He huffed an embarrassed laugh. ‘Tale as old as time really. I was into her way more than she was into me. I followed her across the country. And then she ditched me.’
‘When?’
Bennett winced. ‘Five years ago.’
‘Five years ago?! Why didn’t you go back home?’
‘No one knew I went to California for a girl. They thought I went for a job. I couldn’t just come back.’
Kira frowned. ‘I’ve met your sister. She loves having you here. I’m pretty sure you could have gone home. Or come here.’
‘Probably.’ Bennett let his head lean back on the couch cushions and Kira watched his throat muscles as he swallowed. ‘But at the time, it felt like I couldn’t.’
‘That doesn’t explain why Nicole-of-five-years-ago is texting you now.’
He closed his eyes. ‘Well, it gets worse.’
‘Uh-oh.’
‘Every year or so, we kind of end up back together again. But not really together.’ He pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘She usually just needs something from me.’
‘Oh, Bennett.’
No wonder he was acting so weird this morning. His ex was trying to slide back into his life, and he was trying to fight every Mr. Fix-It instinct in his body. He had a history of being taken advantage of. Did he worry she would do the same thing? The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him, but she didn’t have a lot of practice being nice.
‘I know. I’m a complete sucker. Nicole calls and I come running. Every damn time.’
‘If you were in California right now…’
He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. ‘She doesn’t like to be alone for the holidays.’
‘And what do you get out of all this?’ Kira huffed, irrationally angry at a woman she never met. How dare she drag this sweet man along all these years? Even someone with a damaged moral compass like herself could see that Bennett didn’t deserve that.
He lifted a shoulder in a defeated, half-shrug. ‘I usually get a few weeks of sex, a date to my office holiday party, and a New Year’s resolution not to let it happen again once she runs off. I told you, it’s embarrassing.’
‘Do you love her?’ The question slipped out. She shouldn’t care if he loved her. As long as he and this Nicole person weren’t together at the moment, she could sleep with him guilt-free. Why should she care what he did when he got back to California?
Despite all that, she waited with her breath stuck in her throat.
His eyes stayed shut, his head tipped back, and she thought he wouldn’t answer. Or worse, maybe he would confess to being in love with Nicole, and then what? They play Parcheesi the rest of the afternoon and sleep on separate ends of the couch? Not nearly as fun as the day she’d envisioned.
But then he sat up and faced her, his gray eyes clear and honest.
‘No, I don’t love her.’
Breath rushed back into her lungs. Relief. ‘Oh.’
‘I don’t think I have for a long time.’
‘Well, then maybe it’s good you’re here. To … you know … break the pattern.’
His gaze held hers. ‘It’s definitely good that I’m here.’ He reached for his phone and turned it off, the cocky little smile returning to his lips. ‘There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.’
Kira’s smile was involuntary, immediate, and wide.
Bennett returned it and that was the last thing she saw clearly before the power went out.
‘Shit.’ Kira’s voice was breathy, a hint of fear in it.
‘I’m guessing you don’t have a backup generator.’
He could see her scowling at him even in the dim lighting. It was late afternoon and between the storm and the early sunset, the room was nearly completely dark now that the lights had gone out.
‘Of course not, I don’t have a backup anything. I barely have an upfront anything.’
He huffed a laugh. ‘It’ll be fine. We have the fire. And all these blankets.’ He fluffed the pile of blankets between them. Kira looked at him, a highly skeptical look on her face.
‘We’ll starve.’
‘Kira, you have a gas stove.’
‘So…’
‘So, it will still work. And I don’t think you can starve in a twenty-four-hour period.’
‘Maybe you can’t.’
