Five Ways to Fall (Ten Tiny Breaths, #4)(68)

“I finished these for you.”

Blue eyes shoot up to take me in, flickering downward over my body before returning to my face, as if it’s impossible not to check all of me out. For Ben, I think it may be. Then again, now that I’ve gotten a good glimpse of everything beneath his clothes, I’ve been taking every opportunity to check him out as he passes by my office, too. It usually ends with my heart rate quickening and me losing focus. Ben has become incredibly damaging to my concentration.

Setting his pen down, he leans back and heaves a sigh. “Hey, Reese.” The smirk is there, but there’s an edge of something to go with it. The same something that’s been lingering every time I’ve crossed paths with him this week. I think it’s wariness.

If I had to guess, Jack said something to him about dropping me off on Sunday morning. When I texted Ben about it, though, he denied that any conversation had ever taken place. And then he asked me what I was wearing.

Walking in, I place the folder on his desk. “Pages are all marked. I’ve also prepared the additional paperwork for your client to sign.”

“You’ve been busy.” The words that would normally be flirtatious from Ben seem almost clipped now. I want playful Ben back. I also think I want him to kiss me again. “Tired?”

“Yeah. This work just never ends.”

I slink into his spare chair and put my feet up on his desk. “How can I help?”

I don’t miss his quick glance out toward the left, where Jack’s office is. He leans forward and lowers his voice to a low crackle just above a whisper, because I don’t think Ben is capable of whispering. “Look, I’ve seen you completely naked twice now. Having you in here is giving me a raging hard-on that I won’t be able to hide if I get called into a meeting, which is about to happen. You need to get your cute ass out of here now so I can focus.”

I let my legs slide off and drop to the floor noisily. “Suit yourself.” A strange mixture of excitement and disappointment sweeps through me with his words.

Jack totally threatened him.

It’s my own fault. I should have had Ben drop me off down the street. Jack is always up that early and I knew there was a chance that he’d be on his treadmill, the one in the room above the garage that overlooks the driveway.

Standing, I head toward the door. As my hand grasps the doorknob, Ben’s heavy sigh fills the air. “Look, I just can’t risk losing my job over this.”

I pause to look over at him. “Over what? We’re just friends, right?”

The pen in his hand flicks back and forth as he regards me for a moment. And then he smiles. “Yup, just friends.”

I hold up a finger. “But don’t forget, fake boyfriend, we still have a deal.” I haven’t talked to Jared since that day at the café, more than a week ago. I hear that little voice screaming inside my head, the words “let him go” on repeat, but a part of me—the part that makes me open up Facebook and type in his name as soon as I wake up in the morning—isn’t ready yet. I just can’t figure out exactly why. Is it for the sake of pride? The promise of retribution? Or is it because I know all is not well in Caroline’s stolen paradise? Because I want my paradise back?

“Yeah . . .” That one word draws out of Ben’s mouth with another glance toward Jack’s office as he shakes his head, a strange frown marring his face. “Just don’t get your fake boyfriend fired.”



“Here.” I set one of Mrs. Cooke’s muffins down on his desk, my stomach doing a small flip at the sight of Ben’s arms, looking all the more defined in a fitted silvery-blue golf shirt. I think blue is my favorite color on him. It makes his eyes pop. “They’re going fast.”

Ben looks up from his desk, glancing at my offering, and then up at me. “That’s because I’ve already eaten three this morning.” Reaching out to wrap a giant hand around it, he says with a wry smile, “But thanks. I’ll gladly take this one too.”

“You’re going to grow a belly like Jack if you don’t slow down on those.”

Taking a bite, he watches me with curious eyes while he chews and swallows. “Will you still love me when I don’t look like this?”

“Absolutely not.” I turn to walk out, his snicker making me smile.

But then his words catch me at his doorway. “You know, you’re acting awfully nice to me. It’s out of character. People are starting to notice. They think Rancor is developing a little crush.” I look over my shoulder in time to catch his wink. “We wouldn’t want that, now, would we?”

I can’t tell if he’s just teasing me or if people are actually saying that and noticing a difference in me. But I do know that we definitely don’t want that kind of rumor floating around. “You know better, though, right?” It almost comes out as a warning.

Grinning broadly, he holds the muffin up and says, “No worries here, Reese. Thanks for this.”

I didn’t realize I was holding my breath but I guess I was, because I release it in a heavy sigh. Just to be on the safe side, I add in a calm but loud—loud enough for half the office to hear—voice, “I hope you choke on that and die. Have a nice day!”

Reese MacKay does not “crush” on anyone.

Ben’s laughter trails me past a dozen nosy clerks and admins, all the way into my own office.