He laughed again. ‘How about a flashlight? Or candles.’
She perked up at that, her eyes big in the semi-darkness. ‘I have candles! Upstairs.’ She grabbed his hand and pulled him up from the couch. ‘Come with me, it’s scary up there in the dark.’
He followed her out of the cozy warmth of the living room and up the stairs to the second floor. The stairs groaned with every step. Kira still held tight to his hand as she led the way. He hated to think that if he hadn’t come back, she’d have been here by herself, scared. She’d obviously have been fine, but he hated it, anyway.
She led him down the hall to the last bedroom.
‘They should be in here somewhere.’
It was the only bedroom with furniture. A bed in the center, a dresser, two bedside tables. But the room didn’t feel lived-in.
‘You don’t have sheets on the bed,’ he observed as Kira rummaged through a dresser drawer for candles.
‘I don’t sleep in here. Too cold.’
‘Where do you sleep then?’
‘Living room. On the couch.’
‘The couch?’ He was trying very hard to swallow his thoughts on Kira sleeping on the couch, but it had been a long day. A day filled with unplanned confessions and rapidly shifting barometric pressure. And Bennett was tired of suppressing his natural instincts.
He liked Kira. A lot. Too much probably. But he did.
And he showed people he cared about them by taking care of them. It was just who he was, damn it. And just because Nicole had abused that side of him, didn’t mean he needed to get rid of it completely.
And just…
Sleeping on the couch?
Because she was cold?
In this fucking drafty old house by herself?
He couldn’t stand it.
‘I’m bringing this mattress downstairs.’
Kira turned from the dresser, her arms filled with candles in varying sizes and shapes. Her brows rose until they vanished beneath her bangs.
‘Excuse me, you’re doing what?’
‘Don’t argue with me about this, Kira. I’m bringing the mattress downstairs. You can set it up on the floor in the living room. It will be more comfortable.’ He was already tugging the mattress off the box spring.
‘Bennett…’
‘I said don’t argue.’
‘Ha! Okay, you said it so obviously, I will just agree with you.’
He sighed, lowering the corner of the mattress. ‘Please.’ His voice was rough and raw, and this mattress meant way more than it should right now, but it did. He’d just realized that he didn’t want Nicole anymore. He didn’t love her anymore. And all he wanted was the woman in front of him and he didn’t know what to do about that.
All he knew was he needed this mattress downstairs.
He needed Kira warm.
He probably needed therapy, but that was an issue for another day.
‘Please?’
‘Please, let me do this for you.’
Kira stood in front of him, her mouth slightly open, like for once she didn’t know what to say. So he lifted the mattress again, tipping it to its side so he could shove it through the bedroom door. He pushed it out, angling it to get it down the hall.
Kira followed behind him, still in silent shock.
The stairs were a bit trickier, but he was a man on a mission now and he managed it, not entirely gracefully, but he managed it. Kira didn’t speak again until the coffee table was pushed aside and the mattress was laid out on the living room floor, right in front of the fireplace. The warmest spot in the whole damn house.
‘Show-off,’ Kira muttered as she arranged the candles on the mantle and the side table next to the couch.
And he couldn’t help his smile.
He grabbed the pack of matches by the fireplace and started lighting the candles.
‘This candle smells like Meet Cute? What does that even mean?’ Lilac, champagne, and citrus, apparently.
‘Chloe got me that set.’
‘Morally Grey, Enemies to Lovers, Grumpy-slash-Sunshine,’ he read off the other candle labels. ‘Slow Burn, at least that one makes sense for a candle.’ He set the last candle down and found Kira laughing at him.
