“No, you should stay. You were going to ask Henry something until we dragged you into our movie. I’ll talk to you later, Henry.” She waved and shut the door firmly before Benny could make further objections.
“Nice pj’s. I’m glad to see you haven’t permanently retired the dinosaur slippers.”
“How long have you been waiting to give that sparkling commentary?” she asked, but she smiled as she turned to find him nearly on top of her. “Besides, the slippers were a gift from my nieces and nephew. They won’t be going anywhere.”
He went to the kitchen island and poured himself a glass of wine. He started to pour one for her, but she stopped him. “None for me. Want to make sure I wake up looking my best tomorrow. The swollen-bags-under-the-eyes thing is so retro.”
“Clinic hours again?”
That’s right. He’d left before she could share the details of her upcoming date. “No, actually. Luke’s picking me up at noon. We’re going golfing. Then he just wants to—get this—spend the rest of the day with me. Impressive, right?”
“Um. Sure, up until you whack him in the head or fail to make it past the first hole. You do remember that you still can’t golf, don’t you?”
He grabbed his glass and took a seat on the couch. She did still need some tips, so she took a seat on the leather chair next to the couch. “Of course I do. But I got a few swings in, and I’m pretty sure that I have the hang of it now. I can totally envision myself making contact with the ball now.”
“Golf isn’t just about hitting the ball and sending it careening wherever you want. You’re actually supposed to get it in the hole.”
“I know how it works. I’ll be fine. I can wing it. I just need a little help from you on the actual rules. The jargon. Like what’s ‘love’ and all that.”
“Well, the first thing you should know is that ‘love’ is a tennis term. Not golf. What about clubs? Did you actually buy some or are you planning on renting them?”
She hadn’t considered that. “Do you think I might borrow the set from last weekend?”
“Of course. Fortunately for you, I forgot to return them to Morgan, so they’re still in the closet.” He stood and headed to the coat closet and hauled them out.
“Speaking of Morgan, I got the impression she was studying me the whole time. Did you happen to tell her anything about our…arrangement?”
He cringed. “I’m afraid so. Not that I had intended to, but Ella was really helpful with providing details about our shopping excursion, and Morgan naturally wanted to know why.” He lifted a club up. “Here. Just to get you started, don’t worry about all the other clubs in the bag. For now, worry about using these three.”
She thought about revisiting his revelation, but what was the point? Morgan wasn’t going to blab it all around, and Benny supposed she couldn’t expect Henry to lie to her. Something she was feeling more guilty about when she thought about how she’d been less than truthful with her own sister.
Rising to her feet, she joined him and listened as he explained the different clubs, with names like driver, iron, wedge, and putter and a few other descriptions of why she’d ever need any of the others.
And although she’d usually dismissed golf as boring, she found the abbreviated lesson actually…fascinating. Managing to hit the ball was just one aspect, of course, but Henry’s explanation of how using a different size or weight or angle head could affect the trajectory of each swing gave her something to think about.
“You’re going to show me how all this works Sunday morning, right?” she asked.
“I have us down for tee time at nine. And I’m packing a helmet.”
She rolled her eyes. “I am not going to hit you again, Henry. Jeez, I’m not that much of a klutz.”
“My head begs to differ.”
“Well, that time was different. I was…distracted.”
He raised a brow. “By what?”
Crap. Had she just admitted that? Well, there was no way she was going to elaborate how just having him standing behind her, his breath in her hair, the heady scent of him surrounding her, had left her a little unbalanced.
“I can’t remember.” She dropped the club back in the bag, unsure how she’d handle herself if Henry decided to give her another up-close-and-personal lesson on swinging. Not when she’d spent the past two nights thinking about what it had been like to kiss him. Even after she’d kissed Luke Seeley, when the only thing running through her mind should have been kissing him again. Not Henry.
“Try not to get too distracted again tomorrow. By the way, if the two of you are looking for something to do, I’m having a get-together tomorrow night. And before you say it, I’ll keep the music down to a respectable level.”
“Thanks, maybe we will. I should go. I’m sure you have other plans. I really hadn’t meant to be here so long.”
“No worries. Actually, I think I’m going to stay in tonight. Get my own beauty rest.”
Henry Ellison was staying in? And on a Friday night, no less.