His Forbidden Kiss

by Jessica Lemmon

  Thirteen

  The deep navy sky made up her third-favorite part of the ambience on the rooftop lounge. Closing in on second was the modern, square fire table surrounded by chairs. First place belonged to the man who’d walked her out here.

  Royce’s deep gray jacket was paired with dark trousers, and she caught a peek of suspenders over a crisp, white shirt when he’d turned to lead her outside. The bow tie was her favorite, though. Navy with a silver sheen, yet somehow casual enough to work with the rest of his outfit.

  He undid a button on his jacket and pulled out a chair for her. She sat, curling her wine against her chest. Fire or not, the wind hit her and she bristled. A detail he noticed. A moment later her shoulders were covered by his suit jacket. He sat in the chair next to hers and she admired him unabashedly.

  Suspenders. White shirt. Bow tie.

  Purr.

  She was so into him. After the awkward way they’d parted last night she hadn’t expected him to be so open.

  Jack Knox’s laugh drew her attention. Inside, he tossed his white head back, his smile gleaming.

  “He doesn’t act sixty-something. But you do.” She tilted her head at Royce. “Odd.”

  “Very funny.” He canted an eyebrow.

  “I didn’t tell Gia or Bran, by the way. About us or the other thing.” She widened her eyes meaningfully.

  “I figured. I rode here with her tonight. If Gia knew, she’d have brought it up. She’s not one to keep her feelings to herself.”

  “I didn’t realize you two came together.”

  He seemed to debate sharing more before saying, “Since her and Jayson’s divorce, she leans on me as a travel companion. Don’t tell her I told you that. She’ll castrate me.”

  Taylor nodded. Her friend was independent, capable. Gia wouldn’t want anyone to know she relied on her big brother for transportation.

  “She did ask if there were any further developments where we were concerned.” Royce sipped his drink, letting Taylor sweat that out for a few seconds before he shook his head. “I said no.”

  She didn’t enjoy keeping secrets from her best friend, but until Taylor had a handle on what was going on with Royce, she wasn’t going to tell Gia anything.

  As if on cue, Gia’s voice rose behind them. “So this is where the party’s at!” She plopped down next to Royce and slapped his knee. “What up, bro?”

  “We didn’t want to interfere with the ass-kissing. How’d it go?” He swiped her nose with one finger and she glared.

  “Don’t give me that brownnose spiel. You’re the one vying for CEO.”

  Royce’s expression darkened as he exchanged glances with Taylor.

  “They should put you in a ring and make you and Bran fight to the death. Like gladiators,” Gia added gleefully. “Tay and I would enjoy that.”

  “There’ll be no fighting to the death. Sorry to disappoint you. I will accept Dad’s decision.”

  Gia grew silent, her gaze fastened to her oldest brother.

  “What?” Royce’s face was a neutral mask, but Gia reacted as if the truth were written on his forehead.

  “It’s you, isn’t it?”

  “I—How—”

  Brannon’s telltale good-natured laugh drifted over their heads next. He walked out, Cooper at his side, and joined their group. Gia kept an eye on Royce, but didn’t say more.

  An hour later, most of the sixty-eight guests—Addison counted—had left the party for a variety of reasons. The dozen or so of them remaining converged on the rooftop. Additional heaters on stands had been lit to thwart the cold, the flames reflecting off the six-foot-high glass overlooking the city. Above that barrier, a crescent moon stamped the center of a star-pocked sky.

  Taylor was still wearing Royce’s jacket, which was warm and smelled like him: incredible. No one had mentioned it, but Gia had given her a lengthy look that said we’ll talk later.

  Jayson Cooper sat next to Gia, a few inches between the two exes on a short white bench. Bran relaxed in a chair next to Taylor. They were talking about how ill-suited for retirement Jack was, and how gracefully he’d aged.

  “I’m glad I inherited the thickness of his hair,” Gia said. “But the headful of white can wait.”

  “What’s this?” Cooper touched a strand of Gia’s dark brown hair. “Looks like you’re getting a head start.”

  “Stop it!” Gia slapped his hand away.

  He grinned, and Taylor shook her head at Gia. “He’s teasing you. Your hair is gray-free and beautiful. And still chestnut in color.”

  Cooper chuckled. “That gets her every time.”

  “This is why we’re divorced.” Gia’s smile was patronizing.

  “That and your inability to admit when I’m right,” Coop replied with an easy smile.

  Those two. Taylor shook her head, unsure what to make of their bickering. Sometimes it sounded like flirting, other times like they were navigating the difficult landscape of friendship after a divorce.

  “I’d like to make a toast.” Jack stepped out of the circle of people with whom he was conversing and raised his bottle of water. “And an announcement.”

  Royce once again looked to Taylor, and she schooled her expression. Only Jack knew what Jack planned on announcing, but judging by Royce’s grim expression, she wondered if the CEO announcement would happen sooner than expected.

  * * *

  Jack Knox gestured to the glass wall surrounding the rooftop. “You know... I should’ve arranged for a group BASE jump while we’re all here.”

  Royce shook his head, unsure if his old man was joking or not. Lately Jack had shown interest in a lot of adventurous pastimes, though diving off a building in a city was illegal, so hopefully he wasn’t serious about that one.

  “If you’re here it’s because I’ve asked you not to leave.” Jack switched gears with a jolt. “Not to worry, the staff was polite when they used cattle prods to blast those others out of here early.”

  In the remaining crowd were Royce’s parents, his siblings, Taylor, Taylor’s mother, Deena, who’d arrived about an hour ago, Addison, Whitney and a handful of others from the board and upper management. All trusted insiders.

  “Thank you for making my sixty-second birthday special.” Jack walked through the crowd while he talked. “I never thought ThomKnox would grow to be as big as it is. When Charlie and I started this company we wanted to avoid the confines of a big corporate office while giving ourselves—and the people who work for us—the trappings of a great place life. Then, my children joined the ranks.” He cupped Bran’s shoulder before resting a hand on Taylor’s shoulder next. “And Charlie’s daughter.”

  Her smile was pained yet grateful, with another emotion behind it Royce couldn’t place. It uncoiled a sense of longing within him he didn’t recognize. He wanted to know what emotions had splintered her smile. And why.

  Another new reaction to this woman. They just kept coming.

  “I didn’t expect to be a tech leader, but what I really didn’t expect was for Charles to be gone.” Jack squeezed Taylor’s shoulder and her eyes closed.

  Losing Charles was still fresh. Grief rang tuning-fork true when Jack moved to Deena and softly kissed her cheek.

  “We’ve reached yet another fork in the road of ThomKnox,” Jack said. “I’m not getting any younger, and if you ask Macy she’ll tell you I’m trying my damnedest to age backward.”

  “It’s true,” his mother addressed the crowd. “Just ask our new Ferrari.”

  The crowd laughed on cue.

  Jack held out a hand to quiet them. “It’s time for me to go and do some of those things Charlie and I imagined we’d do after retirement. But I am leaving you in capable hands in my absence. Brannon has served as President and our darling genius daughter, who inherited her father’s legendary brains, has kept us on the edge of re
levance, along with our own tech superhero Jayson Cooper.”

  “How smart can she be if she let me go?” Cooper draped his arm over his ex-wife’s shoulders and pulled her close to kiss her temple.

  “You’re a moron,” Gia told him, but she smiled anyway.

  “And Royce.” Standing behind him now, Jack cupped his oldest son’s shoulder. “Royce has been CFO for as long as I can remember. He’s the nerdiest of all of us, and that’s saying something for a tech company.” More laughter.

  Royce’s grimace wasn’t due to his father’s jibes, but at the premonition of where this speech would end.

  “He’s capable,” Jack continued, “he’s confident. And as of now, he’s your new CEO.”

  The announcement was made in the same easygoing tone as the rest of the speech. A palpable silence fell as the crowd absorbed the news.

  Jack Knox had named his successor.

  “I knew it!” Gia was the first to say.

  Bran frowned.

  “To Royce!” Jack raised his water bottle and a smattering of “cheers” and “congratulations” lifted one after another in clunky refrain.

  “Speech!” someone called. “Speech! Speech!”

  Dammit, Dad.

  This wasn’t how the announcement should’ve happened. There was supposed to be a discussion ahead of time with Bran and Gia. They were supposed to be in a meeting at work with a bullet-pointed agenda. Jack wanted a BASE jump? This bombshell came close.

  “Go on, son. Address your underlings,” Jack said.

  Royce stood, his glare affixed on his father. “We had an agreement.”

  Jack shrugged with his mouth. “Things change.”

  Royce took a long look at the man he’d admired his entire life and realized he was too angry to say anything productive. So instead he turned to Cooper and asked, “Can you give Gia a ride home?”

  “Um...” Jayson looked at Gia.

  “I’ll give Gia a ride home,” Taylor offered with a subtle nod. One that said Go. I have this.

  So he turned on his heel and left.

  Without giving a damn speech.

  * * *

  “Two rosés, please,” Gia told the bartender at her apartment’s lobby bar.

  “I can’t,” Taylor told her. “I’ll sit with you, though.” The glass and a half of rosé at the party felt like it was still sitting in her throat after Royce’s surprising exit.

  “No speech then,” Jack had said to the crowd, but the comment didn’t earn many smiles. Tension was thick in the air. The music started up again and, little by little, conversations restarted. Bran had been silent, his face unreadable. Gia’s wasn’t as much of a mystery.

  They’d stayed only fifteen minutes or so more before Gia hooked Taylor’s arm and suggested they leave, too. Fine by Taylor. She’d had enough of the strange evening.

  Now, wineglasses in front of them, Gia pushed Taylor’s closer. “Just one.”

  She couldn’t turn down her friend. They needed to talk anyway and what Taylor had to say was best discussed over even the most meager amount of alcohol.

  “No gray hairs, you swear?”

  Taylor held up a palm. “Hand to God.”

  “Jay.” Gia shook her head. “When is he going to back off and get a life?”

  “When are you?” Taylor teased, raising an eyebrow.

  “Bitch!” Gia laughed the word, giving Taylor a playful shove in the arm before laying her head on Taylor’s shoulder. “You’d think he’d have found some new woman to tease.”

  “You’ll always be teased by Jayson Cooper,” Taylor said, confident she was right. “Has he even been on a date since you two split?”

  “God. I hope so. I hope both of us haven’t been celibate for the last year-plus.”

  “You’d have my sympathy if I hadn’t gone two years before sleeping with someone.” Taylor sipped her wine, not realizing until her friend’s mouth dropped open that she’d just confessed the end to her own celibacy.

  “Who? Who did you sleep with recently?” Gia had been Taylor’s own personal cheerleader these last few years. Taylor had confessed she didn’t feel anything sexually after Seth left. Her father’s diagnosis had only added to her brokenness. Gia had comforted her, saying, “When you’re ready, you’ll know. No rush.”

  Taylor took a gulp of her wine, though fortifying herself with the drink meant sticking around longer than she intended. “Before I tell you, you have to promise not to be mad.”

  “Oh shit. You slept with Brannon?”

  “No. I slept with Royce.”

  Gia’s dark eyes rounded. She hadn’t been expecting that. “Royce as in my oldest, glorified accountant brother?”

  “That’s the one. I showed up at his house last night wearing that La Perla slip I’ve had for way too long.”

  Gia gaped at her. “Why?”

  Valid question.

  “My dad.”

  Her friend’s eyebrows rose.

  “He cautioned me against dating Royce over the years. Said he was too old for me. I guess after the kiss at the gala, and the way Royce has been looking at me...”

  “He’s been looking at you? Why didn’t you tell me any of this!” Gia’s tone was accusatory, and deservedly so. Taylor normally told her friend everything.

  “I wasn’t sure. He’s run a little hot and cold. Until last night. Then it was full-blast hot.”

  “Man.” Gia shook her head. “How did I miss that tonight?”

  “We’re good actors.”

  “Well, how was it?”

  “How was what?” Taylor spun her glass on the bar top and feigned ignorance.

  “The sex,” Gia said. Loudly. The bartender blinked from his computer screen over to them until Gia addressed him with a stern, “Do you mind?”

  “Let’s say it was a hell of a way to end the drought,” Taylor said meaningfully.

  “Wow. I have been in the dark.”

  “It only happened last night.”

  “Did you know about CEO, too?” Gia had easily fit those two puzzle pieces together.

  “I did. But in Royce’s defense, your dad asked him not to say anything to you or Bran. Jack was supposed to tell you and then announce it in a meeting.”

  “Leave it to Dad to make a scene.” Gia chewed on her lip. “I couldn’t tell if Bran was okay or not.”

  When they left, Bran was talking with Addison, and the conversation appeared intense. Taylor wondered if Bran had been using Addi as a distraction to avoid talking to his father.

  “Well. Brannon is a grown man,” Gia said in conclusion. “And you two are okay, right?”

  “Yes, completely. I think you were close when you guessed he was proposing to win CEO. He’d die before he’d admit that was true.”

  “I’ll strangle him after I strangle Royce for not telling me about CEO.” Gia sighed. “Did you eat enough at the party?”

  “Not even close.”

  “No one can survive on canapés alone.” Gia waved over the bartender. “What’s your best appetizer?”

  “I’m trained to say they’re all good, but for my money you can’t beat the spinach dip or the fried pepper jack cheese bites.”

  “Both?” Gia asked Taylor.

  “Both,” she confirmed.

  Fourteen

  After the new CEO was announced on Monday morning, the offices at ThomKnox were buzzing with excitement—and gossip. Taylor had plenty to handle without the nervous phone calls, emails and sideline chats from the legion of managers she oversaw. The captain of the ship was retiring and with that guard change came a lot of nervousness and fear.

  Will this change my retirement plans?

  Are there other changes to management?

  Will my department be restructured?

  And so on and so on.


  On Tuesday morning, when she’d dared poke her head out of her own office, she’d witnessed a heated conversation going on in Royce’s office. Brannon, Jack and Royce were all in there, and while she couldn’t hear their voices, the expressions on their faces through the window suggested they weren’t exactly simpatico.

  The week that was long by Tuesday felt like it’d lasted a month by Friday’s tablet commercial premiere. The executive conference room was packed with upper-crust ThomKnox management, Jack included.

  “This will be my last meeting,” he announced. “But I couldn’t miss sharing the commercial for our new tablet, the T13. This seven-minute commercial was directed and designed by Downey Design out of Chicago...”

  While Jack spoke, Taylor took the temperature of the room. Gia tapped a rose gold pen on her planner, listening—or acting like she was listening. Cooper was leaned back in a chair, arms folded, also listening. Brannon was glaring at Royce and Royce glaring back at him.

  So.

  There were some unresolved issues.

  “Let’s have a look, shall we?” Jack shut off the lights and played the commercial.

  The video was dark, a ribbon of light sweeping along the edge of a streamlined tablet that looked more like a curvy sports car than a flat computer.

  Royce leaned back in his chair and whatever pheromones had been dormant this week permeated the air around her. The room was dark, her senses heightened. She felt him shift infinitesimally closer, and when she heard his rough exhale she recalled the way his warm breath coasted along her neck the last time he kissed her. When he cleared his throat she heard his phantom commands. Come for me, Taylor. Now.

  Fantasies had plagued her even though she’d been away from him for a week. She considered how right he was about suggesting they keep their distance during such a monumental power shift at work. This was a distraction none of them needed.

  It’d been easy to avoid him during the hectic week, but now that they were in this dark room, side by side—

  One of Royce’s fingers skimmed over her hand and then along her wrist. She sucked in a sharp breath. He tickled her wrist along the edge of her bracelet and she swallowed down a lump of lust. Innocuous, that touch. A mere brush of his skin on hers. And yet she shifted in her seat, distracted and turned on.