‘You’re a lot smarter than I give you credit for, do you know that?’ he told Tia.
‘I do,’ she said with a smirk, but sobered quickly. ‘You can’t make decisions when you don’t know the facts. She can’t figure out if she wants to be with you if you don’t tell her that you want to be with her.’
‘You’re right.’ And Tia deserved to know all the facts, too. He took a huge breath. ‘T, that’s not the only thing I want to talk about...’
And finally, after months of stalling, he told his sister the truth.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
‘YOU’RE ACTING WEIRD,’ Dom pointed out unhelpfully.
‘It’s the launch of my app,’ Brooke snapped. ‘What’s normal in these circumstances?’
‘Not snapping at your brother for making a simple observation.’
She didn’t reply, but stuck out her tongue. The action held the same tone as whatever she might have told him anyway.
Thankfully, he didn’t respond, verbally or physically. It was as if, for once in his life, Dom knew she didn’t need his snide comments.
She was highly strung, without a doubt. She had been since that conversation with Tyler. She’d been going back and forth about what it meant and how she felt in every spare moment she had.
Those moments had been rare, fortunately, because the final week before the launch of the app had been busy. And tonight, they would officially go live.
As was the custom for her company, they’d planned a black-tie event to watch the clock tick down and celebrate the exact moment. Dom had pitched up in his tuxedo when she’d asked him to, which had also annoyed her for some inexplicable reason. Even though he’d picked Mochi up earlier, to stay with him and Sierra for the night.
But none of that meant she was acting weird, regardless of what he’d said.
The doorbell rang. She looked at the clock. ‘That can’t be the driver yet. There’s still thirty minutes before the car’s meant to arrive.’
‘And yet you asked me to be here thirty minutes ago,’ Dom muttered.
‘I didn’t want to risk being late.’
He merely grunted, which was an appropriate response to her lie. She hadn’t only wanted to avoid being late. She’d wanted to celebrate with her brother. Yet the unopened bottle of very expensive champagne she’d bought at the start of the process still stood in her refrigerator, untouched.
She couldn’t bring herself to celebrate. It didn’t feel right when there was so much that felt wrong in her life.
For example, the fact that you don’t really want Dom here, but Tyler.
Irritably, she stomped over to the front door and yanked it open.
And stared.
She might have been ashamed if Tyler hadn’t been staring at her, too.
She thought it might both have come from shock, although their reasons might be different. For her, it was simply his presence. Had she somehow manifested him? She didn’t even care, too distracted by a strong wave of pleasure that hit her at seeing him again.
His expression was sombre, those beautiful lines of his face arranged in a serious expression she wasn’t used to seeing. But he was still heartachingly handsome. He wore a simple shirt and jeans, and her fingers itched to touch him. It felt like such a long time ago that they’d shared those kisses, but she remembered them so vividly.
And all of it felt like a terrible irony considering she couldn’t remember the time he claimed they’d spent together.
No, not claimed—the time they had spent together.
She was pretty certain it had happened. There was no benefit to him in lying about it. And it made sense, though it had taken her long to admit it. It explained how she’d felt such a bond with him only shortly after they’d met. All those times when things had felt familiar between them. Why she’d asked him out to dinner even though he worked for her. Why she trusted him when she hadn’t trusted anyone outside of her family in years.
There was something inside her that did remember him. And even if that hadn’t been true, she felt something for him now. She loved him. These last weeks had been enough for her to know that. So even if something she couldn’t remember had created that pull, she’d acted on it. She had. And she had done so now. And that was significant, wasn’t it?
If only all of it didn’t feel so wrapped up in emotion that wouldn’t allow her to accept it.
She blinked, realising she’d been lost in thought. But he didn’t seem to mind. He was still staring at her.
‘Surely this dress isn’t that gobsmacking?’ she commented dryly.
‘It’s pretty damn gobsmacking.’ He tilted his head, lifting his eyes to hers. ‘Is that how one should use that word?’
‘If “one” refers to me, then, yes, because that’s how I just used the word.’
His lips twitched before that sombre expression took over again. ‘You’re clearly on your way somewhere...’ He trailed off in a way that made it clear he wanted to know where.
‘The app launch.’
‘That’s tonight?’ He was rolling his eyes before he finished. ‘Of course it’s tonight. Tia’s contract to work for you ended today.’
A punch landed in her gut. She steeled herself so it wouldn’t cause her to stagger back. She’d forgotten that today was the last day of her contract with the housekeeping agency. She’d forgotten that today would be the last day he’d be working for her.
It was silly to feel disappointed since for pretty much half of the time, she hadn’t seen him. But she’d known he was there. She’d known he was cooking for her and cleaning for her.
She would have been ashamed of taking pleasure in that knowledge, but it wasn’t because she was on some kind of power trip. She just felt more secure with him doing those things for her. It was a form of caring she was no longer used to, even if she was paying for it.
She wasn’t sure if that made her pathetic or not.
‘Why are you here?’ she asked softly.
He swallowed. ‘I’ll come back.’
‘No, Tyler,’ she said, before he could turn away. ‘Just...say it.’
He stared at her for a long time. She wished she knew whether that meant he would answer her. Whether he would tell her the reason he’d shown up at her door now, on the final day of his contract.
Just when she thought he might, Dom called out from the lounge.
‘Everything okay, B?’
She looked over her shoulder, saw him walking towards her. ‘Yes,’ she said primly.
She turned to Tyler. His expression had gone from sombre to unreadable. She tilted her head. Wondered at the reason for it. Then she realised how it looked. Dom in his tux, her in a dress, the night of the launch.
‘Tyler, this is Dom,’ she said, shifting so that Dom could stand next to her. ‘My brother.’
Tyler’s eyes flitted to hers. Relief mixed with something else, something she couldn’t quite identify, but looked fierce and passionate, rested there.
Seconds later, before she could even try to name it, Tyler shook it off and held out a hand. ‘Nice to meet you, Dom.’
Dom studied the hand, but didn’t wait too long before he took it. ‘Tyler,’ he acknowledged. ‘The housekeeper, right?’ He paused. ‘And also the man my sister is seeing.’
‘Dom,’ she warned.
Tyler merely gave Dom a steady look. ‘I’m not sure either one of us would classify it that way, but a version of that is certainly true.’
‘It is?’ she asked, surprise more than anything taking control of her tongue. ‘I mean, it is,’ she confirmed, nodding to Dom.
Dom gave her the look he saved for when she was being stupid. She couldn’t even call him out on it. She had just done something stupid. She’d doubted the qualification the man she loved tried to provide for their relationship out loud, and then she’d tried
to cover it up.
She was a mess.
‘You should be the one going with her this evening,’ said Dom.
Her attention snapped to her brother. ‘No,’ she said, in another warning. ‘Don’t get involved.’
‘You want him with you, Brooke,’ Dom said casually, as if she’d already offered the information to the world and he wasn’t sharing a secret she didn’t want anyone to know—let alone her brother and the object of what could only be described as an obsession. ‘You should take him.’
‘Dom, can I speak to you privately for a moment?’ she asked through her teeth. ‘Tyler, you can wait inside.’
Without waiting to see how he responded to her command, she grabbed her brother’s arm and marched him to the kitchen.
‘What are you doing?’ she snapped. ‘You need to have my back, not make things more complicated.’
‘Am I wrong?’
‘You—’ She cut herself off before she admitted something she wasn’t ready to admit. ‘It doesn’t matter.’
‘Except it does, B,’ he said, stepping closer and brushing a hand over her hair. Her styled hair.
She swatted at his hand. He ignored her.
‘I was wondering why you were acting so strange, but when he showed up it made sense. And then you introduced him to me, not the other way around. You were more concerned about him thinking we were a couple than you were about my opinion. That means something.’
‘I don’t...’
‘You don’t have to.’
Dom’s words were gentle and he was right, despite the fact that she hadn’t even finished her sentence.
‘I keep telling you this. You don’t have to have all the answers right at the beginning. It’s okay to work your way through it.’
It seemed pointless now to tell Dom that she did have to have the answers. She couldn’t risk everything she would risk for the chance of something.
‘I don’t think I can ask him to go with me,’ she said honestly, because it was the only answer she could give. ‘It’s short notice, and he doesn’t have a tux, and—’
Dom was walking out before she could stop him.
‘You and I are about the same size, aren’t we?’ Dom asked Tyler.
‘Dom—’
‘I think so,’ Tyler replied, interrupting what would have been her protest.
‘Cool. Do you want to wear this so you can go with my sister tonight?’ Dom didn’t wait for an answer. ‘We can change in the spare bedroom.’
‘Brooke,’ Tyler said. ‘Do you want me to go with you?’
Dom grunted. It was in approval, she knew, because she had long since learnt the nuances of his grunts.
Tyler looked faintly alarmed, but his eyes were still on her, as if her answer was more important than her brother’s faintly threatening sounds.
‘Do you want to go with me?’ she asked.
Dom’s snort made her glare at him. But then Tyler answered, and she forgot Dom was even in the room.
‘Very much so.’
Her lips parted and she nodded, hoping he’d understand that she was saying she did, indeed, want him with her. And it seemed he did. He gestured to Dom, who thankfully didn’t comment, and they were both gone a second later.
She paced the room, trying not to worry about the fact that her brother was alone with Tyler. Or vice versa, for that matter. She hadn’t told Dom about her and Tyler’s past together. Wouldn’t tell him—she was too ashamed.
But should she really be ashamed of what she couldn’t remember? Yes, her brain answered for her. Because not remembering it didn’t change the fact that she had done it.
She hadn’t ever particularly cared that she suffered from amnesia. She didn’t want to remember what had been the most traumatic time in her life. What she could remember wasn’t easy or pleasant, so she had never begrudged her mind for trying to protect itself and her.
Now, though... She wished she could remember what it had been like. What had been going through her mind? What had she felt during those dinners together? Had she made Tyler believe she wanted him to kiss her? Had she initiated the kiss?
She didn’t have answers to many of those questions, but there were some Tyler could offer her. And she didn’t think it was wrong of her to want them. She simply hadn’t asked for them before because that would have entailed talking to Tyler, which would have required seeing him.
But she was seeing him now. She could ask those questions and maybe get some closure. Except that implied the conclusion of whatever was happening between her and Tyler, and that felt oddly painful.
Even though she didn’t know what to do about her feelings for him.
Even though she knew he might be leaving.
Even though their past and their future seemed so misaligned.
The doorbell rang, and this time she knew it was the car. She told the driver they’d be there in a second, got all her things ready, then waited for Tyler at the door.
She caught her breath a little when he came out of the spare bedroom. The tux fitted him perfectly, though it looked entirely different on him than it had on Dom.
Perhaps because she didn’t feel as if the air around Dom was electric. Magnetic, with an answering magnet inside her, demanding that she go to Tyler. Curl herself around him or against him, she wasn’t fussy.
She took a breath to steady herself. ‘You look nice.’
‘Thanks,’ he said.
‘Funny, you didn’t tell me that when I wore it,’ said her brother.
‘It would have been weird if I had,’ she told Dom with a shrewd look. ‘Are you ready to go?’ she asked Tyler.
‘If you are.’
They walked to the car.
Brooke tried to ignore the wave Dom gave them as they drove off. But he was doing it so damn happily, as if he were proud of himself for setting this up.
‘Why do I feel like a kid being waved off to prom?’ Tyler asked.
Brooke snorted. ‘That’s exactly what I was thinking. Well, not exactly. Also I doubt he would ever wave off his own kid that happily. Dom’s more the scowling parent type, if that makes sense.’
‘Since I used to have one, it does.’
‘Your mom?’
‘Dad.’
He curled his fingers, but Brooke didn’t think he noticed.
‘He wasn’t the approving kind. Not initially, anyway. And his disapproval was more directed towards Tia than me.’
‘So he was a misogynist?’ she said, trying to lighten the mood. Although, in hindsight, insulting his father probably wasn’t the way to do it.
But Tyler agreed easily. ‘Pretty much. Although I guess I can understand it. She was always more vulnerable than me.’
‘Because she was a girl?’
‘Because she’s Tia.’ He paused. ‘I know you haven’t met her, but she’s fierce. Except it’s all mostly on the outside, for the sake of the world. Deep down, she’s...sensitive.’
Something about the way he said it made Brooke search his expression. Pain tightened the skin around his eyes, his mouth. She wasn’t sure how she knew that it was pain, but she did.
‘You told her about London,’ she guessed.
His head whipped towards her. ‘How did you know?’
‘I’m not sure,’ she answered honestly. ‘A gut feeling?’
His eyes softened. Something softened inside her as well. She was certain that something was her heart, but acknowledging it felt as though she was approving of it when really, she desperately wanted her heart to behave. Things were too uncertain for it not to.
‘How did she take it?’ she asked, trying to distract herself and her organs.
He exhaled. ‘About as well as you would expect.’
‘Ah... So she didn’t care that you’re considering leaving, only that you
waited so long to talk to her about it because you believed she wouldn’t support you. Because you were using her as an excuse to avoid facing the real issue, which is your feelings about yourself and your father.’
He stared at her. ‘Is this your gut again?’
She shrugged. ‘I’ve made some deductions during our time together.’
‘No kidding.’ He shook his head. ‘I guess I could have handled this entire thing better.’
‘We all usually think that, looking back.’
‘It’s strange, isn’t it? We can psych ourselves up about something. Make it worse than it is when in reality, it’s simple.’
She angled a look at him. ‘Why do I feel as though you’re not only talking about your sister?’
‘I’m not sure,’ he said easily, though the expression on his face told her she was right.
When he shifted the conversation back to his sister, it seemed to prove that he was deflecting.
‘Tia did care that I wanted to leave. Not as much as I thought she would—I blame my ego for that—but in a normal way. A healthy way,’ he added, almost as an afterthought.
‘In the same way you care that you’re thinking of leaving?’ she asked. ‘Because you’ll miss her and your nephew.’
‘Yes.’ He paused. ‘As for the other stuff... We didn’t get to that. I didn’t get to that.’ Another pause. ‘But you’re right. This is about my dad, and my not wanting to be like him.’
The sadness in his voice had her reaching for his hand. ‘You’re not like him, Tyler. Deep down, you know that. And not only because I’ve told you so a million times. You know it deep in your gut.’ Her hand tightened. ‘You’re scared, and that’s okay. It’s okay to be scared. But you have control of this. You do—not your father.’
She waited to see if he would respond. When he didn’t, she pushed on, needing him to believe her.
‘You chose to tell your sister and get her opinion on the situation. She might need some time, but she wants you to be happy so she’ll choose to support you. Once you’re in London, you can manage your time. You can keep in touch with your family. Arrange visits for Tia and Nyle. And you can come back,’ she pointed out softly. ‘Whenever you like. To visit, to keep in touch. You can make Cape Town your base again once you’ve set everything up. All of that is in your control, Tyler. Don’t allow anything to make you think otherwise.’
Awakened by the CEO's Kiss Page 14
