The next day, Rey leaned over the reception desk at the Hoth hotel, negotiating with the owner's son.
'Come on Beaumont, just let me have the key!' Rey whispered angrily.
'Rey I can't let you break into his room, I could get fired,' Beaumont hissed back.
'For God's sake, your dad owns the hotel he won't fire his only son and it's not breaking in if you give me the key now is it!' Rey argued back.
Beaumont frowned but reluctantly handed over Ben Solo's room key.
Rey smiled at him.
'That wasn't so hard was it?'
She started to bound up the hotel stairs.
'Don't take anything big!' Beaumont hissed after her.
Rey let herself into Ben's room and began to snoop around. She noted a collection of post-its stuck to his mirror. She growled with anger as she read Ben's musings:
"How does she get all those men to propose, she's not that pretty."
Rey made an indignant noise.
'Bite me, Paperboy!' she shouted at the post-it.
Another one said:
"Shows no remorse."
'Son of a bitch!' Rey yelled.
She ripped all the post-it's down, crumpled them up and threw them in the bin.
She was equally infuriated when she found profiles of each of her ex boyfriends and Randy. Criticisms on her engagement rings and dress choices, he didn't approve of any of them, and worse of all the line that rocked her to her core. On the bottom of Randy's profile read:
Rey doesn't love this prick.
Part of her was itching to slap him again for the impertinent comment, the other half of her was dying to know what his motivation behind writing it was...
Then her eyes were suddenly drawn to the door. She heard footsteps and a key going into the lock.
Shit!
Rey ran into the bathroom and shut the door carefully. She heard the room door open. He was humming something. Rey put her ear to the bathroom door. What was that tune? It was familiar…
Then she got it. Maneater by Hall and Oates.
'Dick,' she whispered under her breath.
'What the?'
she heard footsteps moving around the room. He must have seen the missing post-it's. Rey noticed the window about the bathtub. She pushed it open and climbed out onto the fire escape. She was just about to congratulate herself on successfully avoiding detection when something caught her hand. She looked down to see Ben leaning out of the window, holding her in place. His fingers were warm and strong around hers, a frisson of electricity passed through her. She told herself it was just the adrenaline of getting caught.
'Let go,' she ordered.
Ben ignored her.
'I take it the hotel owner's son is also one of your many admirers.'
'Beaumont is just a friend,' Rey insisted.
'Yeah I'm sure that's what Beaumont wants too.'
'Let me go.' Rey said, trying to tug her hand free.
'Why should I? You broke into my room. I could press charges you know. Do you have any respect for… Ow!'
Rey leaned down and bit him. It had the desired effect. He let you go and she moved away from him.
He rubbed at his hand and looked at her but it wasn't anger or fear she saw in his eyes… it was hunger… hunger for her… interesting..
Rey smiled sweetly.
'If you do call the Sargeant about this, could you be a doll and remind him that he's bringing the wine for the wedding reception? Save me a call.'
Rey blew Ben a kiss and sprinted down the fire escape.
Ben watched her leave. He looked at his hand. She had bit him so hard there were teeth marks on his skin. He was impressed. This girl was a fighter. She didn't seem to need a man to take care of her. Ben closed the window and walked back into the bedroom.
So why the hell did she keep looking so desperately for one? And in all the wrong places. Matt wasn't right for her, Kylo certainly wasn't and now Randy? Randy couldn't make her happy. She needed a guy who could challenge her, she needed a guy who would make her grow. Ben looked at himself in the dresser mirror.
'Fuck,' he said out loud.
He wanted to be that guy. He wanted to be the one to support her and cherish her and look after her but also push her and bring her out into the light. Ben ran a hand through his hair.
'It's just a fucking crush get over yourself,' he told his reflection. He looked at the note on the bottom of Randy's profile. The one where he had called Randy a prick and indicated that Rey didn't love him. Had she seen that note? Did she know the reason behind it? Pure jealousy had driven him to add it to Randy's profile.
'You don't deserve her,' he informed Randy's photograph.
'But I'm not sure I do either.'
Ben was still humming maneater on their way to the bakery the next day.
'I know what you're doing you know,' Rey muttered.
Ben shrugged and smirked at her. He had his sunglasses on again. She hated to admit it but he looked really good in them.
They arrived at the bakery and the owner, Amilyn Holdo, gave them both a warm welcome.
'Come on it!' she said cheerfully wiping her flour covered hands on her frilly apron.
'You must be Mr Solo, the big city reporter.'
'That's me,' Ben said.
Amilyn giggled like a schoolgirl and her pink hair bobbed wildly. Rey frowned at her.
Ami went back behind the counter and showed Rey the different cake toppers she had ready to be viewed.
'I think this one is a good you,' Amilyn said holding up a little plastic bride with dark brown hair.
'And maybe this one for Randy?' Ami suggested.
Rey took the figures from Amilyn and looked at them both in turn.
Ben stood behind her. He was so close she could feel his breath on her cheek. She tried hard to be unaffected by it and failed.
'Do you think you could add a little beanie hat to Randy's? Just doesn't look the same without it,' Ben said.
Amilyn fell into another giggling fit and Rey pursed her lips at her.
'You sure are funny, Mr Solo,' Ami praised him.
'Please call me Ben,' he replied.
Rey blazed with anger. Was he fucking flirting with Ami? Sure, she was pretty but she was the wrong side of forty and a double divorcee to boot! If he was going to flirt with anyone it should be her. Well not her because she was taken but certainly not Ami!
Rey turned swiftly to look at him.
What was his game?
He looked down at her, a picture of innocence.
Wolf in sheep's clothing more like, Rey thought to herself.
Ben took the figures from her hands.
'Now lets see here,' he said looking at both of them.
He put on a high pitched voice and moved the little figures over the counter so they were facing each other.
'Oh I love you so much Randy, I want to crush your heart into a million pieces!' he squeaked.
He crashed the two figures together as if they were fighting.
Then he put on Randy's voice, which Rey had to admit was a pretty good impression.
'Oooh that delicious pain is so good, can I have another mistress?'
Ami pressed her lips together. Ben looked at Rey with a smirk.
'You finished?' Rey asked.
'For now,' Ben replied.
'I weep for the state of modern journalism,'Rey said to Ami.
'These are my picks,' she said, handing the figures to Ami.
'Don't forget the beanie,' Ben interjected as they left.
Rey could hear Ami's tinkling laughter all the way down the street.
'Are you interested in her?' Rey asked Ben sharply.
'What do you mean?'
'You two were flirting up a storm back there.'
'I was just being nice, I thought you would appreciate the effort.'
'Don't flirt in front of me,' Rey ordered.
'What on earth do my romantic interests have to do with you?' Ben pressed.
'Nothing. They have nothing to do with me, I just don't want to see it right in front of my nose, okay?'
She blushed. This whole conversation was taking a ridiculous turn. She shouldn't have said anything. There was no good reason why she should care about who Ben flirted with other than the actual reason which was that she had a silly schoolgirl crush on him.
Urgh. This was so inconvenient.
She judged by the side smirk Ben gave her that he suspected the truth. She would have to work harder at hiding her real feelings from him.
Their next stop was the bridal shop. Rey looked dreamily at the dress in the window and Ben shifted uncomfortably behind her.
'Despite everything I have still not been married and I still deserve a killed dress,' Rey said with a sigh.
Ben agreed that Rey deserved to have anything she wanted, but the dress she had chosen was too simple for his taste and didn't accentuate her body or her beautiful shoulders. He shook his head. He needed to get over this idiotic crush.
He followed Rey into the shop. A short, elderly lady with a tight perm greeted them.
'Have you come to try on your dress, dear?' The woman asked Rey.
'Actually Mrs Lars, I've decided I want that one.'
Rey pointed excitedly to the dress in the window. Mrs Lars looked sceptical.
'Rey, that's £500.'
Rey grinned.
'I know and I have £500!'
'It's just a lot of money to spend on one of your dresses, dear. After all, you never wear them for very long.'
Bens nostrils flared. Rey looked down at her floor.
'Maybe...maybe you're right,' she said in a small voice.
Mrs Lars smiled.
'I think that's wise, my dear.'
Suddenly Ben was right beside her, she looked up at him but he was staring directly at Mrs Lars.
'Mrs Lars, do you sell wedding dresses?' he asked with a quirk of his eyebrow.
Mrs Lars nodded her head at the imposing man looking intently at her.
'Yes, I've been here twenty years.'
'Marvellous!' he exclaimed with a grin.
Mrs Lars smiles back with relief.
'One more question, if I may be so bold, is that dress in the window for sale?'
'It is.' Mrs Lars confirmed.
'That is excellent news!' Ben exclaimed.
'Okay let's try some visual communication now.'
He strode across the shop and stepped up onto the raised platform in the shop window, he plucked the mannequin from its stand and carried it under his arm with ease back to where Rey and Mrs Lars stood.
'We're buying this dress and anything else she wants,' he said firmly.
Mrs Lars' mouth fell open. She looked at Rey who just shrugged and stared at Ben adoringly.
'Very well,' Mrs Lars said and led them through to the changing area.
Ben read one of the vapid magazines from the dismay selection on offer as he sat in the most comfortable chair he had ever had the bad graces to sit in waiting for Rey to emerge from the dressing room.
Why on earth had he agreed to this? The more time he spent with her the more attached he became. Now he was going to be the first person to see her in her wedding dress? This was one of the worst fucking ideas he had ever had.
Rey came out. She stood on the little podium with three large mirrors surrounding her.
'Well?' she said holding her hands out to her sides.
Ben put down the magazine and looked at her. The dress was a simple cream colour, sleeveless, with a round neckline. It was tight fitting with a skirt that flared out slightly. Although Ben felt other dresses could do Rey more justice, he couldn't deny that she was a vision. There was no way he was going to let her know he felt that way.
'It works,' he said with a shrug picking the magazine back up and realising it was upside down.
Rey snorted as he turned the magazine the right way up.
'That's it? Come on. You have to give me more than that!' Rey coaxed.
'It's… fine.'
'Just fine?'
'Very… pretty.'
'Pretty...that's worse than fine.'
Ben sighed and stood up. He walked over to her, and from her position on the podium they were at eye level with each other.
'What do you want me to say? Do you want me to say that you're breathtaking? That you dazzle me, that you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen?'
They looked at each other, breathing in unison.
'I do,' she whispered.
'Why?' he breathed.
'I… I don't know,' she admitted.
He leaned forward an inch and her lips tingled with anticipation.
'Are you done here? Oh, am I interrupting?' Mrs Lars walked into the room breaking the spell between them. Ben walked away from Rey.
'Yeah, we're done here,' Ben said before leaving the room.