by T. S. Ryder
But he hadn’t grown up with money like most of the women he encountered. And if he went outside of the circle of the elite, he ran into gold diggers and women who wanted to use him for his money. It had been difficult, and this was why he was still single. Why he’d gotten used to the idea of being single and figured he would be for a long time.
Not that Kaelyn couldn’t be someone who ended up using him, but at least he knew the real her. She’d known him for years, and they’d been friends. It was a much better place to start from than a stranger who knew him as a billionaire. She knew him as Hayden.
Chapter Three
When Hayden left the room, Kaelyn stood there for a moment, looking at the place where he’d been standing seconds before. She wasn’t kidding when she’d commented about how he’d grown up. He was straight up hot now. His big arms and legs, his wide shoulders. The parts of his arms that were visible were covered in muscle. His whole body had to be. His short, spiky hair and thin beard. It was all she could do not to gawk at him.
And now she was about to sit across from him at dinner and live here with him? She would need to talk to Gabby right away. If she had a serious problem with them hooking up, then they all had a serious problem. Though she was maybe getting ahead of herself. She hadn’t talked to him in years. He had to have a girlfriend. No way could he look like that and be crazy rich and also be single. Life didn’t work that way. Well, if nothing else, she’d have a few months to stare at him. If she was lucky, maybe she’d even catch him naked sometimes by ‘accident’.
She slipped into her black dress, her favorite of the three she owned. This one was low cut and came to her mid-thigh. It was just tight enough to show off her curves, but made them look good and not all bulging like some tight-fitting tops could. She looked great in this dress and she knew it.
Kaelyn chose to accent the dress with a necklace thick with small red beads, to play up her sexy side. She slid silver hoops into her ears, and a sparkly silver bracelet onto her wrist. When it was time to do her makeup, she reached straight for the red tube of lipstick that matched the necklace. Her matching red heels were a no brainer.
She stood in front of the floor-length mirror and gave herself a once over. Nice. She twisted her hair up on top of her head and held it in place with some hair bands and bobby pins. She dug out her red purse. She thought she had put it in a drawer, but it turned out to be hanging in the closet. She threw in some things she might need for the night—powder in case she got shiny, the red lipstick, mascara, and her wallet. With her phone tucked inside, she was set.
She walked out of her room and down the stairs, where Hayden was waiting for her. She hadn’t done too badly. He’d said an hour and it had only been an hour and eight minutes. Couldn’t argue with that.
“You look very nice,” he said. He held up his arm and she slipped hers through it, chuckling.
“It’s weird for you to be so formal with me.”
“Is it?” He dropped his arm. “I haven’t seen you in so long, I didn’t know what you’d expect.”
“I expect the same Hayden who used to turn up his music to drown us out and who would fart in your parent’s van just to annoy us.”
He shook his head, his cheeks going slightly pink.
“It’s not like you don’t have plenty of embarrassing moments on me,” she said. “Do you remember the pink dress incident?”
He pulled together his eyebrows as he held the door of a very expensive looking car open for her. Then recognition changed his face. “Oh! Yes, I think so.”
They got in the car and he backed out, then turned down the driveway. “Was that the night that Gabby was freaking out over that guy—who was he?”
“Dan Smith. With the dreadlocks.”
Hayden put his hand to his face. “What did she ever see in him?”
“What!” She laughed. “Dan was hot, what are you talking about?”
“He never washed his hair.”
“Hayden. You don’t wash dreadlocks. Everyone knows that.”
“Well does everyone also know how disgusting that is?”
She reached over to gently shove his shoulder. “Not every guy is as sexy and clean as you.”
He flipped up the collar of this jacket and made a duck face at her. They both laughed. “I remember when Dan and the other guy—”
“Scott.”
“Right. They showed up to take you both out and you had on that dress—”
“Which was far too tight for me, by the way.”
“Wasn’t it Gabby’s dress?”
“Oh!” She put her hands to her mouth. “I think you’re right! No wonder it was too small. I was, like, four sizes bigger than her in high school.”
“You came down the stairs all excited for your double date,” Hayden said. “And when you bent over to put on your shoe, the dress split up the back, showing everything.”
“Yes.” She made her voice dramatically solemn. “It was quite a sad day for the pink dress. And for me. Who was so embarrassed I ran up to Gabby’s room and cried all night.”
“Yeah. I got stuck entertaining those dudes for about an hour until Gabby came down and said you weren’t going.”
“See. So farting is nothing compared to that.”
“I guess.” He turned into the parking lot of an elegant building.
The front was covered in landscaped bushes and bright flowers. The front of the restaurant was stone and glass. He pulled up to the curb and someone opened her door. They stepped out, he handed the key to the valet, and he took her hand as they entered the restaurant.
“Hello, Mr. Lynch,” the host said when they entered. “So nice to have you join us. Right this way, please.”
They were seated at a small table toward the back of the restaurant. A candle sat in the center of the table, flickering in its glass holder. It all felt very romantic, and she wondered if he meant for it to be that way. She’d thought they were just having a fun dinner out as friends. But this felt more like a date. And after the subtle flirting they’d done on the way over and the way he kept looking at her, she wondered if he wanted it to be a date as badly as she did.
A waitress came and gave them menus and took their drink order. Kaelyn opened the thick pages of the menu and got lost in the fancy wording. She tried to decipher what any of it meant.
“You okay?” Hayden asked.
She’d been making a very confused face. “I don’t know what any of this is.”
He gave her a knowing grin. “What are you in the mood for?”
“Chicken?”
“Okay.”
When the waitress came back, he ordered for them.
“What did you get me?” she asked.
“Chicken. Nothing too fancy, I promise.”
But when the food came a short time later, she could barely even tell that it was chicken. The large pieces on her plate were covered in a thick, creamy sauce and there were tiny nuts or something on top of it. She had no idea what she was eating as she stuck in her fork to take a bite. When the food hit her tongue, though, it was like she had an orgasm right in her mouth.
“Oh, my God,” she mumbled, closing her eyes and letting out a soft moan.
Hayden raised an eyebrow at her. “I take it I chose well?”
“Oh, yes. This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever tasted.”
“Now take a sip of the wine.”
The full bottle sat on the table between them and he poured her a glass. She sipped it and it somehow made the taste even better. “Wow.”
“Just wait until dessert.”
She didn’t think she’d have room for dessert. She ate every single delicious bite on her plate. But when the menu came around and she saw the list of cakes and pies and things she had no clue about, she suddenly had the room for more.
“Would you allow me to order again?” Hayden asked.
Kaelyn set the menu down. “Most definitely.”
The dessert that was set before her minu
tes later was dark and thick with chocolate. Some sort of custard cake thing? She didn’t know, but every bite was even better than her dinner. And somehow, they were now finishing off the second bottle of wine.
“Do you eat like this all the time?” she asked. Would it be completely obscene if she licked the plate clean? She pushed it back from her so she wasn’t tempted.
“Not every day. I have a fabulous personal chef, though. You’ll see.”
“I’m never going to want to leave.” Her face felt warm from the wine they’d had with dinner and she felt happy all over. Only when she saw his face look somewhat surprised did she think maybe her comment wasn’t appropriate. She was about to say something about it, but the waitress came with the receipt and Hayden stood and held out his hand for hers.
When she stood, she weaved slightly. Maybe she’d had more wine than she thought. It went down so smoothly, she’d drunk more than she intended to.
Hayden walked arm in arm with her back to the car. When they got in and drove off, she looked over at him. She admired his silhouette in the street lights for a moment before speaking.
“Thank you for dinner. It was wonderful.”
“I’m glad you liked it.”
He didn’t smile or look over at her, though. She wondered if maybe her comment earlier had been a bigger deal than she thought. By the time they got back to his house, she felt stupid for saying it and her happy glow had faded some.
They walked together up the stairs, but before she turned to go to her room, Hayden reached out and grabbed her hand. He pulled her to him, spinning her round so that she faced him.
It happened so quickly, she didn’t have time to react or think to stop him. Not that she would have. He pulled her close and pressed his lips to hers. His hand reached her back and pulled her closer against him.
Her brain caught up with her body and she thought, whoa. I am kissing Hayden Lynch. The billionaire. But then she thought, I’m kissing my best friend’s older brother. The guy I’ve known for years and was a dorky teen in front of. The guy who’s suddenly hot and hunky and so rich.
She kissed him back as hard and as passionately as he kissed her. Their mouths moved as one, slipping and pressing until they finally broke apart, breathless.
He closed his eyes and smiled. “Goodnight, Kaelyn,” he said softly. Then he turned and went into his room.
Chapter Four
When Hayden woke up in the morning, his first thought was, what did I do?
He’d wanted to kiss her, sure. But he shouldn’t have. Not without talking to Gabby first. Not without making sure Kaelyn was really interested because now there was no escaping her. She’d kissed him back, yes. But what did that all mean?
Usually, there was some time after a kiss like that: a half-drunken, unexpected, off-the-cuff, without-much-thought kiss. He needed time to process and figure out what he was feeling. But she’d be there. As soon as he walked out of the room, she’d be there.
He sucked it up and walked downstairs. The smell of coffee and bacon was making his stomach growl. Kaelyn was already sitting at the small table in the breakfast nook, sipping coffee. She looked up when he entered and her cheeks went pink.
“Morning,” he said.
“Morning.”
He poured some coffee and sat across from her. A few minutes later, his cook came in with a plate of eggs and bacon and set them down on the table in front of them. Hayden didn’t waste any time digging in, but Kaelyn ate slowly, pushing her food around her plate.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She set her fork down. “Or maybe not. I don’t know. Did I make a fool of myself last night?”
“No? Why would you think that?”
“I drank a little more than I intended, I guess, and then when we…”
So, apparently, they weren’t just going to ignore it. Better bring it up and get it over with, then. “Well, I kissed you. If anyone was inappropriate, it was me.”
She blinked at him. “Do you wish you hadn’t?”
“It’s not that. It was a great kiss.” He stuck a piece of bacon in his mouth, looking for the right words. “I just think maybe it was fast? We didn’t really discuss that at all and with you staying here...”
“Yeah. It is kind of awkward.”
“It is.”
She chuckled. “So maybe we don’t hook up unless we discuss it first?”
“Or maybe when we’re not living together?”
“Right.” She nodded. “Agreed. No more kissing until I move out and we discuss it.” She breathed out a hard sigh. “That makes it better. No pressure.”
He did feel relieved, even if he was somewhat disappointed. He’d enjoyed kissing her. But it was better this way. They could wait a few months, then see what happened when she had her own place.
***
After they got past the initial awkwardness and set the boundaries for their relationship, things got a little better. That next week, Kaelyn started her new job. They went back to being friends, though they did tend to flirt a lot. They had never done that back in high school. When he walked by her, he could feel the sexual tension between them.
He became grateful for their no kissing rule. So many times he wanted to kiss her and wondered if he could or should. Then he remembered that they’d agreed not to, and it made things simpler.
That morning, they’d had a nice breakfast together, crepes and ham, and they had talked about her first week of work. She was enjoying her new job as a database administrator. Working with computers all day was what she’d gone to school for and was good at. She thought it would only be a month or so until she could save a bit and look for a place.
Kaelyn had headed out for the day to meet some friends for shopping and Hayden was pulling on his shoes, meeting his own friends for a game of basketball at a local gym. He picked up his keys and gym bag and headed toward the garage.
Before he could leave the house, though, someone knocked on the door. Usually, he let the housekeeper answer it, but he happened to be nearby, so he peaked through the window beside the door. He made a face to himself when he didn’t recognize the man outside but pulled the door open anyway.
“Can I help you?” he asked, with a slight edge in his voice. If this guy was selling something or belonged to some media outlet, he’d curse himself for not letting the housekeeper answer. And if he was at the door, it meant either someone had given him the pass code to the gate that protected the property, or he’d gotten it some other way. Once or twice, his passcode had been hacked. Probably someone at the security company selling information, they’d told him the last time it happened.
“Is Kaelyn here?”
This took him a bit by surprise. Not that she wasn’t allowed to have people come to the house. That didn’t bother him. But he thought she might have mentioned it.
“She’s out at the moment. Can I tell her who stopped by?”
“I’m Will. I’m her boyfriend.”
Hayden kept a straight face, but the jealousy raged in his chest. Was she dating someone? Had that happened before or after their kiss? Was she ever going to bother telling him, or just lead him on, letting him think that maybe they had something?
“Boyfriend, huh? I didn’t know she had a boyfriend.”
Will grinned. “We’re in love. But she doesn’t like to tell too many people. Doesn’t want to seem like we’re bragging about it or anything.”
Hayden pressed his lips together. “Right. I’ll let her know you stopped by.”
Were they in love? Was this guy for real? If that was true, then it couldn’t be new. At least not within the last week. Which meant she’d been dating him when they kissed. And the whole time they talked that night, she hadn’t bothered to mention him once?
By the time he slid behind the wheel of his Jag and backed out of the garage, the rage and jealousy were warring with each other. This happened to him sometimes. Shifters tended to be somewhat hot-headed by nature. It wa
s something in their biology. He ground his teeth together and wished he could run Will over with his car. The little weasel had already left, though.
He found himself driving too fast in his rage and had to force himself to take his foot off the gas. The whole time he played ball, he found himself throwing the ball too hard, taking more risks than he normally did. His teammate missed a shot and he nearly took his head off yelling at him.
“What is your problem today?” Lee asked. “This level of aggression is not necessary. It’s a hangout game. It’s supposed to be for fun.”
“Whatever.” Hayden took a hard sip of his water and tossed the bottle back in his bag. “You could still get the shot.”
“I’m gonna call it a day,” Doug said. “It’s getting late anyway, and I have stuff with the kids to take care of.”
Two of them left and it was just Lee and Hayden. Lee grabbed his own gym bag and slung it over his shoulder.
“Go out and have a drink or something, man,” Lee said. “You’re wound up.”
“It’s nothing.” Hayden snatched his bag from the ground and threw it over his shoulder. “Good game,” he muttered and walked out.
Kaelyn wasn’t home by the time he returned, so he showered, the hot water doing nothing to ease his frustration. In his head, he kept going over everything Will had said and everything Hayden would say to Kaelyn when he saw her.
He was in his office, trying to work and failing, when Kaelyn finally came home. He closed his laptop lid, took a deep breath and walked out of his office. Kaelyn came from the garage with bags in her hands.
“Hey,” she said cheerfully.
