The Pull

Chapter 20

I could sense Ben's eyes on me the second I got out of the eleva – sorry, lift. Any other day I'm sure I would have given the dress and my sassiness the credit for it, but with the past hour fresh in mind it felt more like he saw my anxiety. It made me so uncomfortable I wanted to get back into that British lift and 'lift' my way all the way back up to my floor and go hide under the covers in my room.

You got this. Chin up, chest out. You got this.

"Wow, Puck. That's some dress you got on." Will whistled and nudged my shoulder with his.

"What, this old rag?" I made a nonchalant face but winked at him.

Ben said nothing. He just kept his eyes on me with this look in his face that made me want to hide behind Will. He was totally calling my bluff. It made cold sweat run down my spine, so I turned said spine on him.

"So, everybody ready to go?" Lane counted us in like a mini flock of sheep and when satisfied we all had her permission to exit the hotel. I knew Ben had booked us a table at this Italian restaurant not too far from the hotel, so we decided to walk, and I cursed myself for my choice of shoes.

At the restaurant I got seated on the opposite side of Ben. Destiny's way of making sure he had free sight to scrutinise me with his dark eyes or just my poor luck? I guess I'll never know. It sort of reminded me of those interrogation scenes in movies where they shine a bright light in your face because that – for some really unclear reason – makes you talk. He just wouldn't stop looking at me. I wanted to kick him in the shin underneath the table, but I figured it would raise questions with the others. So instead, I focused very, very hard on absolutely everybody but Ben. Will seemed a bit confused when I stared intensely at him as he told us about their day doing sightseeing but said nothing of it. Ben, however, did not budge. His dark gaze could have burnt right through me. Eventually it made me so nervous I slipped.

"I wish you guys could have seen this mural we passed today, it was amazing. It covered this entire building and..." I stopped. Shiloh looked at me.

"We? I thought you said you went by yourself?"

Perfect.

I could swear I saw a faint smile curve Ben's lips. Was he really not going to help me out here?!

"Um, yeah, I did." I had to pause to not start stuttering.

"We ran in to each other on the street and I took the opportunity to show her a mural before I had to leave for a meeting." All eyes turned to Ben, whose eyes were still on me. Very much on me. What was the deal with him tonight? He looked like he wanted to pick a fight or something.

"Hrm-hrm, well anyway. The mural. You should really go see for yourselves." I did my best to shift the rest of them from the tension between me and Ben that had to be palpable, to something else. Anything else. By the end of the evening, I was exhausted. Trying my best to act casual while being eyeballed by Sexy-eyes was nerve-wrecking. He had been unusually quiet throughout the entire dinner, and during our walk back to the hotel he continued with the silence. I really couldn't tell if the others paid any attention to it, but I sure did.

We said goodnight in the lobby and me, Shiloh and Will made our way to our floor. I watched them both enter their rooms but hesitated in front of my own door. Images of myself frozen with hands under ice cold water came rushing back. It felt like the room would have that same, awful energy once I entered it. I didn't want to go in. Arguing with myself for a bit I finally decided I would head down to the hotel bar for a while before trying again. It wasn't failure. I was just not ready to call it a night, that's all. A drink in solitude would be nice.

The bar had that same aura of decadence as the rest of the hotel. It was lovely. I sat down at the bar, not really feeling comfortable taking up a whole couch for myself. As I was served my drink I felt a presence. I looked up. Next to me a man had emerged. He looked at me with a smile.

"Is it alright if I sit here?" he gestured at the seat next to me. He looked like he was in his late thirties, and he was complete eye candy. I figured he could be Korean, with half of his shoulder-long black hair in a messy bun behind his head and a crisp white shirt, looking very business. I spotted what looked like quite the tattoo sticking out from a rolled-up sleeve. I nodded. He sat, and gestured to the bartender.

"Glenfiddich for me, and one more of what the lady's having." I almost laughed.

This was quickly turning in to such a cliché.

"So, on holiday perhaps?" He looked at me with one raised eyebrow. Yup. Cliché.

"Not quite. It's a business trip. We are a group of us staying here."

"You're American."

"I am. And you are not. British?" He did sound like it.

"Nope. Seoul, born and raised. But my mother was from London, hence the accent." Ah. I felt pleased with myself for spotting it. "I'm Hak-Kun, or Kun for short."

"Puck. I guess it's short enough." He laughed a soft chuckle and leaned in, subtle. But I noticed. His arm brushed casually against mine. His eyes intent on mine. Promises in them. Either this Asian God thought I was a hotel prostitute, or someone looking for a hotel prostitute – or he was hitting on me. Deciding he was not a man-whore, nor that stupid that he would think I was the female version of one, I decided on the latter to be most probable. The man was smoking hot and I sure as hell could use the distraction.

Yeah, like you do. One emotion for another. Just fuck the guy until the anxiety is flushed out. For now.

"May I ask if there's a reason for you sitting here on your own?" Kun took a sip of his Whiskey, not breaking eye contact once. The man sure was smooth.

"None, really. I didn't feel like sleeping just yet and the bar was open, so..."

"Ah. I thought maybe you were waiting for someone." I inhaled to answer when a voice I knew oh-so-well sounded from behind me.

"She was." I felt like I was turning around in slow motion. Because I was sitting down on the bar stool he felt impossibly even taller, bigger where he stood, close to me. Benjamin fucking Campbell. He had his hands in his pockets, like he'd been on a late-night stroll and just happened to pass by, but his posture said nothing of the sort. He felt electric. And he had something furious in his eyes, staring at my new-found friend. Kun looked a bit surprised at first, but then something else emerged in his dark brown eyes. Some kind of... defiance, almost.

"Aha. And you are..?" Kun had a certain nonchalance in his voice that could not be mistaken. He wasn't backing down. From what I had no idea, though.

"Ben. The one she was waiting for."

"I didn't really get the sense she was waiting for anyone. Maybe Puck would like to finish her drink with me."

What the hell? What was with the caveman attitude in both of them??

I got up.

"As a matter of fact, what I would like is to go to bed. You two can stay here and sort this out if you like. Good night." I left them there and headed for the lifts (would probably never be calling it elevator ever again). I didn't notice him come up from behind me, not until he softly grabbed my arm.

"Puck, what's going on with you?" I stared at him.

"Are you serious right now, Ben? Because I haven't got a clue what's going on. With you. You're making my head hurt with your mood swings and I am honestly starting to feel I've had it. We're supposed to be professional and colleagues and whatnot because YOU said we should, still you flirt with me and act all jealous like we're definitely not just colleagues and I just can't keep up with you." We entered the lift and he pressed a button. The doors closed. But I was far from finished. "I try not to feel what I feel when you are around me, but you are not making this easy on me, are you, Ben? What do you want from me? Am I the only one here who's supposed to take responsibility for the rules that YOU set up, because you seem to have exactly zero problems with just casually shifting between acting like you want to fuck me to oblivion and barely tolerating my presence!" I was on fire – and also out of breath. I felt like I wanted to punch him in the face. Or kiss him. The entire time he just stood there, staring back at me. Then the doors opened with a bing. Without a word, he went for my hand, grabbing it, more or less dragging me with him out in the corridor.

Wait...This isn't my floor.