Page 43 of The P Arrangement

Preston watched me, a smile on his face. “Delaney is the youngest female judge in Minnesota. She’s doing a presentation on her career and the steps she took to get to where she is today.”

Theo’s mouth dropped open in what felt like genuine surprise. “Damn. And here, I didn’t think you could get any hotter.”

“And here, I didn’t think you could get any more charming,” I joked.

Theo grinned at Preston. “You were fucking nuts to let this beautiful woman go.”

Preston’s eyes narrowed, and I shifted uncomfortably. I didn’t want to discuss or even think about why I’d left him. Someday, I would ask him what had changed—when I had enough courage to hear the answer—and then ask him what had recently changed to make him want me again. But this weekend wasn’t the time.

Smiling politely, I said, “It was good to meet you, Theo. I will see both of you tomorrow.”

I spun on my heel and headed for the exit. A few seconds later, I was stopped with a hand on my elbow, and I was surprised to see Theo instead of Preston.

“Hey, I know I’m not the one you want.”

My eyes went wide. “What?”

“I can see you still have feelings for Preston.” He said it so casually, as if his announcement wasn’t embarrassing.

Was I that obvious in my feelings?

“But since he didn’t know a good thing when he had it, I’d love to take you out.”

“Are you…” I paused. “Are you serious, or are you doing this to mess with Preston?”

Theo laughed in confusion. “I’m serious. You’re a smart, successful, gorgeous woman. Of course I want to go out with you.”

“Oh, well…” I was going to say I wasn’t looking for a relationship, but obviously, Theo wasn’t either, or he wouldn’t want to spend time with someone who lived in a different state.

“No pressure. I don’t want to make things hard for you and Preston.” He stepped closer. “But if you change your mind and want to stop by and visit, I’m in room 408.”

I sucked in a breath. “That’s right next to mine,” I whispered without thinking.

A grin split across his face.

Had he heard me? I definitely hadn’t meant to say it out loud.

Shifting my gaze to look over Theo’s shoulder, I spotted Preston where Theo and I had left him. He couldn’t hear our conversation, but he could probably guess what Theo had come over to say to me.

But his expression was blank. I didn’t have a clue as to what he was thinking.

“I have to go,” I said to Theo and fled the room.

SEVENTEEN

PRESTON

When I gotup to the room, Delaney was in the bathroom, so I went out to the balcony to wait, leaving the door open to the cool night air. Unlike earlier, I took a seat on the single chair and stared out into the bright lights of Vegas to my left, trying to keep my eyes from looking straight ahead at the empty balcony of the room next door. I was about to shift my chair away when I heard Delaney.

“Preston?”

“Out here.”

A second later, she appeared in the doorway. She hesitated before stepping out. Her heels clicked on the concrete as she moved in front of me.

She winced and glanced over her shoulder at the other balcony and back to me. “I think your friend might have heard me say that I was staying next to him.”

Wrapping a hand around her upper leg, I leaned forward and yanked her closer to me. “There’s nomight have. He did. He knows.”

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