Chapter Fifty Five – Cheeseball
A cheeseball flew through the air, bounced off Ben's chin, hit the edge of the white couch briefly, and was snapped up by Suvi in lightning speed. In a flash there was absolutely no trace of it left. Olivia turned a dark look on Ben that he didn't even acknowledge. With how long he'd been lying on the couch and trying to toss cheeseballs into his mouth that wasn't the first look he'd gotten. Micheal hadn't put them away when he'd finished so Ben had picked up where Micheal had left off. Olivia wouldn't be surprised if the whole tub were empty by the end of the night. Not that that was a bad thing. Suvi had already stolen enough to make him sick, though Olivia was hoping that didn't actually happen.
"If there are any cheese stains on my couch you're going to be the one cleaning them."
Ben paused, a cheeseball between forefinger and thumb, and watched her. Despite the threat he didn't look worried.
"It may not have been from me. There were other guys here."
He'd stopped by her place after work and had run into Micheal and Dominic on their way out. Since Dominic needed to catch his flight out to his next assignment in the morning they hadn't had time to talk. Olivia really preferred it that way. Having to deal with all three of them at the same time would have totally ruined what had been a good day. She'd had the chance to catch up with both Dominic and Micheal, which had been amazing. It had been sad to see them go, especially knowing Dominic was heading back into danger. With Ben's arrival she hadn't had much chance to think about them though.
"You really are a magnet for testosterone," Ben added.
He lifted the cheeseball he'd been holding to his mouth, but he'd waited a second too long. Suvi had been sitting next to the couch licking his lips and watching the snack. He suddenly jumped up and snatched the orange puff out of Ben's hand.
"Hey!" Ben yelped and lunged up like he could somehow get his stolen treat back even though Suvi had already eaten it.
While Ben was focused on Suvi Olivia reached over and plucked the jug with the remaining cheeseballs away from his arm. He felt the movement and jerked toward her in an attempt to get the jug back.
"Hey!" he said again.
"I'm putting this away before my dog manages to steal any more of them. I don't need to be cleaning up puke tonight."
"There's not that many left," he whined.
"I'm still putting them away."
She could almost hear Ben and Suvi whining together as she walked away with their snack. Neither one of them protested further though. That was a good thing since she wasn't planning on giving the cheeseballs back even if they did complain. The last few were going back into the pantry and staying there. Just as she closed the pantry door she felt arms slip around her. Ben curled in close and basically rested his head against the side of hers. She was just about to ask what he was doing and inform him that this wasn't going to convince her to bring the cheeseballs back when he whispered into her ear.
"Did you have a good time today?"
"How could I not with all of that testosterone in my living room?"
She knew he'd meant the question seriously, but that didn't mean she had to answer it that way. With his chest pressed against her back she could literally feel the laughter bubbling out of him. It made her smile.
"Not…"
"I know," she replied before he could finish what he was going to say.
Ben rolled his eyes but a smile was still playing on his lips.
"So are you going to answer the real question?"
"Yes, I had a good time. The last time I saw Micheal was at the fundraiser. Dominic… I ran into him on the job years ago and never saw him after that. "
"So it was nice to see him again?"
"Yeah."
And it was nice to prove to him she wasn't crazy. Actually saying that to Ben would be way too ironic though since she called him crazy almost on a daily basis. He'd probably get a kick out of it until he heard what she'd done to make Dominic think she was nuts. That would only worry him. A lot.
"We sat and talked all day," Olivia continued. "I had a chance to catch up with both of them. It was nice. Really weird in a way, but nice. I honestly never thought I'd see Dominic again. It's really just good to know he's alive and doing well. He got a promotion, but he's still fighting and looking after the people in his unit."
"Sounds like you did have a good time."
"What about you? How was your day?"
Ben made a disgusted face which Olivia caught out of the corner of her eye. She lifted an eyebrow and tipped her head to the side to look at him.
"That bad, huh?" she asked.
"Worse. Just one thing after another. Failed bids, hostile clients, open houses that were not what they were advertised, and a whole slew of dumb accidents at the office. Plus, we didn't have ink. How do you run out of ink at an office?"
"It happens."
"In almost every printer?"
"Okay, maybe not."
Ben grunted in agreement and leaned a bit more heavily against Olivia. She reached up and rubbed at his cheek before threading her hand through his hair. No wonder he'd seemed so lazy since he'd come over.
"Guess someone's going to need a good meal tonight."
"Screw cooking. I'm ordering in," he returned adamantly.
Olivia could only laugh at how serious he was about his dinner plans. She would have offered to make him something, but he'd already told her he couldn't stick around very long today. Thinking about that she wondered whether he'd already stayed longer than he should have.
"Do you need to be heading home soon?"
"I should be heading home now. Well, if now were like half an hour ago."
"Mm. That's what I thought. Actually, I was surprised you even stopped over."
Ben tightened his grip on her and nearly buried his face into her hair. He mumbled something that wasn't very understandable given where his face was.
"Ben, I didn't understand a word you just said."
He sighed and pulled his head away from hers so he could speak clearly.
"After the day I had, I needed you."
"You should have said something earlier."
"Nah, just being near you is enough."
A pink tinge crept into Olivia's cheeks, and the only reason she didn't drop her eyes and bow her head was because he couldn't see her face.
"You know if you didn't need to go home I would have made dinner and offered you part of my bed tonight."
"That's it? We couldn't have, you know, shared the whole thing?"
Olivia rolled her eyes at him. He may have been a bit different from normal guys in the personality department, but his mind could find its way to the topic of sex just as easily.
"I guess you will never find out."
He twirled her around to face him and pulled her body up against his. With his arms wrapped around her she had to tip her head back to look up at him.
"That's really not fair you know," he pointed out.
"I think you'll live."
"Let's hope so."
Olivia dropped her forehead against his chest and shook her head against him.
"I really need to head home," Ben stated, forcing her to lift her head and look at him.
"Okay."
He leaned in to kiss her, but before he got within reach Olivia held up a hand to stop him.
"I am not kissing you when you have orange cheese residue on your lips."
Ben hadn't realized he'd still been covered in cheese, but that was easily remedied. A few swipes of his tongue over his lips and the problem was taken care of. He smiled down at her almost proudly.
"How about now?"
"Nice try, but still no."
"So mean."
With a bright smile on her face she wrapped an arm around his back and guided him toward the door. He would get over not begin kissed on the lips. After all, it wasn't like she was going to leave him without any kiss goodbye. A light kiss on the cheek would be good enough. Ben didn't seem to think so, but he could see the teasing sparkle in her eyes. Apparently he was going to have to accept just a kiss on the cheek for tonight. And she called him a pain. She had a lot of that in her too.