“Hmm. I could see how that might be a problem.”
He smiled at her. “But anyway, that Mentor Science award ceremony is what started this whole thing. My friend Olivia is going with me and I wanted to learn how to be a better companion.”
It took Katie a few seconds to really understand what he was saying. She looked down at the heavily embossed invitation in her hand again. Bennett was getting an award at a fancy ceremony. His friend Olivia was going with him. No, correction, his friend Olivia was his date. She swallowed as her earlier embarrassment returned threefold. No wonder Bennett had run out of here like his ass was on fire. He definitely didn’t want his assistant flirting with him.
He was doing all this to impress another woman!
Katie squared her shoulders. All of this was irrelevant. There had never been anything between her and Bennett other than a work relationship and a distant acquaintanceship. But over the past week, she’d come to think of him as a friend. He’d asked for her help and she’d promised to give it to him. Katie considered her word to be solid. So despite her silly daydreams, she was going to give him the best help she could.
“You know, if you’re trying to be a good date, there’s really only one way to make sure of that.”
Bennett suddenly looked nervous. “There is?”
“A practice date. We should get dressed up and go out to eat somewhere.”
“A practice date,” Bennett echoed. He was quiet for a moment and then nodded firmly. “Yes, we should do that.”
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.”