Page 3 of His Secret Betrayal (Cedarwood Valley Duology #2)

Alek

“ C an you just give him a chance?” Caleb implores me.

“I set up an interview, didn’t I?” I retort.

Caleb snorts. Even though the sound is muffled through the phone sitting on my desk, I hear his incredulity. “A real chance.”

“Is he even qualified? I thought he dropped out of college,” I fire back, leaning back in my office chair and propping one leg atop the other.

On the mahogany desk in front of me sits Luke Parker’s resumé.

Sunlight spills into the room from behind me, casting light right over his name.

I slide the paper across the sleek surface of my desk, picking up my black-framed reading glasses and slipping them on.

“He took two semesters off and went back. He only graduated a year and a half after me,” Caleb amends, ever the loyal friend.

I grunt noncommittedly, still peeved at the way Luke used my son to weasel his way into an interview at my company, although I also respect his hustle.

Peering down at the neatly-typed resume, I glance over his information.

Luke Parker: twenty-four years old, currently working at the Touchdown Tavern.

Recently graduated with a bachelor’s in graphic design.

He doesn’t have much work history or relevant experience… but I suppose he is qualified.

With some on-the-job training.

I know exactly what kind of training he needs.

Nope, not going there.

Christ, how do I admit to my son the real reason I don’t want to interview the Parker boy is completely unfair to Luke?

The one and only time I met him, at an engagement party, was enough for me to know I should steer clear of him.

He’s trouble with a capital T. A party boy, impulsive, indecisive, and reckless, if rumors are to be believed.

And…gorgeous. So damn gorgeous.

But I can’t tell Caleb how unfairly attractive I find his best friend. So attractive I don’t know how I’ll keep my sanity if I have to work with him day after day.

This is a new low for me. Lusting after a man nineteen years my junior, my son’s best friend, and my prospective employee.

And a straight man at that, according to Caleb.

Luke Parker is a walking caution sign.

“Didn’t he cheat on his ex-girlfriend?” I ask .

Caleb sighs. “It was one kiss, and it was a drunken mistake. His relationship with Maddison was pretty much over anyway. Besides, what does that have to do with his job qualifications?”

Fair point. It has nothing to do with giving him a job.

Still, part of me is curious. Word around town is that Maddison Raddix, his girlfriend of four years, caught him kissing another woman.

And the story doesn’t get any better after that.

Somehow, it evolves into Luke proposing to her at the Cedarwood Winter Festival.

And being publicly turned down. Eight months later, and his reputation still hasn’t recovered.

But what really sparked the town’s interest is when Maddison started dating Luke’s older brother, Jax, mere months after breaking up with Luke. Some of the more scandalous rumors even suggest their relationship started well before they went public.

I’m too old for that kind of drama.

“Are you done looking for excuses, or are you going to give him a real chance?” Caleb’s voice is exasperated. “Please, Dad?”

In the end, it’s the ‘Please, Dad’ that’s my downfall. He might be a twenty-four-year-old adult, but I’m still not immune to his pleas. Then he tries to remind me he’s my favorite child, as if he weren’t my only child.

I huff, my gaze sliding over to the time on the corner of my computer screen. “Fine. But he’s late for his interview.”

“What? That’s bullshit. It’s still five minutes till.”

I absentmindedly roll my neck, trying to work the stiffness out. “If you’re not early, then you’re late.”

A knock on my closed office door drowns out the sound of Caleb’s murmurings.

I quickly say my goodbye before hanging up and standing.

Just as I’m about to tell my receptionist it’s okay to enter, I glance down at my attire.

Other than a quick introduction, I barely spoke to Luke at the engagement party.

But I could have sworn I caught him staring at my forearms. As a last-minute decision, I neatly roll the white sleeves of my dress shirt to my elbows.

“Come in!” I call.

The door slowly swings open, and my brown haired, middle-aged receptionist pokes her head in with a gentle smile.

“Sir? Your three o’clock interview is here,” Maria says. She giggles at my mock scowl. I’ve told her to cut that sir shit out numerous times.

“Send him in,” I tell her, rounding the desk as she nods. She gestures to the figure standing behind her, murmuring something encouraging before striding away with the fabric of her billowy, black skirt swishing as she disappears around the corner.

The figure steps into the doorway, finally coming into full view, and I nearly choke.

Damn if my memory didn’t do justice to Luke Parker.

My body apparently doesn’t know how to function properly around him, because my heart does this funny little swoop while my stomach tightens, and all my blood begins rushing…

south. Luke gives me a shy, nervous smile and a dimple pops in his cheek.

I forget myself for a moment, my eyes raking over his body.

His dark blonde hair is loose, the thick strands resting on the tops of his shoulders.

It looks so soft that, for a brief second, I have the inane urge to run my fingers through it.

His black, button-down shirt is tucked into gray trousers, the clothes showing off his slender, athletic frame.

He has some muscle around his biceps, although he’s smaller than I am, and there’s some kind of black crossbody bag slung across his shoulders.

When I finally meet his green, inquisitive eyes, there’s a light pink staining his cheeks. Clearing my throat, I hold my hand out. His handshake is firm, his Adam’s apple bobbing as his eyes dip down to my forearms. It sends a wave of heat skittering through my nerves.

“It’s nice to meet you again, Mr. Cromwell.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” I murmur, my voice dipping into a low rumble. His eyes widen, his flush spreading down his neck as he bites his lip.

Shit, Alek, you can’t flirt during an interview.

I retract my hand with a grimace. “We’re not formal around here.

Please, call me Alek.” I gesture towards the desk in the far corner of the spacious office, something warming inside my chest as Luke’s gaze drifts over to the back wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, admiration transforming his face at the view of bare mountaintops beyond.

It’s the one thing I love most about this town.

Cedarwood Valley is surrounded by the Cedarwood Peak Mountains, and these windows serve as a front row seat to the changing seasons.

Right now, being in the thick of winter since it’s mid-January, the trees are mostly bare.

The sky is a muted gray, billowy clouds rolling over the mountaintops.

Still, a steady stream of sunshine manages to peek through.

The view is majestic, no matter the time of year.

Rounding the desk, I sit and jerk my chin toward the pair of small, brown leather chairs across from me. Luke sits down, his long fingers tapping against his thigh. My eyes snag on black nail polish, and I swallow. For a moment, I wonder what that hand would look like wrapped around my cock.

Stop perving on your son’s best friend.

Sliding my reading glasses back onto my nose, I grab Luke’s resumé and slide it closer to me.

Mentally running through the questions I want to ask, I decide to just get straight to the point.

I don’t want to ask the boring, stereotypical questions everyone expects like where do you see yourself in five years ?

and do you consider yourself to be a team player ?

Those are generic questions every job interviewee has memorized textbook answers for, something I’m not interested in.

“What do you think of our company logo?”

Luke’s eyebrows shoot up, and he squirms in his seat. “I—uh, I like it?”

I peer at him over the top of my glasses. “If you could revamp it, how would you do it and why?”

He squirms again, the movement making me swallow. “I wouldn’t change it at all. The company logo is fine.”

I sigh, the disappointment a bitter taste in my mouth. Maybe some part of me actually wanted this to work out. Graphic Design 101: you should have some form of imagination, and if those are the kind of flippant answers he—

“I would tweak the name of your company instead. Cedarwood Book Design is too mundane and boring. It needs to be more engaging, something that grabs people’s attention and tells them what kind of designs they can expect here.”

I still for a moment, surprised and…intrigued? In all the years I’ve owned this business, no interviewee has ever thrown out an interview question and then proceeded to take it one step further. Leaning back in my seat, I steeple my fingers together. “Go on.”

He straightens, his eyes meeting mine. This time, he sounds…

excited? “And even though I wouldn’t change the company logo, I would add it to the sign in the parking lot so people can see it when they drive by.

That’s like free advertising, and all you have right now is a plain sign that says Cedarwood Book Design. Boring.”