Arvil snorted. “The sidekick who would take all the attention away from the hero with his naturally good looks and amazing skills,” he winked at her, leading her out the door, his grip on her hand tightening. “Sorry, love. Better luck next time.”
Daisy huffed, shaking her head with an amused smile. “Really? I think they’ll all be distracted by my beauty…”
Arvil chuckled, walking over to the elevator. “Would they be?” He mused. “If that’s what you want to think, love.”
“How rude!” Daisy laughed, swatting at him. “Anyway, archery… Anything I should know before we start?”
Arvil would have been taken in by her laughter had she not swatted at him. He grinned, bumping their shoulders together. “Not really, no. Just that they need a lot of practice before you can save the world.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Daisy said with a roll of her eyes, a smile still playing on her lips. “Are you going to do any this time? Or just help me?”
“We’ll see,” Arvil shrugged, stepping into the elevator and pulling her in as well. “I’ll probably just help.”
“If you want to practice, too, I’m sure I could figure it out on my own,” Daisy said with a shrug, looking up at the floor numbers. But I won’t be upset if you would rather help…
“I’d rather watch you practice,” Arvil replied with a shrug, pressing a button. “Sounds much more fun, don’t you think?”
“What, no helping me this time?” Daisy asked, a teasing lilt to her voice as she glanced at him from the corner of her eye with a small smirk to accompany the look.
Arvil chuckled. “If you want me to help you, love, I can,” he winked at her. “All you need to do is ask.”
Daisy rolled her eyes with a noncommittal hum. “You do remember that I literally just started, right? I’ll probably need your help whether I want it or not.”
“I’ll help you, then,” Arvil winked just as the elevator door opened. “Come on. It’s not that crowded as it always is.”
Daisy stuck her tongue out at his back before following him. “How many people are usually in the room a day?”
“It depends,” Arvil shrugged. “They usually like to drop by during lunch. And don’t think I didn’t see the face you made, love.”
Daisy chuckled softly. “All right. Straight to the archery room, then. Let’s go,” she hummed, already on her way there.
“Lead the way, why don’t you?” Arvil muttered, though there was a smile on his features as he followed after his fake fiancée. “Your bow is still there, by the way.”
Daisy blinked but didn’t stop walking. “Oh? You didn’t get rid of it or take my name off?” she asked softly.
Arvil hummed, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “I didn’t,” he responded. “It was yours. Nothing for me to get rid of.”
“But it was really yours. Your company’s, your money… You didn’t have to keep it,” Daisy protested, blinking up at him owlishly. Why did he keep it when he hadn’t needed to?
No, Arvil wanted to say. I had good reasons to keep it. It’s yours. How can I get rid of things that remind me of you?
“I always hoped you’d come back,” he said instead, offering a shrug. “Not as my fiancée necessarily. And I wanted to return it to you. It’s yours, after all.”
Daisy looked up at him, a small smile beginning to form slowly. She nudged him playfully and stepped into the archery room. “Well, thank you. I’m glad you didn’t get rid of it.” And that you wanted me to come back, even as just a friend.
Arvil merely grinned back at her as he followed her into the room. “I like how you know your way around the building now,” he chuckled.
“I’ve only been here a million time now,” Daisy joked, chuckling as she walked over to the wall of bows. As Arvil had promised, hers was still there, her name still written on it. She smiled as she took it down. “Okay, you might have to remind me the proper stance and how to hold it again…”
Arvil nodded, instructing her slowly. He held her softly, nudging her foot with his own to have her spread her legs a little more. His hand pressed against her lower back to have her straighten it. And when she pulled back the string and the arrow, he lifted her elbow higher. “There,” he whispered against her ear. “Find your aim and fire.”
Daisy fought to keep her breathing slow and even, and she did manage to do so. Mostly, anyway. Enough that it was believable.
But then his voice… He was so close, right behind her. And his voice was right in her ear.
She barely suppressed a shudder as she pulled the string back. When she released the arrow, she released a breath. And the arrow embedded itself into the space beside the bullseye but didn’t get close enough to count as one. She sighed and lowered the bow, though she was smiling. It felt good to do that, to shoot the bow and actually hit the target, even if it wasn’t the center.
Arvil didn’t know how he was able to concentrate properly when he was so close to the woman he liked. Her vanilla scent filled his nostrils, clouding his thoughts and better judgement. It took everything out of him to focus on keeping his voice steady—and he succeeded—and making sure his mouth wouldn’t latch on to her neck. Despite how welcoming and delicious it looked, he could not kiss it. That would be wrong.
So he instructed her calmly, keeping his thoughts to himself, and his hunger in its cage. He could do that much. And then she was firing the arrow and it struck the board, narrowly missing the center. Still, it was something. He was proud of that, too.
“Perfect,” he whispered, still close to her. He reached for another arrow, handing it to her. “Two more to go, yeah?”
Daisy nodded silently as she nocked the next arrow, not trusting her voice at the moment. Heck, she hardly trusted her own breathing at the moment. Her traitorous heart pounded in her chest, and she was surprised he hadn’t picked up on that or the heat that radiated between them.
She blinked before pulling the arrow back, her thumb at her cheekbone to guide it. Letting out another breath, she released it.
And got just above the last arrow.
Arvil couldn’t handle it anymore. Either it was stepping away from her, or turning her around and kissing her breathless. He had those two options. He chose the first one.
Arvil took a few steps away from her, appearing calm and composed, smiling at her.
“Good job,” it was a good thing he was used to keeping his emotions in check. If he was like an animal in heat, more specifically like other males, he would have stuttered and stumbled over his words. But he was Arvil Davis. He hardly got flustered. “Now try it one last tome. You’ll make it, I’m sure. If you don’t, maybe I’ll give you a kiss as a reward.”
Daisy snorted and shook her head. “What do I get if I do make it?” she asked, turning around to give him a curious look.