Page 65 of Just for the Plot

“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?”