Still refusing to look at my phone I shake my head as I tell my sweet friend the truth, “I can’t, Harp. I can’t fall for him. He will get bored and he will move on.”
“Just like the others,” she finishes my thought.
“Exactly.”
“And has he been like them so far? Showy and smarmy and pushy? Disingenuous? Shallow?”
I look at her. “He’s a British billionaire playboy.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
I snort a non-reply.
“My timer is about to go off. Before I leave you to think about how right I am, what’s next?”
My eyes go wide, “We meet the family.”
“In Mexico?”
“No, we’re headed to New York. The Clark Industries Christmas Gala is on Saturday, but before that, Friday evening we have dinner with the family.”
“Wow. Showtime, huh?”
I nod, “Yup. His dad will be there but also Samantha, that’s Skye’s younger sister.”
“Oh yeah, she’s the sweetheart with a big mouth, right?”
“Right. She will blab to her sisters the second dinner is over. Heck, she’ll probably make us FaceTime Skye before the appetizers come out.”
A buzzer goes off and she looks away for a beat before she says, “I know you’re worried about how well Skye knows you and that she’ll sniff out the truth but I don’t think you need to worry at all.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.The truthis the two of you are crazy about each other. You don’t have to be a genius at reading people to see it. You just need a set of eyeballs. I gotta go.” She whispers, “If you finally have actual sex you better text me!”
She ends the call before I can answer her that that will not be happening. I know Benedict now. I truly, really know him. And I know it will be hot and life-changing, sure, but it will also be sweet and intimate and beyond confusing. Blow jobs and make out sessions scratch the itch. It’s what we agreed, even if we never got into the specifics. By now I know he’s onto me and the fact that I’m not willing to cross that line.
I won’t.
Sure, he’s gorgeous and wonderful and has somehow become the sexiest man I’ve ever seen. I’ve never wanted anyone like Iwant him. I have sex dreams now. I’m so sexually charged all day long I’ve had to relieve the pressure once or twice a day. Always envisioning him while I do it.
But I’ve made this a rule now. Unspoken, but a rule all the same.
And I don’t break my rules.
35
BEN
“Damn your rules to hell,” I grouse as she walks out of my guest bedroom looking like yet another fantasy. She’s in a red sweater dress that’s soft and fitted like a second skin over her body. But it’s a short bloody thing and she’s wearing a pair of sexy black boots, the kind that go above the knee.
“Ben!”
“Can I add some rules? Can you wear ugly, beige, full body thermal pajamas on every day that’s not Saturday?”
“You want me to wear long johns to meet your mother?”
“She’ll understand,” I huff, earning another laugh.
