But he also noticed the other couple. Hank and his librarian looked like they were on their first date. Millie was shy and a bit nervous. Hank was protective.

Ben figured he and Jenny were somewhere in-between. No words had been said between them, but he was losing count on how many times they’d made love. He could say he’d known her since college, but in truth he didn’t know her at all. They talked about the survey. They made love in silence, but he didn’t know much about her childhood, her politics, her likes and dislikes.

That wasn’t true. He knew her body. Every curve. He loved the soft way she felt. He loved the way they made love. He even loved the little sounds she made. He loved holding her until she fell asleep.

Feeling brave, Ben put his hand beneath the table and touched her knee. She touched his leg just above his knee and the game was on. While the others talked of the weather and the three towns in the valley, Ben was trying to slow his breathing as Jenny’s hand moved higher up his leg.

Jenny was winning whatever game he’d started, and Ben hoped he made it through dessert without moaning with pleasure.

Chapter 28 - Benjamin

Chapter 28

Benjamin

Ben meant to have a talk with Jenny when they got to her cabin. They were both over forty and did not need to be doing what they’d been doing under the table. What if they’d been noticed? Maybe he should start a list of things not to do in public places. No, he decided. That would just give her ideas.

What next, sex in the restroom? They were not two teenagers going wild. She seemed to take any rule as a challenge.

As they walked through the darkness, she held his hand. It was official. They were a couple. He liked the thought. Things would settle into a routine. They’d have nights they’d meet for dinner, maybe get away for a weekend between semesters. Maybe they’d take turns staying at each other’s places when they didn’t have classes the next morning. Maybe she’d come out with him to the farm and spend the night . . . in separate rooms, of course. If his dad didn’t mind, and she liked the country, he’d fix up the spare bedroom for her, assuming his mother wasn’t sleeping in it.

But when they stepped in her cabin, he didn’t have time to start a lecture.

She unbuttoned the top few buttons of her blouse, and her breasts seemed to pop out like bread dough from a can. Ben swore a few thousand brain cells died and he reverted to a primitive man who only wanted his woman.

“You are staying tonight?” she asked.