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“No one is paying any attention to you. You’re just paranoid, and so is he. Go find him, make sure everything is okay.”
“And if it’s not okay, maybe he’ll give you a spanking.” East closed his eyes and moaned. “Harder, Daddy.”
“I think I just threw up in my mouth.” Daire’s droll voice finally had me smiling as I snuck another look around the room. Maybe Donovan was right. I could duck out real quick, make sure everything was okay, then come back, and none would be the wiser.
I could also send a text?—
Fuck that. I wanted toseehim. A text held no tone, no emotion, and with the way my brain was messing with me, I would probably take whatever he said the wrong way.
“Okay, I’m going.”
“Attaboy.” West clapped me on the shoulder, and I made sure to avoid looking Gavin’s way, because he’d probably make me feel guilty for what I was about to do.
Before I could change my mind, I started across the main floor and thought I heard East say, “Does that mean we don’t have to move the tree?”
I left the rest of my friends to deal with his ass as I focused on my goal: tracking down Archer. As I passed by a group of ladies working on the napkin folding, several looked in my directionand waved—and being the well-mannered young man I was, I plastered on a smile and waved back. The last thing I needed was any kind of talk to get back to my parents about my behavior. I wanted to blend in, appear as normal as could be.
Why did that feel so damn hard to do right now?
Donovan was right: I was paranoid as hell. It was weird. The night at the restaurant, I hadn’t felt this gnawing sensation that everyone was watching me. I’d teased the hell out of Archer, trying to get a reaction. But I also hadn’t spent the night in his bed at that point. Something I really wanted to do again, and that was why I was feeling so…soon edge.
I didn’t want to fuck this up. I didn’t want to give him any reason to regret what we’d done, to regret me, and it was making me feel like a nervous shit.
Annoyed at myself, I stepped out into the lobby of the Elysium and scanned the extravagant entrance, looking for the man who ran the place. There was a crew up on scaffolding hanging gold and crystal reindeers from the roof, and then I spotted Peg, alone. She’d be the one to tell me where he’d gone.
That wouldn’t be weird, right? She knew I was a volunteer, and maybe there was a problem with one of the trees. She wouldn’t know any different.
Right? Right.
I took a breath and told myself to act normal as I headed in her direction. The second she spotted me, a bright smile crossed her lips and lit her eyes.
This would work. I just had to remember to call Archer “Mr. Carrington,” and I might get away this.
“Preston, how is everything coming along with the trees?”
As East had been left with minimal supervision, I was scared to even guess, but I wasn’t going to think about that.
“Great. The guys are working on them now. I just had a couple of questions for Mr. Carrington. Do you know where he went?”
God, please make that sound calmer than I felt asking.
“He was just here, but had to step away to take a call. I think he went that way trying to find a quieter spot.”
She pointed down one of the halls that fed off the main entrance to a side door where people were coming and going with tables, chairs, and decorations—then, right on cue, a marble polisher began to whir loudly in the main hall.
Peg laughed. “I guess he had the right idea.”
“Sounds like it. Thanks, I appreciate it.”
“Of course. Anything you need, let me know.”
The only thing I needed was down that hall, and she’d just helped me out by pointing me in his direction. I crossed the lobby to where several workers were wheeling in tall stacks of chairs, and once they’d passed by and the hall cleared, I spotted him.
Archer’s back was to me, his phone to his ear. From where I stood I had the perfect vantage point to watch him, and when he slipped his hand in the pocket of his pants, the material of his jacket parted slightly, giving me a glimpse of his perfect ass.
Fuck, he was hot.
It was one thing to think that from afar, but having spent time with him, suit and jacket on the floor, it made him even hotter.
