by M. Malone
Bennett grunted. As a child, he was non-verbal for quite a while which of course had concerned his parents. He’d been subjected to so many different medical tests and had blood drawn so many times that just the sight of a hospital made him nervous, even now. It hadn't even been worth it. After all those tests, the doctors never found anything abnormal. He was just different.
Grant tied off the last stitch and swabbed the stitches with something wet and cold. “I don’t blame you for wanting to stab my eyes out earlier. She’s beautiful and obviously cares about you. I’d be jealous if my better looking cousin was hitting on my girl, too.”
Bennett scowled. “I wasn’t jealous. And you wish you were better looking.”
Grant grinned. “You would have punched me if your arm wasn’t all fucked up.” When Bennett still didn’t concede, he continued. “So, it wouldn’t bother you if I asked her out? Since you two aren’t anything serious?”
Bennett gritted his teeth. “Stay away from her. She’s not your type. She’s too smart for your bullshit.”
Grant smiled knowingly. “Okay. I’ll leave it alone for now. But I hope you’re at least going to use this turn of events productively.”
He wasn’t going to ask. He was not going to ask his man whore cousin for advice.
“What do you mean productively?” his lips asked against his will.
Grant waggled his eyebrows and then sauntered into the kitchen to wash his hands. Bennett had to wait not so patiently for him to finish. When he came back, Grant picked up his bag of supplies and patted Bennett on the shoulder.
“Milk this injury for all its worth, my man. If you play your cards right, your pretty girlfriend will come back and take care of you.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
♥
When Katie first got home, she didn’t notice anything unusual. She dropped her bag on the floor in the entryway and then put her keys on the small hook next to the coat rack. It was almost time for the kids to get home and she was relieved she’d managed to get there before the bus. She didn’t like cutting it this close but it had been so hard to leave without knowing if Bennett was okay.
She snorted thinking of Bennett and his cousin Grant. He might be a bit of a jerk but Grant had at least seemed to know what he was doing. Katie shuddered thinking of how calm Grant had been while looking at the cut on Bennett’s arm. Actually, they’d both been freakishly calm about it. Clearly this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.
Well, at least she’d been confident that Grant had things under control. Bennett didn’t joke around with just anyone so it was obvious the two were fond of each other, in the slightly antagonistic way that a lot of men were.
As she slipped her shoes off, there was a loud clanking sound from the kitchen. Katie’s head shot up at the unexpected sound in what should have been an empty house. A soft rustling a moment later was followed by the sound of … voices? Her mouth fell open. There was someone in her house!
Holy shit, had someone broken in while she was at work?
She backed up slowly. It was strange that they hadn’t heard her come in, she hadn’t exactly been quiet, but whatever the case she wasn’t going to wait around for them to discover her. She grabbed her keys again. She’d drive down the street and then call the police from a safe distance.
Before she could get to the front door, there was a sound right behind her and a dark shadow moved at the corner of her eye. Instinctively she grabbed the small bowl off the front table and held it out like a weapon.
“Whoa, calm down! It’s just me.”
Once her heart left her throat, she realized it was Don. He glanced worriedly at the bowl in her hand so she lowered it. Slightly. Then raised it again when she noticed that he was standing in the hallway wearing nothing but his underwear.
“What are you doing here?”
The danger past, Don shrugged and then walked back toward the kitchen. Annoyed, Katie had no choice but to follow. Then she was annoyed all over again when he went back to the island and the sandwich he’d been making.
He was eating her food?
She pressed her fingers to her temples. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see the kids. It’s my weekend.” He took a bite of his sandwich, like it was completely normal that he was standing in her kitchen, eating her food, while wearing nothing more than a pair of raggedy boxers.
“I know it’s your weekend. That still doesn’t explain why you're standing in my kitchen in your underwear."
He looked at her like she was stupid. "I spilled mustard on my clothes at lunch. I put my clothes in the washing machine earlier." His eyes narrowed and then focused on her.
When they’d been married, he’d gotten used to seeing her in nothing but jeans and T-shirts, casual clothing appropriate for wiping noses and playing outside. Now that she worked for Bennett, she tried to step it up a little. Not that he’d asked her to do that but she wanted to. It was nice to feel professional and in control.
“Where were you?”
Katie rolled her eyes. “Out. Not that it concerns you.”
His face darkened. "Let me guess, over at Ridley’s house. You’re still chummy with them, I see."
"They've been very good to me. But no, that’s not where I was."
“So why are you all dressed up?” he asked snidely.
Katie rolled her eyes. “I have a job.”
His jaw worked as he tried to formulate an answer. "I heard you've been working for one of them. The weird one that still lives at home with his parents." He chuckled. "I guess you figured if Ridley could marry up, why not you, huh?"
She crossed her arms. "What do you want, Don? Really?"
"Nothing. Just making sure my kids are still being taken care of properly. All I'm hearing is how much time you're spending cozying up to the Alexanders and it makes me wonder who's taking care of my boys."
In that moment, Katie learned that it was possible for your blood to literally boil. She wouldn’t have been surprised to look in the mirror and see steam coming out of her ears.
"How dare you insinuate that I would ever neglect my children? I've done nothing but take care of them every day since they were born. Which is more than you can say. If you hadn't stopped paying child support I wouldn't have to work so much to afford to take care of them, did you think of that?"
He opened his mouth to say something but Katie was too livid to even listen. She marched into the laundry room and opened the door to the still running dryer. She knelt and grabbed his damp clothes from the machine. His shoes were sitting on top of the washing machine, so she grabbed those, too. When she came back into the kitchen, she threw his clothes at him.
"Get your crap and get out. You told me when you left that you had better things to do, so go back to your barely legal girlfriend and stay out of my business."
When he didn't move, she threw one of his shoes at his head. He apparently hadn't been expecting that because he didn't even try to duck. The shoe struck him square in the middle of the forehead. He dropped his sandwich.
"Ow! Shit! What the hell is wrong with you?"
"What's wrong with me?" Katie held the other shoe over her head.
That seemed to communicate her sincerity because Don grabbed the pants she'd thrown at him and hurriedly stepped into them.
"You can get dressed outside. I'm not on your timetable anymore."
He stared at her in disbelief but rushed to grab the rest of his clothes while backing out of the kitchen.
"I don't know what the hell is going on with you. I’m just trying to see the kids."
"That's fine. I've never tried to keep you away from them. But you won't just show up whenever you feel like it and let yourself in.”
Katie followed him out of the kitchen and watched as he hurriedly redressed. By the time he finished, his shirt was on backward and he was only wearing one shoe.
“So what am I supposed to do?” he whined.
“Yo
u need to show up on time and ring the doorbell. Not early. On time. And if I’m not here, you can wait in your car. Things are different now. Get used to it."
He stepped out onto the front porch. When he turned around, he opened his mouth, probably to make some sort of smartass comment. Katie threw the shoe she was still holding out the door after him and then slammed it shut.
A half an hour later, after a whirlwind of packing clothes for the weekend and making sure that Hunter had his favorite pillow this time, Katie watched from the window as the kids drove off with Don. It was always hard to see them go, even though she really wanted them to have time with their father.
No matter how bad things were between her and Don, he was still their dad. She thought back to how much she’d missed her own father after his death. She’d never want to take their father away from them. But it didn’t make it any easier to watch them leave.
Especially since now that she was faced with the prospect of a long weekend without the kids, there was nothing to distract her from her earlier thoughts about Bennett.
What the hell were they doing?
Katie picked up her phone. Should she call him? Seeing him covered in blood had jarred her today. But they didn’t have that kind of relationship. They had fun together and he did things to her with his tongue that were practically inhuman but was that all it was? He seemed happy with the way things were and she wasn’t sure how she felt. Did she really want to get in deeper with another man after being hurt so badly?
What you have with Bennett is a dream. A handsome man that rocks your world and doesn’t expect you to pick up his dirty laundry. What more do you want?
Katie thought of Bennett alone in his loft, trying to maneuver alone with a bandaged arm. Before she could talk herself out of it, she quickly typed out a text to him.
Katie: Are you okay? Do you need anything?
Bennett: I’m okay.
Nothing else. Katie sighed. Bennett wasn’t great at volunteering information. That just wasn’t how his mind worked. If she wanted to know more, then it would be because she was brave enough to put herself out there first.
Katie: I wish I was there.
Bennett: I wish you were here, too.
She smiled. Bennett wasn’t one to volunteer information but when asked directly, he always told the truth. Just that easily, she knew what she needed to do.
Thirty minutes later, she parked behind Bennett’s pickup truck and grabbed her overnight bag off the passenger seat. The door to the laboratory wasn’t locked, so she let herself in, making sure to lock it behind her so she wouldn’t have to come back down.
If he lets you stay.
Katie ignored the negative voice ringing in the back of her mind that reminded her that she was taking a very big chance. It was entirely possible that Bennett liked their relationship or arrangement or whatever you wanted to call it, the way it was. Maybe he liked having hot sex during the day without the chore of having to make conversation at night.
But there was a bigger part of her that remembered the way he’d looked at her that afternoon. He didn’t seem as though he found spending time with her a chore. Maybe, just maybe, he cherished their time together the same way she did.
“Bennett? Are you here?”
All at once it hit her how silly it was that she’d come over without warning him first. What if he wasn’t even here? Maybe he’d gone to stay with his parents so Julia could take care of him. He had a great family that lived on the same property, so that was hardly out of the question. Just when she was about to turn and leave, Bennett appeared at the railing that separated the loft.
“Katie? You came back.”
She shuffled her feet. “Yeah, I thought you might need some help tonight. And also, I just … missed you.”
He stared at her for a long moment and then he smiled. And just like that Katie Mason lost what was left of her heart.
♥
Bennett thought he was hallucinating when he first heard Katie’s voice. He’d just gotten back into bed after taking a shower. The effort of trying to wash while holding his bandaged arm out of the water had exhausted him but once in bed, he’d just stared at the ceiling dispiritedly.
He was used to being alone. Save holidays and other family functions, he spent the majority of his time on his own. So why did the loft suddenly seem so quiet? Just when he’d been contemplating turning on the television, something he rarely did, he heard the voice he’d been longing for floating up from the lab below.
Now he stood at the railing watching as Katie ascended the stairs. They’d made good use of the fact that his bed was up here over the past few weeks but it was entirely different having her here at night.
“Hi.” Katie set her bag down on the floor at the foot of the bed and shrugged out of her jacket. She folded it over her arm awkwardly. Her eyes roamed over his bare chest and the loose pair of plaid pajama pants he wore. “Didn’t think you’d be a pajama pants only kind of guy.”
The observation amused Bennett. “I’m not. But having your mom walk in on you when you’re buck naked will convince almost anyone of the merits of wearing pants to bed.”
She covered her mouth with her hand but it couldn’t hide her smile. “Traumatized for life, huh?”
“Pretty much.”
She twisted the edge of her shirt in her hands. “So, I probably should have called first.”
Bennett sat on the edge of the bed, the burst of energy he’d gotten when he first heard her voice now lagging. Katie took one look at his face and then rushed to his side.
“You’re not okay, are you?” She clucked softly under her breath and then gently pushed him to recline.
He allowed her to fuss over him, enjoying the scolding more than he would have thought possible. Mainly he enjoyed watching her, the curve of her lips as she smiled down at him, the exasperated look on her face when she saw the bottom of his bandage was wet. Just her. He wished he could bottle this moment because despite being exhausted and in pain, he never wanted to forget what it felt like to be the one Katie took care of.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked, tucking the sheets around his body.
“Like what?” He could hear that his voice was slurring slightly and wished he hadn’t given in and taken one of the pain pills Grant had left with him.
He usually never took any kind of pain medication because he hated how groggy they made him feel, but Grant had insisted on leaving a few samples in case he changed his mind. He’d given in to the temptation after the torture of holding his arm out of the shower.
“You’re staring,” Katie clarified, before tucking a stray curl behind her ear.
“I’m just watching you. I like having you here.”
Katie stilled and her eyes met his. “Really? I felt a little pushy coming over without asking first but … I was worried about you.”
She seemed embarrassed by the admission and immediately went to the end of the bed to rummage in her overnight bag. He watched as she pulled out a pile of clothes and a small toiletry bag.
“Okay, I’m going to get ready for bed. Do you need anything right now? Medication? Water?”
He shook his head and she went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.
Bennett dozed in and out while listening to the sounds of water running and the soft hum of Katie’s voice as she talked to herself. He smiled. He was willing to bet she had no idea she did that but it was incredibly endearing. Comforting also. It was a strange feeling to be so content while resting in bed listening to the sound of her talking to herself.
Then it hit him why he was so happy despite being hurt. Over the years, he had always felt like he was on the outside looking in. With his family, with his classmates, just everywhere. All around him he saw people pairing off into happy couples and he’d never felt like he could be a part of something like that. He’d never met anyone that made him feel like he could be a part of a unit.
But here, resting
quietly and listening to Katie’s off-key rendition of some random Christmas song, he felt like he belonged. He might not be able to read in-between the lines or take a hint, but with Katie he didn’t have to. She was the only woman he’d ever met who didn’t play games or expect him to read her mind. She was honest and open and entirely genuine.
And he was incredibly happy she was there.
When she emerged from the bathroom, she was wearing a long nightshirt. Her skin was scrubbed clean and she had her hair pulled back into a ponytail. She made her way around the bed and got in on the other side. Earlier she’d set her tablet on the nightstand on that side and she picked it up before arranging the covers over her legs.
“Do you mind if I read for a little while? Will the light keep you up?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I’m a pretty sound sleeper but I’m not ready to go to sleep anyway. Would you … would you read some to me?”
Her eyes betrayed her surprise before a soft smile touched her lips. “It’s probably not your genre. It’s a romantic suspense.”
He moved closer and rested his head on her shoulder, keeping his hurt arm propped up on a pillow. “I don’t care. I just want to hear your voice. Just the sound of your voice makes me feel like all is right in the world. Hearing that when you come to work every morning is the highlight of my day.”
Katie’s fingers tightened around the edge of the tablet. “One minute I think I know what’s going on, that we’re dating and having fun, but then you say stuff like that. Bennett, what are we doing here?”
He tilted his head and kissed her bare shoulder. “I don’t know what you’re doing but I’m pretty sure I’m falling in love.”
Katie’s gasped softly and her dark eyes searched his. He wasn’t sure what she was looking for but he hoped she could see his sincerity.
“You are? But it’s so soon. We’ve only been on one date.”
“And I knew before we left your driveway.”
Her eyes welled slightly before she gave her head a slight shake. In the blink of an eye an entire conversation passed between them. Bennett liked that he knew her well enough now that he could intuit what she was thinking. But if she thought he was going to let her go another minute without telling her how he felt, well she hadn’t been paying attention. He may not be socially adept but he’d never been accused of lacking initiative. When he wanted something, he went after it.
