Page 83 of Sugar Baby Mine

Marissa sweeps her gaze between the two of us before it stretches over our shoulders. I’m sure she’s probably trying to put two and two together between us, Cora, and Fred. I can only hope she’s as bad at math as I am. “Well, glad you’re exploring your options, sweetie, but just remember, there’s plenty of fish in the sea.”

My jaw falls a little slack, considering all her ire that she seemed to shift toward me and now feeling like it’s thrown the curve ball back to him.

I don’t even have the words to say anything back.

“Maybe you should get back to your date,” Ben clips out.

She shrugs. “He lets me do whatever I want, talk to whoever Iwant, fuck whoever I want”—and my jaw fucking drops further—“but you don’t tell me what to do anymore, Ben.”

He takes a half-step back, like he can’t stand her presence and I honestly can’t either.

“Have a nice night, Marissa.”

Her smile is anything but sweet. “Have fun with your toy, Benjamin. You look happy at least.”

“Thank you,” he says. “I finally am without you.”

She turns sharply on her heel, and the ice she put in my veins has turned to fire, raging beneath my blood. I’ve never been so tempted to slap someone before. She’s a fucking bitch.

“Bye, Rissa!” Fred calls from behind us, jest in his voice.

Ben’s shoulders heave with a sigh, sinking under the clap of Fred’s hand as he turns toward him. “Don’t antagonize her, man. She’d probably fucking come back over here.”

Fred scoffs. “She’s such a joke. I wouldn’t be surprised if she wasn’t even here with Johnnie. I’d go over there, but she’s liable to call security on me for even looking at her.”

“What?” Cora asks. “She doesn’t like you?” She looks up at Fred with a frown.

“Never has, even when we were young,” he says with a shrug. “And all three of us grew up together, so that shit goes back a long time.”

Julio raises his eyebrows, glancing between the four of us, but keeping silent. If I didn’t know better, I’d think maybe he’s a gossip by the way he’s trying to soak up the tea.

I glance at Ben, a frown pulling the corners of his mouth down as he grabs a glass of champagne from a passing server, downing it in two gulps.

There’s still a lot of emotion in the way his eyes close for a beat longer than a blink and then it’s gone, just like that.

“Well, if she doesn’t like you, then I don’t like her,” Cora says decisively.

“She’s clearly jealous,” I say. “You do look good in a suit.”

Ben turns to me, the ghost of cinnamon drifting over my lips as he leans down to press his forehead to mine. His fingers tug on one of the curls in my ponytail. My face heats up, shifting the weight between my feet, but when he opens his eyes, the reflection is all me and I wonder exactly what he sees.

“Not better than you in this dress.”

I push on his chest until he stands up straight. “You would know, you bought it for me.”

“Just like I bought these heels…” Ben trails his hand down the center of my back again, but this time, it leaves a line of fire in the wake of his touch. “And this bracelet…” He brings my hand up to kiss the back, fingers brushing over my palm in a soothing manner as the diamonds on my wrist twinkle. “And your panties.”

My gaze drops to the plum lace tucked into the front of his jacket, and my mouth starts to water at the memory it evokes.

“You’re changing the subject.”

“To a more interesting topic,” he says smoothly.

“Ugh, you guys are disgusting,” Cora says dismissively, though there’s a smirk tipping her mouth.

“Absolutely,” Ben agrees, a smile pulling across his face. The change in his expression soothes a part of my soul. “Why don’t you come with me to grab a drink, Emmeline?”

“Okay, yeah, sure.” He starts to tug me away from the group. “I think I actually need to drink something more than alcohol though. Or maybe I need to eat. When’s the food coming out? Or maybe we could quickly pop over to that Mexican place across the street, I love—”

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