Slow Dancing

19 | vibrato

My eyebrows rose as I stepped into the elevator with her. Kaden was already inside, pressing the button for the first floor. He spared us a brief glance before looking down at the phone in his hand and beginning to text busily.

I made sure to lower my voice when speaking to Stella this time, knowing that the confines of the elevator were small and quiet. "Parker got you an interview here?"

Stella didn't seem to mind my question at all. "Well, he did offer me a job in his law firm, but since I'm neither interested nor qualified to do anything related to law, he scheduled an interview for me here instead."

A smile glossed my lips briefly as I thought about my brother and the lengths he'd go to for his friends. "That's nice."

"It is," Stella readily agreed. "Parker's always been nice in all the years I've known him. By the way, I've been meaning to ask – how long have you been friends with him?"

Her sudden question took me aback and I faltered. "Uh – "

"Because if you've known him since secondary school days, I'm thinking we might have been school mates," she added, with a bright smile.

I opened my mouth to respond – the actual response itself, however, was still elusive – when the lift door opened on the way down. My eyes widened as I saw several people standing outside waiting to enter and I swallowed.

This couldn't be good.

But before I could panic, Kaden simply raised a hand to stop them. They readily stepped back, more than happy to wait for the next lift. Once the lift doors had slid shut, he turned to Stella.

"Isla's a family friend of the Collins'," he told her simply, in a way that left no room for doubts or second-guessing. His answer surprised me because it technically wasn't a lie – I was a family friend, both Rosemary and Parker knew me well – but nor was it too close to the truth for Stella to probe further.

Stella seemed genuinely pleased that Kaden was directly addressing her and easily accepted his explanation. "I see."

I shot Kaden a grateful glance, a tiny smile curving my lips when he dipped his head in a subtle nod, before tactfully switching the subject altogether. "What's the size of the guest list for the party, Miss Banks?" He asked.

Stella immediately straightened, a professional look slipping on her face as she began to tell him about the guest list. When the lift opened on the first floor, the two of them headed out first and I trailed behind, listening to their conversation with interest. I was highly impressed by Stella's natural confidence and the way she carried herself.

I was hoping to hear more about the party and people on the guest list, but when we reached the parking lot, Stella politely declined an offer from Kaden to drive her to the Mortezion, opting instead to drive there herself. I didn't miss the quick wink she shot me when I got into Kaden's car with him.

The drive to the hotel was more or less silent on my part, but that was only because Kaden was busy answering phone calls. I busied myself by answering a text that Millie had sent. She'd heard from Castor about the catering business that Kaden had offered to Sugar Rush, and was more than thrilled about it.

She asked if I'd thank Kaden on her behalf, so when there was a lull in the phone calls, I turned to him. "Millie says thank you. She's Castor's girlfriend," I hastened to explain, when he momentarily took his eyes off the road to look at me in confusion. "She's very grateful for the business you've given to the café."

"Don't mention it," Kaden returned simply and I smiled, glancing down at my phone again to convey Kaden's message to her.

The car soon turned into the familiar street where Nolan's hotel was. It was the same one that Kaden lived in, which reminded me of the time I'd taken care of him when he was ill. After Kaden had someone valet park his car for him, we stepped into the hotel lobby, heading towards the main ballroom.