Page 137

He moves to lead me back downstairs, but I quickly stop him, needing to say something first.
“Bennett.” He turns to me, and I take his face between my hands, needing him to really hear me. “What you did for me—restructuring everything, finding a way to save what matters, even working with my father—it means everything. But you need to know something.”
His body tenses slightly, bracing for conditions or reservations.
“I'd have loved you anyway,” I whisper. “Even if you couldn't save the company. Even if all you could offer was us. I still would have wanted you, wanted us.
The vulnerability in his eyes is enough to break myheart. For a moment, he looks like someone no one has ever truly chosen just for who he is.
“You would have?” His voice holds a note of wonder. “Knowing what was coming?”
“Eventually,” I admit, running my fingers along his jawline. “I'd have been furious for a while longer. Made you work for it. But yes, Bennett. I would have chosen you. That's what terrified me most—knowing I loved you enough to forgive almost anything.”
He pulls me close, burying his face in my hair. “I don't deserve you.”
“Probably not,” I agree, feeling him laugh against me. “But you're stuck with me anyway.”
His laugh is unsteady, relief and joy mingling in the sound. “Thank God for that.”
He kisses me again, and this one feels different—like a promise, like a future unfolding between us. When we break apart, his eyes are blazing with that intensity I've missed so desperately.
“Five minutes downstairs,” he says, his voice dropping to that register that makes heat pool low in my belly. “Then I'm taking you home and showing you exactly how much I've missed you.”
“Five minutes,” I agree, already anticipating his hands on my bare skin. “Don't you dare make small talk with anyone.”
When we return to the ballroom, Serena spots us immediately. Her eyes dart to our joined hands, then to my face, where she clearly reads everything she needs to know.
“Well, well,” she says as we approach. “Looks like someone had a productive conversation.”
“Several, actually,” I reply, unable to keep the smile from my face.
Caleb appears at her side with two champagne flutes. “I take it all went well?” he asks, handing Serena a glass with what looks suspiciously like attentiveness.
“Very,” Bennett confirms, his hand still firmly clasping mine. “We should be able to proceed as planned.”
The look that passes between the men carries years of friendship and shared understanding. I've never seen Bennett rely on anyone the way he does on Caleb, and it makes me happy to know he hasn't been completely alone all these years.
“I'm glad,” Caleb says, his usual professional reserve softening. “I'd hate to see all those billable hours go to waste.”
Serena rolls her eyes. “Always about the bottom line with you legal types, isn't it?”
“Not always,” Caleb replies, his gaze lingering on her face a beat too long. “Some things are worth more than money.”
The loaded statement hangs between them, creating a tension I recognize all too well. Bennett notices too, his eyebrow arching slightly as he glances at me with shared amusement.
“We should find our hosts,” Bennett says, clearly providing an exit strategy. “Thank them for their hospitality.”
“And then?” Serena asks, her knowing smile making me blush.
“And then we're leaving,” I reply, squeezing Bennett's hand. “It's been... an eventful evening.”
“I bet,” she murmurs. “Call me tomorrow with details. All of them.”
After thanking Willa and Landon and making promises to meet later in the week, Bennett guides me toward the exit.
“Your place or mine?” I ask as we wait for the car, though we both know the answer.
“Ours,” he says, the word heavy with meaning. His thumb traces circles on my wrist where my pulse races. “I want to wake up with you in our bed tomorrow and tell you about all the ways I plan to love you.”