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“No.” I eyed my friend over the rim of my glass. “But that would at least give me an excuse for what Ididdo.”
“Ah. Something with him.”
“Yes. But last night wasn’t the first time.”
Benoit’s hand stopped midway to his mouth, and his lips parted in surprise before curving into a sly grin that told me I was in a whole world of shit.
“Well, look at you, Mr. Robinson—sorry, Mr. Carrington.”
The reminder of what Preston had called me as he’d stroked himself in my sitting room had my own dick stiffening between my thighs. Something that wasn’t lost on Benoit as I shifted to prop my ankle up on my knee.
“Boy oh boy, whatever thought just popped into your head, I want to knowallabout it.”
“Nothing popped?—”
“Something sure did,mon ami. It’s between your thighs and getting harder by the second. Tell me, did that thought include Preston doing something like this?” Benoit brought his cigar up to his mouth and wrapped his pouty lips around it, sucking on the head.
“No. Jesus.”
When he did it again and blew the smoke in my direction, he batted his lashes.“But you want him to, don’t you?”
“Oh for fuck’s sake.”
“That’s not a no,” Benoit crooned as he lounged back in his seat, propping his arm on the velvet frame. “But if he didn’t suck on your”—Benoit’s eyes moved to my cigar, and he grinned—“head, then what exactly did he do? The nervous energy coming off you tells me it was more than a kiss but less than a fuck, so…”
“Are you out of your mind? Of course I didn’t fuck him.”
“Yet.”
I quickly glanced around us before bringing my eyes back to his, knowing the only way to stop his wild guesses was to give him something substantial to feast on.
“We kissed last month at the Elysium charity event, or he kissed me, and then?—”
“Hold the hell on.” Benoit’s eyes narrowed on me. “That tasty little morsel kissed youlastmonth and you didn’t bother to tell me? I thought we were friends.”
“We are, but?—”
“Archer Carrington, this is unacceptable. I told you when I slept with that sheikh in Dubai this past summer. How dare you keep something this delicious from me?”
The pout was back and in full force as he slumped back in his seat looking all kinds of put out, and he had every reason to be. He was right—I had kept this from him. Hell, I’d done my best to keep it from myself. But after last night, I’d realized the time for that had come and gone. I was feeling things for Preston that I’d never expected to, and I needed to work out what to do with that. So I’d called the one person I knew wouldn’t judge me—unless, of course, it was about keeping my scandalous secrets to myself.
“I wasn’t trying to keep it from you.” I let out a sigh and rested my cigar on the tray between us, leaning forward to say in a lower voice, “I was just— Look, I was ashamed of myself, okay? As far as I knew, Preston was straight and dating my daughter. I didn’t expect it to ever go anywhere.”
Benoit leaned forward also. “But it did, didn’t it?”
I licked my lips. The taste of cognac lingered there. “It did. And I think I want it to go…further.”
“I knew it. I told you that boy wasn’t straight. And you called me delusional.” He let out a huff, but a sort of glee lit his eyes. Of course he was enjoying this. This kind of debauchery was what he lived for.
“I didn’t exactly have the whole story then,” I admitted. “I assumed Serena was actually in a relationship with him—I mean, it’s been years. And the whole fucking time it’s been nothing but a cover. How did I not see that, Benny? She told me they’ve been faking it for everyone, that they’re nothing more than friends, and I—” I ran a hand over my face, so many emotions warring inside me that I didn’t know where to focus. I took in a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds before letting it out. “I need you to tell me this is crazy. That I shouldn’t be thinking about him.”
“Oh, honey, you chose the wrong person for that, and you know it. I don’t make it a habit to talk someone out of a good time.”
“Even if it could blow up my world?”
“Always focusing on the negative.” Benoit tsked. “Why don’t you focus on blowing something much more enjoyable instead? Like your pretty young thing. Now you know for sure he’ll enjoy it.”
“Jesus.” I lifted my glass but then thought better of it and picked up the cigar instead. The latter wouldn’t lead to nearly as many bad decisions, and right now my head was full of them.
