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The elevator reached the lobby, and Ben dropped his arm to his side, stepping away from me. I could sense his reluctance to do so, and I missed the warm comfort of his body against mine immediately, but the two of us kept a few feet of distance between us as we entered the hotel lobby.
“Where are you heading?” Ben asked as I pulled my sunglasses out of my purse.
I glanced around the lobby, but didn’t see the person I was looking for. “I’m going to pick up the flowers for the wedding as soon as I find Faith. I’ll need to take her car.”
“Why don’t I take you?” Ben offered, pulling a set of car keys out of his pocket and dangling them in front of me. “I have the keys to Michael’s SUV rental.”
I considered his offer. There was still pain pounding at my temples, so it would be nice to just relax in the car while he drove. And it would give us a good reason to spend time together without anyone questioning it. I wasn’t sure why I didn’t want anyone to know that there was something going on between us. Maybe it would make it feel too real and I wasn’t sure I was ready to acknowledge that.
“Sure,” I said, deciding to go with my heart over my head. “If you’re free, let’s go.”
I followed him outside and the valet brought the SUV from the garage. We climbed inside and I gave him directions to the local florist from the GPS on my phone.
“So, do you want to tell me what that picture you sent last night was all about?” he asked once we were on the road.
I groaned as the memory of our text exchange came flooding back to me. I had been pretty drunk by then. “Oh, that…”
“No,” he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, a devilish smile on his lips. “You can’t avoid telling me after sending that picture. Why in the world was Faith holding a giant dildo?”
I laughed. “It was a game. A ring toss.”
“With a dildo?” he asked incredulously. “Who’s idea was that?”
“Her name is Claudia and she works for Midnight Passions, a company that sells sex toys and lingerie. They also host what they call ‘Naughty Parties.’ One of the games we played was to have Faith hold the giant dildo between her knees while we threw rings at her.”
Amusement glimmered in his eyes. “Did you win?”
I scoffed. “Please. I was way too drunk to hit the target. Her friend from college, Marlee, ended up winning that game. But I did kick everyone’s ass at the bridal trivia game.”
“Bridal Trivia?”
“Yeah, we had to answer questions about Faith to see who knows her best.”
“And you proved your worthiness as the maid of honor, huh?”
I nodded. “I also won a ten-dollar gift card for Midnight Passions’ products.”
“Interesting,” he said.
I could tell that he was curious about what I bought with the gift card, but instead of asking, he nodded to a fast-food restaurant up ahead.
“How about a nice, greasy breakfast?” he suggested. “And some coffee, of course. Best hangover cure.”
I arched a brow his way. “How do you know I’m hungover?”
“Lucky guess,” he replied as he turned into the parking lot.
The restaurant had a basic breakfast menu: bacon and egg on a biscuit...sausage and egg on an English muffin...hash browns...that kind of thing. I scanned their coffee options and chose a cappuccino and a bacon sandwich. Ben got the same food but took his coffee black. He paid for both of us, rejecting my offer to pay him back. It was nice to feel taken care of as I unwrapped my sandwich and took a big bite. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I had food in my mouth.
“This was a great idea,” I said, taking a sip of my cappuccino. “Coffee’s not bad, either.”
“It’sokay.” He tried his own steaming brew. “But nothing can measure up to the coffee I get at the Falchuk Coffee House. It’s just across the street from the ambulance station where I spend my working days, waiting for a call to come in.”
“I used to have a favorite coffee shop,” I said, looking out the window so that he couldn’t see the slight frown on my face.
“Used to?” he asked, and took a bite of his sandwich.
I sighed as I picked at mine. “I...uh, don’t go there anymore.”
