Page 23 of Ruined Promises

He sits up and folds his arms on the table. “All right, Lexi Baker, I’m all yours.”

Oh, if only that were true.

We make it through going over the winners for twelve categories before Ben’s phone chimes, alerting us our dinner has arrived downstairs. Ben leaves to meet the delivery guy, and I not only clear space on the table for our food but take advantage of the distance now put between us.

“Sweet Jesus, are you feeding an army?” I ask when Ben returns with enough sushi to feed the entire Art department.

Ben finishes setting the containers out in the newly cleared space. With his hands on his hips, he takes in the scene in front of him. “Yeah…” He trails off. “I may have overdone it. But the last thing we needed is me getting hangry.” I snort at his use of the word “hangry.” He smirks. “Oh, believe me, it’s not pretty.”

“Don’t let me stop you. Let’s dig in.”

I use my chopsticks to pick up one of the colorful rolls in front of me, and I can’t hold back my moan when the flavors explode in my mouth.

When I open my eyes, I find Ben staring at me, his mouth gaped. I quickly cover my mouth. “I’m sorry; it’s just so good.”

Ben sets his food down and leans forward. “Lex, never apologize for something that you enjoy.” Is he referring to the food or him?

It’s incredible that we accomplished almost getting through the entire list of winners after eating a gross yet delicious amount of sushi, yet I still can’t get his comments out of my head.Did he say those things on purpose just to mess with me?

While I have my feet now propped up on the conference chair next to me, Ben has been attempting to walk off his meal, pacing back and forth.

“How many more of these are left,” he asks from across the room.

“Just two more actually,” I respond, chewing on the tip of my pen.

Ben comes up behind me, one hand perched on the back of my chair, while his other hand is flat on the table. His palm is now splayed as he leans his weight over me. When I glance down, I am close enough to see the veins in his muscular forearms bulging against the colored lines in his tattoos. I want to rake my nails up and down his arm to trace the intricate details.

As he leans over further, reading over my shoulder, his scent pulls me in. I take a moment to catch my breath as memories of that night assault me. I must be losing my mind because I swear I hear Ben inhale as his nose is right near the top of my head.

Neither of us moves. I assume he is still reading, but I’m worried that if I move, I’ll be right back in his arms. The moment has us frozen in time. I savor the closeness of him. My breathing quickens when I feel his breath on the skin on the back of my neck.What is happening? Is either of us prepared for this?I can feel the heat radiating off his body.

The moment is quickly broken when Ben’s phone buzzes on the other side of the table. We both separate as he puts distance between us. I quickly gather up the paperwork, shuffling them into one pile.

I try to gather my things before he is done responding to whoever has his attention on his phone. I am almost free when Ben lightly grabs my arm, causing me to startle.

“Hey, where’s the fire?”

I refuse to meet his gaze. I’m so confused about everything tonight. “Sorry, I just figured I took up enough of your time tonight, and we were all done. Plus, I’ll let you get to whoever that was.”Do I sound jealous? I don’t even know anything about him or whoever is on the phone.

Ben steps back, releasing my arm. He nods and doesn’t push the subject.

“Well, thank you for staying late.”

“It was no problem at all.” We both exit the conference room, and Ben flicks the light off behind him. When he turns left toward his office, I go the opposite way toward mine. “Hey, Lex,” he calls out, and I turn to face him. “For the record, the text was only my brother alerting me he wasn’t coming home tonight.”

I am left speechless, and Ben knows it, too. “Good night, Lexi. See you on Monday.” He turns and heads to his office, leaving me standing there still confused about what the fuck just happened.

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