by Amy Brent
“Did you bring a girl back instead?”
“What?” I asked.
“What?! I’m not judging. And with everything that happened with Adam, I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to try the other team. Okay, okay. Did you have sex with someone?”
“You’re supposed to be guessing, not playing twenty questions.”
“Then tell me, if we have to follow all your asinine rules.”
I drew in a deep breath before taking a long pull from my wine.
“I kissed Ryan,” I said.
Alyssa’s jaw dropped before she shifted in her chair to face me.
“You what?” she asked.
“I kissed Ryan.”
“When the hell did Ryan come over?”
“He came by a little while after you left on my move-in day. He brought celebratory champagne and we got to talking about the view and the patio furniture and…it just happened.”
“How do you just happen to kiss your ex-boyfriend’s dad? Not that I’m downing it or anything. If Ryan had kissed me, he would’ve been a goner. That man’s got a five-hundred-yard stare, a seriously tight body in a suit, and a cock I’d sink to my knees—”
“And that’s enough of that,” I said.
“All I’m saying is go you. The man’s hot. He’s older, so he’s not going to be a wishy-washy asshole like Adam.”
“Like his son,” I said.
“So what? Everyone has a kinky side to them. You know I’ve always had a thing for older men. Why does it shock you that you do as well?”
“Because I don’t have a thing for older men.”
“Then maybe that’s your problem. Maybe instead of going for guys your age, you should be looking for older men. After all, everyone tells you you’re wiser and more intelligent than your years. That really gets their gears going.”
“I hate you,” I said flatly.
“Why is this such a bad thing? Was he a terrible kisser?”
“No,” I said as a flush crept to my cheeks.
“Oh, so he’s a hot kisser. Details.”
“The only detail important here is that Adam walked in on us.”
“And lady-boner killed,” she said.
“You should’ve seen the look on his face, Alyssa. The anger in his voice. I feel awful. I kissed his father, a man the two of us had sat down and had dinner with at least once a month for the past four years. What if he thinks I was cheating behind his back with his own dad?”
“Were you?”
“No,” I said. “At least I don’t think I was.”
“You’re really going to need to elaborate on that,” Alyssa said.
“I mean, Ryan and I have had a few moments pass between us, but I thought it was all in my head because of the fighting Adam and I were doing all the time. You know, seeking comfort and misconstruing it because of emotions and shit.”
“But…?”
“But I’m not sure if my emotions are completely to blame for the moments that passed,” I said.
“You know I’m a fan of juicy gossip, but you know I’m also a fan of helping you not suck at life. So, here’s my advice: Adam fucked up, repeatedly over the past few months—fight after fight, then leading you on about wanting to move in, about wanting kids, about wanting any sort of a future with you.”
“He did not have something like this coming. Don’t even go there,” I said.
“I wasn’t. But what I was going to say—before you so rudely interrupted—was that he had his chance—for four years. And he was right. The two of you aren’t heading in the same direction anymore, and that’s okay. It’s okay to move on from that. It’s okay to have used those years on him so long as you understand that you don’t owe him a damn thing for what he did to you.”
“It takes two to make something like that work. I wasn’t a peach in it either,” I said.
“And it’s that kind of maturity that draws someone like Ryan to you. Sure, you might have hurt Adam in the process. You also broke up. In fact, he broke up with you. Who the fuck is he to get upset when he finds you kissing someone?”
“Even though that someone happens to be his father?”
“Yeah. Even though that someone was his hot-ass, tight-ass, fine-as-fuck father,” she said with a grin.
I rolled my eyes and took a sip of my wine, but she wasn’t wrong with any of those descriptive phrases.
“So, how was it?” Alyssa asked.
“I’m not getting out of this, am I?” I asked.
“Oh, hell no. You should’ve known better. So tell me. What kind of kisser is he?”
I peeked over at her before a grin spread across my cheeks.
“The kind that pinned me to the balcony window, hiked my leg up around his body, and sent shivers down my spine.”
“Oh my fuck, woman. Yes, please. Come to momma. Tell me more. What did he taste like?”
“The champagne we were drinking,” I said.
“Do you think it would’ve gone any further if Adam hadn’t interrupted you two?” she asked.
It was a question I’d been asking myself for just shy of four days. And the truth was, yes. I would’ve allowed it. The feelings Ryan’s touch had conjured were feelings I hadn’t experienced in years. The way he touched me—the way he commanded my body—was so new to me. It was as if he knew exactly what I wanted. He knew exactly how my body would mold to his, so he manipulated it while slowly caressing my lips apart with his tongue. There was something there between us, something I avoided thinking about until I had stepped into the shower every morning.
Every time I turned that water on, part of me wished Ryan was there.
“You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?” Alyssa asked.
“You know I really hate you some days, right?” I asked.
“Nope. You only hate it when I’m right, which is practically always. I’ve known you for longer than I care to admit sometimes. I know you like the back of my hand.”
“Thanks. I think.”
“For instance, you’re wondering how awkward tomorrow’s going to be at work.”
“It crossed my mind, yes,” I said.
“You’re wondering if he’s going to bring it up, or if this somehow diminishes your professionalism in his eyes.”
“You can stop now,” I said.
“You’re also partially wondering what it would be like if he showed back up since he knows where you live. You’re wondering if things would resume or if he regrets it. And I know a small part of you is—”
“That’s enough, Alyssa.”
“Kylie, just don’t run from it. Okay? Adam did you wrong. There’s no one on this fucking planet who would take his side in all this. Sure, you probably did some wrong shit too, but you communicated with him all the way through, made your intentions for the future known to him from the get-go. And when he realized he didn’t have those same intentions, he still kept you around. He never once clued you in on it. Adam fucked you over.”
“Don’t you dare tell me I have the right to fuck him over back,” I said.
“Nope. That’s how I operate. I’m the vengeful one, and you’re the reasonable one. But your reasoning yourself right out of something that could be really good for you, so I’ll leave you with this: Don’t go into this with any loaded pretenses. Don’t assume you know what move Adam’s going to make and don’t assume you know what moves you’re going to make as well. Don’t let an ex who’s pissed off at how he ended things with you ruin your ability to move forward.”
“You know we’re still talking about his father, right?” I asked.
“I don’t care if we’re talking about his fucking grandfather, Kylie. The premise still stands. You’re single. You’re free. Don’t let anyone, including your ex, stop you from doing what you want. You’re at the prime of your fucking life, Kylie. You have a job with benefits, disposable income coming out of your ears, and some rocking new furniture just waiting for a man to break you in on.”
I groaned a
s my head fell back.
“Exactly. Those kinds of sounds are what you need to be filling this apartment with. Don’t let anyone take that from you. Don’t let anyone ruin any of this for you. Especially Adam.”
Alyssa and I finished our glasses of wine before she caught a cab home. Then I was left alone with my thoughts. I knew she was right. In the back of my mind, I knew I needed to heed her advice. The rush of excitement that had flooded my veins when Ryan had kissed me was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. And the way he had pressed me against the window—it still melted me at my knees. But the look on Adam’s face had been nothing short of distraught. Betrayal had dripped from his eyes before anger had settled into his features. I felt terrible for what I’d done to him, ex-boyfriend or not. That was his father, the only person in his life he could even semi rely on during times of distress.
He’d caught his ex-girlfriend kissing his father in the apartment he was supposed to have shared with said girlfriend—me.
I didn’t know what the right thing was. I didn’t know how Monday would go when I walked into work. I didn’t know if ignoring the couple phone calls Ryan had tossed my way since ‘the incident’ was a good thing or a bad thing.
I felt like I didn’t know anything anymore.
Ryan
Even though I’d tried calling Kylie a couple times over the weekend to check up on her, she hadn’t picked up my calls. Nor had she returned them. It had taken all the strength I had not to march over there and see for myself the kind of condition she was in. But I knew that type of approach wouldn’t work with an independent woman like Kylie, especially one wrestling with her emotions the way she was. Which meant we hadn’t talked about the kiss, or anything related to what had happened after that kiss.
“You being at work early either means something went seriously wrong or seriously well,” Doug said.
“And the fact that you’re here early means you’re about to ask me something,” I said as I looked up from my paperwork.
I grinned at my best friend of three decades before he came in and shut my office door.
“This board meeting we’ve got tomorrow at two—”
“Yes,” I said. “You need to be there.”
“Kylie is going to be there though, right?” Doug asked.
“She is. We’re all going to be there. It’s an important meeting, the first one of the summer quarter.”
“So it’ll be mostly numbers, projections, discussions of new projects—things you’ll need Kylie’s brain for and not mine.”
“You have to be there, Doug.”
“Are you introducing any new projects?” he asked.
“Doesn’t matter. A united front always needs to be presented at the turn of a new quarter.”
“But those damn meetings take at least three hours. Are you going to cater it this time?”
“Is that really why you don’t want to go? Because there won’t be food to stuff your face with? I put it after lunchtime so I wouldn’t have to have this conversation with you again.”
“I spend a lot of time in the gym, Ryan. I need the calories at certain points during the day, not just at designated mealtimes,” he said with a grin.
“Bullshit. You’re seeing someone, and you’ve agreed to take her somewhere for an early dinner tomorrow, haven’t you?”
“I guess I could bring her here. Have her wait until the meeting’s over.”
“No,” I said. “The last time that happened, one of our investors almost caught you in a compromising position.”
“He did catch me in one. But my desk is high, and that beautiful young woman fit perfectly underneath it.”
I shook my head and chuckled as I stood up from my chair.
“It was her idea, not mine,” Doug said.
“And you expect me to believe that.”
“Trust me, it was her idea. And it was a wonderful idea at that.”
“You have to be at the meeting, Doug. Take the woman out to a regular dinner. Take any woman out to a regular, eight o’clock dinner. Real, intimate dinners don’t solidify anything. It’s not a commitment.”
“They’re too romantic, Ryan. You know how I feel about them.”
“Then send her some flowers. Or a nice necklace to smooth over rescheduling. But you’ll be at that meeting if you want to keep your job.”
“Thirty years of friendship and that’s all I get? A threat on my job?” he asked with a smirk.
“And a seven-figure salary. And stock in this company. And a beautiful view from your office that the women you date seem to have a kink for.”
“Fine,” he said with a mocking eye roll. “I suppose a woman can’t turn down a nice diamond bracelet.”
“That’s the spirit,” I said as I came around from behind my desk. “Anything else?”
“Just one. You’re a slave driver, Ryan, an absolute slave driver.”
I chuckled as I put my hand between Doug’s shoulder blades and escorted him from my office. If there was ever one man I’d declare any sort of love for, it was him. He had helped me build this company. He had helped me through the shock of Adam’s mother getting pregnant. He had helped me plan our wedding and helped us move in to our first home. Hell, he had even helped me through the divorce so I could try to shield my hurt from my son. And now he was the one coaxing me to get back out into the field and start batting around a bit.
Little did he know I had my sights already set on someone.
The elevator doors opened at the end of the hallway, and a grin crept across my cheeks. Those familiar heels began clicking down the hallway as Doug looked back and tossed me a wink. I nodded my head in a fashion that told him to get the fuck into his office. Then I leaned against the doorway of my own and stuck my hands in my pockets.
It was the only thing I could do to keep myself from reaching out for her.
“Morning, Kylie,” I said.
“Morning, Mr. Tucker.”
I frowned at the formality of her statement as she walked into her office. I heard a snicker come from Doug’s office and wanted to throw something at him. Then the inner chastising began. This was wrong. That young woman was fresh out of a four-year relationship with my son. What the hell was I thinking? But as I walked around the corner to her office and watched her settle into her chair, I couldn’t help it. It was the beauty of her form illuminated by the morning sunlight streaming through her windows. It was the way she kicked off her heels and made herself right at home in her personal space. It was the way her cute little toes dug into the carpet.
Part of me wanted to tell her people could see the movements she made underneath her desk, but part of me enjoyed watching her motions a little too much to say anything.
“Searching for something?” I asked.
Her head whipped up from her desk before a sigh fell from her lips.
Those beautiful lips I wanted against mine again.
“There are some receipts missing from my files. I thought maybe I’d dropped them in my office somewhere when I took the files home to work on them, but I can’t find them anywhere,” she said.
“What dates are we talking about?” I asked.
“It would’ve been…”
She closed her eyes and bobbed her head with her counts. Holy hell, she was the cutest thing alive.
“Friday, Monday, and Tuesday. Plus any receipts that might have been relevant over the course of last weekend. Not this immediate one, but the one prior to it.”
“I know what you mean. I haven’t gotten around to filing those away. I’ll go get them. They’re in an envelope in my office.”
“Oh good,” she said with relief. “Just set them on my desk so I can get them logged, categorized, scanned into the system, and filed away.”
“I’ll get them to you now,” I said.
I took one last look at her and her flushed cheeks before I headed back to my office. Doug stood in his doorway and grinned at me, causing me to shake my head. He was relentless, and
I sure as hell wasn’t going to indulge him in that little moment Kylie and I had shared in her apartment. After ragging on me for two solid years about dipping into a younger pool of women, I’d never hear the end of it—especially after I constantly chastised him for enjoying women of a younger age group.
I slid my desk drawer out and grabbed the envelope, then closed it and headed back over to Kylie’s office.
“Here’s the folder of re—”
My words caught in my throat when I saw her. She was bent over behind her desk, her ass jutting out from the side of it. It was rounded and voluptuous and waiting to be grasped, kissed, massaged, smacked, taken.
My hand weakened just enough for the envelope to slip from it.
“Here, I got it,” Kylie said.
Her voice ripped me from my trance, and I automatically dropped to pick up the folder. I reached for the envelope and watched her hand come into view, her fingers brushing against mine. I looked up and found her face only inches away from my own. The electricity that crackled between us was undeniable. I knew the fire that surged up my arm was due to her touch. My eyes danced between hers, counting the golden flakes that permeated her hazel stare. My eyes trailed down the slope of her neck, watching as her beautiful milky skin disappeared beyond the black ensemble she’d chosen to clothe herself in.
“The receipts,” I said as a cleared my throat.
“Thank you. I’ll get them filed away as soon as I can,” Kylie said.
The two of us pulled back and the tension shattered, like a piece of glass falling from a stained mural. Kylie cleared her throat as she made her way back to her desk, and a familiar voice emanated from behind me just as she sat down in her chair.
“About that meeting tomorrow,” Doug said.
I slowly panned my gaze around and found his eyes filled with absolute delight.
“Yes?” I asked curtly.
“Will someone actually be taking minutes of this meeting? Or do you want me to step into that role since you’ve been defaulting on it the past three times?” he asked.
That…actually wasn’t a terrible question.
“I could take them if you want me to,” Kylie said.
I looked back over at her and saw she was clearly embarrassed. The redness of her cheeks had trickled all the way down her neck and she was eyeing Doug a bit too carefully. I sighed before I turned back to my friend, trying to chastise him with my eyes as much as I could.
