Just One Thing (The Alexanders 6)

“Is that right?” Ridley said.

“Don’t pretend you didn’t know that. You’ve been dying to find a way to push us together. You aren’t fooling anyone, Ri!”

Ridley harrumphed. “Everyone talks down on my meddling but the way I see it, I’m two for two so far on putting people together with their perfect match. I’d go so far as to say I have a gift.”

The thought of being a perfect match with Bennett made Katie lightheaded. He was so … she couldn’t even categorize him. He was more than just his achievements, despite what he thought. Even though he didn’t socialize much, he was actually funny in a wry, understated sort of way. Sure, he tended to just blurt things out but he was a man who felt things deeply. She’d seen that when she’d told him about her father’s death.

“I don’t think we’re a perfect match, Ridley.”

Suddenly Katie was angry at herself for indulging in girl talk. This was how she always got herself in trouble, spinning romantic fantasies around everything. That was fine in the past when she was too young to know better but she was a grown woman now with very serious responsibilities.

“He’s just a nice guy and I’m just a nice girl who really needs this job. Hopefully he won’t fire me for inappropriate behavior.”

After reassuring Ridley that she was fine, she got off the phone so she could start the long process of supervising the boys’ b

ath and bedtime ritual. By the time she took a shower and climbed into bed herself, she felt like she’d just run a gauntlet.

That was when she noticed the red flag on her phone. She had a voicemail message.

Katie sat up, immediately curious. No one ever left her voicemails anymore. Everyone just texted these days. She hit the button and crossed her fingers it wouldn’t ask her for a password since she didn’t even know what it was anymore.

Katie, it’s Bennett. Can you bring groceries when you come in tomorrow? The standard restock list is on the shared drive. The instructions to access it remotely are in the employee policies and procedures packet. Thanks.

Once the message ended, Katie played it again, not even fooling herself that she needed to hear the information again. No, she was just shamelessly enjoying the deep rumble of his voice. Because that was exactly what she needed to hear right before going to bed alone.

He didn’t sound angry about the almost kiss at all. In fact, from the sound of his message he apparently hadn’t even noticed that she’d been insanely attracted to him.

Disgusted with herself, Katie turned the light off and then punched her pillow until it was the shape she liked. It had taken a while for her to adjust to sleeping alone and while she wasn’t waking up in the middle of the night anymore, it was still strange to sleep all alone in the king-sized bed Don had insisted on. She blew out a breath and then flopped over to stare at the ceiling.

Sixty seconds later, she grabbed her phone and played the voicemail message again.

CHAPTER SIX

?

Something was up.

Katie finished organizing the mail that had come in the prior day and wiped down the stainless steel table that Bennett had just finished working on. He hadn’t asked her to assist this time and she thought it was really sweet that he was taking the effort to try not to give her anything that would scare her.

Then she frowned. It was sweet of him to try to protect her feelings but it was hardly going to help her prove her worth as an assistant. She really wanted to stretch her wings and get used to doing things outside of her comfort zone.

She’d always been the good girl, the one who followed the rules and tried to keep the peace. Not that there was anything wrong with that but it made for a pretty boring existence. Don had loved to throw that in her face, that she wasn’t spontaneous. Well, no more. Things were different now and she would be different, too. She wanted to shake things up and make a difference in the world. Katie sighed. Nothing she’d ever done would be considered revolutionary or exciting.

“Can I help with that?” she asked when Bennett appeared holding several glass beakers.

She’d never tell him this but whenever he asked her to fetch one or the other, it always made her giggle because some of the liquids looked like Kool-Aid.

“No, I’ve got it. You can leave early if you want.”

Frustrated, Katie slapped her hand down on the stainless steel table between them. “What gives? I know you only hired me to get Ri off your back but I can do more than sort mail.”

“That’s not true,” Bennett said finally, after blinking at her in surprise for several seconds. “I didn’t just hire you because Ridley suggested it. That was the catalyst, yes but I hired you because I wanted to.”

Katie gave him a disbelieving look. “So far all I’ve done is grab a few things for you, clean up a little and sort mail. You don’t need an assistant for that.”

“You’ve been very helpful,” Bennett countered.

“I’m a disaster. Try again.”