Ben gets a little frisky in the elevator

The elevator door opened just as the trio arrived, and Carter held out his hand, gesturing for Abbie to get in first. She nodded politely, stepped in, and moved to the back corner. Carter followed, and hit one of the buttons, though Abbie didn't notice which. She reminded herself that her own room was on the 19th floor (probably don't want to forget that! she thought to herself), and then watched Ben as he got onto the elevator last, still texting on his phone.

The doors closed, and at the same moment, Ben finished his message, and slipped his phone into his pocket. He looked at Abbie, and moved himself a little closer to her -- perhaps a step closer than one might expect from someone she had only just met minutes earlier.

"I don't want to bust the vibe before things even get started, but --"

"Too late," muttered Carter.

Ben snorted at his friend. "It's not every day a knockout like you ditches her own friends to go off with two strange men."

"How strange are you?" Abbie asked with a grin.

Ben put his right hand up alongside Abbie, not quite pinning her to the wall, but definitely crowding her corner. "But I guess you were tired of being their third wheel?"

Abbie looked at him. "Third wheel?"

"Weren't the two you were with a couple? They left together."

Abbie offered a nod of understanding, though didn't deny Ben's assumption, wrong as it was. "I'm never a third wheel. And you two looked fun."

Still cornering Abbie, Ben placed his left hand on her leg, right around the bottom of her dress. It was a bit more intimate than not, and as he ran his hand up her side, he pulled her dress a bit as well. Abbie kept her eyes on him the whole time, accepting his hand on her body. As he slid his palm upward, over her hip, along the side of her stomach, Abbie put her own hand out on Ben's chest. This freed up the space on her side for him to continue moving up, which he did. The side of her dress was loose, and without specifically aiming for anything in particular, Ben's hand caught a bit of Abbie's bare skin under her arm, right around the side of her breast.

Ben moved over her shoulder, and held his hand against the side of Abbie's neck. She leaned against him, inhaling deeply, feeling the contact between his hand and her neck. Ben took this as a tacit sign of approval, and smiled.

The elevator dinged, and then the doors slid open. Carter turned back to Abbie. "If he gets out of line ... or crosses a line -- you just let me know."

"I'm sure I'll be fine," Abbie replied. She patted the side of Ben's face, and then followed Carter out of the elevator, Ben trailing behind them.