun to get her goat?

He stopped short, realizing that he could've actually cut off that sentence right in the middle and it would have been an equally valid question.

Just plain...damn, what was it about this woman?

---~---

After two weeks of walking around town constantly on edge, wondering if she was going to have a run-in with Ben—a fear that was not unfounded, as she had had several extremely uncomfortable encounters with him—Lauren couldn't have been happier that production was at an end and the entire crew, including their infuriating host, was getting ready to pack up and leave town.

She was so happy, in fact, that she felt she could be magnanimous and attend the wrap party at Sue Ann's Café that evening. Every instinct inside of her screamed that she didn't want to go, as she would surely see Ben there, and he was the most frustrating person she'd ever met.

But as Hope Falls' premium real estate agent, the one who had actually found the home that the extended episode was centering on, it would look conspicuous if she didn't attend the wrap party.

Besides, she told herself, everyone in Hope Falls is going to be there. It won't be difficult to keep my distance.

And keeping her distance was precisely what she planned to do. She planned to stay far, far away from Mr. Ben Stevens. She couldn't believe how brazen he was. You smell good enough to eat .

She was by no means a prude, but my Lord. What on earth made him think that that was even in the neighborhood of an appropriate thing to say to her? And a question that was even more frustrating for her to try to answer, why—for the love of God—were those words playing on a constant loop in her head since he'd growled them into her ear? And why did they inspire a visual every time she heard them echo in her mind of him doing precisely that—eating her up? And why did her panties get wet from just thinking about it?

Stop! She had to stop this line of thinking right now. It was ludicrous. It was never going to happen. She was so glad that Ben would be out of her life—and hopefully out of her head—after tonight. She couldn't be more thrilled to see him go.

Lauren pushed open the front door to Sue Ann's Café, immediately spotting Sam, Karina, and Amanda seated at a four-top with one empty chair across the room. She crossed quickly to them, seeking the comfort of friends, not wanting to be caught out alone if she were to see Ben right away. The three girls looked up at her as she arrived at the table.

"There she is. Just who we've been waiting for!" Karina exclaimed. "We've been saving a seat for you, girl."

They all picked up their purses from the empty chair, and Lauren settled herself into it.

"Hi, girls," she greeted them. "Am I happy to see you!"

Sam smiled a little mischievously. "Really?" she asked with a false innocence in her voice. "I wouldn't have thought that we were the ones you would be looking forward to seeing here."

Amanda and Karina cracked up.

Lauren arched her eyebrows. "I haven't the slightest clue what you're talking about," she said airily.

Amanda snorted. "You, my friend, are the worst. Liar. Ever."

Just then, Bernie, Karina's agent, walked up to their table.

"There she is!" he exclaimed. "Just the tall, leggy blonde I was looking for. I have good news for you, bubeleh. The producers have decided to go forward with the spinoff. They're looking for a female co-host."

Lauren grimaced. "What does that have to do with me?"

Bernie sighed. "Again. What would any of you do without me? I'm still saying you would be perfect for the job. There will be travel involved, but production will be based in Hope Falls. Ben and his co-host will record the intro and exit for every episode from Hope Falls. They want the town to give the show its personality."

Lauren swallowed audibly—loudly, even. In fact, she realized that what she'd just done could be most accurately described as a gulp.

She said to Bernie, trying to keep her voice as even as possible, "So this means that Ben won't be leaving Hope Falls?"

"Not for quite a while anyway. Of course, there will still be the original version of Home Sweet Home that will need to be produced, and that tapes out of Los Angeles, so he will definitely be splitting his time. But yes, now that you ask, he will be around for the foreseeable future."

Lauren refused to look over at the three girls, but she could feel the laser heat of their knowing smiles burning into the back of her head as she continued to look directly at Bernie.

"If the spinoff gets picked up, that is," he continued, "which, you better hope it does, because that would be very good for you."

"In what way exactly would that be very good for me?" Lauren asked in genuine puzzlement.

"So, listen," Bernie said, "and try to pay attention, will you? I pulled some strings and I managed to get you a screen test with Ben tomorrow."

"Screen test?" Lauren asked, dismayed.

"Right, right. It's when they film you and Ben doing some lines of dialogue from the show...see what your chemistry's like, see how you come across on camera, et cetera, et cetera."

"I'm not a television personality. I'm a real estate agent," Lauren protested.

Bernie threw up his hands. "Does no one listen to me when I tell them that that's where I come in?" he lamented. "Bubeleh, listen...that's where I come in."

Before Lauren could even process all of the information that was being thrown at her, the woman from the production team who had handled the original lease agreements came up to the group and grabbed her arm urgently.

"So, production's going to be extending its stay for a while longer," she said. "Can we get the leases extended on the properties that we've been renting?"

Lauren opened her mouth to answer, but Ben suddenly appeared just behind Bernie's shoulder, laughing and asking her, "So, have you heard the good news, Lauren? I'm gonna be staying in town awhile longer."

He followed this up with a teasing wink.

Lauren's head was spinning. She didn't know who or what to address first. The noise of the crowd seemed overwhelming. She needed to get some semblance of control back.

Since her first instinct was always to take care of business straightaway, she chose to deal with the production assistant before all else.

"I'll get in touch with the owners," she said. "I don't foresee there being a problem. I'll finalize the details and get in touch with you tomorrow."

Next, she turned her attention to Bernie, saying, "Thank you so much for your efforts and the opportunity, Bernie. But I am not interested in taking any kind of test, and I have no desire to be on any kind of show."

Then, turning quickly to Ben, she said, "And I assume that what you asked me was a rhetorical question, since that seems to be all anyone can talk about."

Finally, with all of the poise and grace she was able to muster under the circumstances, she pulled on her coat, grabbed her purse, and strode purposefully out the door.