Page 10 of One Weekend in Perth

He thought for sure that she’d call him a rideshare and send him off into the night. He didn’t want to go home alone. Didn’t want to walk into his townhome and face all the boxes packed with most of his possessions. Fern insisted that they find a new place to live, even though he wasn’t renting his town home but paying a mortgage on it.

At the time he’d agreed with her that starting the marriage in a place that was their own seemed like a good idea, but now he could see she wanted a place Clara hadn’t been in. That his best friend hadn’t helped decorate.

“Fuck,” he muttered. “I don’t believe it.”

“What? We don’t have to stop at the store. It was just a suggestion.” Hurt clouded Clara’s eyes, and he didn’t understand why she was feeling that way until what she said sunk in.

“No, I will get some stuff. I just remembered I’m going to be homeless. I rented my place out because Fern and I were moving into another apartment after we got back from our honeymoon.” Maybe he could bunk in with Reed for a couple of months until he found a new place he could lease for a little while. Although his brother was a newlywed, adjusting to having Lauren andher daughter living in his house; no way would Reed want his brother there as well. He’d figure something out.

“Oh no, I forgot you leased your place. Can you get out of it?”

“I wouldn’t even if I could. I’m not going to put a young family on the streets because my life turned to shit. There’s every chance they’re moving from one rental place to mine. And you know the market is so tough right now. It would probably be easier for me as a single guy to get a place than for a family.”

I’m single again.

The thought didn’t upset him as much as it might have if he’d truly had his heart broken. All he felt was relief that he was single and maybe now he could do what he’d been wanting to do for a while but hadn’t because he’d been worried it might not turn out how he wanted it to. There was still a risk but he couldn’t spend the rest of his life wondering; he needed to take a leap and hope that he’d find a safe landing.

Clara came up and hugged him, the action surprising him considering how much physical distance she put between them since the phone call with Fern. But he wasn’t going to knock it. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight against him. Ben closed his eyes and savored the moment.

How had he never realized how perfect it was to hold Clara? How well she fit against him?

In some ways he knew it but hadn’t allowed himself to fully appreciate it. He would from now on, because he wasn’t playing it safe anymore.

Clara pulled back and he dropped his arms, even though he didn’t want to. “Come on,” she grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the store. “Let’s get you some things for the next couple of days. You can stay in my hotel room with me. Come Monday, we can work out where you’re going to live then.”

“Sounds good.” The last thing Ben was going to do was point out that Clara’s room only had one bed.

What the hellwas I thinking saying Ben could stay in my room?

Clara kept her thoughts to herself as the two of them walked into her hotel room and the reality of her offer set in. Her phone finally stopped buzzing with messages and incoming calls. She knew most of them would probably be from their mutual friends, asking if she knew where Ben was. Or if she was with Ben. Or if she was the reason Ben left Fern at the altar.

None of those questions she really wanted to answer. Her mind still reeled with the fact that Ben hinted at having more than friendship-type feelings for her.

No, she wasn’t going to allow herself to think about that, because it wasn’t possible. He was just confused. In the morning he’d wake up and his feelings would be a little more settled.

Damn, thinking about sleeping had the stupidity of her offer slapping her back in the face. If she’d booked a double room, having Ben stay wouldn’t be a problem because there would be two beds, but she’d booked a king room with onlyonebed. It didn’t matter that it was a king bed, there was no way she could share it with Ben and not want things she shouldn’t be wanting.

Maybe they could get another room. Okay, now she was being ridiculous. They were both adults. They could share a bed for one night without doing anything stupid. They’d done it before.

Yeah, when you were both too drunk to do anything but pass out.

Without being able to stop it, she felt herself grinning at the memory.

“What are you smiling about?” Ben asked as he tossed the bag with the things they’d purchased for him on the bed.

“I was remembering that one New Year’s Eve where we dared each other to see how much we could drink and we passed out at the hotel.”

Ben groaned. “Oh man, I try hard to forget that night. It took me two days to get over that hangover.”

“And we had to call down and see if we could get the room for another night because neither of us could be too far away from the bathroom.” Clara laughed and flopped down on the bed.

“Yes. I held back your hair while you threw up and then you rubbed my back while I did. I knew after that night that I was never going to touch rum again. And I haven’t.”

“Same, except it was vodka for me.” Clara shook her head at the memory. “It was one of the worst experiences of my life, but I was glad you were by my side.”

Ben sat down next to her on the bed and reached for her hand, tingles ran down her arm and desire fired through her.

She told herself earlier that she wasn’t going to touch Ben again, but that hadn’t lasted long at all. Clara hadn’t been able to ignore the way he sounded a little defeated when he announced he was homeless. She acted instinctively, like she would’ve done on any other occasion. She provided him with the comfort she thought he needed. And now here they were in a hotel room with one bed holding hands.

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