Page 53 of Gold Rush
“We match.”
It’s ironic — his dress shirt is a light taupe, complementing his skin tone and matching my skirt. His slacks are black, like my sweater. Arin reaches into a closet and pulls out a coat similar to mine, shrugging it on.
“I’d offer to change, but I don’t think you want me at dinner in leggings and a sweatshirt.” I shrug, pressing my lips together with a small smile. “This is what I have.”
He steps toward me, holding out his hand. When I take it, he pulls me into his side, his voice soft. “I wouldn’t blink. You look beautiful in anything you wear, Juniper.” I don’t try to fight the blush rising on my cheeks as he leads us outside and ushers me into the same black town car that Bennett put me in when we left the designation center.
Smoothing my skirt, I glance out the car window, taking in the other townhouses and the few cars parked on the road. My eye catches on a dingy white one parked directly across from the townhouse, but I push the question over it out of my mind. My eyes find Arin again, sucking in a breath as he sits across from me, staring.
“I’m not used to having a driver.” I press my palms against my skirt.
“It’s easier.” Arin answers softly. “We only stay in London for brief periods of time. It was… a stroke of luck, really, that we’re even in town.” He licks his lips. “I had business in Paris — still have it — I need to go back and facilitate a contract at the end of the week.” Arin lets out a soft laugh, running a hand over his mussed curls. “But you probably don’t care about that.”
“I do!” I lean forward. “Seth said that you were in real estate. Or maybe it was Bennett.”
Arin’s lips twitch as he looks at me. “I am. I do contract law, but I occasionally help others tour homes or locations. That’s how I met Bennett and Seth, actually.”
I smile at him, the car stopping and starting in the evening traffic. “And let me guess, Seth just never left.”
“That’s accurate,” Arin chuckles, a fond expression crossing his face.
I feel apullin my chest, like a string connecting me back to the townhouse and the beta inside it. I’m glad to have a moment of peace alone with Arin, even if it’s only to get to know him in this odd situation we’ve all found ourselves in. Still, it wouldn’t bother me at all to have Bennett and Seth with us at dinner… and maybe Theo too.
“They were purchasing commercial property.” Arin speaks softly as the car pulls to a stop. He steps out first and then offers me a hand. I take it as he keeps talking. “Bennett and I hit it off immediately — we have very similar personalities, I’ve found. And I’d met him prior at a networking event in…” He squints as he walks us toward the door of a tall building. “God, I don’t even remember where it was.”
My eyes flicker up and up, taking in the high rise as Arin guides us inside where a man behind a desk greets us.
“Mr. Mohan.” The man smiles at Arin. “Thank you so much for your call earlier. We’re happy to have you this evening. Please, follow me.”
I take in the fancy decor as the man leads us away from the main area, which resembles a regular office building, to a private elevator off to the side. He glances at Arin first as we step into the elevator, and I shift closer to the alpha holding my hand as the elevator itself sways, beginning to rise. I don’t have a great track record with elevators, but at least I’m not alone.
Arin bends down, his voice soft. “I’d have you close your eyes, but I’d like to see your face when the doors open.”
I turn toward him, about to ask what he means, just as the doors click, the elevator dinging as they slide open. The host motions for us to step off, but instead, Istare.
The floor is entirely made of glass, looking down at some kind of club on the level below us in the building. Arin chuckles softly as he guides me off the elevator, walking across the lit up surface into an empty room. When I finally drag my eyes away from the floor, I’m met with a view of windows, the entire wall looking out onto central London in the evening, the sounds of traffic trickling up from the street below, at the peak of the city’s hustle and bustle of evening traffic.
I stop near a single table in the center of the room, two chairs across from each other. Arin pulls one of them out, smiling at me as I take a seat.
He takes his place across from me, folding a napkin across his lap. “I think it was Berlin, now that I’ve thought about it.” His lips lift. “Bennett wanted to expand to a European market, then a year later — the next time I met him, while showing the property — I also met his partner, both in business and in life.”
I stare at him, sucking in a little breath. “And you just let them into the pack?”
“I had to speak to Theo, of course.” Arin glances at his napkin. For all the activity underneath us and the lights flashing, the room we’re in is quiet, only street noise filtering through the open windows.
I stare at Arin, realizing I knownothingabout any of them.
“He tried Seth’s rum and was pretty keen to have them in our little pack.” He laughs lightly, looking up at me. “I’m sorry he’s not been on his best behavior. I can’t make excuses for him, but I do hope that one of these days he can find it in himself to explainto you the reasons behind his actions, as misguided and rude they’ve been.”
I almost say that it’s okay — but it’s really not. Instead, I swallow and thank a waitress as she appears to fill each of our glasses with cold, still water. Arin orders a bottle of some kind of wine, and then the waitress is gone again.
I lick my lips, glancing around. “I”m sorry, I’m having… I…” I pause, trying to gather my thoughts. This place could easily hold a hundred to two hundred people, and it’s just… empty. Because apparently the alpha in front of memade a call.
He takes a sip of his water, and then lays his hand on the table, palm up. “I wanted to be able to talk to you one on one.” I eye his hand, then place mine in his, my throat tightening as his fingers wrap around mine. “And we couldn’t do that with other patrons around… potentially watching. I didn’t want you to be uncomfortable, but now I’m realizing I unintentionally did that anyway. This wasn’t meant to be flashy, I’m sorry.”
I stare at him, chewing on my lip. “People wouldn’t be looking at me.”
Arin’s lips twist as he stares at me. “Oh, Juniper.” His voice softens. “Theywould. Not only you, but me as well. You’ve heard the saying,money talks, but wealth whispers, well —” He glances away at the open windows. “I’ve done well for myself in the last fifteen years of my work. The people who need to know who I am, do.” He looks back at me. “I’ve found something I enjoy doing, and I have found I enjoy the connections I make as much as the deals I seal.”
