The flight attendant’s words reminded Shayla that even though she knew Kevin was not a player, the cowboy didn’t realize it yet. He had a carefree, thriving social life. And as soon as she was out of Houston, he’d go back to playing in that very broad field.
Tipping her chin, she held the woman’s gaze. “I know. We’re not a thing. Kevin was kind enough to let my daughter and I stay here a few days while we’re in Houston.”
There. That should be enough information to not ruin things for him with the blonde in the future. And why Shayla’s stomach knotted at the thought, she refused to analyze.
“Oh. I see.” The woman smiled and warmth returned to her eyes. “He is a sweetheart. Will you please tell him Amber stopped by?”
Amber? Shayla blinked. Really? The woman had blonde hair and blue eyes.
“Sure. Of course. Do you want me to have him call you?”
Blonde Amber with blue eyes shook her head and grinned. “No. I’m only here ‘til three. You all enjoy. I’ll catch him next time.” And with that, the woman got in the elevator and disappeared.
Next time.
Just how many times had Amber enjoyed Kevin?
Whoa. That was twice now she’d had to stop a crazy thought train that morning. The cowboy’s love life was none of her business. She had no stake. No claim on the man. And because she was beginning to want to, Shayla decided then and there, her plans for the night had just drastically changed.
Tonight she was sleeping in Amelia’s room.
A half-hour later, Shayla was holding Amelia and balancing the diaper bag, speeding toward the top floor of McCall Enterprises with Hoffman and a vaguely familiar pretty woman.
“Is this your first time here?” the woman asked with a smile.
Shayla nodded. “Is it that obvious?”
“No, but this building can be a bit overwhelming.”
Understatement. Why she’d thought it would’ve been some kind of warehouse was a mystery. Shayla had certainly never pictured the company the two cowboys ran to be a massive, impressive skyscraper with more than forty floors.
“I’m, Nadine. I just started working here after the New Year.” The friendly woman held out her hand.
“Shayla. And this is Amelia.” She studied the woman smiling at her daughter, then it dawned on her why the pretty brunette seemed so familiar. Nadine had been at the Texas-Pub last month. Dancing with Kevin.
“Kevin said you’d be coming to bring him the file he’d forgotten.”
Kevin? Just how friendly where they?
Damn. She did it again. Crossing the just-sex zone.
Back off, she told herself. The man’s love-life was his business. It was just a little surprising he’d mix business with pleasure.
“Yeah. I have it my bag.”
“I’m sorry we had to pull him away from you today.”
“Oh, you didn’t pull him away,” she rushed to say. “I mean, we’re just friends. We had nothing planned.”
Other than avoiding the immanent wild sex. Hopefully he’d work late. That would help her to keep her resolve to sleep in Amelia’s room tonight.
“That’s too bad. He’s a great guy,” Nadine exclaimed, glancing at Hoffman who stood with his gaze straight ahead, and arms folded across his massive chest before the woman’s brown gaze shifted back to Shayla.
A small smile tugged her lips. Now those were the kind of eyes that went with the name Amber.
“Kevin was a sweetheart to me last year when my well-meaning brother asked him to take me to my college formal. I was well past mortified, especially when he’d told Kevin no sex. Right in front of me.”
Okay, yeah, see, she didn’t want to hear this. Her gaze shot to Hoffman. Still no emotion. Damn man was a rock.
“Anyhow, it wasn’t like that. We played video games all night. I kicked his ass half the time. And well, he made me understand that being a nerd was all right. You can imagine my shock when I realized who he was. I mean, some of the games he’s designed are legend. And yet, you’d never know the guy was vice president to such a prestigious company, or named programmer of the year several times, or had a net worth that exceeded eight digits. Kevin is just a nice, fun-loving, down to earth cowboy.”
Wasn’t that the plain truth?
Shayla never considered any of that. In fact, the realization was beginning to hit her like a steamroller. The man she considered a fun-seeking, irresponsible player, the very man whose body she’d been seeking fun with all week, was a well-known and respected businessman.
A billionaire.
Her stomach began to knot. “Yes, he’s been very kind,” she said, knowing the talkative woman was waiting for a response, and held in a sigh of relief when the elevator stopped at the top floor and the doors opened.
Nadine was nice, but Shayla wasn’t used to being open with her feelings, especially concerning the blue-eyed cowboy…programmer…businessman….billionaire. Just what was she supposed to call him now? Casanova cowboy didn’t seem to fit anymore.
It didn’t compute.
“This is Mrs. Dixon.” Nadine drew her forward to the secretary sitting behind the tall desk in a spacious reception area.
A large picture of Mr. McCall, one of Cole McCall and one of Kevin covered the back wall, while plaques and awards lined the other two surrounding reception. Holy awards. There had to be more than twenty.
“Please, call me Stella,” the stylish, middle-aged woman in a light blue power suit insisted as she stood. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Shayla. And this must be Amelia.” The secretary approached with a no-nonsense, graceful gait, her arm extended.
“Nice to meet you, Stella,” she said, shaking the woman’s hand, her gaze going back to the multitude of plagues. “I hadn’t realized McCall Enterprises had so many awards.”
“Not all of them are for the company,” the woman stated, ending the hand shake. “Many are for Cole and Kevin, although, these aren’t even half of them. Those two guys hate the pomp and circumstance. I had to dig these from their desk drawer. And even the garbage. They don’t do it for the fame.”
Shayla’s chest tightened as she began to realize just how smart Kevin was, and what he’d accomplished with his life. High school. College. Part owner of thriving horse ranch. Vice president to prestigious, world renown company. World famous programmer. While she was a single mother who constantly moved around and never made it past the eleventh grade. He was friendly, brilliant with a ton of friends. She was closed up, diploma-less with a couple of friends she could count on one hand. Compared to the cowboy, she was lacking. Big time.
“Yeah,” Nadine stepped close, gaze alive with excitement. “They don’t create the programs for fame. They do it for the challenge.”
A familiar tingling skittered down Shayla’s spine, and she knew without turning Kevin had appeared. Was this how Cole knew Jordan was near?
“Exactly,” the cowboy said, and her daughter immediately pushed to get down.
Turning with a ready smile on her lips, she was determined to squash the excitement his nearness created. The past twenty-four hours had certainly been eye-opening. If she’d thought them worlds apart before, they were universes apart now.
Smile still firmly in place, she nodded at Cole and Kevin.
“Daddy,” Amelia yelled, running full speed at the smiling, blue-eyed executive while everyone else stilled to the point of not breathing.
If the floor found it within itself to open up and swallow Shayla she’d be forever grateful. But no. Seemed her daughter decided the top floor of McCall Enterprises was a great place for public humiliation.
“Hey, pumpkin,” Kevin said, scooping her daughter in his arms to receive his routine sloppy kiss.
When Shayla’s pulse slowed down to warp speed, she swallowed and forced a laugh. “She saw a little girl do that at Sea World, and we can’t seem to get her to stop.” The need to explain her daughter’s behavior was strong enough for Shayla to risk further embarrassment.
“You three went to Sea World?” Cole asked, huge grin consuming the man’s handsome face.
“Yeah,” Kevin replied, shifting Amelia to sit on his shoulders. “On Wednesday. We had a great time watching the penguins, didn’t we, angel?” He smiled at Shayla and winked.
She wasn’t sure if the cowboy had been asking her or Amelia. After all, the man had only ever called her Shayla or darlin’, except for a few sexy, erotic endearments when he was buried deep inside her. Heat rushed to her face, and since she hadn’t been embarrassed enough, she friggin’ went and blushed.
She was so out of her element.
Still unsure if he’d been talking to her or not, Shayla nodded and fumbled with the diaper bag, trying to pull out the folder so she could leave. A sippy cup, juice box, wallet, strip of condoms…Shit. How’d that get in there? She shoved the packets back in, hoping to God no one had seen them. The intake of breath and soft snicker filling reception pretty much laid that hope to rest. Dammit. Digging deeper, she finally managed to wrestle the red folder from the damn bag.
“Here’s the file,” she said, walking to a dimple-glaring Kevin.
She was going to kill him later.
When she stopped in front of him, he bent slightly and said, “God, you’re adorable.”
Mortified was more like it. She shoved the folder into his gut and smiled back when he grunted. “And you’re a dead man.”
And because his open, happy expression drew her in and warmed her from purple toenails to the roots of her tingling scalp, Shayla stepped back.
Keep it simple.
She inhaled and chanced a glance at the others. Smiling and friendly, except for Hoffman. He had that dead pan stare. Wonder if he gave lessons?
Mrs. Dixon waved at Amelia babbling in Kevin’s arms. “Don’t worry any about your daughter. Kids have a mind of their own. I remember one Fourth of July when my son was four, he was so excited, jumping up and down, pointing at the fire engines, screaming at the top of his lungs. ‘Look at the fire trucks! Look at the fire trucks!’ Too bad his TR’s came out like F’s.”
Shayla’s hand flew to her mouth, but it didn’t stop the giggle from escaping and joining the others.
“Yeah, that was one parade I’ll never forget,” Stella stated. “Neither would Reverend Moore or his wife or his eighty-eight-year old mother, rest her soul. They were all standing to my right.”
Even Hoffman cracked a smile on that one.
“Well, I don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse,” she said, glancing at her chortling daughter, banging on Kevin’s head.
“That’s it, sweetheart,” Cole said, smiling up at Amelia. “Knock some sense into him.”
Shayla snorted. “Fat chance.”
“Hey.” Kevin tried to scowl at her, but the expression ended up somewhere between sexy-as-hell and sexier-than-he-had-the-right-to-be.
Stella chuckled and patted Shayla on the shoulder. “I like you,” the secretary stated before returning to her perch behind her desk.
“So do I,” the brilliant, executive, billionaire cowboy stated with a grin.
“You like a lot of women.” That might have come out a wee bit bitter as the image of the blue-eyed, blonde flight attendant flashed in her head.
Kevin’s brow creased with his confusion. “Where’d that come from?”
Her chin lifted. “You had a visitor before I left.”
Confusion was instantly replaced by concern. “Who?” His fingers closed around her upper arm as he gently but firmly tugged her out of earshot from the others. “I told the front desk no visitors.”
“I guess he figured in Amber’s case you’d make an exception.”
She waited and watched, curious to see if he remembered the woman.
Confusion returned. He released her, but didn’t move away. “The flight attendant?”
“Bingo.” Guess that answered that. “She said she only had a short layover today, but would look you up on the next one.”
“Sorry. She’d never been upstairs. We meet in the lobby.” He clenched his jaw, apparently not as happy as she’d thought about the unexpected visit. “Excuse me. I need to call concierge to see why they allowed her on an elevator.” He fished the phone out of his pocket and walked away.
Shayla still hadn’t figured out what his feelings were for the blonde and was mulling it over when Nadine approached.
“It was nice meeting you.”
“You, too.”
The pretty brunette lowered her voice. “You’re mistaken if you think you and Kevin are just friends. You two do not look at each other like just friends or act like just friends. There is definitely more. Much more. But that’s a good thing.” She squeezed Shayla’s arm. “Embrace it. You’re a lucky woman. He’s a good man.”
And with that, the pretty woman with amber eyes twisted on her heels, walked over to Kevin for the red folder, then disappeared down the hall, leaving Shayla’s mind in a whirl.
Kevin didn’t look at her like a friend? Then how did he look at her?
She glanced at the man, talking on the phone, frown creasing his normally smooth brow, while he held her daughter’s legs. Shoot. Amelia still sat on his shoulders. She’d forgotten about the little cutie. Rushing forward, she silently scolded herself and promised to get her head out of her backside.
He finished his call and slipped his phone back in his pocket. “You didn’t have any other visitors, did you?”
“No.” She stopped, plight momentary forgotten. “Why? Were you expecting other girls?”
Okay, now she was sounding jealous. Idiot. She had no claim to him. What was her problem? Of course he had other women.
He laughed and shook his head. “Nope. You’re the only woman allowed in my space.”
She cocked her head, reveling in that statement. “You really don’t bring any of your…of them to your penthouse?”
“No. Never.” He shook his head, gaze open and honest. “I like my privacy.”
She could certainly see where it could become an issue. That had to suck. Apparently, Amelia agreed because she nodded and slapped Kevin’s head again.
“Sorry. Here, let me take her,” she said, reaching for her daughter.
Amelia screamed and kicked in protest.
Great. She didn’t need this.
“Hey, pumpkin, now that’s enough,” Kevin said, pulling her screaming daughter off his shoulders to cradle her in his arms. “You don’t tell your momma no. Understand?”
Miraculously, the little bugger cut the waterworks and smiled up at the man. “Ya.”
“Now, you go with Mommy, while I talk to Uncle Cole about work, then we can all go to lunch, okay?”
“’Kay,” Amelia said, but the minute he went to hand her daughter over, the screaming recommenced. “Daddy! No. Want daddy!”
Shayla’s heart squeezed tight. Not from embarrassment. No. It was from pain. Somehow, even though they’d been living with Kevin less than a week, her daughter had gotten very attached to the man. The last thing she’d ever wanted was for her daughter to be hurt.
And now it was unavoidable.
It wasn’t anyone’s fault but her own. Not Kevin’s. Not Amelia’s.
Mine.
If she had access to even one tenth of her damn brain cells this week, she would’ve realized her daughter was becoming attached to the friendly man.
So was she.
Hell, she and Amelia had both been partially smitten before she’d even discovered the existence of that damn video. But Shayla would deal with the separation. She understood. She had made a deal with the cowboy to return to their own lives back in Harland County.
Her daughter didn’t. She was innocent. Vulnerable. Impressionable.
Dammit. Amelia was Shayla’s responsibility to keep safe and happy, and she was screwing up royally.
“Come on, baby girl. Let Kevin finish his conversation,” she said, carrying the squirming banshee to the seating area, keeping her tone steady
through her daughter’s tantrum. Setting the bag on an adjacent chair, she sat down with her daughter who stiffened her body and threw herself backward. “How about you have your juice while we wait?”
Once again, the tears disappeared, and Amelia sat up and sniffed. “Juice.”
Yeah, miracle in a box.
After filling the sippy cup, Shayla handed the juice to her daughter and let out a sigh a second before her phone rang. Heart dropping to her knees, she fished out the cell and stopped breathing for a beat when she read the caller ID.
“Kade?” she answered, and Kevin’s concerned gaze snapped to her from across the room.
Was there a problem? Was Caitlin okay? Could she go home?
All three questions bounced through her mind at once as she watched the cowboy rush forward with Cole on his heels.
“Hi, Shayla. How’s my cousin treating you?”
Relief flooded her veins in a wave of warmth. If there had been a problem, the sheriff would’ve stated it right off. “Good, thanks.”
“You ready to come home?”
What a question. A simple one really. A question she thought she knew the answer to, until the blue-eyed cowboy had reminded her what it felt like to be alive. Pampered her with incredible, mind-blowing sex. Treated her and her daughter like…family.
Did she want to leave that behind? No. Hell no.
She dropped the cowboy’s gaze and stared at Amelia.
Staying would only delay the inevitable. Make it that much harder to leave. And her daughter was already too attached to the man.
“Is it safe?”
“I’ll be honest. I don’t know,” Kade replied. “I wish I had a definite answer, but all I can tell you is that there hasn’t been anyone new in town. No one looking or asking for you. Same goes for Caitlin at school. Things seem to be fine. But that doesn’t mean it can’t change overnight. Doesn’t mean your father won’t run into someone who had seen the video and tells him about it, and he tracks you down.” Frustration rumbled in the sheriff’s tone. “I’m really sorry, but there’s just no way to know.”
Shayla let out a breath and nodded. “I understand.”
But she didn’t know what to do.
Her Forever Cowboy (Harland County Series Book 4) Page 17
