Page 3 of The Interview (Executive Suite Secrets)

3

KAYLAN

I had no words.

My tongue was tied with no hopes of untangling.

What was I supposed to say to that?

I mean other than “Yes, please.”

Arden was sweet, sexy, and he smelled so good. That really shouldn’t be a deciding factor, but when the man had gathered me close to hurry us inside the conservatory, I caught a whiff of his cologne. Or maybe aftershave. Or it was the natural pheromones the man exuded. Whatever. I just wanted to turn in his arms, bury my nose in the crook of his neck, and never leave.

But that was all nonsense.

This was a non-date.

A reverse interview.

We were supposed to be listing all the reasons we were unsuitable for dating.

Except Arden had admitted to liking one of my big weaknesses in the world. I loved losing hours binge-watching my favorite animes. Was it too much to hope that he liked Asian BL dramas as well?

Nope. I couldn’t ask.

I wasn’t looking to date. There was no time in my life. Everything was fine how it was now. I had work and my hobbies. Dating and a boyfriend would mean less me time when I wasn’t working.

However, a boyfriend would put sex into my life again. That was something I was significantly short on.

Arden stepped closer, and I didn’t back away. I couldn’t. Yes, we’d just met, but I wanted to know what it was like to kiss those lips. He was checking so many damn boxes for me without realizing it. Life couldn’t be so cruel as to make him a terrible kisser. No, he had to be the best kisser in the world, and I needed to experience it.

The little desert had become silent. Even the wind had stopped flinging bits of debris at the surrounding windows. We were lost in our own world. Just his breath and mine picking up. His hand landed on my shoulder, squeezing and drawing me in. I went willingly, tipping my head up, offering my lips like a sacrifice on the altar of the BL gods who knew I needed to get laid so fucking bad.

A woman’s high-pitched cackle cut through the quiet, jerking me away from Arden. A nervous giggle tumbled from my lips, and I leaned to my left, looking around him. Two couples were entering the desert room with some kids in tow.

Yeah, time to move on.

“Whoops,” I said with a laugh, while wincing at my inescapable awkwardness. “Umm…what’s the next room?”

Arden’s grin returned with an extra twinkle in his mismatched eyes, as if he were smothering his own chuckle. “The orchid room is through that door.” He released my shoulder and pointed at the clear door just ahead of us. Beyond the glass was a small, lush, green room filled with delicate blossoms.

I hurried on, trying to put some distance between us and the people who were working their way through the desert behind us. Humidity and thick warmth greeted us as we stepped inside, along with the soft trickle of water from a fountain hidden behind all the dense green foliage. After fishing my phone from my pocket, I snapped countless images of the different orchids. I’d always been a fan of this ethereal blossom, but I’d never buy one for myself. They were finicky plants, and I sucked at remembering to water anything. It would break my heart if I killed something so lovely.

“Kaylan?”

I turned my head toward Arden and found the man was holding up his phone as if he were using the camera feature. Specifically, he was taking my picture.

“Really? Why?”

“Because you’re adorable,” Arden answered without hesitation as he lowered his phone. “I doubt you even realize it, but you’ve been cooing and whispering to the flowers as you take their pictures. Telling them how pretty they are. I needed something to remember this moment.”

And now my face was on fire, from the tips of my ears to the base of my throat. I hadn’t known I was doing that.

A scoff left me, and I spun around. “Whatever. They’re beautiful. I’ve never seen some of these species.”

“Do you grow orchids?”

I shook my head. “Nope. I’d never be able to keep one alive. I just like them.” As I led the way out of the tiny room to the next one, Arden caught the collar of my sport coat, stopping me.

“You miss that one?”

Turning to gaze at where he pointed, I found a cascade of tiny blood-red and white blossoms on what appeared to be a crooked vine. That one was definitely new to me. After shooting Arden a repressive look that did absolutely nothing, I took a few pictures of the orchids while managing to not talk to them.

The next room felt bright and airy compared to the orchid exhibit. I didn’t even bother to put my phone away. These needed to be photographed as well. Other people milled about the larger room, talking softly and admiring the plants.

“I believe it’s your turn,” Arden prodded while I admired a ficus someone had trained to resemble a grove of trees in a miniature forest. A forest that was already older than me. I didn’t need to ask what he meant. Since we couldn’t sneak a private kiss, we returned to our original game.

“I’m lazy,” I blurted out. If there was one thing I wished I could change about myself, this was it. “I hate going to the gym and I hate working out. After I finish work, I like to throw on some baggy shorts or jogging pants and a T-shirt. I live in those clothes until I can’t stand the smell.” A frown formed on my lips, and I moved down to the bonsai sculpted from a crown of thorns. “Motivation is my middle name at work. But when I get home, I’m drained and I don’t want to move.”

“I don’t love working out either,” Arden admitted, which only earned his muscular ass a look. I slowly turned toward him and dragged my eyes up his body, from his nice dark loafers to his trim waist and broad chest to his equally broad shoulders.

“I refuse to believe you were born looking like that,” I muttered.

Arden rolled his eyes. “No, I don’t enjoy working out, but I don’t let it stop me from going. Heart disease and diabetes run in my family. Staying healthy means I stay ahead of it.”

A little grunt escaped me, and I continued to stroll through the room, snapping pictures. “I guess that’s a good excuse.”

“You know,” Arden started. The man had walked up behind me and his hot breath had brushed across the shell of my ear. He was evil. So fucking evil. It was as though he knew that if he used that low, seductive, teasing tone, I’d do whatever he wanted. “If you wanted to try it out, I’ve found that going to the gym with someone helps to keep you motivated. You wouldn’t even have to do anything more complicated than walk on the treadmill.”

“Are you offering to be my workout buddy?”

“Oh, no. Definitely not. You need to find someone else,” he answered brusquely.

He jumped back laughing as I whipped around and hit him on the chest with both fists. Thankfully, he captured my wrists before I could hurt myself further. Hitting his chest was like hitting a damn rock!

My breath caught in my throat as he pulled me in closer, his eyes locked on my lips. Now I was going to get the kiss I’d almost tasted in the desert.

Except one of the kids who had entered the desert was in the bonsai room, squealing about the tiny trees. A little kiss wouldn’t be too harmful for the tyke, but I suspected I would not be content with a safe, chaste peck.

Blargh. Some stranger’s kid was cockblocking me.

At least, that was the reason I claimed as I pulled away from Arden with a smirk. Although I had thought up some other nonsense about not wanting to date and this being a non-date, it was hard to remember when I could still feel the heat of Arden’s powerful hands on my wrist.

“Okay. Fine.” I walked toward the door leading into the first exhibit we had entered. “If you don’t want me, I’ll find someone who does.”

Three steps.

That was as far as I got before a hand landed on my hip and squeezed, burning through all the layers of clothes to scorch my skin.

“Whatever gave you the impression that I didn’t want you?” Arden demanded in a low, husky voice that was shutting down all higher brain function.

Would it be tacky to screw him against the wall on the first non-date?

I could live with being tacky.

And desperate.

And begging if it meant I could have Arden for a night.

But there was something serious and soft about Arden’s heart that left me sure he wasn’t a one-night stand kind of guy. He was the happily-ever-after kind that wanted wedding rings and a white picket fence.

There was nothing wrong with that. I just wasn’t confident something like that was in my future. I had spent much of my life getting good grades, a good job, and then keeping up with the insanity that was Sebastian. Being in a forever relationship hadn’t crossed my mind.

Maybe it was time.

“So…isn’t there a waterfall in this place?” I asked, trying for a normal tone and missing by a wide mark.

Arden chuckled and gave my hip one last squeeze prior to releasing it. “Yeah, there is.”

We cut through the display of spring flowers and turned left, descending the peach marble stairs with the swirling silver handrail into a dense rainforest that towered over our heads.

The air was once again humid and heavy with a hushed sound of rushing water somewhere ahead of us. On my left was a narrow stream that could be glimpsed between the large green leaves. Scales of white and orange flashed in the waters as giant koi lazily swam by and then darted off. It was like stepping into another world, leaving behind all of Cincinnati and its dreary winter sky.

I dragged in a deep breath and released it with a happy sigh. “I can understand why you come here often. It’s so peaceful and beautiful. Do you bring a lot of dates here?”

Arden shook his head. “I wish I could say you’re the first, but Tim—my ex—and I came here together a few times. He didn’t like the Christmas exhibit because it was too chaotic and busy. We just didn’t time it right.”

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, not liking the hints of a frown now digging lines around his eyes. “Were you and Tim together long?”

“Not really. Couple of years. We separated about six months ago.”

Swinging about, I glared at him. “This asshole cheat on you?”

“No!” Arden gasped, only to have it turned into a soft laugh. “No, it was an amicable split. All the passion had gone out of our relationship, and we didn’t like any of the same things. He was Kardashians, reality TV, and shopping.”

A snort escaped me. “Let me guess, you’re anime, ramen noodles, and sweat pants.”

“I thought that was you?” Arden teased. The fire returned to my cheeks, but I didn’t get the chance to respond. “However, you are right. That sounds like a great night to me. I like to travel, too. Take lots of pictures and make sketches to use for work later. Experience new things.”

I did not want to think about how perfect he was. Travel was a definite bonus of my job. I’d been to six countries in the short time that I’d been working for Sebastian, and I had several trips ahead of me this year.

Arden slung his arm across my shoulders and drew me a little closer as we wandered down the narrow path to the waterfall I could see peeks of through the trees. “What about you? Do you have a long and tragic dating history?”

“More like short and uninteresting. I dated a guy for a few months in college during my senior year. That was my last actual relationship. Since returning to Cincy, I’ve had a few hookups, but nothing serious. I don’t get out much. My focus has been on work.”

“Hence your boss signing you up for a date, since you couldn’t be trusted to handle it on your own.”

I dropped my head, and it ended up resting on Arden’s shoulder, confirming that he had a very nice shoulder. “My boss is a handful. He’s brilliant, funny, and amazing, but a complete handful.”

“Do you regret going to the meet-up?”

Turning my head on his shoulder, I grinned at the sexy man holding me. “Nope. This has been an interesting adventure.”

Arden stopped walking, his arm tightening around me. “Do you know what’s going to make it better?”

“What?”

“Look up.”

That was not what I’d been expecting him to say, but I followed where he was pointing toward the ceiling to see a bunch of yellow-somethings hanging from a tree.

“You’ve just seen your first banana tree.”

Laughter exploded from my throat and I stumbled away from Arden, shaking my head. As I turned back, the man was smiling so wide he looked as if he were going to crack his face.

“I can’t believe you!”

“What?” Arden grabbed my balled fist when I pretended to shake it at him. “You’ve seen a real lemon tree and a real banana tree on the same day. This is big stuff.”

“Don’t tease me!”

“I’m not.” He pulled me along, skipping the arched bridge over the stream in the center of the room to duck into the tiny cave passageway that led behind the waterfall. “I’ll admit, the first time I saw a live banana tree was here.”

I couldn’t stop grinning at Arden. But then, I was pretty sure I’d been smiling almost from the moment that I met him. He made the world fun and easy. Even something as simple as walking through a botanical conservatory was a lighthearted adventure.

But I was ready to kick this adventure into the realm of something more grown-up. At the very least, it needed to be rated PG-13.

Arden continued to hold my hand through the cave, and my heart sped up. This was it. This was the perfect spot to steal our first kiss. No one was behind us. That cockblocking munchkin was nowhere nearby.

The sexy blond with the mismatched eyes glanced over his shoulder, shooting me a seductive smirk.

And he kept walking.

Right out the other side.

Just. Kept. Walking.

“What?” I squawked. There was no keeping the question inside.

No. No. No. There was zero chance I’d misread him. All the hints and flirting. Arden was into me. Maybe not as much as I was into him, but interested. And I damn well guaranteed he was going to be more than a little interested after I kissed him.

Not to brag, but I was a hell of a kisser.

I dug my heels in before I could leave the cave and stared openmouthed at him.

Arden snickered and ducked back, leaning in almost close enough to kiss. “I want to kiss you?—”

“The cave is the perfect spot,” I interrupted, already trying to pull him toward the hiding spot.

“But I’m afraid that once I start, I won’t be able to stop. I don’t want another interruption.”

I huffed. “Okay.”

It wasn’t a great excuse, but I’d accept it. For now.

As I followed Arden out of the cave, he shifted his hold to thread our fingers together. “Do you mind?”

“Nope.”

I’d never been much of a hand holder. Fuck, I was pretty sure my mother had been the last person to hold my hand. But it felt good to hold Arden’s hand. It felt right.

“Arden?”

The surprised voice cut above the rush of the falling water, and we turned to see a short, slender, dark-haired man standing on the other side of the bridge with a tall broad-shouldered blond.

“Tim?” Arden choked out.

Fuck.