Just One Thing (The Alexanders 6)

“Waiting for you,” he replied. He held out the paper bag.

Katie took it tentatively and then almost dropped to her knees in gratitude when she saw that it contained a breakfast sandwich and a bottle of apple juice. Now she really felt like a bitch for sniping at him when he was just trying to do something nice.

“Thank you. I really needed this.”

Bennett held out his arm for her to precede him down the hall and Katie was happy to oblige. She cracked open the bottle of juice first. It was still cold so she could only guess he’d purchased the items in the hospital cafeteria.

“How long have you been waiting in the hallway?” she asked.

Bennett inclined his head back towards the room. “Not long. Jackson texted me so I’d know when to come pick you up.”

Katie should have known. Jackson probably thought he was helping her out. She couldn’t fault him. He didn’t know that she’d been hoping to avoid his oldest brother for a little longer. After such a long and exhausting day, she wasn’t ready to hear about his sexual experimentation with his first love.

“I’m not sure that was a good idea. We didn’t leave things at a good place.”

“I know. But you needed a ride home. When you need something, I’ll be there. Always.”

Intense hazel eyes fixed on hers and Katie could barely breathe. How had she thought this would get easier? There was never going to be anything easy about knowing that she wasn’t Bennett’s first choice. Could she really accept a relationship where she had to compete with the memory of someone else? It had been bad enough dealing with Don’s wandering eye but with Bennett it would be worse because he wasn’t a jerk. With time and distance, she could admit that she hadn’t really been devastated at Don’s betrayal. Furious and humiliated, yes. But she hadn’t really even been all that shocked.

But Bennett … Katie had to work hard to swallow over the sudden lump in her throat. He was a fantastic human being and it would hurt like hell to know he preferred someone else.

They were silent the entire ride over to his place. She checked her phone for no reason other than to give her something to do besides stare at him. Julia had texted her a picture of all the kids finger painting last night so she knew they’d had fun. For the first time, she had nowhere to be.

No one who needed her.

“Did you get any sleep at all last night?” Bennett asked just as he pulled into the driveway next to his barn.

Katie shook her head. She climbed out of the truck and followed him inside. It was weird to be back after taking a week off. She hadn’t realized just how much she’d missed being here. It drove home how different things were without Bennett in her life.

He took her hand and led her upstairs. Considering how they’d left things, she should probably stop him but then he gave her a look and she clamped her lips together.

“Get comfortable. I’m going to tell you about my weekend and then you’re going to take a nap.”

Amused by his uncharacteristic show of bossiness, Katie went over to the chest of drawers and pulled out one of his long T-shirts. Too tired to even care that he was watching her every move, she shed her clothes and pulled the shirt on. Bennett pulled back the covers on the bed so she could climb in. He took off his own T-shirt and jeans and then climbed into the bed next to her wearing just his boxers.

He turned his head to look at her. “First, I’d like to apologize for the way I handled things with your ex-husband. I didn’t give you the chance to explain what I saw that day. That’s something I regret.”

Katie nodded. “Thank you for saying that. I would never do that to you. Don was drinking that night and I just didn’t want him driving drunk and possibly hurting someone.”

“I was jealous,” Bennett admitted. “He was bragging about how he’d tired you out the night before and I couldn’t see anything past that.”

Katie was quiet for a moment, thinking about her own reaction to hearing that he’d kissed Olivia. “I was jealous when you told me you kissed Olivia.”

Bennett turned over so he was facing her. This close, the space between them seemed even more intimate. Even though she was still filled with lingering doubt and insecurity, Katie felt like she could tell him anything in that moment.

So she hesitantly added, “I know you said that the kiss didn’t mean anything. But when you said that Olivia is in love with someone else, it felt like it did when Don cheated on me. Like I’m not really the one you want, just the one who’s available.”

Bennett listened, his eyes on her face like he wanted to absorb the words straight from her mouth. “This is one of those times when I need a translator. Because what I meant to say was Olivia is in love with someone else and I’m thrilled about it. Because I’m in love with you.”

Her heart squeezed so hard that Katie let out a little startled puff of breath. This whole time she’d been ready to hear stammered excuses or rationalizations about why his kiss with Olivia didn’t matter. She’d expected him to deny it was a real kiss or claim that he’d been surprised and hadn’t meant to kiss her back.

Not that he’d kissed another woman and decided he loved Katie. Anything other than he’d chosen Katie as the one he truly wanted.

“You’re not saying anything. Please tell me I haven’t ruined things between us.” Bennett placed his hand over hers. The warmth of his touch brought her out of her state of shock.

“No. You haven’t ruined things between us. I was just surprised. I wasn’t expecting you to say that. That you love me.”

His eyes softene