“My mom said all the babies in her family start off red-headed, and then transform into blonds,” Katherine giggled, shrugging her shoulders, appreciating his levity.
“I noticed that you’re a natural blonde the first time I saw you,” Ben said and Katherine blushed profusely. She had dyed her hair darker in the hopes of throwing off Tim’s trackers, and she found it impressive that Ben had noticed.
“Well, I needed a new identity,” she explained, and Ben nodded.
Katherine showed Ben her bedroom and every other nook and cranny of the small apartment before declaring that he had seen everything there was to show. She wanted him to stay longer now that he had seen her place, but she also understood and appreciated the fact that he was respecting her decision to have some alone time.
“I’ll come by the bakery tomorrow, okay?” He asked with a gentle tone and Katherine nodded excitedly.
On his way to leave, Ben leaned down to press his lips to Katherine’s and she felt her knees weaken. Reaching up on her toes, she tried to deepen the kiss, catching Ben off guard as he stumbled back two steps until his back pressed up against the wall.
“Sweetheart, I don’t think this is a good idea,” Ben explained, after pulling away from their embrace. Katherine could understand his apprehension, but more than anything she could appreciate his respect for her. She found it to be really sweet.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Katherine smiled, before kissing him one last time.
Chapter Ten
Ben
“MR. O’LEARY, I THINK we should at least try to refurbish last year’s designs if we’re not going to use them,” Jim pleaded. He was in charge of the inventory of pet accessories and Ben’s latest decision to get rid of the older designs sent him in a frenzy.
“Jim, I’ll give you forty-eight hours to come up with a profitable alternative, but it just seems to me that we’re carrying over a loss.” Ben doubled down on his point.
It was the third meeting of the morning for Ben, and he could feel himself getting more uptight as the minutes passed. He couldn’t focus the way he used to, blocking out everything around him. Leaving Katherine alone had left him feeling anxious, hoping nothing happened while he was away.
Meanwhile, he’d also been trying to work through all Katherine had told him about her past relationship with her husband, which was still a strange concept for Ben to accept. He just couldn’t wrap his mind around Katherine running from one city to the next, trying to escape the craziness he’d witnessed at the charity event.
She ran out of there so fast, and Ben couldn’t figure out what he should or could have done better. To learn that there was nothing he would have been able to do was less of a relief than he expected, knowing that Tim was a bad man who would have only made an even bigger scene and causing more chaos than he had.
?
?Thanks, Mr. O’Leary. I won’t let you down,” Jim said, as everyone began packing up their things as the meeting came to an end.
Ben knew he was being a tough boss from the way his team was responding to him. It was rare for someone like Jim, the leader of his department, to refer to him as anything other than Ben. He was known for being down to earth and relatable, but all morning long his temper had been short and his tongue sharp.
Watching everyone file out of the large conference room, Ben tried to calm himself down with three deep breaths. Knowing he had to find a way to balance his growing personal life with his thriving professional career, he rubbed his temples as he tried to cope with the stress.
“Come on, grumpy. I got us some lunch,” a cheery voice called from the doorway, and Ben opened his eyes to see his oldest friend holding two large white paper bags.
“I hope there’s liquor in there,” Ben said, as he stood from the table, quickly gathering the stack of papers sitting in front of him.
“You look like you could use a shot of whisky,” Rachel teased, as she led the way to his office.
“What did you order, Rachel? It smells amazing,” Ben said, as he took the bags from her.
“Thai,” she answered over her shoulder.
Ben smiled behind her, taking in the delicious aroma of the takeout. She knew Thai was one of his favorite cuisines and had surprised him with it after such a rough morning. As they walked into his office, Ben smiled, appreciating the kindness from his friend who always took such good care of him.
After taking one Styrofoam box after another from the white bags, Rachel revealed two dishes of pad Thai, spring rolls, a papaya salad, and two iced chai lattes. Sitting across from each other in the comfy leather loveseats, Ben and Rachel enjoyed their lunch in silence.
“So, tell me what’s eating you, Ben.” Rachel finally started the conversation she had been waiting to have all morning. She hated when things bothered her friend and was always willing to help get him back to his normal easy-going self.
“I can’t get this situation with Katherine out of my mind,” Ben admitted.
“So what happened with her? Did you see her after the event? Who was that guy?” Rachel fired the questions, one after the other, revealing that she too had a lot on her mind regarding the events of the weekend.
“Her husband,” Ben answered flatly, allowing the shocking revelation to take her breath away.