Page 52 of A Colourful Country Escape
‘It feels like that’s not enough. I want more.’ He fixed her with those atlas eyes that made her feel like anything was possible.
‘Like … physically?’
Ben laughed. ‘By the end of the date, Amanda had made it pretty clear that was on the table if I wanted it.’
‘And did you want it? On the table?’ Lexie blinked. Oh,what? ‘I mean … not on the table, but generally.’ Why had she asked such a thing? Did she even want to know?
‘With a woman who was all but trying to prise my trousers off to see what I was using to pad out my Calvin Kleins?’
Various thoughts buzzed around Lexie’s head, and she wasn’t sure where to start. The thought of Ben in a tight pair of Calvins, or the chance to get down and dirty with him on a table.
Mmm, that suddenly sounded appealing. She’d heard him taking a long shower in his neighbouring hotel room that morning, and the enticing thought of it had been springing up ever since. She knew they were totally unsuitable as a long-term prospect. But sex …
‘Lexie?’
Shit, what was wrong with her? This was Ben. This was work! She shook her head back to the present and tried to look innocent.
‘Er, right. Sorry! As if you’d need to pad out your boxers.’ She gave a nervous laugh and willed herself not to look at his trouser region. Which was really bloody difficult now the thought had crossed her mind.
He gave her a strange look.
‘Oh God, not that I’ve checked. I mean, I have no idea if you’d need to beef up your briefs. I’m just assuming. Anyway, it’s not even a thing, is it? Not like girls padding their bras.’ She cupped a boob by way of panicked demonstration.
She. Cupped. A. Boob. What the hell were her crazy limbs doing? She pulled her hand away from her chest and tried to ignore the frisson of excitement as she saw his startled eyes glance there.
No, he surely hadn’t meant to.
Lexie fanned her face. The air-con was seriously unreliable; she needed a moment.
She slithered off her too-high bar stool, trying her best not to look like a seductive snake-woman, and disappeared in the direction of the ladies’ before her thoughts could get her into trouble.
When Lexie returned from the loo five minutes later, Ben had taken off his tie and loosened his collar. Damn it, she’d just been trying to cool off. She could do without him looking a notch more handsome. Maybe he was feeling this extra heat too.
‘Tell me what I should do,’ he said to her, as she tried to manoeuvre her bottom back onto the world’s trickiest bar stool. ‘I’m no good at these dating matters. I thought Mother’s plan was straightforward enough for a plain, apple-loving man like me, but … ’
‘Actually, I think you’re faking it,’ Lexie declared when her bum was safely back on fabric.
He swished the orange peel around the burnt amber liquid in his glass and she wondered what he was thinking.
‘I mean, you say you don’t get out much,’ she continued. ‘And that your dating life is a disaster.’ She looked around the bar with its tantalisingly dusky lighting and shimmering walls of glass. ‘But I don’t think you need my advice at all.’
He smiled at her, but there was a sadness somehow. As though he’d grappled over the thought before.
‘Quite the opposite, Miss Summers. I’m beginning to notice I need you more than I could ever have bargained for.’
Miss Summers.God.It had really wound her up when he’d first called her that, like a teacher speaking to an unworthy pupil. But now … She grabbed her cocktail stick and popped her maraschino cherry into her mouth before she let out some sort of involuntary moan. And how did he need her? Like,needneed? Or just the need for a bit of advice on finding his rich wife? Yes, surely the latter …
‘You did an impressive job of choosing the dinner venue too,’ she managed, once she’d swallowed her cocktail decoration. Why did her voice sound so husky?
After the paint conference, Ben had shepherded her to possibly the best Thai restaurant ever, outside of Thailand. He’d clearly done his homework. The menu had been as gloriously sweet and spicy as Ben’s efforts to skate outside his comfort zone. Lexie had struggled once more to ignore that surprising feeling – her poor, unsuspecting heart being warmed.
‘Well, I had my work cut out to beat your breakfast venue. Peanut butter, bacon and banana on a waffle. Who knew?’ he said, with a smile.
‘Who knew there were still living humans who’d never tried waffles.’ She returned his grin, glad of their familiar banter. ‘I was impressed you ordered the Elvis. A brave move from your usual Mrs Moon’s homemade crumpet.’
‘Which is why I need you.’ He winked. ‘Broadening my horizons.’
She laughed. ‘Although I’m deducting marks for the lack of after-dinner fortune cookie.’
