Page 2 of The Temptation (Executive Suite Secrets #4)

“Oh? I thought it was delicious. Did you like it?” Because that was the only thing that mattered to me. It was his birthday.

He nodded. “I did. A lot. I don’t usually care for dark chocolate, but the raspberry filling made it taste perfect.”

“And was my gift okay? I asked your brother, and he said that you weren’t into video games.”

I hadn’t been sure what to get him at all, and it wasn’t like I could show up on their doorstep empty handed when I was there for Simon’s birthday.

A gift card felt like a cheap cop-out, even if Sawyer had said it would be fine.

In the end, I’d had to get my mom to help track down what I’d had in mind.

She’d located an artist who’d made fifty pages of blank sheet music on thick vellum paper.

Each page had his name inscribed in calligraphy, and the whole thing was contained within a high-quality leather box.

To me, it looked like something Beethoven would have owned to write and hold all their best pieces of music.

I’d also included a special fountain pen with his name on it in gold leaf.

It felt like a weird gift for a thirteen-year-old, but he was also the only thirteen-year-old I knew who lived and breathed music.

“I loved it!” he gushed, leaning forward so that he was almost lying on the counter between us.

He winced and continued in a lower voice.

“It’s perfect. I’ve always wanted to write my own music.

I plan to save all the pages until I get really good and know what I create is the best. None of it will be wasted. ”

A smile tugged up one corner of my mouth. “Don’t save them. The song doesn’t have to be perfect. Just yours. Use them. If you run out, tell me and I’ll get you more.”

I didn’t think it was possible for Simon’s eyes to get any wider. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, use them. If you wait for something to be perfect, you may never end up using it.”

The coffeemaker made some guttural sounds as it finished spitting out my brew. I walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed the creamer.

“Actually, there was one more thing I was hoping to get for my birthday,” Simon admitted in a lilting, almost playful tone.

“Oh, yeah? What were you hoping to get?”

“A kiss.”

My eyebrows jumped as I screwed the cap back on the creamer after putting a splash in my coffee and turned to the fridge. “Oh? From who? There someone at school you’ve got a crush on?”

Simon remained silent for so long that I looked up at him.

He was staring at me as if I’d missed some major point, but I couldn’t figure out for the life of me what he was hinting at.

I’d never met any of the kids he went to school with, or any other kids his own age.

Sawyer certainly had never mentioned any.

“I was hoping to get a kiss… from you ,” Simon stated firmly, holding my gaze in a way he’d never dared to before.

My entire body went numb, and the bottle of creamer slipped out of my hand.

I woke from my stunned stupor a heartbeat later, and I jumped to seize it.

My brain and body still weren’t working together, so I fumbled the damn thing a couple of times.

Thankfully, I’d screwed the lid on tight so I wouldn’t be cleaning up a mess across Elizabeth Miller’s nice, tidy kitchen.

“W-w-what?” I stammered. This couldn’t be right. This wasn’t happening. I must have fallen asleep while I was reading.

“Please, Pierce. It’s all I want for my birthday. I swear I won’t ask for anything else,” Simon pleaded, suddenly turning his enormous eyes on me. And did he fucking bat his eyelashes at me? Who the hell taught him how to do that?

“Come on, Simon. This isn’t a funny joke.”

“I’m not joking.”

“I’m eight years older than you. I’m too old?—”

“Technically, it’s only seven.” Simon interrupted, a smug smile playing on his pink lips that I was suddenly too aware of. “Your birthday isn’t until the end of next month.”

If Sawyer had been the one to tell him when my birthday was, I was going to strangle him. “I’m almost eight years older than you and in college. That’s way too old. There must be a classmate or someone else in school who would be more than happy to kiss you.”

“It’s not that I want a kiss for my birthday, but that I want a kiss from you .”

Panic raced through me, and I snatched up my mug to take a big, scalding drink.

The heat and caffeine gave a much-needed jolt to my brain while helping to get my fears under control.

This entire conversation was utterly out of left field.

Every other interaction I’d had with Simon had been short and mumbled.

He almost never looked me in the eye. Had the shyness been because he had a crush on me?

The thought was sweet, but he was also a thirteen-year-old boy and the younger brother of my best friend. All that was a fuck no. Hell to the fuck no. I didn’t care how sweetly and innocently he asked.

“Simon, come on. You know I can’t do that.”

“Because I’m not attractive enough?”

I took another deep drink to stop my pained groan. He was trying to kill me. It was his fucking birthday. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. He was such a good kid, even if he was torturing me right now.

“It has nothing to do with your appearance. It’s the age difference. Thirteen is a great age, but not old enough for kisses from guys in college. Plus, you’re my best friend’s little brother. If Sawyer found out I kissed you, he’d kill me.”

Simon rolled his eyes, proving that he was very much a teenager now. “I’m asking for a kiss. I’m not asking you to f?—”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” I snapped, cutting him off.

Simon smirked at me. There was a new twinkle in those large blue eyes that convinced me it was time to reassess exactly how sweet and innocent this “boy” was.

I’d been about to wonder how he might have learned anything about sex, but then I recalled that I’d seen and read things I shouldn’t have at a far younger age.

“Please, Pierce,” he pleaded, returning to his earlier sweet and innocent look. “It’s just that you’re so hot and smart. Everyone else my age is stupid and immature. A tiny kiss for my birthday.”

“Simon, no,” I said, pulling out my firmest tone. “It’s not happening. I’m flattered, but you’re far too young, and I don’t see you like that.” When I finished speaking, I braced myself for tears and a tantrum as I picked up my coffee mug. But what I got was a hundred times worse.

Simon’s smug smile had returned as he tipped his face up toward me while he continued to lean on the counter.

“I’m not giving up,” he stated in a frighteningly calm, almost amused tone.

“One of these days, you’re going to kiss me, and it’s going to be amazing.

You’re going to wish you’d kissed me sooner. ”

I bit my tongue to the point of almost bleeding as I walked out of the kitchen. There was nothing to be gained by continuing this argument. Nothing I said would sway him.

And I was afraid he was right—he would never give up until he got exactly what he wanted.