That night Ian joined us and cooked for us again. He was going to spoil me. We stayed up late playing Canasta; it was a card game the siblings had taught me over that magnificent Thanksgiving break. You’ve never met two, ok three, more competitive people in your life. I’m not sure if we argued or played more, but it didn’t matter because either way I was having the time of my life.
The rest of the week Noelle made me get out and show her Nashville, even though I looked horrible and felt the same. Though I had to say, it was better than lying on the couch all week. The bruising was beginning to turn terrible yellow and green colors, but she said if anybody made remarks, she would handle it. Ian kept telling me, bruises or no bruises, I was still the most beautiful woman in his eyes, so I swallowed my pride and showed my friend why I loved my hometown so much. We did music row and Opryland, a river cruise, the Parthenon and Cheekwood. It was the best staycation ever.
The nights were even better as we spent them with Ian. Noelle’s last night was spent at Ian’s; I was finally getting to see what a thousand extra dollars a month bought you, and it was pretty nice. His apartment looked more like an urban loft, and he had it handsomely decorated in tones of grey and tan. He reminded me I was welcome there anytime, and by the time he and I took Noelle to the airport Friday night, I was pretty much committed to the whole let’s-give-this–a-second-chance thing. I hadn’t felt this weird or wonderful in years.
Saturday only added to my wonderful weirdness when I got to see my family back from their Magic Kingdom vacation. Ian drove me over, and while he and Zane bonded over the rounds of golf Zane played while in Florida, I helped my sister with laundry and unpacking, all while listening to Court and Sam give me a blow-by-blow account of each and every ride and each and every day.
And they hadn’t forgotten their promise to me; they each handed me a Disney bag. From the first bag I opened, I pulled out a Minnie mug that was personalized with my name on it. I opened the next bag to the sounds of snickers and giggles. It made me curious. I pulled out a Mickey mug, and the giggles all made sense. It was also personalized, but with Ian’s name. I pulled those troublemakers to me and squeezed them hard. “Thank you.” I gave my sister the evil eye. I knew she was behind it all.
She just grinned. “Hey … do you think you could watch the girls tonight?” she had the audacity to ask me. “Zane and I could really use some alone time.”
I rolled my eyes. I almost said no because I really wanted some alone time with Ian, but I could never refuse her. Thankfully, Ian agreed to join in on the fun.
First we went back to his place, and he made us homemade pizza. He amazed my nieces as he tossed the pizza dough high in the air and then caught it with one hand. He let them help add the toppings. I had never seen him with kids before, so this was a new dimension to him, and I liked it very much. While the pizza baked, we tried to teach them how to play Canasta, which was more difficult than I thought, but still enjoyable. After dinner, we took them to the movies where we could at least raise the arms of the chairs and sit close to one another.
I don’t think Ian watched the movie at all as he kept whispering in my ear, mainly about what he wished we were doing instead. It made me realize why so often my sister elicited my services. I loved my nieces to pieces, but at the moment, I found myself wishing I was in Ian’s arms without the prying eyes of my nieces, who seemed very interested in this man I was introducing into our lives. I had to love Sam, though, who asked me why I liked him now when just a few weeks ago I thought he was an idiot. Leave it to Sam to tell it like it is.
After the movie, it was straight home for the cuties, where we declined an invitation from Amanda and Zane to stay for dessert. They gave us knowing looks, and we took that as our cue to flee. We ran to the store for ice cream and plastic spoons, and we made a beeline for the park, where we laid out a blanket and enjoyed our ice cream and our favorite park activity.
As my head lay in his lap under the starlit canvassed sky, he stroked my hair, and I felt like all was right in the world.
I sighed, “Thank you.”
He looked down at me. “For what?”
“For this whole week. You’ve taken such good care of me.”
He smiled warmly. “I missed you, Kelli.”
I grinned. “I missed your cooking.”
He pulled me up gently, I was still hurting, and brought me to where we were face-to–face. I looked into those chocolate eyes of his that were framed by eyelashes that would make any woman green with envy.
I outlined his face with my finger. “Did I forget to mention how much I’ve missed you?”
He responded by softly kissing my forehead, then he rested his forehead against mine. “Does this mean we can give this another go?”
“Are you asking me to go steady, Ian?”
He chuckled. “For now.”
I pulled away and raised my eyebrow. “Only for now?
“That’s not what I said.”
I bit my lip. “Oh.”
He grinned and then kissed me like he wanted me forever.
Chapter 20
It was a good thing we had such a wonderful week and weekend together, if not we may have broken up before we ever even really started again. Ian wasn’t kidding when he said he wanted to maintain professional boundaries while in the office. Of course I agreed, but I guess I thought he would have lightened up some, or at least softened on how he approached me.
Monday morning started off all well and good. I came in to find Delfia anxiously waiting for me in my office that was now filled with flowers and get well cards. I couldn’t help but notice some furniture rearrangement had been done in my absence too; the credenza was now back to its original place. I rolled my eyes and then softly hugged the best executive admin in the world.
Her eyes were all alight like she knew something. “By the way, Mr. Greyson would like to speak to you.”
I tried to say thank you without giving anything away. I’m not sure how I did, because she just grinned.
I set up my laptop and read some of the cards before I made my way to the adjoining door. As I approached it, I wondered if I should knock, or if he would mind now if I just walked in. I decided I would test the waters, and I opened the door without knocking. I peeked in and found him sitting at his desk, looking like Mr. Greyson.
“You wanted to see me,” I said as a way of announcing myself.
He looked up and smiled, so I guess it was ok I didn’t knock, but then … “Yes, Ms. Bryant.”
I shut the door and frowned. “Ms. Bryant? I thought we decided to cut that nonsense out?”
“I said you could call me Ian,” he said matter of factly.
“Well, if you need my permission, you have it, please call me Kelli.”
“I can’t,” he responded.
I didn’t even know how to respond to that ridiculousness. I just stood there dumbfounded.
His features softened, and he asked me kindly if I would please sit down. I did as he asked, but I wasn’t happy about it. As I took one of the seats in front of his desk, I looked at him as if to say this better be good, real good.
“Ms. Bryant,” he said with a smile. “I have a good reason for not wanting to call you by your first name.”
“Care to share with the class Mr. Greyson.”
He chagrinned. “Besides it making it easier to separate our professional and personal relationships, I can’t call you Kelli in the office because there is no hiding how I feel about you when I say your name. I’m trying to prevent any undo backlash that may come your way if people in the office honestly knew how I felt about you.”
So it was good, real good, but I still didn’t like it.
“You know, I’ve dealt with that before. There were few people that were very unhappy about me receiving my current position. They chalked it up to nepotism and the fact that Gary and Holly had wanted me to marry their son.”
“And you think I want you to have to deal with that again?” he
questioned.
“No, but you don’t have to protect me. I’m a big girl now, and I just happen to be their boss too.”
He just shook his head. “Please, can you just trust me? I’m trying to prevent any unnecessary complications.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“That’s not to say you’re a complication,” he quickly added in.
I grinned at his addition and decided just to drop it, at least for now. “So what did you want to see me about? I’m assuming it wasn’t to discuss name preferences.”
He looked at me once with concern in his eyes before he turned to his laptop and clicked on a few things; then he turned it around to face me. I was surprised by what the screen held. There were my designs, front and center.
My eyes drifted from the screen back to him. “Where did you get those?”
“When you asked me to retrieve your laptop after the accident, I noticed the folder on your desktop.”
“So you thought it was a good idea to open it without my permission?”
“Do I need to remind you about the disclosures you’ve signed pertaining to anything on company computers?”
I think my eyes shot out of my head. “Need I remind you …?”
He headed me off at the pass, “Ms. Bryant, your designs are perfect.”
“Yeah … well … thanks.” His flip-flopping was giving me a headache.
“Why didn’t you show these to me in the first place?”
I sat up a little straighter. “I was planning on it, but then you brought back that ‘contracted designer.’” I used air quotes as I loosely said the term. She couldn’t design herself out of a box.
He sat up straighter now too. “Yes, well, I still would have liked to see them.”
“Especially since we’ve got nothing better right now.”
He didn’t respond to my slight. “I would like to set up a demo with Matt for this afternoon to show him this so he can get to work on adding it. Are you available at three?”
I just shook my head yes. “Is that all?”
“Just one more thing …You are a talented graphics designer, but I need your attention focused elsewhere.”
I just glared at him. “Fine, Mr. Greyson.”
I got up and stalked off, slamming the dang adjoining door as I went. He was the most infuriating man I had never known. This was why all the experts advise not dating your coworkers.
I sat down at my desk fuming, and my phone rang almost immediately. I saw the number on the display screen and considered not answering it, but then I figured he would probably just come marching on over here, and I wasn’t in the mood to see him even though he was looking quite fine today in his blue pinstriped suit.
“Hello.”
“Kelli.”
“Didn’t we just have this conversation? Don’t you mean, Ms. Bryant?”
I could hear the smile in his voice when he replied, “I should clarify, this is Ian, and I was calling to make a lunch date with the woman I love, who, by the way, looks stunning today.”
“You know this is ridiculous, right?”
“Ridiculous? I thought women liked their boyfriends to call them during the day.”
“Typically we do, but not after said boyfriend just criticized her.”
“I’m sure you just took it the wrong way because I know for a fact that your boss thinks you’re amazingly talented.”
I sighed. “Ian, how are we going to make this work?”
“Kelli, we’re not the first couple to work together. We both need to be determined to make it work, and just know there is nothing more important to me than making us work. So will you go to lunch with me?”
How could I refuse after such a sweet speech?
We met at his rental car at high noon. His Infiniti had been totaled, and he hadn’t purchased a new car yet. In fact, he asked me if I wanted to go car shopping with him that night, something else I agreed to.
Lunch was fabulous. He took me to the park again, and we ate peanut butter and jam sandwiches, but the best part was just lying in his lap as he stroked my hair. We talked about all the somethings and even the nothings of life while we enjoyed the warm sunny weather. It made me not want to return to the office where I became Ms. Bryant again.
“Please try and understand. I just don’t want to repeat past mistakes, especially when so much hangs in the balance,” he begged on the way back to the office.
It was sweet sentiment, and on lots of levels I got it. It was just hard for me.
After our glorious lunch that didn’t last nearly long enough, I had a question. “So, hypothetically speaking, what’s going to happen if you know … our title changes to a more like forever type scenario? Will you call me Mrs. Greyson in the office?”
He picked up my hand and kissed it. “I like the sound of that, but no I wouldn’t call my wife that.”
“So what would you call me?”
“Are you saying you want to get married?” he asked instead of answering.
It got very warm for me all of a sudden. I had imagined marrying him more times than I could count, but I wasn’t ready to take the plunge with him … yet. I just wanted to work on getting to know him again to see if we were still the right match. My guess was we still were, but thirteen years is a long time to be apart, and I needed time to learn how to trust him again. So I just shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe someday.”
He kissed my hand again and smiled. “Well, then, someday I’ll tell you.”
“Has anyone ever told you how infuriating you are?”
He laughed. “You’re not the first.”
“Well, you know the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem,” I quipped.
He just shook his head. I knew he wasn’t going to change, but that was ok. I had vindication that afternoon as we met with Matt and he was blown away by my designs. He mentioned that I was the only designer we needed for this project. I tried not to smirk, but it was a little hard. Well, maybe half a smirk erupted on my face.
Sometimes it was so difficult to be professional.
Chapter 21
As the weeks went by, we eased into an uneasy pattern, at least for me. We kept it professional at the office and passionate on the off hours and weekends, but with each passing day, I wanted more and more to be just Kelli. I soon got an up close and personal view on why Ian was so adamant about keeping the two separate, though.
A few weeks after the accident, Ian and I were having lunch together. I reveled in that hour every day where I was just Kelli and he was just Ian, but that particular day he received a phone call from his attorney he had to take. I could tell right away the news wasn’t good. I’m not sure I had ever seen Ian turn so red, and I won’t even talk about the swearing. I was just glad we were at the park and not at a restaurant. He even got up from our blanket and began pacing around while ranting to his attorney on the other end. I just sat there and watched. I knew better than to try and intervene.
After several minutes, he sat down and joined me again. I was afraid to even ask what that was all about, but I wanted to make it better for him. I reached up and placed my hand upon his still reddened cheek. “Ian …”
He reached up and touched my hand with his own and then slid it down my arm. “I didn’t mean to ruin our lunch.”
“Don’t apologize. Just tell me what’s wrong.”
“I don’t want to involve you.”
I dropped my hand. “Why?” I asked angrily.
His features softened, as did his tone. “Number eight and nine on your list.”
I half grinned. “I already know you come with a lot of baggage, buddy.”
“Well that phone call just added to it.”
I took his hand in mine. “If you want us to be a couple, you can’t hold things back from me.”
He took my hand up and kissed it. “Kelli, you know that’s what I want. Why do think I moved to Nashville?”
I winked at him. “I thought you came to run Chandler
.”
He pulled me to him and groaned against my ear. “Fine, apparently my ex-wife and Alexa have teamed up in an attempt to take more of my money. Alexa is now claiming we had an affair while she was at IAG and while I was married.”
I pulled back and looked into his troubled eyes.
“Kelli, please tell me you don’t believe that,” he begged.
I ran my fingers through his hair and wickedly grinned. “Well … I know how you like blondes and big boobs.”
He shook his head at me. “You drive me crazy.”
“I know,” I grinned. “And I also know you didn’t have an affair with Ms. Manselle. But even if you did, not that I would be ok with it, what’s the fuss about? Didn’t your ex-wife cheat on you?”
He grabbed my face and pulled me to him and applied gentle pressure with his own lips against mine briefly before responding. “Marissa and I had a prenup in place. It kept our property separate, namely IAG and her family’s wealth. The investment her father’s firm gave me was paid back with interest as agreed upon several years ago, removing any claim he might have on the company. Of course, his venture capital firm that Marissa worked for still got a lot of leverage out of the success of IAG. This was all well and good until IAG outperformed any of our expectations and our marriage went south. My wealth increased as theirs decreased because of bad investments, and things just got out of control from there. She’s lobbed accusation after accusation at me. She’s desperate to get her hands on the money I received from selling IAG. She’s trying to paint me as manipulative and as a liar.”
He was beyond tense. Every muscle in his face was tight. I moved and knelt behind him and rubbed his shoulders and whispered how sorry I was in his ear.
He just kept lamenting. “I already offered her a hefty sum, just so she’ll go away, but I think this has become more of a vendetta for her. I should’ve never married her.”
Professional Boundaries Page 20
