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“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 abouthisextracurricular 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. Itwascold 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 aboutsomeof 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’rethe 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 justhowbad. “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 onthat.
“All right, fine,” I said, shoving my hands in my pockets to keep them warm. I thought about Preston, about all the things Icould 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.”
