Page 21 of Embriagado

Damn—

“Mr. Rivas?”

I turned my head to the right to see Ariyan walking down the hall.

“Oh, sorry… I wasn’t trying to break in, I swear.”

He chuckled, pulling out his set of keys.

“I have no doubt that you weren’t.”

I moved aside just a bit, giving him enough room to get to the door.

“Sorry I disappeared on you. There was an emergency at the restaurant that involved a medium-rare filet mignon and an unsatisfied client,” he said while pushing the key inside the door. Twisting it, he then opened the door and walked in first. “If you ask me, one shouldn’t order filet if they don’t know how to eat it,” he went on while my sole attention was on his ass and how fine it looked in those slim slacks.

“Couldn’t agree more,” I said, biting my lip. Thankfully, this time, I had enough common sense to look away before being caught.

“So, you’re done with the luggage?”

“Yeah.” I walked inside the office. “I mean, almost. There’s one left behind.”

“Oh?” Not looking at me, he was busy fishing out some files from his desk drawer.

“Yeah, but I think there was a mistake.”

“How come?”

I checked out the suitcase again. “The note says fourteenth floor, which is obviously a mistake.”

“A mistake indeed.”

I looked up to see him smiling at me. “You can leave it there. I’ll attend to it later.”

“You sure?” I frowned, then pointed my thumb over my shoulder. “I can go to the clerks myself⁠—”

“No need.”

He sounded impatient.

“Okay.”

A bit weirded out by his reaction, and worried I’d overstepped, I placed the suitcase near his desk. Ariyan’s eyes followed me the whole time until his lips curled up into a soft smile.

“Thank you so much for helping me today, Mr. Rivas. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“It was nothing.” I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling my skin getting warmer.

“Not at all. You were a true lifesaver.”

I heard him stepping closer, and by the time I glanced up, he was right before me. So close, all I wanted was to leap in and kiss him. Yet, before I could make that mistake, he lifted his arm up to check his watch. While he did, my eyes darted to his wrist and those damn scratches.

“Looks like it’s past the time of your shift. I’d hate to keep you here⁠—”

“What happened to your arm?” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

His brows pulled close, but then he glanced at his wrist. “Oh, this little thing?” He held it up. “I got injured while working out.”

Getting a better look at it, it sure as fuck didn’t look like something you’d get from exercise, unless it involved cats.