Page 3 of The Temptation (Executive Suite Secrets #4)

SIMON MILLER

Declan was so lucky. I thought I was going to choke on my jealousy.

It was Declan’s birthday, and his fiancé had thrown him a spectacular party filled with loving friends and even some of Parker’s family from Arizona. But all that big, silent man cared about was the smile on his fiancé’s face and the baby in his arms.

Joy loved every second of the attention, the colorful balloons, and the snacks Declan regularly sneaked to the soon-to-be one-year-old.

When the family’s new nanny swept in to put the little princess to bed, Declan swapped the child for Parker, keeping his arm around Parker’s waist as if he couldn’t bear to be parted from him.

Even though Declan had always been reserved and withdrawn, it was easy to see how happy Parker made him.

And I wanted that.

I wanted it so badly, I could spit blood. Why didn’t I have someone who worried about whether I was cold, hungry, or tired?

Oh, that would be because I was a complete dumb-ass, hung up on a guy who couldn’t stand to be in the same room with me.

Yeah, I was the one who just had to choose the hard route in life.

The usual crowd of close friends had shown up for Declan’s party. Even Pierce. There was no way he could bow out from this get-together and not appear to be a total douchebag for it.

Out of kindness to Declan, I was keeping a careful distance from him.

There were roving groups of partygoers in almost every room on the first floor, and I tried to make sure I didn’t occupy the same room as Pierce.

It wasn’t too hard. Declan had a large house and Parker had completed several murals on the walls, giving guests ample opportunity to peruse as they wandered about with their drinks and tiny plates of canapés.

As far as I could tell, Sebastian, Declan, and Rome hadn’t noticed my tactic yet.

“I take it he’s still being an asshole?”

My head snapped up to find Dr. Liam Rose standing next to me, a smirk twisting up the left corner of his mouth. It shouldn’t have been a shock that Rome’s new boyfriend had noticed my “subtle” movements.

He was looking good in slacks and a hunter-green V-neck cashmere sweater that complemented his dark-red hair.

His eyes twinkled with mischief, reminding me that Declan wasn’t the only one who’d found the perfect boyfriend in life.

Rome couldn’t have gotten a better match than Liam.

They were both stubborn, hotheaded, and impulsive when they wanted to be, but they also had the same wicked sense of humor and deep loyalty.

“Pretty much,” I mumbled as we turned together from the front parlor and strolled through the less crowded foyer. “We haven’t talked. Or rather, I haven’t tried to talk to him.”

Liam was the only one in the group to know my shameful secret—I was still stupidly infatuated with Pierce Sutton.

A normal person would have moved on after years passing with zero encouragement and far too much cold shoulder.

But not me. Oh no, I had to cling to memories of the warm smile and gentle laugh I’d gotten tiny tastes of as a kid.

Part of me kept praying that I would gaze at him one day and wonder what I’d ever seen in him. That I would grow indifferent to him. Or that someone would cross my path who shone a thousand times brighter than Pierce ever could.

But it never happened, and Pierce remained Polaris: cold, distant, and shining, as if he were calling me to him.

“Tonight, I’m giving my pursuit of him a rest,” I announced, forcing a grin I didn’t feel. “It’s Declan’s birthday party, and I want him to enjoy time with all his friends on his special day.”

Liam grunted, appearing dissatisfied with my plan. “Are you sure you won’t tell Rome or Sebastian? They might be able to help.”

“No, they can’t know. I don’t want to mess up this group’s dynamic.”

A heavy sigh slipped from Liam, and he tossed back the rest of the amber liquid that remained in his crystal tumbler. “Do you have any idea how hard it’s been not to tell Rome? We talk about everything . He’s worried Pierce’s shitty attitude is going to drive you away.”

I huffed a soft laugh. “Not likely.” If Pierce being an icy prig was going to drive me off, that would have happened a long time ago.

“That’s what I told him, but he’s still skeptical.”

“Yeah,” I muttered.

Pierce and I were at a crossroads. My stubborn infatuation had gone on for more than fifteen years, and since becoming an adult—moving me out of jailbait territory—we’d made zero progress.

Pierce barely spoke to me, and that only made me more determined to overcome his stubbornness and prove that we’d be perfect together.

I lifted my eyes to my new friend and confidant and offered him a weak smile. “I’m sorry to have put you in the middle of things.”

Liam shook his head. “No, don’t be. I wish there was more I could do to help.”

“Well, if I think of anything, you’ll be the first person I call.”

Liam tilted his empty glass toward mine, and we clinked them together. “I’m more than happy to stir up trouble.”

Rome located his “missing” boyfriend a minute later, and we chatted for a while before we were all summoned to the dining room, where an elegant five-tiered cake with black-and-red frosting was unveiled.

“Hey, Parker. That looks more like a wedding cake than a birthday cake!” Sebastian called out, and everyone laughed.

“Shut up,” Parker snapped, pointing a knife at him. “Picking wedding cakes is hard work. Sometimes, a guy needs to go through a few test cakes to figure out the right one.”

I stood at the rear of the room, lost in the crowd as I watched Chef Donovan and Declan’s assistant, Franks, lighting tall, slender candles. As soon as the last one was lit, Parker started us all singing “Happy Birthday” to Declan.

As if by magic, my eyes lifted from the cake and Declan’s warm grin to lock with Pierce’s gloomy gaze. In a heartbeat, my brain flashed back fourteen years to when he’d been seated opposite me in my childhood home while singing the same song for my thirteenth birthday.

My heart jumped into my throat and lodged there.

My lungs felt as if they were in a vise.

I couldn’t draw a breath. Could barely even think as goose bumps broke out across my arms. He was gorgeous.

Too perfect, almost. Tall and lean, with dark hair and a tan face with sharp cheekbones.

His eyebrows were thick, giving his face an even more menacing appearance.

As an undergrad, he’d laughed and smiled so often, destroying my ability to think.

But since my thirteenth birthday— no, since Sawyer’s death— I felt like I could count all the times Pierce had smiled in my presence on one hand. And not one of them had been directed at me. I’d just happened to be in the vicinity.

Standing here tonight, seeing Sebastian, Declan, and even Rome cuddled with boyfriends they adored more than anything in this world, I had to wonder if maybe Pierce was a lost cause.

If Sawyer had been alive, he would have had a wife at his side and a pair of kids at home. He’d made it clear early on that he’d planned to marry not long after college and have two kids before he turned thirty. He’d wanted the American dream of a house, marriage, kids, a dog, and a mortgage.

I was the one determined to be…difficult.

This time, I glanced away first, ripping my eyes back to Declan as he leaned forward and blew out his candles to the applause of all his gathered friends and family.

I drifted away as they cut the cake, giving Pierce the space he wanted so he could enjoy his evening with his oldest friends.

He didn’t need his stalker hounding him.

The night wore on, and I stupidly continued to drink. It wasn’t all a shit mood and grumpiness. Listening to Sebastian tell stories always made me laugh, and Parker always had a witty quip perched on the tip of his tongue.

It was well after midnight when it became obvious that I was far too buzzed to drive home. Most of the other party guests had left. The core group remained, along with a few other old friends. Pierce was somewhere in the house, but I’d lost track of him in my wanderings and drinks.

Right now, what I needed was fresh air. If I could clear my head a bit more, I’d call for a ride to whisk me to my place.

But if that was too much work, I’d locate a comfortable couch to crash on.

While my bed sounded nice, waking up at Declan’s the next morning meant getting served breakfast made by Chef Donovan. That was not a terrible option either.

Feeling overheated and too mellow, I shuffled through the house to a set of French doors that led out onto a patio. A cold January wind slapped me in the face as soon as I slipped outside, and I questioned my sanity, which was a good sign.

Instead of retreating inside, I took another step into the frigid darkness and closed the door behind me.

Heavy shadows blanketed the patio area. In the grass beyond the paving stones, tiny yellow garden lights glowed, but they offered little illumination where I was.

Here and there, long yellow rectangles stretched across the pavement from the interior, but I avoided them.

All the patio furniture had been packed away for the season, leaving me with nowhere to sit.

That was fine. It was too fucking cold to remain out here for long.

I just wanted to disperse the fog from my head and shake off the last of this shitty mood.

Pierce rarely got me dejected like this, but the combination of the birthday party and seeing all my friends so happily paired off had left me feeling bitter.

It was an impulse pity party, and it was well past time to shut it down.

I leaned on the wall and dropped my head against the cool stone, letting out a long, deep sigh.

“What are you doing out here?”

I almost jumped out of my skin at that sharp question. Surprise had me so rattled that it took an extra two seconds for me to recognize the voice.

Pierce!