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“I think it’s safe to say he likes it,” Eugene said dryly. To Ben he said, “Strip down to your underwear and please tell me you didn’t go commando today.”
Ben felt his face flame brightly. He was wearing underwear—one of the new pairs that had arrived with the rest of his gifted wardrobe. They were black boxer-briefs, so nothing terribly exciting. Still, he faltered, conflicted on several levels. Foremost was the thought that Ben didn’t need his measurements taken because he’d never wear anything ever made in this shop.
Simon walked over to him, all gorgeous in that navy velvet that perfectly set off his eyes. When he was close enough to touch, Simon leaned forward and said one word. “Please.”
Ben’s fingers went automatically to his shirt and started to undo the buttons.
“Thank you,” Simon whispered, then kissed the top of Ben’s head.
Any lingering resistance Ben might have had evaporated and floated away.
When he was down to his undershirt and boxers, Eugene measured his shoulders, neck, and arms. Then he directed Ben to stand on a small platform, where Eugene went on to measure the rest of him, including the inside of his leg, which was particularly embarrassing considering he was still about half hard from seeing Simon in that amazing suit.
To distract himself, Ben asked Simon, “Where exactly are you going to wear that?”
Simon chuckled. “It’s for this year’s New Year’s Eve party. You’ll need something to wear, as well.”
Again, Ben felt blood rush to his face. The only good part of blushing that hard was that his semi was completely gone. “No, I don’t. It’s your party, not mine. If you want me there, I can wear the new clothes you already got me. I don’t need—”
“Mother always insists on formal attire for her parties, and since you’re not going to stay locked in your room while a party is going on, that means you need something appropriate to wear.” Simon cupped Ben’s cheek. “You can wear the suit later to job interviews. Let it be my gift to you.”
Ben nodded. “Okay.” He was still unsure about the whole idea, from measurements to a suit to the party, but he found he didn’t want to fight Simon on it.
“Good.” Simon brushed his lips over Ben’s.
Jae shouted something in Korean to his son, who grumbled under his breath then had Ben step down from the platform. “I’m all done. You can put your clothes back on. When it’s ready, we’ll have you come into try the suit on then we’ll do the final alterations.”
“Okay,” Ben said, feeling more than a little overwhelmed. “Sure. I have no idea how…” he gestured around hopelessly, “any of this works. At all.”
Eugene studied Ben for several moments then glanced over his shoulder to where his father and Simon were in deep discussion over something Ben couldn’t quite hear. Then he looked back at Ben and he smiled and Ben realized Eugene was beautiful, with his flawless skin and dark eyes and sweetly curved lips. Simon was devastatingly handsome but Eugene was something Ben hadn’t thought a man could be. He waslovely.
As if not noticing Ben’s stare, Eugene said, said, “Your boyfriend, Mr. Prince, he’s a really nice guy. I’ve found rich people come in two varieties, roughly. Ones who have something to prove and ones that don’t. The first set are horrible people because nothing ever pleases them. They’re always convinced someone is trying to cheat them and they want utter perfection achieved in an unreasonable amount of time and then they’ll complain about the price. The other type is so used to money that it doesn’t faze them in the slightest. They don’t quibble about prices and they know exactly how long it takes to make a suit by hand because they’ve never owned anything else. They don’t think about money like fish don’t think about water. You know what I mean?”
“I think so,” Ben said. “But you’re wrong about Simon. Not about him being nice. He’s been beyond generous to me. But he’s not my boyfriend.”
Eugene laughed.
“What?” Ben asked.
“Ben, we need to leave to make our appointments,” Simon called out. To Jae, he added, “I’m taking Ben to seeA Christmas Carolat The Goodman this evening.”
Jae nodded, all smiles. “Very good.”
Eugene raised his eyebrows at Ben. “So the man who’s not your boyfriend is taking you on a date tonight?”
“It’s not like that,” Ben insisted.
Eugene clasped Ben on the shoulder. “It was nice meeting you, Ben. I’m looking forward to working with you in the future. I’m going to make you look like a million dollars. No, scratch that. Abilliondollars.”
Ben wanted to protest further but Simon whisked him away. In the back of Simon’s Bentley, Ben sat in the literal lap of luxury and reminded himself that Simon wasn’t his boyfriend, and falling in love with the man would be the biggest mistake of his life.
26
Simon Is Deeply in Smit
Tuesday, December 19
An exclusive salon and spa
