CHAPTER 11 BENNETT #3
“Bower, you’re not getting caught up in—”
“Shhh,” Bower says while pressing a finger to my lips. “Let the lady speak.”
Gretchen chuckles, actually chuckles, can’t be sure I’ve ever heard that sound come out of her before.
“Yes, Bennett, let me speak.” Knowing I won’t get anywhere with these two women teaming up against me, I gesture for Gretchen to continue.
“So, you two have known each other for a while now. What are some things you like?”
Bower thumbs toward me. “Obsessed with baseball. Has been ever since I met him. He’s dedicated his life to the sport. I don’t think there was a time where I’d visit my friend, his sister, and he wasn’t doing something to better himself.”
“Do you play baseball?” Gretchen asks.
“Oh no.” Bower waves her hand in dismissal.
“Barely understand it. I know that Bennett is good and that the fans love him. Oh, and the camera guy loves zooming in on his face when he’s up to bat, because if the angle is right, you get the dark scruff of his jaw in combination with the light blue of his eyes. A dangerous blend.”
“It is a dangerous blend,” Gretchen says as I can feel her eyes on me. “What about you, Bower, what do you do?”
“I’m a personal assistant. My boss just moved here, actually. I was living farther up north, but she wasn’t feeding her shopping addiction enough, so we moved to the city. Knowing Bennett was here, I was excited to find an available apartment in his building.”
“Oh.” Gretchen’s brows raise. “You two are neighbors?”
“We are. I bring him sweets in the morning when he’s barely made it out of bed. He loves sweets, especially pastries. He didn’t get to have them growing up, so I’m filling him up now.”
“Why couldn’t you have pastries?” Gretchen asks.
“Couldn’t afford them,” I say, not wanting to go too much into detail about it.
“Maybe you can do something with sweets,” Bower says.
“Perhaps.” Gretchen gives it some thought. “What else do you two do together?”
“Other than hang out?” Bower shrugs and then her eyes widen. “Oh, wait, we read together.”
“You read together?” Gretchen looks to me for confirmation.
“Not like…read together, but we read separate books and talk about them.”
“We have a book club between the two of us, and get this, he reads romance.”
“Really?” Gretchen sits taller.
“Yup, our book club is called the Kim Halpert Book Club, long story, but he’s reading a baseball series right now and he cried while reading it.”
“No, I didn’t,” I say.
“Wait, you didn’t?”
“No, you might have been thinking about yourself.”
“Huh, maybe. Either way”—Bower turns back toward Gretchen—“the books make him incredibly horny.”
“Bower,” I say as Gretchen laughs some more.
“This is the kind of thing I was looking for.”
“A horny Bennett?” Bower asks. “I don’t think he gets out much, so he’s got to be revved up and ready to blow…if you know what I mean.”
“Oh, I know exactly what you mean.” Gretchen winks.
“Hey, can we not talk about my…desires?”
“Desires.” Bower snorts and covers her nose. “Why did you choose that word?”
I pull on the brim of my hat and mutter, “No fucking clue.”
Should have left the minute Bower showed up.
Gretchen starts typing away on her phone and says, “This is really, really good stuff and something we can use.”
“We’re not telling the public that I’m horny,” I say.
Gretchen winces. “Gross, Bennett. Of course we wouldn’t. People don’t need to know about your lack of sex life.”
“Extremely blue balls,” Bower says, a smirk on her face.
“Extremely is a bit…extreme,” I say. “Also, can we stop talking about my balls?”
“I’d prefer if we did,” Gretchen says as she finishes typing on her phone and then looks up at the both of us.
“This is what we’re going to do. Bennett’s going to form a book club, we will create social media accounts for it, and you will start recommending two books a month to read and then discuss them with Bower on video. ”
“She doesn’t need to be—”
“Oh my God, I’d love that,” Bower says, gripping my arm. “I’ve always wanted to start a book club. I thought it would be great to go with my book truck idea that will never happen, but at least I can cling to a book club.”
Book truck idea? What’s that?
“Perfect. It’s settled.” Gretchen starts to gather her things.
“Come up with a name that I can approve, and the Kim Halpert Book Club is not it. I’d like to see this up and running in a few weeks.
Once I see you have committed to this idea, Bennett, then I can reduce your time at the zoo.
And when the time is right, I’ll involve Graydon and OC in the book club to spread the impact.
This will be great to capture the female audience, especially since you’re such a heartthrob already. ”
“Ooo, is he?” Bower asks, looking far too excited about it. “I bet you’re an inspiration for sports romance authors.”
“Most likely,” Gretchen says, looking between the two of us.
“Any chance we can secure some sort of shirtless campaign for him? He has amazing abs. Go ahead, Bennett, show her your abs.”
“I’m not showing her my abs.”
“Go ahead. Don’t be shy.” She turns to Gretchen. “They’re great. A set you can lose a finger in, the divots are so deep. Go on, Bennett, flash her.”
“I’m not flashing her,” I say, clamping down on my shirt. “We’re not doing a shirtless campaign.”
“Actually, a shirtless campaign is not a bad idea. Let me talk to some magazines and see what we can do.”
Bower claps. “They won’t regret it. Oh!” She holds up a finger. “Have we considered a dating show?”
“Oh my God.” I groan and then lift out of my chair, pulling Bower with me. “We’re leaving.”
I tug her toward the door, Gretchen chuckling as Bower calls out, “Consider the dating show. Women will be pleading at his feet to ease the blue balls.”
Jesus.
Christ.