AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Very good.”
Benoit smiled as I hit the button to end the intercom. “Who’s Preston?”
“No one.”
There was a knock on the door, and I took my feet off the desk and sat up.
“Come in,” I called out.
“Hi.” A knowing smile just this side of flirtatious curved Preston’s lips as he stepped into my office and shut the door behind him. But when he spotted Benoit sitting in the chair opposite me, he came to a standstill and his smile fell. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I didn’t realize you were in the middle of a meeting.”
Benoit swiveled in his seat to see who’d joined us, and he gave Preston a long once-over. “Trust me,mon cher, with a face like that, youneverhave to worry about interrupting.”
“Knock it off, Benoit.” I shook my head and gestured for Preston to come in. My friend turned back to me, raised his perfectly sculpted brows, and mouthed,Ishefully satisfying you?
Of course he’d go there. Preston was a looker, and all that confidence had caught Benoit’s attention. I gave my friend a curt shake of my head.
“Benoit, this is Preston. Serena’sboyfriend.” I added the extra emphasis for everyone’s benefit, and I couldn’t help but notice the flash of annoyance in Preston’s eyes. But I could see the way Benoit was eyeing Senator Abernathy’s son, and with his fresh-faced good looks and easygoing charm, Preston would be the exact kind of distraction Benoit would be looking for in the city.
A disappointed expression crossed Benoit’s face before he quickly plastered on a polite smile. “Oh, well, that’s a shame. But lucky for Serena.”
“It is,” I said, and eyed Preston pointedly. “Preston is great for Serena, and they’re wonderful together. I couldn’t be happier for them.”
With Benoit watching, Preston was back to playing the part of the perfect son and boyfriend. He bit his lip before nodding and giving my friend a tight smile.
“How do you know Mr. Carrington?”
Benoit ran his finger along the lip of his glass in slow circles and smirked. “How do Inotknow him?”
Oh Jesus.
Preston looked between the two of us, clearly taken aback. “Are you two…together?”
It wouldn’t be the worst thing for him to think I was taken, but lying to him afterhistruths had come out didn’t feel right.
“Honey, no.” Benoit let out a lyrical laugh. “I can’t be tied down, not even by someone as handsome as my old friend here. You know what they say, keep a man in every port.”
I shook my head. “Is that what they say?”
Benoit lifted a shoulder. “Well, it’s whatIsay.”
Fighting the urge to roll my eyes, I looked back to Preston. “What brings you by?”
Preston seemed to gather himself as he opened the leather flap of his messenger bag and pulled out a plastic binder.
“I told you when I stopped by Friday that I’d work on those figures you asked me for.” He slipped the folder across the desk and flipped it open to the first page. “I got a few different quotes for the interior lighting if you still want to go with the winter’s night theme.”
“Winter’s night?”
I glanced at Benoit. “Yes. I thought the blues and silvers under twinkling lights would make for a festive and romantic setting at the Elysium this year. Instead of the same old traditional red, green, and gold.”
“Ah, yes,” Benoit said. “What better time to fall in love than during the holidays. Don’t you think, Preston?”
Tension radiated off Preston, but he held his tongue. “I suppose so. I’m just doing what Mr. Carrington tells me.”
“Well, aren’t you a good boy.”
I aimed ashut the fuck upglare in my friend’s direction.
