“You haven’t lost your appetite,” he observes drily.

“Never,” I agree and grin. “Seriously, why didn’t you give me a heads-up?”

“I thought I’d surprise you.” His hazel eyes are happy as he smiles at me. “How have you been?”

“Meh,” I reply and shrug, feeling much better now that I’ve had the encouraging talk with Gail and am now having dinner with my dear friend.

“Explain the meh.”

“Oh, it’s a long, drama-filled story.”

“The best kind.” Ben winks and pops a chip in his mouth.

I tilt my head and watch him. He’s not just handsome, although with his muscles for days, light hazel eyes and square jaw, he’s certainly one hot number. Ben is a beautiful man, inside and out.

“You’re a good person, Benjamin.”

“Uh, don’t say that, Nic. That only leads to ‘but,’ and we broke up a long time ago.”

I toss my head back and laugh hard, then throw a chip at him. “Don’t be a douche. I was paying you a compliment.”

“I see that you’ve kept up with your workouts. You look great.” He tilts his head, watching me closely. “But I know you, and you have circles under your eyes, so spill it.”

I sigh and lean my chin in my hand. “I’m an idiot.”

“Agreed.”

“You’re a jerk.”

“Typically, yes.”

I laugh again and shake my head. “Stop it. You are not. There is a guy.”

“Do I want to know this?” His handsome face cringes. “I mean, I know we’re just good friends, but I don’t think you’re supposed to know who your ex-girlfriend is sleeping with. It’s weird.”

“How do you know I’m sleeping with him?”

“Are you?”

“Yeah.”

“Now I know.”

“Jealous?” I ask with a raised brow.

He sits back and actually thinks about it, surprising me. I expected a witty comeback, but instead he just answers honestly.

“Not jealous in the way I would have been five years ago, but worried because you mean a lot to me and I don’t want to have to kill him for hurting you.”

“I hurt him, Ben.” I sigh and push my fingers through my short hair.

“I like the haircut, by the way.”

“Oh, thanks. It was time for a change.” I take another bite of chip. “Anyway, I fell hard and fast for him. He’s a great guy. A cop.” I tell him all about Matt and his family, how we met, everything. And it feels good because I haven’t been able to tell anyone everything about my relationship with Matt, and I know that Ben won’t judge me.

“So, aside from the kinky sex, which sounds like a lot of fun to me, but makes me very uncomfortable in relation to you”—he cringes again—“he sounds like a solid guy.”

“He is.”

“So what’s the issue?”

“I broke up with him.”

“Why?”

I bite my lip and stare at the half-eaten basket of chips.

“Nicole…” Ben lowers his head to catch my gaze. “Why?”

“I thought he deserved better than me,” I whisper. “With my medical stuff and everything.”

Ben’s brow creases in surprise. “Nic, I’ve been around the block a time or two, and I’m telling you right now, there are few better than you.”

My jaw drops in surprise. “If you propose right now, I’m going to throw this margarita in your face.”

He laughs and shakes his head. “My girlfriend might have an issue with that.”

“Girlfriend!” I squeak. “You haven’t told me about a girlfriend! Is she here or in Wyoming?”

“She’s in Wyoming, but if I get the job here, I’m hoping she’ll move out here with me.”

“Who is she? Do I know her?”

“We’ll get to her later.” He waves it aside and reaches across the table to take my hand in his large one. “Do you love him?”

“Yeah. But to be honest, his family, although they’re great, they are damn intimidating. Half of them are celebrities, Ben. There’s money, and they’re all beautiful and just…I read about these kinds of people.”

“Are they assholes?”

“No.” I shake my head emphatically. “They’re really nice. I mean, they’re protective of each other, and there were some curious looks and questions, but they were great about making me feel welcome.”

“Good.” He nods. “Not all families are like yours.”

“My family isn’t that bad,” I reply softly. “They just don’t pay much attention to each other.”

“So being around a family that does pay attention is new.” Ben chuckles and shakes his head. “I always wondered why you weren’t one of those girls who calls or texts all the time, always in my way. For a while, I thought you just weren’t interested.”

“No, I guess it’s just not in my nature to have to always be in someone’s back pocket.” I smile and squeeze his hand. “You know I was interested.”

“Yeah, and then you decided to go to culinary school and break my heart.”

“I’m sorry,” I murmur. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“We got over it,” Ben replies with a shrug. “So you know you’re going to have to apologize to the guy for being a dumb-ass.”