“She might have walked in on me…doing, um, manly things. And then she stayed and did…uh, womanly things?”
Colt let out a low, rough laugh. “Jesus fucking Christ. You stroked one out, and she watched? You serious?”
I groaned. “Yeah, and then she went silent for a week. Total radio silence.”
“Sounds about right,” Colt replied, his voice dry as ever.
“I think I freaked her out.” I winced.
“No shit.”
I ran a hand through my hair. “I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
“No one means to jerk off in front of their fake girlfriend, Sawyer,” he deadpanned.
“I didn’t know she was gonna walk in.” My voice rose slightly. “Then I just kinda asked her to stay, and she did!”
Colt grunted. “You need help.”
“I’m seriously trying here, man. I like her. Like, not fake dating like her.Like her, like her.”
I could hear the faint sound of him shifting around, probably leaning back somewhere with that permanent scowl of his. “So talk to her. You’ve got that gala tonight, don’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s your window,” he said. “Be honest.”
“Be honest?”
“Yeah, dumbass. Drop the golden boy shit for five minutes and tell her how you feel.”
I blinked at the wall. “I should do that?”
“Um, yeah. You should.” I could practically hear him shaking his head at me.
“Oh…okay. That was almost useful.”
“Don’t get used to it,” Colt muttered, ending the call.
A couple of hours later, Ellie called. She was on her way and wanted to stop in to use the bathroom before we left. When theknock came, I opened the door—and every coherent thought I had cleared out.
She was… Fuck. She was stunning. Black dress. Red lips. Hair that looked like it had been touched by actual angels. My hand shot out to the doorframe to steady myself when my knees literally went weak.
“Ellie,” I said, my breath catching. “Wow. You look beautiful.”
I could see her mask in place, pushing down everything that had happened last week at Christmas, and I wasn’t sure if I was grateful for that or not.
Her gaze dragged slowly down my frame and back up. “Not too bad yourself, handsome.”
My face went hot. “Thanks. Come in.”
Ben, who stood a respectable distance away, cleared his throat. “I’ll be right here when you’re ready.”
“Appreciate it,” I said, not taking my eyes off her.
“Thanks, Ben.” She stepped inside, her heels clicking softly, and scanned the place. “Thanks for letting me run up. I was so busy getting ready, I forgot to pee, and as soon as I got in the car, I went into crisis mode.”
“All good.” I gestured to the hallway. “First door on the left.”
