Charmed by the Billionaire (Blue Collar Billionaires #2) - Lemmon, Jessica Page 0,15
is.
Viv loves to tease me about him. I’ve done a good job pretending I don’t find my boss attractive since I met her, but she doesn’t believe me. I’m a horrible liar. On the phone, she suggested I solve my orgasm issue by approaching him, and I deflected. But my joking might’ve gone too far by the time I committed to the character of seductress, and wouldn’t it figure that Benji was standing right behind me when I spun my R-rated fairy tale.
The key to problem-solving is to start from the square you’re in, which means I can’t deny what he heard. He’s too smart for that. Even if he was as dumb as a brick, I’m transparent. Any claim he misheard me would be an obvious lie. My remaining option, which he is thwarting, is to flee.
“Can we do this later? The wine went to my head tonight.” I pin a smile into place and try option C: reason.
“You didn’t have a drink at dinner because Rick is a teetotaler.” Benji’s eyelids lower into a deliberate blink. He points to the full glass of white wine sitting next to his red on the counter. “And you haven’t touched your glass yet.”
“Benji, please,” I whine. Begging is all I have left. I put my hands in prayer pose. “Please can we forget this happened?”
His full, delicious mouth tips up at one corner. “How’m I supposed to do that?”
“Easy, you shake your head like this.” I demonstrate, shaking my curls and closing my eyes for effect. I smile brightly. “Voila! All gone!”
He takes my hand and leads me past the sofa and to the counter, then spins to face me. He’s not as close as before, which is good. I really needed to take a breath not steeped in Benji. He drops my hand.
“You can’t say…” He pauses, and I pray he’s not going to recap. “What you said while looking like you do and expect me not to think about it.”
I blink at him, stunned. “You…thought about it?”
“I’m still thinking about it.” He adjusts his fly rather deliberately and my eyes follow the movement. I don’t mean to look but here I am, looking. I’m not saying there’s a flagpole down there, but there is a bit more, um, lift where there wasn’t before.
“Oh my God.” Did I do that? I don’t know whether to cry or throw a party.
“You understand my dilemma,” he rumbles. His voice is raw and sexy. My nipples tighten and press against the silky fabric of my bra.
Triple crap.
“Cris, I am capable of giving you an orgasm.”
Whimper.
“Uh, that’s okay. I’m okay. It’s okay.” Next tactic: denial.
His expression reads “bullshit” but what he says is, “I wouldn’t charge you a thousand bucks for it either.”
A laugh stutters from my lips. I put my hands over my face and literally hide. He pulls them away, which brings him closer to me. I’m so humiliated I might spontaneously combust. I open one eyelid a crack and admit, “This is so embarrassing.”
“Wine. You’re overdue.”
I’ll say. He takes my purse and drops it on the couch, and then hands over the glass of wine he poured for me. Resigned to my fate, I accept. Clearly, he’s not going to let me exit his house before he’s given a reasonable explanation. Drunk was a convenient excuse but with that off the table, I find myself reaching for another. Insanity? Would insanity work?
I take an unladylike gulp of my wine. He notices.
“There’s plenty more where that came from.”
“What a relief,” I say, deadpan.
His laugh is rumbly and gentle. I wish I could vanish into thin air, but alas…
He pulls out a stool for me. I don’t want to sit, but arguing is futile. He settles onto the stool next to mine. “So this Rick guy left you sexually frustrated?”
“What? No!” I can’t help laughing at this entire absurd situation. Me, busted after Vivian suggested I seduce my boss-slash-best-friend who’s determined to continue the date’s postmortem in order to deduce the reasons behind my mentioning his hand in my pants.
Groan.
“Cheapskates who do nothing but talk about how smart they are, and brag about the awards they won at work don’t do it for me.”
“And I do?” He smirks. Before I can have a panic attack, he frowns. “Was he inappropriate with you?” He’s angry at the idea of Rick being improper with me, which makes my tummy grow as warm as my cheeks.