Awakened by the CEO's Kiss

by Therese Beharrie

  No, an apparition wouldn’t have had that effect.

  ‘Hey,’ he said, his voice both familiar and unfamiliar.

  She wanted to record it, play it back when this was over, so she never had to feel as if it was unfamiliar again. Only she wasn’t sure she wanted her skin to feel so aware at the sound of it every time.

  ‘Hi,’ she said.

  ‘You probably want to know what I’m doing here?’

  She tilted her head. ‘It’s definitely one of my questions,’ she allowed. ‘The others are: what are you doing in South Africa and how did you get into my house?’

  ‘Tia let me in.’ He straightened. ‘She’s aware that it’s a violation, but she’s trusting that I won’t screw this up again and it won’t matter.’

  Her breath caught, but he didn’t notice. Instead, he looked up at the house.

  ‘I think she’s somewhere upstairs now, trying to give us privacy while desperately wanting to know what’s happening and figuring out if she still has a job.’

  Brooke took a second. ‘Well, I’m not thrilled she’s letting people into my house, but I’ll let her off with a warning. I didn’t hire her so I could fire her. Even if she has given me this really good reason to.’

  ‘I don’t think she thought I was “people,”’ he said, with a wry twist of his mouth.

  It didn’t hide the hurt in his eyes.

  She wished she could be immune to it. He had hurt her, too. More than she’d thought possible. Her therapist had told her it was a good sign. That if she hurt more than she’d thought possible, she probably cared more than she’d thought possible, too.

  Surprisingly, that didn’t make her feel better.

  ‘Can I ask you a question?’ he asked softly.

  She nodded. Braced herself for it.

  ‘Why did you hire her?’

  It was so completely unexpected that she actually answered him. ‘She needed a stable job with someone who wasn’t going to punish her for trying to be a good mother. Someone who could give her the support she needs financially. Someone other than you, I mean.’

  Little lines wove themselves into the skin between his eyebrows. ‘You... You did this for her stability? For my nephew’s?’

  And maybe because she reminds me of you.

  But she only shrugged. ‘I did it because we can all use flexible employers. Employers who are understanding of family responsibility. I didn’t have that when Kian died, so I thought I’d pay it forward.’

  ‘You didn’t have to,’ he said slowly.

  ‘I know.’

  There was a pause. ‘I think you did it for me.’

  ‘I...did...not.’ It was half-scoff, half-splutter. ‘I did it,’ she emphasised, ‘because I knew she could use the help and she wouldn’t accept it from you.’

  ‘Yeah, but there are plenty of people out there who could use that kind of help.’ He stuffed his hands into his pockets, his eyes intent on hers. ‘And there are plenty of people out there who could help her. She had a job.’

  ‘Not a very good one.’

  ‘You wanted me to have peace of mind while I was gone,’ he continued, ignoring her.

  ‘You’re giving yourself too much credit.’

  ‘She didn’t tell me until I saw her this past week, you know.’

  ‘What?’ she asked. ‘Why? I thought she would—’ She broke off when she saw his smirk. ‘No!’ she said again, even though it was kind of pointless.

  ‘I can’t tell you how much it means to me,’ he said, serious now.

  She shook her head. ‘Not everything I do is because of you, Tyler.’

  ‘No,’ he agreed. ‘But some of what you do is because of me. I know that because some of what I do is because of you.’ He paused. ‘Like taking leave less than a month into my new job so I can tell you in person that I’m sorry.’

  She didn’t want to hope. Refused to on principle. He had hurt her.

  But she had hurt him, too. She could see it in his eyes, in the way he carried himself.

  So she stayed where she was, rooted to the spot by a responsibility she didn’t feel to anyone but her family.

  ‘I’m sorry, Brooke.’ He took a step forward. ‘That night... I asked for something I had no right to ask for. I panicked. I thought that if I asked you to go with me, I wouldn’t be leaving you behind. Like my dad.’ He shifted. ‘It wasn’t until you told me to listen to you that I realised... Well, I saw I was being like my dad anyway. Forcing you to accept a decision I’d made without considering your perspective.’

  She hadn’t even thought about why he’d asked her to go with him. She’d been so fixated on the fact that he had. Now, she felt guilty. Because it was so obvious that his reaction had come from fear, too. He loved her, and he didn’t want to treat her the way his father had treated the family he’d claimed to love, too.

  ‘Seems I didn’t consider your perspective either,’ she said softly.

  ‘Because I was pushing you. You barely had your feet steady beneath you after everything I told you about our past. With our feelings for one another.’

  ‘So you have thought about my perspective. And I... I’ve only realised yours now.’

  ‘I might have thought about it, but I almost let my fears ruin...’ He trailed off and took a deep breath. ‘When I spoke with you that night, I was scared of being like my father. When I realised that, I was scared that I’d already ruined us. That’s why I didn’t contact you after that night. I thought... I thought you’d hate me.’

  ‘I don’t hate you,’ she said quickly. ‘I could never hate you.’

  ‘But I shouldn’t have let my fears keep me from telling you that I was an idiot.’

  ‘No,’ she agreed. ‘But it gave me time to... I’ve figured some things out while you’ve been gone. I clearly still am figuring things out if what you’re telling me is still able to surprise me.’ She paused. ‘I was scared, too. It felt like too much in such a short time because of...because of all the things you’ve already said.’

  ‘I’ll wait,’ he said quietly. ‘That’s what I should have said before. My being in London doesn’t have to mean the end of us. It will give me an opportunity to figure out what I want to do. It will give you the space you need to come to terms with us.’

  He was desperate. She could see it in his eyes. Hear it in his tone. And she thought it was cute.

  ‘I’ll wait until you’re ready,’ he went on. ‘Even if that means waiting after I get back from London, too.’

  She pursed her lips. ‘I wasn’t done. How do you know I want you to wait if you don’t know what I was going to say?’

  He glanced down at Mochi, as if the dog had the answer. ‘Please,’ he said, clearing his throat. ‘Continue.’

  Her lips twitched. ‘I was going to say that I might have made you feel like there was no waiting time, too. There was only then, in that exact moment. I wasn’t ready to accept what was happening then, so what choice did you have?’

  ‘You’re giving me an out.’

  ‘No,’ she said honestly. ‘I’m claiming my responsibility in this. I was panicking. I thought about moving away from everything I’ve built here and I panicked.’

  ‘I shouldn’t have—’

  ‘Tyler,’ she said sharply. ‘Let me tell you that I’m sorry, too. And don’t you dare tell me I have nothing to be sorry for,’ she added, when he opened his mouth. ‘If I’d told you that I love you, but I needed time to figure out how I could love you in light of...of everything, you would have given me that time, I’m sure.’

  ‘I walked away.’

  ‘And I let you.’

  He frowned. ‘You’re making it very hard for me to grovel.’

  ‘I don’t want you to grovel. I want you to tell me that you understand. That you know if we move forward things won’t always go smoothly.
I want you to promise that when we make mistakes you won’t punish yourself so much that you don’t talk to me. And that you won’t let your fears get in the way of whatever this can be.’

  She paused to catch her breath, then went on because she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to continue if she stopped.

  ‘Tell me all that, promise me all that, so I can promise you I won’t do any of that either. I won’t use our mistakes to push you away, nor will I do it because of the intensity of what we feel for one another. I’ll keep going to therapy so I can be as mentally healthy as I can be. And if you’d like to do that, too, we can even go together.’

  His mouth split into a grin, but he stayed where he was. ‘You go to therapy?’

  She gave him a look. ‘I’m a widow, Tyler. For me, going to therapy is basically like going to the spa.’

  ‘Your sense of humour can be really morbid at times, you know that?’

  She laughed. ‘I’m a widow. What do you expect?’

  ‘I promise,’ he said, the soft smile on his face not dampening his sincerity at all. ‘I promise every single thing you said, plus some promises of my own. I won’t rush you. And we’ll talk—really talk—about what we both need, even if it’s hard.’

  She stepped closer, clutching at his shirt with her fingers. Oh, he smelled good. And being in his space felt good. Like his proximity, his promises filled the emptiness that had been inside her since he had left that night three months ago.

  ‘I’d like that,’ she said.

  His arms circled her waist. ‘We can go slow.’

  ‘We’ll have to,’ she said, abandoning his shirt to put her arms around his neck. ‘You still have an opportunity to take advantage of in London.’

  Concern flickered in his eyes. ‘Are you okay with that?’

  ‘I was the one who urged you to pursue it, wasn’t I?’

  ‘That was before.’

  ‘Before what?’

  He narrowed his eyes. Sank his fingers into her flesh. ‘Before this.’

  ‘Yeah, well, I’m coming up on some well-deserved leave, so I could probably join you in London for a while. And after that... We’ll figure it out.’ She rose onto her toes, bringing their lips to the same level. ‘We don’t have to have all the answers right now.’

  His eyes softened, one of his hands leaving her waist to cup her face. ‘No, we don’t. Because we love one another and we’ll figure it out.’

  ‘We will,’ she affirmed softly. ‘Although I do have one thing we need to figure out right now. Do you know what it is?’

  ‘A kiss. You want me to kiss you.’

  ‘So stop talking and do it already.’

  And he did.

  * * *

  If you enjoyed this story, check out these other great reads from Therese Beharrie

  His Princess by Christmas

  Marrying His Runaway Heiress

  Her Twin Baby Secret

  Island Fling with the Tycoon

  All available now!

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Billionaire’s Road Trip to Forever by Michelle Douglas.

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  Billionaire’s Road Trip to Forever

  by Michelle Douglas

  CHAPTER ONE

  THEY WERE THROUGH the ‘dearly beloveds’ and on to the ‘if any person can show just cause why they may not be lawfully joined together’ part of the marriage service, and just for a moment Bree’s heart beat a little harder and faster in the hushed silence of Brisbane’s Anglican cathedral. Well, as hushed as the crowded pews for the society wedding of the year would allow.

  Noah might be about to make a mistake of monolithic proportions in marrying Courtney Fraser, but it was a little late to be standing up and pointing that out.

  Could you imagine everyone’s faces if she did, though?

  She barely managed to suppress a shudder at the thought, but she couldn’t suppress a sigh. Not that she had any real reason to object to the marriage, just gut instinct. And she doubted the Anglican minister officiating would consider that as ‘just cause’.

  Deep breaths, Bree. Paste on a smile.

  It was just...seeing Noah about to make such a huge mistake had everything inside her protesting. She’d known Noah since she was a bratty eight-year-old. He was her twin brothers’ best friend. She no more wanted to see him make such a mistake than she would them.

  She glared at Blake’s and Ryder’s backs now. They were Noah’s groomsmen—they had responsibilities! Why hadn’t they taken Noah aside and talked sense into him...or at least grilled him to make sure this was what he really wanted?

  She blew out a silent breath when nobody stood up to make a Jane Eyre-esque pronouncement to call a halt to the wedding. She pressed her hands together and hauled in a breath. Given the current divorce statistics, this marriage wouldn’t be an irreversible mistake.

  Oh, but what a wealth of pain and upheaval a divorce would cause all concerned. She wanted to weep at the thought of it.

  ‘Stop fidgeting,’ her mother murmured. ‘You’re making me nervous.’

  Enough, she berated herself. It was time to stop being Miss Doom-and-Gloom, time to stop thinking such ugly thoughts. It wasn’t as if she were a relationship expert or anything. Maybe Noah and Courtney would have a gloriously long and happy marriage and bless the day they’d met forever. She hoped so. Noah deserved to be happy.

  Bree lifted her gaze from the happy couple to the stained-glass window and zoned out. In roughly five hours, as soon as she could politely and legitimately absent herself from the afternoon reception, she’d be on the first leg of her road trip—a road trip that was going to utterly change her entire life.

  Her fingers started to ache and she glanced down to find them clenched in her lap. She flexed them, and swallowed. It was normal to find change a bit intimidating, right?

  What about downright terrifying?

  She dragged her attention back to the service in time to see the bride—an utter vision in white—push back her veil. ‘I need to speak to you—’ she pointed to the minister and then the bridal party ‘—in the vestry. Now.’

  Bree blinked. Say what? Courtney had kept her voice low, but it still carried to the second pew where Bree sat.

  The minister hesitated for two beats before silently gesturing for the bride to precede him to the small room off to the right. The rest of the bridal party followed with varying expressions of bewilderment and concern. Bree couldn’t see Noah’s face, but the tight set of his shoulders and uncompromising line of his back made her wince.

  A murmur that all too quickly became a quiet roar went around the church. Bree exchanged glances with her parents, but they each remained silent. Nearly five minutes passed before a stern-faced Ryder stalked out and...

  Dear God. Her brother was making directly for her.

  ‘Bree, you’re needed.’ His eyes burned into hers trying to send her some secret message. ‘Can you...?’

  She rose and followed only because she couldn’t think of an excuse to refuse. Not for the first time, she wished she hadn’t come to the wedding, wished she’d made her excuses. Except this was Noah. She couldn’t not attend Noah’s wedding.

  It felt as if every eye in the church—and there must’ve been over two hundred sets of them—was on her as she made what felt like the mile-long journey to the vestry. She supposed it would be awfully poor form to bolt out through the side door and get an early start on her road trip. Change might be scary, but this? Ooh, she had a feeling this was going to be truly awful.

  Or not. Maybe this was just a minor hiccup.

&nb
sp; The tension in the vestry squeezed her chest tight. Noah’s pallor and the way he clenched his jaw had her own jaw aching in sympathy. As soon as Ryder closed the door behind them, Courtney swung to her. ‘You don’t think I ought to marry Noah, do you?’

  Whoa. Wait! What?

  ‘That’s why you refused to be my bridesmaid.’

  Courtney was going to dump Noah. At the altar? It took what felt like a full minute to find her voice. ‘I politely declined your request to be bridesmaid because nobody wants to be paired in a bridal party with one of their brothers. But more importantly,’ she added when Courtney snorted—it was the oddest thing to hear such an inelegant sound emerge from an archetypal vision of bridal loveliness. ‘More importantly,’ she forced herself to continue, ‘I’m Noah’s friend, not yours.

  ‘I mean, I’m sure we could be friends,’ she added with unholy haste. In another dimension, perhaps. Or in a galaxy far, far away. ‘But I’m of the firm belief that, on the wedding day, the bridesmaids should be there for the bride and only the bride, not as some kind of support or sop to the groom.’

  For the entire time she spoke, Bree could feel the force and weight of Noah’s gaze—as if by sheer force of will he could compel her to make things right. She didn’t want to let him down. But she couldn’t make things right until she knew what on earth was wrong.

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me that in the first place, then, instead of blathering on that you weren’t sure you’d have the time or if you were even going to be in town for the wedding?’

  She lifted a reluctant shoulder. ‘I thought it sounded politer than the truth,’ she mumbled. ‘Besides, I had a feeling you only asked me to make Noah happy and, excuse me, but I’m always going to pass on playing the role of the pity bridesmaid.’

  Courtney inclined her head as if acknowledging a hit. ‘You still haven’t answered my original question, though. You don’t think I should marry Noah, do you?’