His brows furrow. “Wait, he lectured you?”
“Yes, he told me that ‘the early bird gets the worm,’ and that had I been more prepared, Gemma wouldn’t have needed to be tardy to school and I wouldn’t have been late to our date. Needless to say, I was ready to dump my iced latte on him and leave.”
“Tell me you did,” Bennett says, fighting back a smile.
My cheeks heat with embarrassment. “I did, but only after he told me our relationship wouldn’t be going anywhere because he wasn’t interested in having children that weren’t his own. I stood up, told him I wasn’t aware a coffee date meant we were in a relationship, told him I’d be finding a new coffee shop, and poured my latte over his head.”
“Oh my god. You’re savage,” Bennett mutters through his chuckles.
“I could’ve told him I hoped he was sterile so no woman or kids had to be stuck with his sorry ass, but I kept my composure,” I point out in a sticky sweet voice.
“Yeah, sure. Composed,” he deadpans. “Either way, I’m glad you dumped your latte on that dickwad’s head. It was well-deserved. And, hey, at least it wasn’t a hot drink or you would’ve been fresh out the slammer.”
“Oh my gosh, are you a Swiftie? Gemma will lose her shit when I tell her.”
“I mean, I’m notnota fan of hers, but between you and me,” he leans in and lowers his voice. “And I mean this has to stay between the two of us, I’m more of a Taevin Gray fan.”
“Stop, really? She’s my favorite artist. Gemma’s too!”
“I’m serious, I keep that close to the chest.”
“Your secret’s safe with me, scout’s honor,” I say, crossing my heart.
Bennett lets out a sigh and rolls his eyes. “You were clearly never a scout, they don’t cross their hearts like that.”
“Alright, you got me, but I can keep my mouth shut. So long as you tell me your favorite song of hers.”
“‘Martyred,’” he replies and my jaw drops.
“Shut up, that’s mine! Did we just become musical besties?” I squeal.
“We most certainly did not.” He sounds offended at the suggestion, but he unbuttons his jacket and sits back down, which tells me I haven’t run him off quite yet.
“Sure, sure. Yet you’re making yourself right at home in my office. Do you plan to stick around for the afternoon? Should I order us lunch,bestie?”
“I almost forgot how much of a brat you are,” he resigns.
Why do I like it so much when he calls me a brat? I’m seriously depraved.
“I was kidding about the bestie part, but I’m famished, so I’m going to have my assistant order some lunch. Do you want anything?” I ask, though I’m not sure why. It’s not like I want him to stick around. It’s just nice . . . having someone to talk to. Before starting this job, I hadn’t had a lot of adult interaction over the past five years. It’s not that we were isolated at the cabin, but I didn’t necessarily make new friends, and I was at a completely different phase of life than all of my college friends.
Bennett looks at his watch and shrugs. “Sure, I don’t have anything going on aside from an afternoon skate with Connelly in two hours.”
A half hour later we’re passing takeout boxes back and forth from my favorite Chinese restaurant across my desk. Bennett’s taken off his suit jacket and has the sleeves of his shirt rolled up his forearms. Carved forearms that are most certainly distracting me in the very best way.
“So,” Bennett starts, but pauses to steal the piece of sesame chicken from my chopstix with his own before plopping it in his mouth.
Until this moment, I didn’t realize I could be turned on by the sight of a man eating. The way his strong jaw clenches while he chews, and the way his Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows has me wiggling in my desk chair.
I could be quite literally drooling right now.
“So?” I toss back halfheartedly, still distracted by the show he is completely unaware he’s putting on for me.
He brings his fist up to cover his mouth as he clears his throat. “So any other hot dates you’ve got coming up?”
“Why is that any of your business?”
“It’s not. I just wanted to see if we had to schedule Gemma’s guitar lessons around any more dates.”
