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“Yes it does.” Preston eyed me with a wicked grin. “And if they knew how good you were in bed?” He whistled.
I reached out and shoved him in the arm. “Stop it.”
“Okay, but seriously, why are you single?”
“Other than today, I’m a bit of a workaholic, if you haven’t noticed.”
“Oh, I noticed. I just figured if you were with someone you wouldn’t be.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. I haven’t really been looking.”
Preston arched a brow. “So you’re blaming the fact that you, New York’s most eligible bachelor, are single because you’re a workaholic, yet somehow I managed to convince you to take a day off to go ice-skating?”
“In all fairness, you were naked and straddling me when you asked.”
“So all it takes is a… What did you call me? A pretty young thing stroking your cock?”
Giggles broke out behind us as a couple of women in running gear overheard. Once they passed by, I shot Preston a look.
“Really?”
He smiled, utterly unrepentant. “Was I wrong?”
As the rink came into view, I shook my head, because no, he wasn’t. What was it about him that had me willing to go out of my comfort zone and actually enjoy it?
“Well, just so you know,” he said. “I’m flattered.”
With that bright smile still on his face, he brushed his hand against mine, and the urge to link my fingers with his was overwhelming. Caution held me back, though, because even with the people we knew at work or in school, I really didn’t want an unwelcome surprise like Jacques last night.
I had to shove my hands in the pockets of my coat so I didn’t touch him, but before he could even look disappointed at that, I bumped his shoulder with mine.
“Come on. Let’s see how many times you’ll have to catch me.”
“You’re playing hooky to be with me,” Preston said smugly. “Looks like I already have.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
preston
“NOT GONNA LIE, I’m getting a little nervous.” Archer glanced out the back window of his car and then raised a brow at me.
“What? You don’t trust me? Even after I didn’t let you break a hip at the rink?” I smiled, because Archer wasn’t anywhere near the disaster on ice that he’d claimed to be. As a matter of fact, he’d onlyalmostfallen once, and that was due to the group of kids weaving in and out between our legs. The list of things Archer did well kept growing.
He held his hands up. “You’re right. We could be in the ER right now if it weren’t for you.”
“Exactly. So in keeping with the festive holiday theme we’ve got going on today, and the fact that we’re trying to stay on the down-low, this place is perfect.”
His driver opened the back door, and I stepped out first, followed by Archer. He whispered something to his driver, who nodded, and then we headed toward the entrance of Rolf’s.
Archer reached for the door first, pulling it open for me, and that made my stomach do a little flip. Such a gentleman, opening doors for me—but also such adatething to do.
Because, holy shit, we were on a date. Me and Archer Carrington. That blew my mind.
I felt Archer’s hand on my lower back, guiding me inside, but the moment the hostess greeted us, it disappeared. I wished I could tell him to put it back, or reach for him, but those were luxuries we couldn’t afford outside of a hotel room. It was enough just to be somewhere, anywhere, with him.
“You said festive, but I think Christmas threw up in here,” Archer said as he looked around at the décor.
Itwasa little ostentatious, with so many holiday lights, garlands, and decorations that you couldn’t see the ceiling or the walls. There had to be thousands of ornamental balls of every color hanging from the ceiling and wrapped around pillars. The wildest part was that Rolf’s was like this all the time, not just for Christmas.
