Awakened by the CEO's Kiss

by Therese Beharrie

  Had she been married then? Had her husband already passed away? If so, how long before they’d met? And did that change anything?

  He couldn’t answer those questions without speaking to her, but since she seemed determined to forget that they’d even met before, he couldn’t exactly ask her.

  Unless he should.

  Should he?

  No. He was leaving the past behind him. Boundaries and all that.

  With a shallow breath, he said, ‘I’m incredibly sorry to hear that.’

  She lifted her shoulders, a gesture meant to indicate that it wasn’t a big deal but one that only succeeded in telling him it was a very big deal.

  ‘It’s been five years. I’m okay with it for the most part.’

  ‘But it lingers, doesn’t it?’

  She looked at him, blinked. And with that blink, something cleared in her vision. ‘You’ve lost someone, too.’

  It wasn’t a question, but he replied. ‘My mother.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she murmured. ‘When you spoke about her the other night...’ She trailed off, as if she’d just realised he’d spoken about his mother in the past tense. ‘I should have realised.’

  Three sharp barks came from the garden.

  Brooke winced. ‘Clearly he’d like us to have this conversation some other time.’

  Since it would give him the break he needed to gather his thoughts, Tyler nodded. ‘Do you have a bucket or something to wash him in?’

  ‘I do. It’s in the garage. Should we bring him inside? The light out there is bad.’

  ‘I’m sure we can manage between the two of us.’

  She nodded. ‘Let’s do it.’

  She gave him instructions on where she kept the dog shampoo and an old towel. Minutes later, Tyler was running water into the bucket in the downstairs bathroom. When it was done, he carried it outside, to where Mochi and Brooke were waiting.

  Brooke was murmuring comfort to the dog as he laid his head on her knee. It hit Tyler in an entirely unexpected way. Not only the intimacy of the moment, but the desire for it to be...permanent. Because of it, water splashed over the rim of the bucket before he could put it down.

  ‘That’s what you get for showing off,’ she said tartly, but she smiled before uncurling her legs and standing.

  What was it about this woman that he couldn’t stop himself from being drawn to her? He wanted to know things about her he shouldn’t want to know. Like the way she’d become independent after years of not being. How had that affected her? Was that the reason she couldn’t see how deeply her dog loved her? Was that why she berated herself for not having the boundaries she thought she should have with him?

  But why did he care about any of it? She had a husband. She’d had a husband when they’d met or she had just lost her husband. Either way, the situation was a minefield he shouldn’t want to navigate.

  He knew all about relationship minefields. His parents’ relationship... Tia’s relationship with Nyle’s father... They’d both shown him how complicated things could be. And they hadn’t had the added factor of a dead spouse who might have been alive when they’d first met.

  ‘You okay?’ she asked, studying him now as she held Mochi while he shampooed the dog.

  ‘Why wouldn’t I be?’ He offered her a smile that he was certain wouldn’t reassure her. He was right.

  ‘You’re awfully quiet. Did I bruise your ego earlier?’ she teased.

  Damn if his heart didn’t skip at the easiness. At the longing for it to be easy, only easy, between them.

  ‘My ego is fine.’

  ‘Your feelings then.’ Her tone shifted to something more serious. ‘You’re upset that I was making fun. I didn’t mean—’

  ‘I’m fine, Brooke,’ he interrupted curtly, and immediately regretted it.

  Hurt skipped across her face, but it was gone so quickly. ‘Of course.’

  They washed Mochi in silence for the next few moments. The dog whined softly, though he didn’t try to move. Tyler wondered if that meant he wasn’t whining at being bathed, but at the tension between the humans who were bathing him.

  When they were done, Brooke said, ‘I can take it from here.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I have the leash and his brush, and it won’t take any longer or be any easier with you around.’ She winced, as if she regretted the phrasing, but she didn’t correct herself. ‘You can get your wallet and go. I’m sure you have other places to be.’

  ‘Brooke—’

  ‘I can do this by myself, Tyler,’ she said, more sternly now.

  What could he say to that?

  He nodded, stood up, grimacing at the sight of his own clothing that was wet in patches now. But he didn’t say anything. Only dusted his feet off as best he could, grabbed his wallet and went to his car.

  Once there, he hit the edge of the steering wheel. ‘Idiot!’

  Because he was and he deserved to hear it. Any progress they’d made tonight—and he felt as if they’d made some—had been completely and utterly ruined because he couldn’t get out of his own head.

  It was probably for the best that she’d kicked him out. There was no telling how much more damage he would have done if he’d stayed.

  CHAPTER SIX

  BROOKE SUCCESSFULLY PUSHED Tyler out of her head until Friday.

  She was quite proud of herself, honestly. She hadn’t thought about him, or the way she could almost still feel his skin on hers from that night on the beach, or the way he wanted to help her and then didn’t. Or maybe he did, but there was something that had kept him from being comfortable that night with Mochi.

  She didn’t have much experience, but she couldn’t imagine knowing that she was a widow made things easy. Not that it was some thing to be made easy when there was nothing going on between them. It wasn’t like they were starting a relationship and he was freaked out by the fact that she had once been married and the only reason she wasn’t now was because her husband had died.

  But, since she wasn’t thinking about it, it didn’t matter anyway. And that was why she was almost okay when she walked into her kitchen that morning to find him sitting at the counter with his laptop open.

  ‘Morning,’ she said, going to the coffee machine.

  He’d already made it, which wasn’t a thoughtful thing she needed to get mushy about. It was his job. He was doing his job, not thinking about her.

  It was the same thing every time he made her food.

  Bought her groceries.

  Discovered what her favourite scent was and put candles in her study and her bathroom.

  Fluffed her pillows and made them smell like that same scent.

  Left notes when he’d walked Mochi.

  All of it was his job.

  All of it.

  She gulped down her coffee, not even caring that it burnt her throat.

  ‘Rough night?’ he asked, watching her.

  Determination alone couldn’t stop her from blushing, so she just said, ‘Yeah. We’ve been testing an app that’s launching soon. There have been some bugs, but nothing hectic. I can’t imagine that’ll continue, so I’m trying to prepare myself.’ The blush got deeper when she realised he probably hadn’t wanted to know any of that. ‘Everything okay with you?’

  She was looking at him properly now, so she could see the faint shadows under his eyes.

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘You said that a little too quickly.’

  He offered her a wry smile. And instantly she knew she would no longer be able to resist thinking about him. Because of that smile.

  His eyes softened, the skin around them crinkled as his cheeks lifted. The curve of his mouth thinned his lips, though that didn’t lessen the seductive quality of them one bit. Hell, if anything, it made her want to lean in and—

&nbs
p; She froze. She found him attractive, yes, but that attraction had never taken a detour into fantasy. She wasn’t sure how she should feel about it.

  But worrying about that was for another time. Now was for worrying about something else: those shadows under his eyes.

  ‘You’re more perceptive than most people,’ he said.

  ‘Maybe. Doesn’t change the fact that you said it too quickly.’

  He exhaled, as if in defeat. She would have enjoyed it more if he hadn’t looked so... Well, defeated.

  ‘What is it, Tyler?’ she asked, her heart picking up on his tension and beating faster than she liked. ‘Please, for heaven’s sake, don’t keep me in suspense.’

  He sighed, but he answered. ‘My company... has been offered an opportunity to expand.’

  ‘Okay?’

  ‘From a company in the UK,’ he continued after a beat. ‘It would mean... Well, it would mean that I’d have to live there for a while, and I can’t do that.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘I’m the only family Tia and Nyle have. I can’t abandon them.’

  She opened her mouth to point out that it wouldn’t be abandoning them, but the conflict in his eyes stopped her. A simple observation wouldn’t do him any good when he was in this state. Especially since him even using the word ‘abandon’ meant he must have had some baggage.

  Instead, she said, ‘So what’s with the sad eyes on your laptop now?’

  ‘The company is trying to tempt me.’

  She searched his face. ‘And it’s working.’

  ‘No,’ he answered, though it hadn’t been a question. ‘No, it’s not.’

  ‘Tyler—’

  ‘Does my attending one of their events over here tonight sound like a good idea? Maybe,’ he said, as if she hadn’t spoken. ‘I’d learn more about the company, the people I’d potentially be working with. I could engage with them on my ideas about how the expansion would work...’

  If he hadn’t seemed so torn up about it, she would have told him to stop drooling.

  ‘But,’ he went on, ‘that would only be relevant if I were interested.’

  ‘Which you are.’

  ‘No.’

  She waited to see if there was more, then said, ‘Tyler, you’re interested. There’s nothing wrong with that. You haven’t betrayed anyone by being interested.’ When he didn’t say anything, she prodded. ‘That’s it, right? You think you’re betraying your family?’

  ‘I think...’ It was a while before he finished the sentence. ‘Yeah, I do. Being interested is the first step towards doing something, isn’t it?’

  It was a rhetorical question, but somehow she felt as though she needed to answer. Perhaps because it resonated with her, and unknowingly, it pointed out one of her own issues. She was interested in Tyler. And, yes, that did feel as though she was moving towards betraying Kian.

  She didn’t need her therapist to tell her that it was a normal part of moving forward. They’d spoken about it plenty of times with regard to other areas of her life. Her work, her home. Even her family. Whenever her life changed or evolved she felt guilty because it was changing and evolving away from the life she’d shared with Kian.

  At the same time she felt as if she had to move forward. She owed it to him.

  But did she owe it to him to move on with this part of her life?

  ‘It’s complicated,’ she answered softly.

  ‘Yes.’ He paused. ‘I haven’t told my sister.’

  ‘Okay.’

  ‘I told myself I would mention it in passing,’ he said. ‘So that I could get her opinion on it. I was hoping...’

  When he didn’t finish, she finished for him. ‘That she’d give you the permission you feel you need from her to do something you really want to do.’

  He opened his mouth—to argue, she thought, seeing his body tense. But he deflated quickly. ‘Yes.’

  ‘And you haven’t told her because...?’

  ‘Because I’m a coward.’

  ‘That doesn’t sound fair,’ she chided.

  He gave her a sad look. A defeated look. It crashed into her heart as if it were a car going too fast on a highway. And, just like that car, she had apparently lost control, too, because she found herself saying, ‘What if I went with you?’

  His eyes widened. That was his only reaction. He didn’t respond verbally, didn’t move a muscle beyond that. And when, after at least a million minutes of silence, he still didn’t reply, Brooke set her half-full mug on the counter and wiped her palms—sweaty now—on her trousers.

  ‘Well, that’s all the time I have this morning,’ she said, knowing she sounded like a talk show host. ‘I guess I’ll see you around.’

  But probably not.

  Then she basically sprinted from the kitchen. The scene of her death.

  Fortunately, when she got to work there was an urgent issue that kept her from thinking about anything that had happened that morning. But by lunchtime things had quietened and mortification filled her.

  ‘Why did I think that would be a good idea?’ she asked out loud, squeezing her stress ball with its smiley face for all it was worth. ‘I’m not ready for it to be a date, but that’s what I offered, right? Or was I offering something a friend would do? Except we’re not friends, so now it’s...’ She trailed off. ‘Now it’s confusing. For both of us.’

  She sighed. Blamed it on his expression. That look of hopelessness and frustration and defeat. She wanted to get his smile back. It was somehow imprinted on her brain, regardless of how much she wanted it not to be. Especially when she could barely remember Kian’s face these days...

  Most of the time, she understood. This was what happened. Those vivid memories of every detail of his face, his body, had faded over time. She remembered the general things about Kian, and that was what was most important.

  He had been handsome in such a traditional sense of the word that when she’d been with him, she’d often tell him how annoying it was. He had been strong, but not in any way dictated by the gym. His strength had come from the time he’d spent outdoors. Hiking or running or carrying things when he was messing around in a garden. And he had been kind. So kind that some days she had marvelled at him. Tried to be more like him. And, really, those were the most important things.

  But it smarted, just a little, that she could remember everything about Tyler. The light in his eyes when he smiled at her unexpectedly; the curve of his lips that courted his cheeks; the scar he had next to his right eye that was hardly noticeable to someone who wasn’t determined to notice everything about him.

  He wasn’t traditionally handsome. No, his features were too rugged, too sharp for that. But there was something about the way they came together. Or maybe it was the way he carried himself. With a confidence that told her he didn’t care about being handsome. With the easiness of not caring.

  It was clear he cared about other stuff though. His family was important to him. There was obviously more to the situation than she knew, but she could understand his concerns about going overseas. She couldn’t imagine leaving the only family she had or having them leave her. If she had to choose between that and moving forward with her life? That decision wouldn’t be easy.

  A glance at the clock told her lunchtime was over and she got back to work. But no matter how hard she tried, Tyler crept into her consciousness. She was immensely relieved when she got home that evening and discovered she was alone.

  But when she walked into the kitchen, she found a note on the fridge.

  I’d like to take you up on your offer. Please. You’ll find what you need in your bedroom. I’ll be over at seven.

  T

  ‘This is a joke, right?’ she asked the empty room.

  For a full five seconds she expected an answer. Someone to jump out of the closet and say, How did you figure
it out? and then she wouldn’t have to go to her bedroom and find out what he thought she needed.

  She looked at the clock. It was almost six. She had an hour to figure out what to wear, to do her hair, her make-up. And she hadn’t done anything of the sort in years. An hour was not what she would have given herself to rediscover those skills.

  ‘Okay. Okay,’ she said because apparently today, speaking out loud was the only thing keeping her from panicking. ‘One thing at a time.’

  She got Mochi’s food ready, went out to feed him, then refilled his water and gave him some belly rubs with the promise of a long morning walk. Then she went to her bedroom.

  There was a gold dress hanging on her cupboard.

  Something strange happened to her breathing. She inhaled sharply, exhaled, then exhaled again, as if somehow she had more than enough air in her lungs. Slowly she moved forward, touched the material. It was silk...smooth. It felt like luxury. She dropped it, worried that she would damage it somehow by simply touching it.

  On the floor beneath the dress was a shoe box. She almost didn’t open it, afraid of what extravagance she would find there. But she dropped down, opened the lid. She was more prepared this time, but it still felt like an out-of-body experience. The shoes were gold perfection, their straps covered with shiny stones that she traced and immediately loved.

  She straightened, shook her head. She couldn’t malfunction right now, no matter how much she wanted to. She needed to get her hair done, which would likely take most of her time. And then she needed to figure out make-up; she couldn’t remember what the appropriate style was.

  With a deep breath, she started preparing.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  HE WAS HOLDING his breath. It was a stupid thing to do, considering he needed air to survive. But as he rang Brooke’s doorbell—it would have felt like an invasion to walk in—he held his breath.

  Tyler wished he had dealt with the situation differently that morning. When she’d offered, he wished he hadn’t frozen. Why hadn’t he accepted her kindness then? It would have made it less awkward, especially when she was doing something for him.