Charmed by the Billionaire (Blue Collar Billionaires #2) - Lemmon, Jessica Page 0,18

beams up at him. He bends and gives her a soft kiss. God, they’re sweet.

I take a drink of the clear liquid as Vivian does the same. “This is delicious.”

“It’s one of my favorites. He’s been creative lately,” she says.

“I’m a man in love.” His smile is easy. He’s the happiest I’ve seen him. He deserves it. He’s such a great person. “I’ll leave you to it. I’m going to do some work.”

Viv blows him a kiss, and he walks his big body past the glass partition separating the living room from the staircase and walks up.

“So then what happened?” She folds her leg beneath her on the couch and settles in for story time. “Tell me about your first Benji-assisted orgasm.”

I send an uneasy glance over my shoulder even though I watched Nate walk upstairs with my own two eyes. Then I face my friend. “Why do you want to know?”

“Because! Since I first met you and Benji, I’ve sensed sparks. And what I want to know, in as much detail as you’re comfortable with, of course, is what sort of sparks you threw. Was it sizzles and pops like oil in a pan, or a raging, unstoppable forest fire?”

“It was… It was…” I want to lie, but I’m awful at it, so I tell her the truth and save myself the trouble. “I left after the kiss. Nothing else happened.”

It was not the answer she wanted to hear, but to be fair, it wasn’t the one I wanted to give her. My shoulders sag. I’m both disappointed for her and in myself.

She sighs, her mouth screwing to one side. “Bummer.” Then she takes a gulp of her drink and sets the glass aside. “I thought the whole reason you were dating was to celebrate your life—the one you finally have since your last baby bro left the house.”

“I do. I am,” I defend.

“Then why wouldn’t you do the one thing you wanted to do most?” she asks gently.

“I panicked.”

“The virgin thing,” she guesses incorrectly.

“The best-friend thing. The boss thing. Benji is very intertwined in my life.”

“He’s also not seeing anyone at the moment, which is as rare as a snowman sighting in the desert.” She takes a breath before offering a soft smile. “I’m not trying to pressure you, Cris. I’m encouraging the outcome I thought you wanted.” She props her elbow on the back of the sofa and rests her cheek on her fist. “It’s obvious he’s totally into you.”

At this news, I blink. “Pardon?”

She reaches for her drink again. “Benji. He’s into you.”

“No, no. He’s offering to help me out of a bind. Trust me, if you heard his sterile explanation of how I was a woman in need and he was capable of fulfilling that need, you would not say he was into me.”

“Oh yes, I would. No man offers to give a woman an orgasm out of the goodness of his heart. Usually it’s so they can talk you into more sexy things.” She shimmies her shoulders.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“But Benji is… I mean, he’s probably not lying. He knows what he’s doing. He’s had plenty of practice,” I mumble against the rim of my glass. “He did offer to go down on me instead if I preferred.” I pluck the neckline of my shirt and use it to fan my face. I’m suddenly hot. Vivian has a way of watching me like she’s KGB and I’m under a very, very bright lamp.

“He did not.”

“He did. I think he was joking. Why are you whispering?”

“Cristin—what’s your middle name?”

“Joy.”

“Aw, that’s pretty.” She smiles.

“Thanks.”

Her smile erases and she explodes, “Cristin Joy Gilbert! You and Benji circle each other like there’s an impenetrable forcefield between you. Now you’ve broken past the barrier and learned you have some serious untapped sexual chemistry.” She softens her voice. “This is your chance to explore it. Sounds like he’s willing to take your relationship to the next level.”

“Not the next level,” I correct. “He said after, we could go back to life like nothing happened. Tomorrow when I show up at his house for work, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Pretend he didn’t offer to…you know. And I’ll act as if he didn’t kiss me.”

“Mm-hm.” Her mouth is a firm line of disagreement. “And how well do you think that will work after last night?”

“I am positive it will work,” I fib. “As in one hundred percent positive,” I further fib. “Benji will be as relieved as I am for not taking