Page 16 of Just a Plot Twist (Tate Brothers #7)

He takes a step towards the door. I should release this guy from the cringiness that’s been happening so we can both get on with our lives.

“Well, it sounds like a big deal. Good luck with the swans.”

“It’s going to be great,” I offer. “We’re going to party it up!” I try to infuse my words with an enthusiasm I don’t currently have.

His laughter is rich. “You mean, extravaganza it up, right?”

At my groan, he winks.

“It’s all of the above,” I say, shifting so I can look at my computer screen. I’m a spectacle, on stage in my unmentionables, with nary a covering to be found. He saw my bra and more cleavage than probably any man before in my life.

Even my swimsuits have higher necklines.

I’ve mentioned that I haven’t prioritized any sort of dating life, not that there’s ever really many good guys around town. The best eligible bachelors have been the Tates and they’re all in relationships now.

And they’re Tates .

Benson saw my cleavage and touched my butt on the way down from the hike. It’s not like he was all handsy—he was professional about it. But yeah. With the mechanics of piggybacks, he sort of had to touch my butt.

I haven’t been this up close and personal with a guy in…

well…never. I’ve only kissed exactly two men in my life.

One was named Chad. I met him my freshman year of college when we both worked at the on-campus KFC.

All I could think about when we kissed was how much he smelled like the fryers in the back.

It was hours after our shift! And? He’d told me he’d showered .

So that was disappointing.

And the next guy I kissed was named Tad.

Yep. Chad and Tad.

Tad was in my senior cohort. We made out a few times on our senior trip to New York and then again a couple of years later when I ran into him at a conference for work.

I was so concerned about whether or not I was doing it right that the whole thing was far more stressful than enjoyable.

So, should I feel an odd sort of kinship to Benson? Hey, Benny, you’ve seen more of me than any guy ever!

Several seconds tick by. His musky, clean scent is going to linger in here after he’s gone.

And my coworkers are going to ask questions, if not from the manly scent in my office, then because of the flowers or his very presence.

They’ll think there’s something going on between us and that I, like Inez and other city managers before her, am going to fall in love and quit to have babies, like it’s the early 1900s or something.

And then it hits me. “Thank you for the flowers,” I finally say. Had I really not thanked him yet? Geez.

I don’t have good manners around Benson Kilpack, do I? Guilt floods my middle.

“They’re very pretty,” I add.

He’s a great guy. If I allowed myself, I could really like him. But I have work to do. Not to mention last minute décor for the extravaganza and a haircut and making sure I look okay in the dress Grandma bought me.

It’s a very formal affair, and now I’m imagining Benson in a tux and I’m liking it? I probably suffered some sort of brain damage in my stumble on the trail on Saturday .

“Well, this whole thing with my shirt and my grandparents was just…awkward, so we can just forget about it all.” I take one last tug at the top of my shirt. Bringing it up almost to my chin.

His gaze goes to my hand as it clutches my shirt. “I don’t think you’re going to get that neckline to go any higher.” There’s a simmering in his eyes. A touch of wickedness in his smile.

Is he making fun of me? Or did he like it when I was brazenly parading around with my blouse half-opened?

I begin to protest, but he cuts me off.

“Good luck with the party on Saturday.”

“ Extravaganza ,” I correct.

He bites back a smile. “Extravaganza.” His gaze goes to the door. “It was nice seeing you.”

“Seeing me?” My brows go in the air. It’s clear he wasn’t meaning “seeing” me as in “seeing” my unbuttoned torso, but I can’t help it if my mind goes there. “Scratch that. I guess since you saved my life on a mountain trail, and sent me flowers, and put up with my in-office nakedness…”

The tinge of red in his cheeks and his soft, slow smile makes my gut flutter. He’s cute, with his mildly gravely voice and dark eyes. And he has good taste in picking out floral arrangements.

But he sent them to my office, which has already made people give me those eyes like, Ah, you’re dating someone, huh?

And then they’ll think it’s going to be the same old story, all over again. The city manager curse.

Not fair to assume this, but I guess it makes sense.

Besides, Benson is Sophie’s brother-in-law.

That’s too much intertwining connectedness, if you ask me.

And statistically speaking, with anyone I go out with, it’s likely only a matter of time until we break up.

I hate being negative about it, but it’s true.

And this is all not even mentioning the whole “My grandparents hate your family” thing.

So, yeah. He’s attractive and sweet.

But those things are null and void. They don’t matter because I cannot fall for this man.

Or anyone.