Page 48 of One Small Secret

“Yes. I have an exclusive party to attend with lots of social networking, and I’d love to bring you. Besides, I owe you a present.”

“You don’t owe me a present.”

He narrows his eyes. “Are you saying that because you forgot to get me one? I gave you ample warning.”

I smile. I do have one for him. “I’ll figure something out. How did you end up without a date for New Year’s Eve?”

He tips his head to one side. “I had a date. Oddly enough, Daphne broke it off when she found out I had a secret family,”

I slide my hand across the empty cushion next to me. It’s an invitation, but I know Ruben won’t take it. “I hear secret families are all the rage right now.”

He grips the handles of his chair and the thought crosses my mind that maybe Ruben wouldn’t mind kissing me again. “As they should be.”

“I’ll talk to my Mom, since she’ll need to watch Axley.”

Ruben gives me a tentative smile. “I hope you don’t mind, but I already did. She was planning on bringing Axley to my grandpa’s house for dinner on Monday anyway, and she said she could have Axley sleep at her place. We’ll only be gone one night. We can sleep on the way home.”

He won’t sit next to me on a couch, but he'll fly to New York and back with me? This feels like the very definition of fake dating. “It sounds like you have everything figured out. Sure. Let’s go.”

“Great. Thank you, Cadence. I really appreciate it. All of it. Andrew says our romance is trending really well and this party is going to help solidify everything.” I really don’t want to say you're welcome to that little speech, so I say nothing. Ruben stands from his chair. “We could go early if you need to stop somewhere for a dress.”

“I’ve got a dress. It’s a good one. But I can have Andrew look at it to see if it meets his approval.”

Ruben shakes his head. “As long as you're comfortable in it, it will be wonderful.”

So I don’t have a date for tonight, but at least I have a New Year’s Eve date. It isn’t a bad deal. But I really don’t want to sit at home watching TV with Axley tonight. Or rather, I would be fine with that if Ruben joined us. Ruben just asked me to fly to New York with him. I can ask him over to watch a show.

“Would you like to come over tonight? Axley and I are watching Friends reruns and I’m just not sure he’s catching all the jokes.”

He glances at his desk and then back at me. “I was going to come back here after taking you home. I have some paperwork I really need to fill out.”

“That’s what you do on Friday nights? Paperwork?”

“Sometimes. It’s what I have to do this Friday night, anyway. But trust me, I would much rather be watching Friends with you.”

I think I believe him, but I’m not quite sure. I sigh and pry myself off his couch. “This New York party better be good,” I say.

He doesn’t answer, but at least he has the gumption to put his hand on the small of my back as we walk out of his office. Just before we get to the elevator, I turn to him. “I like the 15th floor. It has nice couches.”

He gives me a funny look like he has no idea what I’m talking about. I just laugh. I’m doubly certain he hasn’t been competing with me at all, and it turns out that the 15th floor is just a normal place that I could have come to at any point. Ruben probably would have let me in. Ben would have, for sure. I don’t know why I thought I had to earn my way here, but I just didn’t seem to care anymore.

I finally made it all the way to the top, and the only thing I could think about was kissing Ruben on those cloud-soft leather cushions. I think it’s safe to say I’ve gotten over my inferiority complex. He can have all the big offices in the world. I just need the order number for that couch.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

When Ruben said we would fly together to New York, I didn’t realize he meant on his private jet.

“Are you sure this thing is safe?” I whisper in Ruben’s ear. The plane is tiny, with only eight seats, all of which are equipped like little cubicles with desks. There’s a pilot and a copilot, who introduced themselves before going into the cockpit, but no flight attendants, and we're the only passengers.

“I fly in it all the time.”

“That isn’t what I asked.”

“Do you think Palmer Hotels would risk their moneymaker by flying him around in an unsafe aircraft?”

I screw my face to one side. “A valid point.” I huff and plop myself down in one of the seats. It’s way more comfortable than any airplane seat I’ve ever sat in, so I guess I can forgive the size of the aircraft.

There are drinks and snacks, as well as a hot dinner beside me in the cubicle. Ruben pulls out his computer. “There’s Wi-Fi, if you need to work on anything.”

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