Chapter 16
Annalise
I didn’t argue over who would take the first shift driving—only because I really hate driving anyway. But I did use Bennett’s wanting to be behind the wheel to negotiate that the passenger had control of the radio.
We’d been on the road for about two hours now, and our conversation had been limited, mostly polite small talk about work. He seemed to be off somewhere else, although I wasn’t sure if he was lost in thought or maybe he liked quiet to concentrate when he drove. I figured I would follow suit on the limited talking in case it was the latter.
“There’s a rest stop in about a mile,” Bennett said. “I’m going to stop to use the restroom. But they also have a Starbucks if you want coffee or anything.”
“Oh, that’s great. I don’t have to go, but I’ll definitely grab a coffee. I need more caffeine. Want me to pick you up anything?”
“Yeah, that’d be great. Whatever dark roast they have with cream, no sugar.”
“Okay.”
At the rest stop, Bennett went to the bathroom while I waited in a long line for coffee and scrolled through my emails on my phone. Earlier I’d emailed Marina to let her know about our change in plans. I knew some airlines canceled your return flight if you didn’t show up for the first leg of the trip, so I’d asked her to contact Delta and make sure we stayed booked on our return flights. Her response was interesting.
Hi, Annalise. You’re all set. Since your flight hadn’t taken off yet, they let me convert it to a one-way ticket without a change fee due to their delay. Your itinerary number is the same. But since Bennett’s flight had already taken off, his return was automatically canceled, and I had to book him a new one way and apply for a refund on his outbound. He has a new itinerary number: QJ5GRL
Hope your trip gets better.
Marina
Bennett had said his flight got canceled. Perhaps Marina was mistaken? I started to write her back, and then something made me check for myself. Calling up the Delta flight status website, I typed in the departure and arrival cities and set the approximate time of departure as 7AM. Sure enough, it confirmed that Bennett’s flight had taken off fifteen minutes ago and was due to land at a little after eleven. The page also listed the subsequent flights, so I scrolled down to find mine. The estimated landing time was now pushed to after our meeting was set to start at one.
I’d made the right choice to drive. But why had Bennett joined me?
***
Not knowing the answer gnawed at me as we drove. I internally debated the reasons Bennett might’ve lied about his flight being canceled. There were only two I could come up with. He had either been afraid his flight would get canceled and I’d show up to the meeting alone…or…he didn’t want me to drive alone because he knew how I felt about driving. The logical explanation was that he didn’t want me alone with the client. It should’ve been a cut-and-dried answer requiring no debate. Yet I kept coming back to what Madison had said the other night at dinner.
Beast. Was he a good guy underneath the roar and trying to hide it?
Whatever the reason, I could have just let it be. But that wasn’t my strongpoint. No, I had to understand the man next to me, whether he wanted me to or not.
I turned my body toward the driver’s side so I could watch Bennett’s face as I spoke. “So Marina got back to me about confirming our return flights.”
“Good. Any issues?”
“No. We’re all set with the same return.” I paused. “Except she mentioned something.”
“Let me guess, her lunch went missing and she called the cops on me even though I’m not there today?”
I chuckled. “No. She mentioned that she had to rebook yours. It seems they canceled your return because your seat wasn’t used on the outbound flight that had already taken off.”
Bennett side glanced from the road to me, and our eyes caught. He returned to staring straight ahead and said nothing for a solid minute. I saw the wheels in his head turning.
Eventually he said, “Needed to play it safe. Couldn’t have you showing up at the client without me.”
I was probably nuts, and I couldn’t put my finger on why, but I didn’t believe him. For some reason, I was suddenly certain Bennett was lying. He’d taken the trip with me because he didn’t want me to have to drive alone. It warmed my heart a little, though he clearly didn’t intend for that to happen. And it made me want to be nice back.
I took a deep breath and stuck my neck out…again. “The other night really helped me a lot.”
He glanced over a second time. His face was pensive, like he was curious to hear what I had to say, but also didn’t think it would be wise to have this conversation.
“Oh yeah?”
I nodded. “I’ve been thinking about it. I really owe you. If you hadn’t set me straight on what you thought Andrew’s intentions were before I went, I would have woken up the next morning in a room at that hotel. Not only that, but when I eventually figured out on my own that he wasn’t planning on us reuniting for more than one night at a time, it would have been like ripping open a wound that had already started to heal.”
“Just told you what I saw happening. Could have been totally off base.”
“But you weren’t. And you were there for me, to help pick up the pieces when I might’ve fallen apart, even though I’d told you off.”
Sitting in the passenger seat while Bennett drove really had a big advantage: I could study his face. Being able to focus and watch the way his jaw ticked, his mouth moved, and his brow furrowed with confusion when he was unsure of how to answer shed a lot of light on Bennett Fox. He struggled for a moment over how to respond to my last comment before deciding on a simple nod.
“So now that you know my sad relationship history, what’s your story? The only thing you’ve given me is that you’ve never had a girlfriend on Valentine’s Day. It’s only fair that I know something about your love life. Plus, we’re stuck in this car for hours more, so you might as well tell me and get it over with, because I’ll get it out of you before we reach L.A. And don’t worry—we can go back to being non-friends when we open the car doors.”
Bennett stayed focused on the road, but managed a forced smile. “Nothing to tell.”
“Oh come on, there must be something. When was the last time you had a date?”
He shook his head.
He did not want to be having this conversation. But my need to have it was stronger than his resistance. The man had me curious.
“Was it a week ago? A month ago? Seven years?”
He sighed. “I don’t know. A few weeks ago. Right before you vandalized my car.”
“What was her name?”
“Jessica.”
“Jessica what?”
“I don’t know. Something with an S, I think.”
“So I guess you only went out with her once since you don’t even know her last name?”
A guilty smirk dimpled his handsome face. “Actually, I went out with her a few times. I’m just bad with names.”
“Really? What’s my last name?”
He answered without missing a beat. “Pain in the ass.”
I ignored that. “So you went out with Jessica S. a few times. Why did it end?”
He shrugged. “It never really began. We just got along and…were compatible.”
“So you were compatible, yet it only lasted a few dates. Why is that?”
“I didn’t mean we were compatible for anything long term.”
It took me a minute to catch on. “You mean compatible as in you were compatible in the bedroom?”
“It is what it is.”
“So you’re saying it was a sexual thing only.”
“We went out to dinner a few times. Enjoyed each other’s company. I just like keeping things simple.”
“Really? Why is that?”
“I like my life better without unnecessary complications.”
“So you see women as complications, then?”
“Most women are complicated, yes.”
I pondered that for a moment. “So how does it work? You meet a woman and ask her if she’s interested in a night of sex only?”
Bennett chuckled. “It’s not quite that simple.”
I teased. “But if it’s not that simple, it would be complicated. And you don’t do complicated.”
He mumbled something under his breath about me being a pain the ass and shook his head—something he did frequently when I spoke.
“No, seriously,” I said. “I’m interested. How does it work? Do you use a dating service or something?”
Bennett glanced to me and back to the road a few times. Seeming to realize I had no intention of letting the subject go, he sighed. “It’s less sterile than that. If I take a woman out, at some point the conversation inevitably turns to what both of us are looking for in a relationship. I’m honest and say I want to keep things casual. But it’s not hard to tell what a woman is looking for before you get to that point. So I avoid the ones that are…complicated.”
“You’re saying you can tell whether a woman might be interested in a sex-only relationship by just, what, talking to her for a few minutes?”
“Usually.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
He shrugged. “Seems to have worked out for me so far.”
I looked out the window, lost in thought for a minute, then asked my next question while watching him in the reflection. “What about me?”
Bennett’s eyes completely left the road and his head swung toward me after that. “What about you?”
“You’ve spent some time with me now. Tell me, would I be interested in a sexual relationship only, or am I too complicated?”
I turned back to look at him and watched as he raised a hand to his chin and rubbed. A wide smile spread across his face when he stopped pretending to deliberate over his answer.
“You’re as complicated as they come, sweetheart.”
I opened my mouth to argue, then shut it, then opened it. “I am not.”
He flashed me a look that said bullshit.
“I’m not!”
“You’ve been on a break with that moron for what, three, four months now? How many men have you gone out with during that time?”
My lips pursed.
“So I take that as a none, then?”
“I needed a break.”
“From sex?”
“From men.” I frowned. “Andrew really hurt me.”
“Sorry. But that just proves my point. You could have gone out and had sex if you wanted—a physical release. But you associate that with a relationship.”
I guess he was right. I’d had a one-night stand my first year in college and hated the way I felt the next day. I suppose I was complicated.
Now I was the one who wanted to change the subject.
“Have you ever had a girlfriend?” I asked.
“Define girlfriend?”
“A person you dated exclusively.”
“Sure. I told you, I’m not big on sharing when I’m seeing someone.”
“How long was your longest relationship?”
“I don’t know, a few months. Maybe six.”
“Have you ever been in love?”
Bennett’s jaw tightened. Clearly that question caused some hurt.
He cleared his throat. “You said you owe me one, right?”
I nodded.
“Let’s change the subject to talking about business, and we’ll call it even.”