Madeline stared at her computer nervously bouncing her knee wondering how to casually tell Bennet that she would accept his offer. Fortunately she didn’t have to wait long as her inter-office IM alerted her of an incoming message. Bennet’s name popped up on her computer with a message: Good morning! Hope I’m not interrupting but could you come up to my office when you get a chance? Have some ideas for the Larson file and would love to pick your brain.

She stared at the blinking cursor…well now’s my chance. Yeah absolutely, I’ll be right up! She grabbed her coffee and notebook and made her way to Bennet’s office.

"So what do you think? Am I way off here?" Bennet put his hands on the table and looked over at Maddie as he spoke.

"No, not at all! I mean, the fact that you’re asking me if your ideas are "off" is a little hard to wrap my head around," she said with a smile.

"Hey I’m just the business brains behind this shindig, you have the eye for graphics and design!" Bennet leaned across the table and flipped through some of the designs he had printed out, his arm brushing against Madeline’s waist. She could smell his cologne as he moved about, his rich brown hair falling over his brow. He had rolled his sleeves up to his elbows so every time he moved it caused the pronounced muscles on his forearms to flex.

She let her eyes wander as he moved about the table deep in thought. He had removed his suit coat as well so she could see the outline of his firm ass as he leaned over.

Christ! She thought to herself. When did I become a raging bag of hormones?! A woman would be mortified if a man objectified her in his head this way. Madeline refocused her thoughts and muttered some agreements with what Bennet was saying.

By the time Madeline had glanced at a clock she had been in Bennet’s office for just over two hours. Little had been said the last several minutes as Bennet made some design tweaks on his tablet.

Madeline uncrossed and crossed her arms, "Hey so this might not be the best time to bring this up but I uh wanted to thank you for your offer of letting me stay with you while my apartment is getting redone or cleaned or whatever," She continued to ramble for a few moments, not even knowing what the hell she was really saying. Bennet stood stoically with his hands in his pockets as she nervously flapped her arms about and avoided eye contact.

"Anyway, short story long, if the offer still stands I’d be very grateful to stay with you." She finally looked up at him as she finished speaking and saw a huge grin spread across his face.

“That's great!" He seemed surprisingly enthusiastic about this unconventional living situation. "Well everything is ready to go so all you need to do is move in. We can swing by your friend’s place after work and pick up your things?"

"Yeah that works for me," Maddie shrugged as if she had no idea what to say or no idea what she had just agreed to. "If you don’t need me anymore I’m going to head back to my desk. I have a team meeting in a few minutes." She pointed over her shoulder with her thumbs in an awkward gesture and quickly spun her heels to head out the door.

Bennet chuckled and gave her a little wave, "Thanks again for the input today Madeline."

Maddie spent the rest of the afternoon working on her assigned projects, attending her team meeting and grabbing lunch with a few coworkers. It was nearly 5:30 and she was gathering her things to head to the lobby, assuming that’s where she’d run into Bennet. She rounded the corner to the elevator bank and ran straight into Bennet.

He grabbed her arm, "Hey! I was just coming to grab you so we can head out. I should warn you I don’t keep these crazy late hours like you." He said with a wink. She smiled shyly and they both boarded the elevator car.

"So there are three other bedrooms besides mine, you are free to choose whichever you like. All of them have an ensuite bathroom, king sized bed, walk-in closets, tv, etc." Bennet reached in one of the rooms and flipped on the switch to give Maddie a better view. “They’re all very plain since nobody uses them so feel free to decorate or I can call a painter or whatever you like. Also they all have pretty big windows but there’s also blackout curtains so you don’t need to worry about the sun waking you up at some ungodly hour."

Madeline walked into the room and took it all in. The view of the city and lake were beautiful and the jetted soaker tub was calling her name. "This room works perfectly honestly. Thanks again, I really appreciate it."

Bennet leaned against the door frame, "Stop thanking me for it already. And listen, I’m not going to be in your way, talking shop or expecting you to even converse with me." He smiled.

“I’ll be around if you need anything so please don’t hesitate to ask and if you ever do get bored and want to hang out that’s fine too." He pulled himself away from the wall, "My room is down the hall, last door on the left. I’m going to hit the gym for a bit but please feel free to roam, check out the kitchen and put anything you want on the list and Marta the housekeeper will pick it up for you. I’ll give you the full tour when I get back." He patted the wall and headed towards his room to get changed for the gym.

Madeline spent a while unpacking her things and getting organized in her new environment. She wanted to take a soak in the tub but remembered Bennet’s promise to give her a full tour of the house a little later.

She made her way to the kitchen to see if she could rustle up some tea and a lite dinner. She was just finishing up her peanut butter toast when the elevator door opened and a shirtless and sweaty Bennet emerged. His shorts were slung low on his hips, highlighting the deep V in his abs and the dark trail of hair that disappeared below his waistband. Maddie turned her head quickly to avoid staring and nearly choked on the last bite of her toast.

"Oh good you found something to eat. It’s usually pretty well stocked. I like to cook and don’t eat out too much if I can help it." He said as he leaned into the fridge to grab a bottle of water. He cracked it open and leaned his head back as he drank, his throat constricting with every swallow. Maddie was sure her mouth was hanging open and her eyes were bugging out of her head. She tried to act natural as she dismounted from the bar stool and headed over to the sink with her dishes.

"I love to cook as well. Bake and cook actually but never have anyone to help me eat it all so I haven’t baked a lot lately."

"Well I will strongly encourage you to put the range to good use and bake your heart out!" His words trailed behind him as he headed out of the kitchen and back towards his bedroom.

Maddie headed to her room to decompress and shake the half-naked images of Bennet from her head. She decided she wouldn’t wait around for Bennet’s house tour and instead started the bath. She had packed some lavender bath salts she had received as a Christmas gift so she sprinkled them into the tub, wishing she had some candles and a nice Malbec to round out her mini spa night.

Slipping off her work clothes she gingerly dipped a toe in to test the water, finding that it was the perfect temperature. She lowered the rest of her body into the warm water and let out a long sigh of exhaustion. She hadn’t realized how ragged she had been running herself lately until this moment. She had noticed she had lost weight which was very pronounced on her already tiny frame and her dark circles seemed more prominent but she had been blaming it on poor lighting and intense workouts.

The truth was she hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in months and besides her day at the spa with Jazmine awhile back she hadn’t really felt relaxed. She breathed in the lavender and let her head fall back against the edge of the tub, the jets gently massaging her back as she soaked in each second of this feeling of bliss.