Page 53 of Her Awkward Blind Date with the Billionaire
His companion elbowed him lightly in the stomach. “Don’t give him a hard time. You’d avoid that comment card too.” She smiled at Avery and introduced herself as Lizzie. “You’re the one who filled out the after-survey, aren’t you?”
Avery ducked her head. “That was me.”
Dawson laughed heartily. “Was it all true? Tell me it was all true.”
Avery lifted her chin and grinned. “Every word.”
Ben groaned. “I have an allergy,” he offered as an explanation.
They all laughed, and he joined in.
“Too bad we can’t use you two as a poster couple for the blind date app.” Lizzie leaned into Dawson. “We’re rolling it out across the nation.”
“Congratulations,” said Avery. They chatted for a few more minutes before Dawson saw someone he needed to talk to before the nextTech Tankfilming.
“Don’t forget my tickets for the show.” Ben pointed at him. “And make it four.”
“You got it.” Dawson and Lizzie left.
Avery hugged herself. “That’ll be fun. I’ve never seen a television show filmed before.”
Ben nodded. He scanned the party and gave a slight nod that everything was in order before taking her hand. “Come on. I want to show you something.” He pulled her though the grand house and out the front door where the carousel was lit up, turning at a sedate pace. Music played softly and the lights reflected off the mirrors and gold paint. The sound seemed to be captured in the leaves overhead, making this a space separate from the rest of the world.
“It’s stunning.”
“Come on.”
They made their way across the brick driveway and then the tended grass. Ben grabbed a bar, and Avery jumped with him, laughing as she grabbed for a lavender horse. “This is my kind of horse.” She climbed up on the pink saddle with both legs hanging off one side and patted the horse’s polished neck. “I don’t think you’ll ever get me off this thing.”
Ben stayed leaning against the pole, his hand in his pocket. He watched her for a moment, his soulful eyes full of emotion. “What if none of you left?”
She cocked her head to the side. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I want us to be a family.” Ben pulled a ring out of his pocket and held it up. The large diamond glittered against the wide gold band.
Avery gasped. “It’s beautiful.”
“What if you and Landon stayed, forever?”
Avery pressed her fingers over her lips. “Ben,” she managed.
“I love you more than I have ever loved another person. And I love Landon. I don’t want to replace his father, but I’d like to be the best dad I can be for him.”
Avery reached for him. Her heart was in her throat and her head was in the trees. She’d seen Landon look to Ben much like Savannah looked to her, as a guide to get him through the transition from boy to teenager. To have this man, this caring, loving man, guide Landon into adulthood would be a gift.
But her soul cried out that there was more to her love for Ben than what kind of father he’d be to her son. There was the love a woman had for a man, the kind of love that was exciting and set butterflies aflutter—but there was also the quiet love, the deep kind that flowed through her soul like a river that never ran dry. “I’d like that.”
“Yeah?”
“I love you, Ben.” She pulled him close, and their lips came together in an explosion that had been building up inside of Avery since the moment they met. It was like when two smaller stars fuse together and become one bright, shining, powerful light in the darkness. Their family would be amazing. She wasn’t naïve enough to believe there wouldn’t be struggles along the way; that was life. But they were stronger together than they were apart. Not because either of them was weak, but because they brought out the best in one another.
That was something Avery could hold on to forever.
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