“AH, IF NOT the office, then the Elysium, if not the Elysium, then the office. And around we go.”
Benoit made quite the entrance as he leaned against the doorway in a long, oversized fur jacket that I was hoping was faux, but with him, I never knew. Whatever it was, it wasn’t exactly the right attire for helping out with the final touches for the Winter Ball taking place this weekend.
As it was, we were at capacity with volunteers anyway, which was why I’d told Preston he didn’t have to force his friends to help out. Not that I didn’t want to see him, but with three days until the event, I couldn’t lose focus, and Preston was the ultimate distraction. Benoit and his social agenda came a distant second.
I shook my head at my friend as I checked a delivery of crystal glasses and pointed them in the direction of the dining manager for drop-off. “Yet somehow you always manage to make an appearance. You must be bored, because I know you didn’t come here to help.”
“I don’t mind getting my hands dirty for charity,” he said, kicking up his chin. “Ruining my outfit for my ungrateful peers is where I draw the line.”
I eyed his coat again before looking back at my checklist. “Yes, God forbid you do that. What a tragedy.”
“Exactly. And the fact that you know my hard and soft limits is why I’m here.”
“Limits? This is starting to sound like a conversation we should be having in private. Preferably over drinks.”
“Mon ami, if I thought you had time for a Manhattan, I wouldn’t be standing here, begging for your help.”
“This is what you consider begging? Your partners must be so disappointed.”
He swept a hand over the fur covering his chest, stroking it. “I’d never leave an encounter anything other than completely satisfied, which, I admit, is the dilemma that’s brought me to you tonight.”
“And that is?”
“Well, a former paramour of mine has arrived in the city for several days. Completely unexpected, of course—you know I’d never plan these things.”
“No, never.”
“And while I don’t usually encumber myself with anything complicated like a night of passion that stretches into several long, tangled-in-the-sheets days—”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“—I must admit that the sex was so good I’m tempted to let him join me for an encore.”
Of all the times she could’ve walked up, the dining manager chose that one, and her wide eyes as she looked between the two of us would’ve been funny if it wasn’t so damn unprofessional.
“Uh, I’ll come back,” she said, rushing back off to the kitchen.
Benoit didn’t look the least bit self-conscious as I pinned him with a sharp look.
“You really couldn’t have called to ask me that?”
“No. You know as well as I do you wouldn’t answer in the midst of all…this.” He gestured at the chaos around us and wrinkled his nose. “So here I am.”
I rubbed my forehead and gestured toward the door, not wanting anyone else to be subjected to whatever came out of his mouth next. “Walk with me.”
Benoit didn’t have the best timing, but, needing to check on the lighting crew anyway, I could give him a couple of minutes on my way for this…“emergency.”
As I stepped out into the hall, I had to flatten myself against the wall to dodge a couple of volunteers carrying a ladder, and luckily Benoit caught himself just in time, or that precious coat would’ve been impaled.
Once they passed, I looked around, making sure the coast was clear. “All right,” I said. “What’s the problem?”
“Well, if I allow him to enjoy me tomorrow, I highly doubt he’d let me go for several days. I imagine at least through the weekend. And, as you know, that’s a problem because—”
“You’re trying to get out of attending the Winter Ball.”
Benoit put a hand over his heart. “After all the work you’ve done? I’d be a horrible friend.”
“The worst,” I said, biting back a grin. I knew exactly what he was after, but I wanted to make him sweat a little.
“Right. I suppose I’ll just have to bring him along as a”—he waved his hand, like he couldn’t get the word out—“person who attends with another person.”
Leave it to Benoit to be unable to call a date exactly what it was.
“I appreciate that you want to attend so badly, but I’m afraid I can’t let you bring a guest.”
“No?”
“You see, you didn’t mark your RSVP with a plus-one. We’ve already printed the place cards, submitted meal preferences, and done security checks on the guestlist, and it can’t be changed this last minute. I guess you’ll have to sit this one out.”
“But mon ami, I couldn’t possibly—”
“Benny, you’re uninvited,” I said, giving him the out he needed. “It’s fine. Go enjoy all the sex.”
“But—”
“No buts. I’ll have enough to deal with that night to worry about your sneaking in a date or moping about the bed you could’ve been in. I mean it.”
The crease between Benoit’s brows smoothed out and he smiled. “Well, if you insist.”
“I do. Now you can go back to more important things, like prepping your ass for an epic weekend.”
I clapped him on the shoulder and started to walk away, but he caught me by the arm.
“Not so fast. You haven’t told me what you’ve decided about your little dilemma yet. I’ll admit I’m a little hurt you haven’t asked for my advice in return, but—”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your pretty young thing, of course. The one you just spent a naughty weekend getaway with—”
Nearby, a passing group of workers burst into laughter, and I jerked my head in their direction, thinking they’d been listening in. It didn’t seem like they were paying us any attention, but that didn’t give me a sense of relief.
“Shit, come on,” I said, and made a split-second decision to get us out of earshot of anyone. It was one thing for someone to hear about his extracurricular activities; it was another to hear about mine.
I veered toward the right to the elevator and punched the button. When the doors opened immediately, I stepped inside, Benoit hot on my heels.
“The roof?” He arched a brow at the destination I’d pressed. “You do know it’s freezing out.”
“Aren’t you wearing a pack of rabbits? You’ll be fine.”
He gasped. “How dare you? Armani stopped using real fur in twenty-sixteen.”
“Well, that’s one less thing for me to worry about. My friend being a murderer.”
“Promiscuous, yes. Murderer, no.”
As the doors opened onto the roof, he stuck to the back wall, and I had to grab him by the lapel and practically drag him out. It was cold up here, especially wearing only a thin button-down with sleeves I’d rolled up my forearms. The view was undeniable, though, so breathtakingly gorgeous that I didn’t mind a little frostbite.
“We’re up here so you can tell me the delicious things you and pretty young thing did in private, yes?” The mischievous glint in Benoit’s eyes was evident with the city lights reflected in them.
“No. Unlike some, I don’t kiss and then tell every little detail.”
He pouted. “Well, what about some of the details?”
“I don’t know. Maybe another time. When I’m not drowning in deadlines and surrounded by a building full of people needing my attention,” I said pointedly.
“You’re the one who dragged me onto the roof. I just assumed you wanted to tell me what a bad boy you’ve been.”
No way in hell was I going to tell him just how bad. “Look, I just don’t need anyone to overhear your big mouth, that’s all.”
Holding his coat closed, he shrugged and strolled past me. “All the better to suck cock with, my dear.”
Thank God no one was listening in on that.
“All right, fine,” I said, shoving my hands in my pockets to keep them warm. I thought about Preston, about all the things I could say. “You want me to give you something, how about this: I think I could actually really like him, and that scares me to death.”
To his credit, Benoit didn’t give away any surprise at my admission. He only stared at me for a long moment before finally shaking his head. “Oh no.”
“What?”
“Darling Archer. There’s no ‘could’ happening here. You like him.”
“No, I…” I swallowed hard, the denial unable to get its way past my throat. It was too easy to see what could happen here, because the truth was, the time I spent with Preston didn’t have me just living in the moment. It had me thinking a few steps into the future, imagining what that might be like. To have him in my bed at night, to wake up to him in the morning. To not have to hide if we wanted to walk down the street or if he dragged me back to an ice rink.
It couldn’t happen, of course. Not with who he was, not with who I was, and not with the complication that was his public relationship with my daughter.
“I’m setting myself up for disaster,” I said, and then met Benoit’s eyes. “Aren’t I?”
He gave me a tight smile full of sympathy. “I think you already have.”
I let that sink in, feeling the unease settle in my stomach.
I liked Preston. A lot. I didn’t need weeks or months or years to tell me that. Even if I’d never looked at him the way I did now, I knew his heart. I knew what a good guy he was, only now I had the bonus of seeing all the other sides of him I’d never known existed. And it all made him damn near irresistible.
Preston. A guy who wasn’t even born when I started college.
Fuck me.
“I don’t understand how I’ve let this happen,” I said, pacing. “He’s not out, not even to his parents. How the hell did I think fooling around with him was a good idea?”
“Fooling around is always a good idea,” Benoit said, before dropping his gaze below my hips. “But you’re supposed to be thinking with your dick, not that useless organ beating in your chest. That was your mistake. You know this.”
“It’s not like I don’t know how to keep things casual. That’s all I’ve been doing for months.”
“You could cut things off now.” When I snapped my head in his direction, he lifted a shoulder. “I mean, what’s the alternative?”
I had literally no idea. That didn’t stop Benoit from rambling on.
“How did he take the news about your bringing a date Saturday? Because, trust me, those young ones can be extraordinarily jealous.”
A date on Saturday? To the Winter Ball? I frowned. “What did you say?”
“I said, even if he says he’s okay with it, once he sees you with someone else, he won’t be so accommodating. I’d expect fireworks if I were you.”
I blinked, wondering what the hell he was talking about, until it hit me out of nowhere.
Jesus Christ, Benoit was right. I had asked someone to join me as my date, weeks ago. I’d completely forgotten about it with everything going on. Rodney was the cousin of a legacy member, someone I’d met at another event, and we’d hit it off. He lived too far away for us to see each other regularly, but when he mentioned being in town to visit family during this weekend’s festivities, I’d offered for him to join me. Not so much as a romantic date, though who knew what he considered it as, but to have someone fun by my side on what could be a stressful night.
I hadn’t dreamed Preston would ever be involved in this scenario.
No wonder I had a couple missed calls from Rodney earlier today. He’d probably wanted to touch base. About our date.
Fuck me to hell.
“Preston doesn’t know, does he?” Benoit mused, tapping his lips. “Because you’ve been off having mind-blowing orgasms that knocked that bit of information right out of your head.”
“Dammit,” I said, running a hand over my face as I began to walk the length of the roof. Regardless of whatever we were or weren’t, I couldn’t see Preston taking this well. Hell, I wasn’t taking this well.
“What was his name? The guy?” Benoit let out an exaggerated sigh, and his breath came out in a white cloud. “So many men in this city. I can’t keep up. At least this one’s age appropriate.”
“Shut up.” He wasn’t wrong, though. “I’ll just have to call Rodney and get out of it.”
He snorted out a laugh. “Really? And what will that sound like? ‘Sorry, Rodney dear, my college boy toy who’ll be at the party with my daughter won’t like it if I bring you’?”
He was right. That sounded fucking ridiculous out loud, but bringing someone was the last thing I wanted to do.
“You said it yourself—all the place cards and security checks are done. How will it look if the president of the Elysium has an empty chair beside his at the event?” Benoit tsked as I glared at him. Not because he was saying anything I didn’t already know to be true, but because I was pissed off at myself.
I stopped pacing, resting my hands low on my hips. “I’ll have to tell Preston tomorrow, I guess.”
“Why not tonight?”
“Because I’ll be here late, and it’s not something I want to do over the phone.” It would be easier to convince him this date wasn’t a big deal if I could do it in person and he could see my face.
“Well, good luck with your PYT, darling. And don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Benoit grinned and then made an explosive motion with his fingers. “Fireworks.”
