Just One Thing

by M. Malone

  Katie thought about where she could take him. It was probably a little silly for him to go on a practice date with her. After all, what did she know about any of that? It had been ages since Don had taken her out anywhere and she’d been too chicken to date anyone since her divorce. “Okay, I’ll get us a reservation somewhere. I can get Ridley to watch the kids. Then we can go this weekend.”

  “Maybe this is a bad idea.” Bennett sat on one of the stools next to his worktable. “I haven’t been on a date in a long time. Maybe I should just call the whole thing off. Dating has always been a mystery to me.”

  Katie knew all about feeling like a failure at dating. Despite what Mari thought, she had signed up for a few dating apps in the past year, thinking that it would be an easy way to get back into the dating pool. But once she’d started getting messages, an alarming number of them were men sending naked pictures. She still couldn’t understand how modern dating worked. What woman wanted to see a picture of a random … apparatus?

  She covered her mouth so Bennett wouldn’t see her smiling as she thought about it. Some things in life needed context. Penises definitely fell into that category.

  “You’re not the only one. But this is no big deal. Just two friends getting dinner. We’ll have some great food and talk, just like we do here. You haven’t had any trouble talking to me here, have you?”

  Bennett shook his head. “No, in fact, you’re very easy to talk to.”

  Katie ignored the tingle of pleasure she got at his words. But strangely enough, she felt the same way about him. Even though they had vastly different interests, Bennett was one of the least judgmental people she’d ever met. He never made her feel like he was looking down on her or didn’t want to hear what she had to say. As a result, she’d found that she could just talk to him about anything. It was probably not a good thing, since she found herself just blurting out things without thinking about it first.

  Like when you told him everyone thinks he’s hot?

  Yeah, like that. She probably needed to be a little less comfortable around Bennett. He might be easy to talk to but he was still her boss.

  She handed him the Mentor Science invitation. “I find it easy to talk to you, too. That’s how I know we’ll have fun. Do you trust me?”

  Bennett smiled. “Do I trust the woman who tricked me into reading a book about dragons? Absolutely.”

  Katie grinned at that. “Good. This might seem just as strange at first but then it’ll be fun. We’ll have you whipped into shape in no time. You’ll be the perfect date by the time I’m done with you.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  ♥

  Bennett wasn’t sure what to do with the things he was feeling. So he did what he always did when he wasn’t sure what to do. He called Olivia.

  In retrospect, he could admit that his tendency to rely on Liv as his human translator probably wasn’t the healthiest way to approach life. But for years, she’d been his go-to, the one person he knew wouldn’t make fun of him because he didn’t understand something. Well, the one person outside of his family.

  He could always ask one of his brothers and they would drop everything to help him. They’d also worry about him and then discuss him when he wasn’t around. Bennett smiled at the thought. His brothers would hate to be described that way but they truly were a gossipy bunch. Nothing was ever private for long in the Alexander household and the last thing he needed was to give his mother any reason to worry about him.

  Olivia answered with a muffled voice.

  “Hello? Liv?”

  “Bennett?” She sounded surprised to hear his voice. Which was strange since she never answered the phone unless she recognized the number.

  “Yes, it’s me. Are you okay? You don’t sound like yourself.”

  Liv sighed. “Sorry. I thought you were someone else.”

  Bennett wasn’t sure what to do. Did that mean she didn’t want to talk to him because he wasn’t the person she’d been expecting? Not to mention that she sounded like she’d been crying. Liv had only cried on the phone with him once before and it was after a particularly nasty exchange with her father. Normally in a situation like this, he’d just make an excuse to get off the phone instead of dealing with it. But this was as good a time as any to try out some of the things Katie had tried to teach him.

  “Did you see your parents? Is that why you’re upset?” Bennett figured that was an educated guess.

  “Actually, yes. I did. But that’s not why I’m upset. It’s just ... hard to explain.” Liv was quiet for a moment. “Have you ever been in love?”

  Bennett’s mouth fell open. Then he considered the question seriously. He believed in love. It would be almost impossible to be raised by Mark and Julia Alexander and not believe in love. His parents had been happily married for more than thirty years and he still caught them kissing in the kitchen on a regular basis. Unlike his brothers, he’d never been grossed out by how affectionate his parents were. It made him happy to think that you could make a choice of companion and still be content with that choice decades later. It gave him hope.

  “I don’t think so. Have you?”

  He was suddenly very curious to hear her answer. Ever since it had occurred to him that Liv might be a perfect match for him, he had been so focused on the idea of making himself into the kind of guy that she’d consider and he hadn’t even thought about whether she might already be in love with someone else. He really had gone about this whole thing backwards.

  “There’s this guy. His name is King.” She sniffled and there was a rummaging sound.

  Bennett waited patiently. Liv was an emotional person and did things on her own time. There was no rushing her when she was telling a story.

  “He’s a member of the club I manage. I knew I shouldn’t get involved with him. He’s exactly the type of guy I should avoid. Rich, arrogant … just trouble. What the hell was I thinking?”

  “It sounds like he’s not very nice. Why are you dating a guy that you don’t even like?” Bennett was sure there had to be more to the story or this was just one of those things he would never understand.

  It made him angry to think of some guy making Olivia cry. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, he knew that. She’d gone through so much after her parents turned their back on her and had grown into an amazing woman. But that didn’t mean she didn’t get hurt sometimes, too. Maybe it was a holdover from taking care of her when she was first thrown out of her parents’ house but Bennett felt a strong wave of protectiveness for her.

  “It’s not like that. Okay, maybe it is a little bit. But there’s just something about him. When I’m around him, I feel alive. You know? Haven’t you ever felt that around a certain person?”

  Bennett’s thoughts went back to Katie’s passionate defense of him when saying his old classmate sucked donkey balls. He laughed out loud at the thought.

  “What? Why are you laughing?”

  “Sorry, I was just thinking of something ridiculous my assistant said earlier.”

  “Oh you hired someone else? Another grad student?”

  “No, a friend of a friend. Katie is one of Jackson’s neighbors.”

  Liv hummed. “Katie, huh? You’ve never had a female assistant before.”

  Bennett wasn’t sure if she was expecting him to respond to that. It was a statement, not a question, but somehow it seemed to require a response.

  “No, I haven’t. But Katie has been very helpful so far.” He didn’t add that she was mainly helping him figure out how to appeal to Olivia.

  Then Bennett realized that the entire time he’d been talking to Olivia, he hadn’t felt even slightly jealous that she was talking about another guy. Shouldn’t he feel jealous? Or at least a little upset? That was what he’d observed in others who were in romantic relationships. But the thought of Liv with this King guy didn’t bother him at all.

  Then he thought of all the times Katie had mentioned her ex and could practically feel his blood press
ure rise. Even the idea of her asshole ex talking down to her was enough to make him want to punch something. Bennett smiled. Maybe he wasn’t as abnormal as he’d thought.

  “Liv, I’m sorry this guy has been a jerk to you. You deserve better than that.”

  “Thank you, Bennett. I’m sure I’ll figure it out. But I want to talk about you. Something is going on with you.”

  He could have pretended he didn’t know what she meant but found himself suddenly desperate for the female perspective. Olivia had been through a merry go round of bad relationships over the years and he’d had a sideline view to all of it. The drama, the tears, the breakups, the makeups. It had always seemed messy and unnecessary to him before but now he hoped that she could help him decode some of what he was feeling.

  “Liv, when you care about someone, do you think about them at random moments throughout the day?”

  “Yup. And you especially think about them when you’re supposed to be doing other things.” Liv chuckled softly.

  “And they seem to understand you, even when no one else does?”

  “Yup.”

  “And the thought of them with another man makes you have vivid fantasies of punching the other guy in the face?”

  Liv paused. “Bennett? Do you want to protect this girl?”

  “Yes,” he answered immediately.

  “Would you be willing to sacrifice something you wanted if it meant making her smile? Does her smile brighten up your entire day? Is it torture to imagine not seeing her for a long time?”

  Baffled, Bennett nodded along with every one of her statements. “Yes to all of that. How did you know?”

  Liv sighed dramatically. “Oh boy. Bennett, congratulations!”

  “For what?” He made a face. “I haven’t done anything yet.”

  “On the contrary, you’ve already done the most important thing. You’ve fallen for someone.”

  Bennett thought about it and objectively compared all the facts. The things he’d outlined to Olivia and the laundry list of scenarios she’d presented did seem to point to one conclusion. For the first time in a long time, Bennett Alexander had a crush.

  And a date.

  ♥

  On Saturday, it wasn’t until after lunch that Bennett remembered why the day was special. Katie was taking him on a practice date. No, he corrected himself. You are taking her on a practice date. Or maybe even a real date.

  Ever since his talk with Olivia, he’d been thinking about the time he spent with Katie. They had fun together and she never seemed exasperated or annoyed by his quirks. There had been several occasions where he’d done his usual routine of drifting off into musings and instead of taking it as an offense, Katie always seemed mildly amused by him.

  He liked her. And he wanted her to like him back.

  Not that he had any idea of how to go about making that happen. After all, he’d hired her to teach him how to hit on a woman. How was he to know that he’d end up wanting to hit on his teacher? Now they were going on this practice date that suddenly felt more real than any real date he’d ever been on.

  The entire thing was a tangled mess and he had half a mind to cancel the whole thing.

  Just the thought of that made him scowl. He might be awkward but he was no coward. He was taking Katie on this date and he was going to make it the best damn date ever.

  How, well, he hadn’t worked that part out yet. But he had a good idea of who to call to get it all started. His younger brother Nick was a self-proclaimed “clothes-whore” and was married to a high fashion model. If anyone could handle this situation, it was Nick. And he wasn’t as nosy as the others. Okay, he was but at least he wouldn’t try to run a background check on Katie the way their brother Elliot would.

  Nick answered after several rings. He sounded suspiciously out of breath when he did. “Hello? Bennett?”

  “Yes, I’m here. Is this a bad time?” He sincerely hoped that it wasn’t because he only had a few hours until it was time to pick up Katie.

  “No, it’s fine. I’m just … Well, never mind that. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Well, actually no I’m not fine. I, um, well it seems I have a social commitment this evening and I’m not sure what to wear.”

  Nick didn’t say anything for a moment. “What kind of social commitment? Meeting an old friend, business-related, what?”

  “Not business. It’s personal.” More silence. “Okay, fine. I have a date. With a woman.”

  More silence then Nick said, “I’m coming over,” and hung up.

  Bennett sighed.

  By the time Nick arrived, Bennett was convinced that he should have asked his brother to meet him at the mall. Everything he owned looked like it belonged at either a wedding or a funeral, not surprising since those were usually the only places he wore suits.

  Without saying a word to him, Nick walked straight through the laboratory and up the stairs and into Bennett’s bedroom. Bennett jogged to catch up. When he got there, Nick stood staring at the bed where his two choices were laid out.

  “This is sad, big bro. Really sad. You’re lucky I anticipated this and came prepared.”

  Curious, Bennett peered over Nick’s shoulder as he started pulling clothes out of the garment bag Bennett hadn’t even noticed. There was a shirt in a startlingly bright shade of blue, a thin sweater with an argyle design on the front and a more casual T-shirt.

  “A T-shirt?”

  Nick shrugged. “I wasn’t sure where you were going. I came prepared for a multitude of options. Hell, I’m glad I was able to find anything I was so shocked that you had a date.”

  Bennett laughed. “It happens occasionally.”

  “I bet it does. We always figured you just kept your business to yourself. Nothing wrong with that. So …” Nick took a seat on the edge of the bed and crossed his arms. “Who’s the lucky lady? Anyone I know?”

  Bennett debated whether he should mention that he was taking Katie out. It didn’t seem right to make it out as a regular date when he knew Katie didn’t see it that way but New Haven was a relatively small town. People were going to see them. Those same people would likely mention it to his family. Katie didn’t seem concerned about being seen with him in public so it probably didn’t matter who he told.

  Nick held up his hands. “I don’t mean to pry. Oh yeah, I heard you hired Katie. How is that going?”

  “Great. She’s picking things up quickly.”

  “Good, good. I’m glad you were able to help her out. She’s a nice lady and the kids love her. She’s also really pretty.” Nick glanced over at him innocently.

  “You think so?” Bennett picked up the sweater and examined the pattern. He could feel the heat of Nick’s gaze on the back of his neck.

  When there was no answer, he turned to find his brother regarding him knowingly.

  “What?”

  “Don’t give me that. You want me to believe you’re working in here with her all alone and you haven’t noticed that she’s pretty?”

  “I didn’t say that I didn’t notice. Of course I noticed.”

  “And?”

  “There’s no ‘and’ involved. She’s my employee. We’re going out to dinner so I can learn how not to be such a weirdo.” Frustrated, he threw the sweater back on the bed. “Fuck it. I’m not going.”

  Nick held out his hands. “Whoa. Slow down. I wasn’t trying to piss you off.”

  “Then what are you trying to do, Nick? You have no idea what it’s like. This all comes so easily to you. You know what to wear, what to say and I’m just … ”

  All at once, the fight drained out of him. Bennett sat on the edge of the bed wearily and ran a hand over his hair. What the hell was he doing? He looked at the clothes strewn over the bed and the shoes he’d pulled out of the closet, the ones that always pinched his feet.

  None of this was him. He felt like a fraud trying to pretend that he could ever be what a woman like Katie needed. Because in the end, no matter what outfit his br
other dressed him up in, he was still the same tongue-tied nerd he’d always been.

  “Ben, listen to me.” Nick knelt on the floor next to him, his face grave. Since he was usually such a prankster, it was all the more striking when he got serious.

  “I don’t know what’s going on between you and this girl but you don’t need to be like anybody else. I’m pretty sure she’s smart enough to like you exactly the way you are. So if you don’t want to wear one of these outfits, don’t. Hell, you could probably show up in jeans and she’d be just as excited to see you.”

  Bennett shook his head. “She deserves the kind of guy who knows how to show her a good time.”

  “And you will. You'll give her a great time. By being yourself. She wouldn’t have agreed to this if she didn’t like you as a person. Now you just have to show her that there’s more to you than the lab coat.”

  A beat later, Nick grinned. “So, Katie is the one you’re going out with. Knew I’d get it out of you.”

  Bennett shook his head at his brother’s trickery. “Yes, I’m taking Katie out to dinner.” He laughed when Nick pumped his fist in the air. “Don’t celebrate yet. It’s just dinner.”

  “Everything starts with just something, bro. If you’re going to dinner, I think the blue button down works best. You’re taller than me so it might be a little short but if you roll the sleeves up that won’t matter.”

  Bennett took his shirt off and then shrugged into the blue one. It was a little short in the sleeves, but once he buttoned it up and rolled the sleeves, he had to admit that Nick was right. It looked pretty great. The color made his hazel eyes seem even lighter.

  “Thank you, Nick. This was a big help.”

  “Anytime, man. You know we’d do anything for you. For what it’s worth, Katie seems like one of the good ones. She's practically family already. Just remember, man: show her what’s under the lab coat.”

  Bennett made a face. “That doesn’t sound right.”

  Nick grinned. “I didn’t exactly mean it like that but hell, you might want to show her that, too. I’m not judging. I came prepared for that, too.” He was laughing as he left. That’s when Bennett noticed the other thing Nick had brought him. A box of condoms. He laughed, caught between mortification and appreciation. His brothers were nosy as hell but at least they were practical. He seriously doubted if he’d need condoms tonight but Mark Alexander had drilled it into their heads that being prepared was always preferable to the alternative. So he slipped several packets into his wallet and then went to get ready.