Ben blinked at her. For a moment he found it hard to parse her meaning, because this sentiment was so far from what he was expecting. He flipped over on his stomach and squished one of the pillows under his chin so that he could look over at her with a critical eye. "I care about you," he asserted. It was unbelievable to him that he had to say it, since he was here. Not just here in her bedroom, but here in Irvingly — here, married to her. If he really hadn't cared about her, he wouldn't have stayed married to her after he'd come to his senses in the morning. Despite what his brothers might have thought of him, Ben did have an honorable streak to his nature, but he wouldn't have gone so far as to marry a manipulative woman just to save her reputation. He might have had a white-knight complex, but he wasn't stupid.

Well, except when it came to Melody, he was. Because despite her deception and his knowledge that this wasn't the sort of life he was meant to live, he'd stayed by her side, unable to see her continue her downward spiral without someone to soften her fall.

"We've... we've had it rough," he admitted, shifting his gaze up to the headboard and resting his chin on his closed fist. "And I'm sorry about that. But I do care about you."