by T Gephart
“You did. And on the surface it all looks fine. But apparel, especially sportswear is notorious for this kind of thing. Skyline isn’t publically listed and the reason is so they don’t have to disclose that information to share holders.”
“But—”
“Sarah, you left the Skyline file on your desk my first day here. I saw it before we went to the bar.” He gave me a sad smile. “I get it. The hunger, wanting to prove yourself to the boss. Which is why I made some of my own private inquiries. If everything checked out fine, then you would have had your meeting as planned. And I don’t doubt you would have closed them better than anyone. But when I found out how shady they were, I couldn’t let you go through with it. When they are exposed, they will be ruined. They aren’t just unethical; they violate basic human rights. Aligning yourself with a company like that—”
“Career suicide,” I choked out.
It hadn’t been sabotage—he’d saved me. Even though it had been my mistake and my arrogance for not asking for help, he still had my back. Even after all those horrible things I’d said.
“But why Stockwell?” I still didn’t understand the connection.
He took a long, slow breath and then exhaled.
“I left Stockwell Media when Keith Stockwell’s son tried to rape my sister.”
“What?”
I felt like my legs were going to go out from under me, my fingers grabbing at my desk to help me keep standing.
“Keely was housesitting my place, I was away on business and Carter Stockwell decided to show up. He’d always had a thing for her even though she had a steady boyfriend. When Mike got there, Carter had Keely naked, crying and pinned down—”
He stopped and looked at me, his face a mix of emotions I couldn’t read. Guilt? Anger? A lump in my throat made it hard to swallow as I watched him tense, needing him to go on but not wanting to ask him to continue.
“I should have been there, it was in my fucking house, goddamn it.” He ran his hand roughly through his hair. “Mike took care of it, beat the living shit out of Carter and called the cops.”
“Thank God. Is she okay?” My heart was racing, unable to imagine how she must have felt. What he must have felt.
It was obvious he felt responsible even though there was no way he could have stopped it. I wanted to reach for him, to reassure him in some way. But I didn’t dare, locking my hands at my sides as I watched him pace.
“Things got complicated because the Stockwells have fancy attorneys and Carter almost died after Mike got through with him.”
I could feel his anger, his pain—all of it in the way he moved. His body coiled tight, like at any moment something would snap.
“So, they agreed to drop assault charges on Mike if Keely dropped the attempted rape charge on Carter. Of course she does, even though both of us tell her it’s a bad fucking idea. So what does Stockwell do the minute his piece of shit son walks free? He offers me a raise and a promotion, shaking my hand, thanking me for my co-operation.” He barked out a humorless laugh, his hand clenching into a fist.
“Can you believe that? Obviously I walked, they threatened to ruin me if I talked about it, told me not to be stupid and take the job and the money. And even though I’d earned it, worked my fucking ass off for that man, there wasn’t a figure he could write which would be big enough for me to stay. If I stayed I was going to finish what Mike started, maybe take a shot at his old man. And if we couldn’t get them with criminal charges, then I’d get them the one place it would hurt. His wallet and his reputation.”
“So that’s why you gave them Skyline.”
“Stockwell was conveniently tipped off that Skyline was shopping around. They had your figures and undercut you like I knew they would. It helped they knew they were beating out a company I now worked for.” He gave me a sad smile.
“I figured they belonged together, especially considering the reporter friend of mine who helped me gather all the information was going to run an exposé. He is going to hold off for a couple of days, just to make sure he gets all the facts straight, but when this blows up Stockwell’s share prices are going to tank so badly it’s going to take years to recover.”
If the whole situation hadn’t been so incredibly sad—Kyle’s poor sister being subjected to that animal—Kyle’s plan of revenge would have been ingenious. He not only exposed a company who was violating and abusing people, but got the people who had done the same to his sister to go down with it. The whole time keeping his hands clean. Everything was legal.
God, I was so so stupid.
How could I have even thought—“Kyle, I don’t know what to say.”
I wanted to take it back, to stop the way he was looking at me with such hurt. The smile that I loved so much—gone.
“Nothing to be said.”
And he turned to walk out the door.
Chapter 13
Sarah
I was a planner.
When I had facts and figures laid out in front of me, I felt like there was nothing I couldn’t accomplish.
I needed assurances.
Even if they were only probabilities, I needed to know there was a chance before I put myself on the line. It’s the way I operated, the way I had always been.
But watching Kyle ready to walk out that door threw everything I knew about myself right out the window.
I didn’t wait.
I didn’t think.
I didn’t plan.
Instead I ran, throwing myself in front of the doorway and barring his exit.
Like an escapee from an insane asylum.
“No, don’t leave.” My head shook, my arms locked across the doorframe. “Please don’t leave.”
Never in my life had I thrown myself at a man’s feet and begged him to stay.
Not even when the man I had dated for two years, and who had committed to marry me, dumped me two days before our wedding.
Never.
But I was begging now, and I would do anything if it meant Kyle didn’t walk out the door.
“I’m sorry. I am sorry about everything.” My mouth kept talking, desperate to say something that would convince him.
“Sarah, what are you doing?” He took a step closer, his head shaking.
I couldn’t tell if he was horrified or embarrassed for me, and the way he was looking at me maybe it was both. But I didn’t care. I deserved it—I had been a horrible person. And if I were him I probably wouldn’t forgive me, I just hoped—no I prayed—he was a better person than I was.
“I was an idiot, okay? I made a huge mistake.” Please let me get the words out. “I’m not used to people seeing me like you did. I got scared and freaked out. And even if we only dated for a year—or even if it was a month—it would never have been a waste of my time. You are the only person I can be my true self around. Who not only isn’t intimidated by me, but actively encourages me to be strong, to push myself out of my comfort zone. I was too scared, too stupid to see it. Please, please—give me another chance.”
He was disgusted.
I was sure of it.
His brows were knitted tight with his mouth in a thin line as he raked his hand through his hair in frustration.
I couldn’t stop.
I wouldn’t stop.
He shook his head, unconvinced. “Not only did you not trust me, but believed I would betray both you and the company. That I was the type of person who was capable of any of that.”
He was so close, his body inches from mine, and I knew there was no way I could physically restrain him if he truly wanted to leave.
“Because I didn’t trust myself. Because I am the type of person capable of that. And I guess it made me feel better about myself hoping I wasn’t the only one. Because I am that terrible. ”
There were so many things I wanted to tell him.
How I’d intended to undermine him, to actively try and sabotage him. How the whole Skyline thing started in an effort to prove I didn’t need him. How
if it had come to a decision between saving him or myself, I probably would have chosen me. And in a way I did when I told him I didn’t want to see him anymore.
All the words that would have explained so much, but I just couldn’t say.
“I knew I’d fall in love with you,” I said instead. “I knew that my heart wouldn’t have the choice even though my head thought it was a bad idea. And I was so afraid because I’ve never been in love before. Not even when I was going to marry someone else. Deep down I knew I wasn’t really in love, not like I knew I would be with you.”
It was like he stopped breathing.
Or maybe I did.
Or maybe we’d entered a vortex where air and time no longer existed.
And I didn’t care, if I could just have one more minute with him.
“I would have fallen in love with you too,” he said slowly. “And for the record, it wouldn’t have been that bad of an idea.”
It was small.
The tiniest twitch on the corner of his mouth.
But I saw it.
And then he gave me a smile.
His perfect, amazing smile that could thaw an entire ice cap. Or the heart of a complete and utter bitch. Me, in case anyone was wondering.
“I’m sorry. Please. Please. If there is anything, anything I can say or do—”
He didn’t give me the chance to finish.
Instead he kissed me.
His mouth owned mine as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me away from the doorway, our bodies a mess of limbs.
“I liked it better when you didn’t ask for permission.” His hands moved down to my ass and hauled me onto his body. “So, stop saying sorry and show me the girl I married in Vegas.”
God, that night felt like a lifetime ago.
So much had changed.
“No.” I kissed him, taking charge of his lips while my hands knotted into fists at his shirt. “I’d rather show you the woman I am right now.”
He gave me another perfect smile as I moved my mouth to his ear. “And you aren’t going anywhere.”
Epilogue
Five months later
Sarah
“Sarah, take a seat.”
Noah Tate smiled as he tipped his chin to the chair in front of him.
“You’re both here.” I nodded to Olivia sitting beside him as I lowered myself into the chair. “If you’re trying to let me down easy, you don’t need to. Whatever decision you’ve made, I know it will be the right one.”
Amazing how much a person could change in a few short months.
And I had learned plenty.
About myself, about the business—and most of all about how to be better at both those things.
Kyle Drake—the amazing man who I had the privilege of working with, who also happened to be my boyfriend—had a lot to do with that.
Neither of us knew what Noah and Olivia’s intentions were.
Originally we were to share the senior marketing role. It would give me the much-needed experience and support and also help Kyle assimilate to Tate & Cane in New York.
While there was no chance of him returning to Chicago, and I had grown in my own right, we always suspected the sharing of our positions would be temporary. And if there was one person who deserved it, who was better and able to do the job with his eyes closed, it was Kyle. And I would happily work by his side. After all, he had not only saved my career, but my reputation as well with the Skyline fiasco. Unfortunately for Stockwell, they hadn’t fared so well. After the story ran, the company ended up being cannibalized, unable to recover from the huge stock drop.
“Your attitude seems to have changed a little since the last time.” Noah smiled, a silent expression passing between him and Olivia.
“Yeah well,” I laughed remembering back to that day. “I still don’t think there is anyone who wants it as much as I do, but I’m not so arrogant to think I know everything just yet. I plan on having a very long and prosperous career with Tate & Cane, and I will patiently, with acquired experience, work my way up.”
“Sounds like a senior marketing manager to me, what do you think, Noah?” Olivia smiled and then nodded to her husband.
“Yeah, it sure does,” he agreed, and slid a piece of paper in front of me.
“The job is yours, Sarah. And Kyle’s,” he added as I tried to read what was written on the page. “We expanded the position, so between the two of you, you will head your own department. Both you and Kyle proved that not only do you work well together, but as a team have grown our profit margin and brought in new and exciting clients. And that’s exactly what we were looking for.”
“Oh my god!” I clutched the paper to my chest, my heart pounding so hard I was sure it wasn’t healthy. “Both of us?”
“Yes, both of you,” Noah confirmed.
“And we of all people know you can have business with a relationship; we made it work and you will too,” Olivia added.
“Coming from you, that is a huge compliment, thank you.” I rose out of my seat and shook both of their hands. “Thanks for everything.”
As I closed the door behind me and walked out into the hall, I could only remember one day where I’d ever felt so happy. Coincidentally, it was also the day where I’d also felt my worst. The day I stopped being afraid and opened my heart to Kyle.
It wasn’t easy—we still had some ups and downs—but I wouldn’t trade being his girlfriend for anything.
“So what’s the verdict?” The man in question was waiting just around the corner. His hands wrapping around my waist as he brought his mouth down on mine.
We tried to keep emotional displays out of the office but every once in a while, one or two crept in. Kennedy agreed that I shouldn’t fight it and it was really hard working with your hot boyfriend and not kissing him.
“The verdict is I love you, and you are awesome. And I am very happy.” I kissed him back unable to contain myself.
It wasn’t the first time we’d said I love you, that had happened a couple of months ago. He had been the one to say it first. And then he showed me in a way that only Kyle could. He had me screaming his name so much I almost lost my voice and then when we were done, I said it right back. Now that we had said it, it was like we couldn’t stop.
“And I love you too.” He dropped a soft kiss on my nose. “But, I want to know which one of us is going to be the other’s bitch. Should I brush up on my coffee making skills or do I start fantasizing about you calling me sir? Actually, we can try the sir thing at home later. I’m getting hard just thinking about it.”
* * *
Kyle
I wasn’t lying about getting hard.
It was an occupational hazard when I kissed Sarah, especially when she was happy.
Those tight skirts she wore didn’t hurt either; they might have been knee-length and respectable but I knew what was underneath.
And as far as the job was concerned, I didn’t care either way.
While I loved working at Tate & Cane, I’d found something I loved more.
Much more.
So if that meant stepping aside, then that was no problem. There were other jobs, other companies but there was only one Sarah. And she was mine.
“If I have to call you sir, what will you call me? She bit her lip, seductively.
Great. Now I was even harder.
“I will call you fucked if you don’t stop that.” I wasn’t kidding either. While we had managed to make it this far without defiling her office or mine, I could only resist so long. Her smiling, looking at me like that, and it would be worth whatever trouble we attracted. “Can you spell sexual misconduct?”
“You know,” she got serious for a minute, “if either of us becomes the other’s boss, it invalidates the exemption on the fraternization policy. You worried?”
She was killing me.
If there was a woman who could bring me to my knees, it was the woman I was holding right now.
And what’s more, I
was enjoying every last excruciating second.
“Nope, not at all. And I’m surprised you are.” I moved my mouth back to hers; thankful the hall had remained deserted. “Because if you’d read the entire policy, you would have seen there is a loophole where it doesn’t matter.”
She stopped, confused. “What are you talking about, there’s no loophole.”
“Section two, paragraph one disagrees.” I put my hand in my pocket and pulled out the small velvet box I had bought at lunchtime. “It’s not fraternization if you’re my wife.”
“Oh my god.” Her hand flew to her mouth as she looked at the ring. “You want me to marry you?”
It was probably a little soon and impulsive since neither of us had really spoken about marriage. But I didn’t need to wait any longer to know she was the one for me, and I wasn’t giving her a chance to get away a second time. Besides, I really liked calling her my wife.
“Yeah, I figured we’d get two tickets to Vegas.” I took the ring out of the box and put it where it needed to be. She hadn’t said yes, but I was quietly confident she wouldn’t say no. I was arrogant like that. “I know a great place, I met my first wife there.”
She laughed, staring at the ring on her finger. “Keely would kill us.”
“She’d get over it.” My concern for my sister’s feelings ranked lower than my desire to remarry Sarah. Only this time, it was going to be legal. “So what do you say? You want to plan a wedding? Or do you want to hop on a plane and get married by Fat Elvis again? Just a word of warning, if he looks at your tits like he did that last time, I’m going to knock him out.”
“I say let’s go to the airport and see when the next plane is to Vegas.” She smiled wrapping her hands around me.
“You sure?” I asked. “This one is binding.” Giving her one last chance to change her mind.
“Positive,” she answered with no hesitation.
“Great, so now that we have that straightened out.” I gave her another kiss for good measure. “Tell me what they said.”
“Does it matter?” she asked, her hand flashing her shiny new diamond.
“To me?” I shrugged. “Not a bit.”
“Good, then let’s get married and we’ll talk business later.” She smirked and yanked on my shirt.
