That explained why the truck was so old. I mean, it was in good condition, but given Kane’s taste in cars the older tan Ford didn’t fit him. Yet in some ways, now that I thought about it, it was all him. It had character, and the inside of the cab was impeccably clean. Plus, there was something comforting about it.
“Are you doing the renovations yourself?” I figured he’d hired a contractor.
“What I can.”
Why was that such a turn-on? I could picture him getting all hot and sweaty, knocking down a wall in nothing but tight jeans.
“That’s where I was this weekend. I’ve been working on the master bedroom. I’d love for you to see it.”
My brow quirked. “Your bedroom?”
He slapped a hand against his chest. “Excuse me, Dr. Armstrong, I’m not that kind of man. We’re friends here.” He winked.
I laughed and thought about how he could make me laugh like no one else ever could.
“I would, though,” he got serious, “love for you to see my house.”
I would love that, too, but didn’t say anything. I had a feeling if I went to his house, I would want to picture myself there, and that would most certainly cloud my judgment.
“It’s in the neighborhood I grew up in. Only a few blocks from my old house,” he said wistfully. “The house needs a lot of work, but it’s great. You would love the big backyard with a pool, and there are skylights in the kitchen. You can look up and see forever.”
I always appreciated that he never found my quirks weird. Instead, he celebrated them. Ethan could never understand why I chose to sit on the floor, while Kane totally got it.
“Sounds nice. Someday I would like to see it.”
“Someday?” The disappointment was apparent in his voice.
“I’m trying to figure this all out. Going to your place would mean something to me.” I tried to make him understand.
“I get it.”
Of course, he did. He got me. “I didn’t say never.”
He grinned. “Darlin’, I don’t believe in never when it comes to us.”
Whoa. I fanned myself. “Pass the cookies, please,” I squeaked.
He chuckled and grabbed a bag out of the cooler he’d brought so the chocolate wouldn’t melt.
I took the bag and immediately grabbed two semisweet chocolate chunk cookies. “When did you have time to make these?”
“I left work early.”
“You didn’t have to do that.” I knew how busy he was. He had his own business plan to work on, besides the day-to-day running of the company. He was my father’s right hand man, after all. On top of that, he was playing a huge role in the upcoming conference and was renovating his house.
“Yes, I did, Scarlett. I don’t want to screw this up.”
I stared down at the cookies; the chocolate already had a sheen to it from the Georgia heat. “This whole situation is kind of screwed up. We’re vying for the same job, our parents were married once, we’re living under the same roof, and there are a million unresolved feelings between us.”
He brushed my bare shoulder, leaving behind a flurry of tingles. “I don’t see it that way. We can easily keep our personal and professional lives separate. And I’m glad our parents got married—it led me to you and living with you is a major bonus.” He smirked. “And we don’t need to leave anything unresolved. Isn’t that what tonight’s all about? Starting to resolve your feelings?”
I took a bite of cookie, and, oh, was it ever delicious. It bought me some time before I had to answer the infuriatingly charming man. Once I swallowed, I turned toward him to find him patiently waiting for my response. “How do you make everything sound so simple?”
“Nothing about this is simple. It’s complicated as hell, but that’s life. When things are complicated, it only means you try harder and appreciate it more.”
“There you go again, making it all sound like a wonderful adventure instead of a hard road ahead,” I teased. Truthfully, I’d always admired his attitude. It had made him successful. And once upon a time, it made me believe in dreams and in myself.
He scooted closer, though not too close. “Darlin’, life is what you make of it. The road is always going to be hard. It’s all about who you’re traveling it with and where your destination is. I know who I want beside me and where I’m going, so I’m willing to go the distance and work to overcome the roadblocks.”
I stared at him in amazement. Was there any wonder why I hadn’t been able to forget him? I’d never met anyone who took life on the way he did. I didn’t think there was anything he couldn’t accomplish, except maybe convincing me I should travel on the road with him.
“Kane,” I whispered. “I thought I knew who I wanted to travel with and where I was going, but you took a major detour, and I had to exit. If I hadn’t, the pain would have crushed me.”
He rested his warm hand on my knee. “Scarlett, I’m sorry.”
“I believe you, but the road I took hasn’t been bad. In fact, there has been a lot of good. A lot of things I wouldn’t change. Maybe it hasn’t been as thrilling as the one we were on, but I don’t know if I can risk jumping back on that road. Or even if I should. You left a crater-sized pothole when you left. I wonder if you realize that.”
His caramel eyes searched my own as he seemed to grasp for his words. Several times he attempted to reach up and touch my face, only to stop himself. I was grateful for his hesitation. This was a precarious situation that called for an abundance of caution.
“Scarlett,” he finally managed to say. “I will never forget the look you gave me when I told you I was leaving. It broke my heart and has haunted me for years. I hated myself for it. It took everything I had not to call you and beg you to come to London. But I thought I was doing the right thing.”
“It didn’t feel right,” my voice cracked.
“I know.” He sat back against the pillows. “I don’t know what I can do to make it up to you. Or make you see I’m not leaving again.”
I didn’t either. I held up the melting cookies. “These are always a good start.” I tried to add some levity back into the conversation.
He laughed lowly. “There are plenty more.”
“That’s good news.”
He braved resting his hand on my cheek, and, naturally, I leaned into it. “Don’t give up on us, please,” he begged.
“I’m here, aren’t I?” I whispered.
“I thank God for that.” He dropped his hand and I felt the loss of his touch.
I filled the void with cookies.
Kane took out his phone and held it up to take a selfie of us. “We need to document another item being checked off our list.”
“Um . . .,” I mumbled with my mouth full.
Kane gave me a wicked grin. “I noticed you blocked me on Facebook eight years ago.”
I choked on my cookie and Kane patted my back.
I hacked and hacked until finally I could breathe normally. I turned to Kane, red faced. “I couldn’t bear to see you,” I stuttered. “Or you documenting your dates with other women,” I admitted.
Kane rested his phone between us. “Scarlett, I never documented another date on Facebook after Edge of the World.”
My eyes widened. “You didn’t? Why?”
He leaned in and tapped my nose. “Because I didn’t want to hurt you. Plus, no woman has ever compared to you.”
I nudged him. “I saw your beautiful girlfriends over the years in living color. They were plenty worthy of a few Facebook posts.”
He shook his head. “If only you could see how I see you. You would know those women don’t hold a candle to you.”
I bit my lip, not sure I could believe him, but oh, I wanted to. “Um . . . what did you say in your Edge of the World post?” I’d missed that one, as I had blocked him as soon as I could after we broke up. I’d thought it would help lessen the pain, though it hadn’t. It had only deepened the void.
“Why don’t you unblock me and re
ad it for yourself?” he dared me.
“Maybe I will,” I stammered. I was more than curious. But I was afraid it would be painful. How could it not be? I didn’t think there was any spin he could have put on it to make it okay. And why would he post a picture of us after breaking up with me? Better question was, what picture? I didn’t remember us taking a photo together that day.
Kane grabbed his phone and held it up. “Good, then I can tag you in this post. Smile, darlin’.”
I leaned into him as if there weren’t eight years between us and smiled.
He took the shot, then looked at the photo as if he were stunned.
“Oh, no. Do I have chocolate on my teeth or lips?”
He turned his screen toward me. “No. You’re perfect. I was just thinking what a fool I was to let you go.”
I stared at us together. A sense of belonging swept through me. It was as if I could see the past, the present, and the future all wrapped up in his smile. It scared me, and I practically shoved an entire cookie in my mouth while I backed away from him. We had been down this road before, and, like I’d said, it had ended in a huge pothole. But I had to see if the pothole could be filled, or if we were meant to travel another road together. Or, maybe I would find out the separate roads we were currently on weren’t meant to intersect.
He gave me my space and grabbed the popcorn. The sun had gone down, and lights began to flicker on the giant screen ahead of us. A hush fell over the parking lot filled with cars. Several people were sitting outside of their vehicles on camp chairs. I think someone was grilling based on the delicious aroma in the air. There seemed to be a collective excitement about the movie starting.
Tonight, they were playing retro movies on our screen: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Footloose. I hadn’t seen either of the ’80s classics, but Kane was pretty excited about them. Apparently, they were some of his favorite movies growing up. It didn’t take me long to see why.
I turned to him once we were well into the movie. “You’re Ferris Bueller.”
Kane laughed. “You think so?”
“Yes.” Ferris and Kane made life happen. I could see Kane skipping school and making his best friend, Cameron, let him “borrow” his dad’s prized Ferrari for a day trip into the city. When Ferris got his friends into the fancy restaurant without reservations, I saw Kane. It wasn’t Ferris on the screen singing “Twist and Shout” in the parade—it was Kane. Ferris and Kane were spirit animals. A rare breed who had a zest for life unlike any others.
“Does that make you Sloane, then?” Kane whispered in my ear, sending shivers down me in the warm summer air. Sloane was Ferris Bueller’s gorgeous cheerleader girlfriend.
“No. I would be Cameron’s off-screen extremely awkward girlfriend. I would be so awkward Cameron probably wouldn’t have even known we were dating.”
Kane ran a finger down my cheek. “Good thing for Ferris, because I’m sure he grew up and realized that while the Sloanes of the world are great, it’s the women who quietly live behind the scenes that make the world go around. That make my world go around.”
His words made my pulse race. “You promised me you wouldn’t be you tonight.” I could hardly say it, as he was making me want to pole-vault over that pothole and right into the front seat of his car.
“I think you’re mistaken. You just assumed,” he said seductively while leaning in a little closer until I could feel his sweet breath against my lips.
I so badly wanted to close the distance, but instead I placed my finger against his begging-to-be-kissed lips. “Friends don’t kiss.”
He gently removed my finger. “Darlin’, you know that’s not true.”
“Fine.” I kissed his cheek, meaning for it to be only a friendly peck. Thinking it would put him in his place. Except when my lips touched his skin, they felt like they had come home. As in, take your shoes off and stay for a while. I took a moment to breathe him in and memorize how his stubble tickled my lips. How he smelled like spiced ginger cookies and red wine. It felt as if I had been put in my place.
I pulled away, my eyes wide like a deer in the headlights. “We should probably finish watching the movie,” I said breathlessly.
Kane wasn’t retreating. I didn’t expect him to. He was Ferris Bueller. He was the guy who didn’t let any obstacle get in his way. Not even me. “When you’re ready, my lips are all yours.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Every second of every day. But I wasn’t ready to give in yet. Actually I didn’t plan on giving in at all. If I gave Kane another chance it wouldn’t be because he truly convinced me. It would be because I knew it was the right thing to do. But first, I had to figure out how to become his boss.
Missed Memories
For two days now, I’d been avoiding unblocking Kane on Facebook and reading his Edge of the World post. Not to say I was avoiding him. We’d had lunch at the office the last couple of days. We were friends, after all, just not on social media. Kane was still patiently waiting for me to take the next step. I had this feeling he had shifted gears since our night at the movies. He was going to let me come to him. During our lunches he had been way less flirty, and he hadn’t touched me once since he’d almost kissed me in the back of his truck. He hadn’t even tried to when he’d walked me to my room that night. That was weird, us coming home together.
I stared at the door to the Jack-and-Jill bathroom from the floor where I was supposed to be working on my business plan—not debating about whether or not I should friend Kane or wondering where he was so late at night. I assumed he was working on his house. How he had time to do it all, I didn’t know. He was even giving a huge presentation at the conference on Friday. He seemed 0 percent worried about it. I had tried to get him to tell me how his business plan was going, and all he did was smile as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Meanwhile, I was researching new plasma therapy uses to play to my strengths. I was going to show the board that I was a forward thinker. That Armstrong Labs would lead the way in curing diseases and saving the world. I had even tried to find a way to bring forensics into it. I still hadn’t found the perfect angle, but I wasn’t giving up. Maybe if I could merge my life’s passion with my legacy, I could be fulfilled.
However, I had bigger problems, like I didn’t have a firm grasp on costs. I was used to grants, not investors. I’d never had to worry about the numbers or the bottom line. Yes, I had read dozens of quarterly reports over the years and I grasped the overview, but this was a whole new ball game. I had to make projections. Numbers I would be held accountable for.
Sure, if I was chosen as the CEO, I would work with the executive team to create our strategy as a company going forward, but the board needed to see what I brought to the table. I had to be able to answer the interview questions. They needed to see that I was more than a last name. I had to show Auggie his company was going to be in good hands.
Auggie and I had been having dinner together every night. Things were getting less awkward. I had decided just to get to know him like I would a friend. Tonight, we’d talked about what kind of music he liked. He was a classic rock guy. Who knew? He loved bands like Boston and Kansas. Apparently, groups named after cities and states were his thing. He’d even been to some of their concerts in college. I couldn’t imagine Auggie at a concert. In fact, it had made me giggle. Auggie had been amused that I was amused.
My mom, according to Auggie, loved classical music. She loved to play Tchaikovsky, Mozart, and Beethoven on the piano. A piano I never knew existed. Auggie admitted to giving it away after my mother died. It was a beautiful black baby grand, according to him. A gift from him for her twenty-ninth birthday. It made me want to take piano lessons. Maybe I would, once life settled down. I’m not sure when that would ever be. Running a large corporation was going to mean long days and little vacation time. Huh. I mean, I was used to that between medical school and my residency. But I had to admit that I had been looking forward to my time off before my lab director job started and the mor
e stable hours that position would provide. Every weekend off sounded amazing. That didn’t mean I wasn’t up to being CEO. I didn’t have to be a workaholic like Auggie. Still . . . I would be naive to believe I wasn’t looking at sixty-hour weeks on a regular basis. It was fine. I was fine.
Was I? Yes, yes. Of course, I was.
I added a few bullet points to my report, explaining the cost benefits of keeping up to date on the latest technology and equipment. But my phone served as a constant distraction, daring me to click on my Facebook app. I turned it over, as if that would help.
Why did it matter what Kane had posted eight years ago?
Why was I a little disappointed he wasn’t home and pestering me?
Maybe this was part of his strategy. He knew if he could distract me, he’d have the CEO thing in the bag. Well, I would show him. I picked up my phone. I would read the post and get it out of my system. Then I would get back to showing him who was going to be the boss.
I clicked on my app and went to my user settings. He was the only person I had ever blocked, so it was easy to undo. It’s not like I used social media a lot. I hadn’t had time for it. Still didn’t. I went to my feed anyway. The first thing to pop up was Kane’s drive-in post. There we were looking cozy. I lightly brushed my fingers across the screen as if I could touch Kane. His eyes were bright, and I swore he was glowing. His happiness jumped off the screen, like he’d found his best friend. And that’s pretty much what his post said.
Best night in a long time. Reunited and it feels so good.
I rolled my eyes, but I had to smile. It had felt good. Even looking at myself in the picture, I could tell I was different. I saw some of what Auggie had said. There was a light in my eyes. An easiness to my smile.
I hesitated to go searching through eight years of posts, but I knew the not knowing would only take up precious brain power if I didn’t. As I began to scroll and scroll through pictures of Kane hiking, boating, and receiving awards, and his trips to London, Paris, Zurich, Hawaii, and on and on through the years, a pang hit me so deep. I felt as if I had missed out on a lifetime of memories. I had to stop and look at the ones of him deep-sea fishing. He was holding a ginormous fish. This one’s for you, Dad, he’d written as his caption. It brought a tear to my eye, as did his Father’s Day and birthday tributes to his dad, his hero. I found myself staring at Greg Hudson. Kane was his twin, except his father had eyes as blue as the sea. However, their eyes both possessed the same sparkle. I wished I had known Greg, the man Kane always spoke so fondly of.
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