Mr Right Stuff

by Sophie Brooks

Fourteen

  Kate

  “No, that sounds great. Perfect actually. As long as we hit Tokyo and Kyoto, I’m okay with skipping Okinawa. Talk to you later.” I hung up the phone and looked at the map I’d pulled up on my computer. Julie’s plan seemed like a good one. She and Dan had done a ton of research on what places we should visit in Asia. I couldn’t fault anything they’d chosen—I just wish I’d been part of the planning.

  “The world tour includes Japan now?”

  Startled, I looked up to find Ethan standing over me. How long had he been there?

  “Yes,” I said, gathering up the papers on my desk into a pile.

  “Okinawa’s really beautiful. But so is the rest of Japan.”

  Stacking up the last of the papers, I glanced back up at him. “Is there anywhere you haven’t visited?”

  He stepped around the desk to examine the postcards I’d pinned to the cubicle wall. Over the years, various friends had sent them. Ethan ran his finger lightly over a scenic Swiss village with the Matterhorn in the background. One of Dan’s friends had sent that one.

  He examined a few more. “This one. I don’t think I’ve ever been there.”

  Rising to my feet, I examined a picture of a city lit up at dusk. “That’s Kansas City.”

  “That would explain it,” he said promptly, and I chuckled. My aunt, who hadn’t quite gotten the global theme of my postcard collection, had sent that one.

  Ethan turned, and suddenly he was standing very close to me. Closer than he’d been since we’d kissed—a fact that made warmth spread across my skin. But then he reached down and picked up something on my desk. “Is this the infamous travel journal?”

  He examined the leather cover as I fidgeted at his side. Yeah, most of the hopes and dreams I’d recorded in there were about travel, but it still contained my innermost thoughts. It was almost like a diary.

  After a moment, Ethan handed it to me, and I put it and the papers in a drawer. When I straightened up, he’d taken a half step back.

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  “For what?”

  “For doing this stuff during work hours. There just hasn’t been much free time, with the wedding prep and all that…” I trailed off, and Ethan stared at me, long and hard. I couldn’t make out his expression, though.

  Finally, he spoke. “Come with me.”

  He offered his hand, and I took it. As he led me through the office toward the elevators, I wondered if he was holding my hand because he wanted to… or for show. Maybe the best I could hope for was a little of both. People definitely looked up as we passed. I hadn’t been here long enough to make friends in this new part of the building—plus people looked at me differently now that I was the fiancée of the CEO. Like I was a corporate spy or something.

  A minute later, Ethan led me out onto the roof of Grant Industries. The fresh air was a welcome treat after the hours at my desk. There was a slight breeze that wasn’t exactly chilly, but it did make his hand on mine feel extra warm. And extra reassuring, somehow.

  Once we were standing next to the waist-high wall lining the edge of the building, he gave me a moment to admire the view. It really was breathtaking. The whole city was laid out before us with mountains in the distance.

  I took my time, noticing everything there was to see in front of me before I turned to the man standing next to me.

  He stared at me steadily, waiting until he had my full attention.

  “You don’t have to apologize.”

  Okay, that wasn’t what I’d expected him to say. “What do you mean?”

  “For working on your travel plans. If I were you, I’d be doing the same thing.”

  “But I’m supposed to be your PA.”

  “You know that was just an excuse so we could spend time learning about each other.”

  “Yeah… but I’m still an employee of Grant Industries. Therefore, I should do my part.”

  “You have… and then some.” His sapphire eyes were intent on mine. “When I first asked you to do this, I didn’t realize how disruptive it would be to your life. You’re spending day and night working toward a wedding that’s never going to happen.”

  “That was the deal,” I said, a little shakily. Somehow, it meant a lot that he understood this had been difficult. Not just the time involved, but the constant pretending. Constantly being on guard against saying something that would give the game away. It was exhausting.

  “I know, but I think you’re the kind of person who enjoys dreaming about traveling almost as much as you do the travel itself. I’m sorry that you don’t have time to work with your friends on that.”

  “It’s okay.” I said that automatically, but his words had rung true. It did really bother me that it wasn’t the three of us planning the trip together anymore.

  “No, it isn’t.” Ethan tucked my arm under his as we both looked out at the view, side by side. “I regret that me achieving my dream took away from yours.”

  “But we’re getting a much longer trip out of it.” He nodded but didn’t say anything. After a moment, I changed the subject. “How’s that going? Being president of the company?”

  “I fucking love it.” His words were simple, but rang with sincerity. “On the surface I suppose it doesn’t look that different from just being CEO, but it is. It’s all on me now. I mean, yeah, there’s still the board and the department heads, but the bottom line, it’s on me. I want to build this company up. Increase its reach. Just like my grandfather did in his day. And now I can—thanks to you.”

  He put his arm around me, and I leaned against him, enjoying the way it felt to touch him again. This wasn’t the time for a sudden flare-up of passion like in the cloakroom before. This was the time to enjoy being near a person who’d recently become important to me. “I’m glad I could help.”

  Idly, I moved my left hand along the edge of the concrete wall in front of us. If I moved my fingers just right, the sun hit the diamond ring and sent little rays of light across our clothes.

  “It’s pretty, isn’t it?” Ethan asked, and I nodded. “Grandpa had good taste when he picked that out.”

  It really was lovely. I’d miss it when it was time to give it back.

  “You do that a lot.”

  Surprised, I looked up at Ethan. “Do what?”

  “Play with the ring in the light. You’ve started doing that instead of clutching your pendant.”

  “Really?” My hand moved automatically to the glass heart at my neck, and it dawned on me that it was true. For some reason that bothered me.

  Ethan seemed to realize that. “I know that a lot of things are changing. Things you probably didn’t want to change.” He sighed. “And I have to ask you for one more thing.”

  Uh-oh. “What is it?”

  “Will you move in with me?”

  Fifteen

  Kate

  “They grow up so fast,” Dan said, putting his arm around Julie and shaking his head sadly as I stuffed things into my suitcase.

  “I know,” Julie said, pretending to wipe a tear from her eye. “Seems like only yesterday our girl was a freshman in college, too shy to eat pizza in public.”

  “That was only because the cafeteria always undercooked it,” I protested. “You’d pick it up and all the cheese and sauce would slide right off.”

  “And onto your shirt,” Julie snickered.

  “That was just once!”

  “I still say you should’ve kept the shirt that way,” Dan said. “It was cool—it looked like an inkblot test.”

  “If you guys don’t stop, I’m gonna… I’ll…”

  “You’ll what?”

  “I’ll miss you terribly.” Real tears threatened to roll down my cheeks unlike the ones Julie had faked a minute ago.

  Immediately, she rushed over and gave me a hug. “It’s okay. It’s only for two weeks. Then we’re going to be together for a year.”

  “Yeah. You’ll see us so much you’ll get sick of us,” Dan added.<
br />
  “I know,” I said. “I mean, not about getting sick of you, but I know we’ll be back on track soon. I just—you’ve been my roommates for five years now.”

  “But maybe this is a good thing, honey,” Julie said. “You know how some people live with their parents, then live with college roommates, then get married, and they never get a chance to live on their own and discover who they really are? Well, maybe this is your chance to try a different living arrangement and learn about yourself.”

  “Or to learn how billionaires live,” Dan said.

  I chuckled weakly, trying to stop sniffling. “No penthouse could ever beat this.”

  “Have you seen this place?” Dan asked, but he wasn’t fooling me. All three of us had worked very hard to make our small apartment a home.

  “What’s his penthouse like?” Julie sat down next to Dan on her bed while I continued to fill the suitcase on mine.

  “I don’t know, I’ve never been there, but I saw the pictures when I was studying up about him.”

  “Oh yeah, during your Ethan 101 class. I’d say that living with him means you’ve graduated to the advanced class,” she said. “Can’t you look at it as an adventure?”

  “Plus he’s hot,” Dan said, and Julie and I both stared at him.

  He snorted. “Oh come on, you guys know my type, what makes you think I don’t know yours? What I’m trying to say is, there might be worse things than living in the lap of luxury with a handsome billionaire for two weeks.”

  He had a point. It just felt like the end of an era or something. But in two weeks, we’d be flying to Europe just like we’d always dreamed. Our days living together in this apartment were numbered anyway. “Okay, you’re right. I’ll try to make the best of my time seeing how the other half live.”

  “More like the other one percent,” Dan said. “And even if you’re too busy bossing butlers around, we’ll see you soon enough at the rehearsal dinner. After all, you and I have a date in the cloakroom.”

  My face flushed.

  Julie elbowed Dan. “Don’t tease her about that.”

  “What? It’s not like we’re going to do anything. All we have to do is hug and jump apart when the door opens. Kate’s become quite the actress as of late.”

  I looked around. There wasn’t anything else I needed, so I closed my suitcase and zipped it up. “Pretending to be someone’s fiancée is one thing. Pretending to cheat is quite another.”

  “Well, if it’ll make it less awkward, I can practice by making out with other girls in closets before—ouch!” Evidently, Julie had just kicked him.

  My phone buzzed with a new text message. “Ethan’s here.”

  I picked up my suitcase, but Dan stood and took it from me. “He’s not even going to come up here?”

  Julie swore under her breath and wrestled the suitcase handle away from Dan. “You stay here,” she commanded. “I’ll walk her down.”

  Picking up a garment bag, my jacket, and my purse, I followed her into the living room, taking a last look around. Next week, most of our stuff would go into storage. I wasn’t sure where we’d live after our trip, but we’d never live here again. That thought made me sad.

  As soon as we were in the stairwell, Julie turned to me. “It’ll be okay. This is just a small bump on our way to the trip of a lifetime.” She held up her Murano glass pendant, and for a bizarre moment, I almost tapped the engagement ring against it instead of my pendant.

  “I know. And you have to tell me everything, okay? Everything you guys are planning. And let me know if you need my help packing the rest of the stuff up.”

  “We’ll be okay. We’re both done with our jobs, so we have plenty of time. It’ll all work out.” She put the suitcase down and gave me a fierce hug.

  Ethan was outside waiting by the door, and he took my bags and loaded them into the back of a black SUV. After some polite small talk with Julie, he helped me into the vehicle and we headed downtown.

  His penthouse was amazing. Everything was made of gleaming glass, marble, or stainless steel. The kitchen opened up into a living room with a huge fireplace that took up half of the far wall. Across from it was a spiral staircase leading to the upstairs level, but I’d seen an actual elevator in a hallway off to the right. The place was massive.

  I climbed the stairs after Ethan, nervous about what to say now that we were alone together—but not so nervous that I didn't notice how cute his ass looked in those black jeans he was wearing. As he climbed the stairs in front of me, I almost missed a step due to looking at him instead of the wedge-shaped steps below me.

  Ethan gave me a quick tour of the upstairs level, showing me his study as well as the master bedroom. I had just a quick glimpse of the biggest bed I’d ever seen surrounded by dark wooden furniture and heavy maroon curtains. His room looked like a suite at a five-star hotel.

  The tour evidently over, he backtracked to a door back by the stairs. “Here’s where you’ll be staying.” He went to the closet to hang up my garment bag and set my suitcase on a platform at the foot of the queen-size bed. The room was light and cheerful, and somehow feminine-looking. There was a hint of fresh-paint smell, and I wondered if the pale yellow walls had been recently redone.

  The answer was most likely yes, because my attention was caught by ample evidence that he’d had this room prepared especially for me. I gasped and dropped my purse on the floor, staring in wonder.

  A desk made from honey-colored wood stood in front of a wall covered in cork. Pinned to the corkboard was my postcard collection which had been in my cubicle yesterday as well as a world map. Beyond that was a large, free-standing whiteboard with pictures of some of the places I’d told Ethan we were going to visit affixed to the top. The desk had a computer with two monitors, and a globe sat at the far end. As if that weren’t enough, a low bookshelf next to the desk seemed to have travel guides for every country I’d ever heard of and then some.

  “Oh my god, Ethan.”

  He stood still, his hands in the pockets of his jeans, the sleeves of his dark green sweater pushed up around his elbows. But the smile on his face matched my own.

  I spun in a slow circle, taking it all in. “This is amazing. When did you do this?”

  He ignored the question but answered a different one I had—why. “I know you haven’t been able to spend much time planning for your trip lately, so I thought this would help.”

  He strode over to the desk and opened a drawer. Moving to his side, I saw that the drawer was filled with notepads, pens, office supplies, and my travel journal. “You got this from my cubicle?”

  “Yep. All your stuff is here. You don’t have to go back to the office anymore.”

  “Really?”

  “Really,” he said, then he grinned. “You turned in your two weeks’ notice some time ago—it’s high time Grant Industries honored that.”

  “Thank you,” I said, then flushed. “I mean, not that I didn’t like working there, but… well, you know what I mean.”

  He laughed. “I do. And thank you for helping me achieve my dream. I wanted to do what I could to help you get yours back on track.”

  “I still can’t believe you did all this, but it will definitely help.”

  “I’m glad.” Ethan looked around the room. “Do you want to unpack? Or are you hungry? Thirsty? Want some wine?”

  “Wine sounds good,” I surprised myself by saying. But I was a little nervous being here alone with him. It wasn’t unpleasant, it was just… new. Different. A little exciting and a little scary.

  “Okay. Take as long as you need up here, and I’ll go open a bottle. Want to watch a movie then?”

  A small laugh escaped my lips.

  “What?” He cocked his head at me, his blue eyes twinkling.

  “That just seems so… normal. A drink and a movie. I thought rich people probably spent their evenings planning corporate takeovers and figuring out how to rule the world.”

  Ethan laughed, too. “There’ll be tim
e enough for that after the movie.” He winked and strode away.

  A half hour later, I discovered that my idea of a movie and Ethan’s were quite different. Movie-watching with my roommates had consisted of sitting on the couch eating microwave popcorn and squinting at a 28-inch TV screen.

  Movie-watching with Ethan consisted of reclining on a sofa so soft it made velvet feel rough, eating scrumptious French pastries, enjoying the heat from the nearby fireplace, and viewing the movie on a 72-inch screen with surround sound.

  The only thing familiar about the situation was the kind of movie. Ethan had chosen an action thriller which contained a lot of car chases and shoot-outs. Though the man sitting next to me was about as different from Dan as one could be, both seemed to like the same kind of movies. Twice during some of the more preposterous action scenes, I glanced over expecting to exchange a bemused glance with Julie. She liked these kinds of movies almost as little as I did.

  The third time I looked over, forgetting that Julie and Dan weren’t sitting next to me, Ethan paused the movie with the remote. “Something wrong?”

  “No.” It wasn’t wrong—it was just different.

  “Don’t you like the movie?”

  “I don’t dislike it… but… it’s just a little violent.”

  “Sorry, I don’t have any Rom-Coms.”

  For some reason, I laughed. “What makes you think I like Rom-Coms?”

  “Because you do.”

  “You’re stereotyping.”

  Ethan raised an eyebrow at me. Only his upper body was visible. His lower half, like mine, was buried under a plush gray blanket. “In case you’ve forgotten, we spent weeks learning all we could about each other. And unless I’m remembering incorrectly, you said you liked to read romances. So I figured that might carry over to your taste in movies.”

  Oops, I’d forgotten about that. And I was also a little amazed that he’d remembered. “All right, good point.”

  He looked smug as he raised his arms, putting his hands behind his head—showcasing some pretty impressive biceps in the process.