by C. Morgan
I made for the conference room with a determined stride. Lisa didn’t see me coming until I opened the door and joined their meeting. I took the seat across the table from my assistant, who looked back and forth between me and Lisa when my sister fell quiet.
“This is a private meeting,” Lisa said.
“With my assistant?” I asked as I crossed one leg over the other. “What meeting could you possibly have with my assistant that you couldn’t have with me?”
My sister licked her lips. “I didn’t want to waste your time.”
“No, you didn’t want to have to see or talk to me because you’re mad at me.”
Lisa’s mouth twitched. “So?”
I smiled at my assistant. “Could my sister and I have some privacy?”
I’d never seen a person leave a room quicker.
Lisa and I stared at each other in stony silence. Neither of us were willing to speak first.
Finally, I bit the bullet. “We need to talk about me and Kayla.”
Lisa rolled her eyes and started collecting her things. She had notebooks open on the table and a couple of pens. Normally, she would put everything in its spot in her bag, all separated and organized by dividers and pencil cases. This morning, she just dropped it in the open mouth of the purse carelessly.
“There is no you and Kayla,” she said flatly. “There can’t be.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Why? Because you say so?”
My sister prickled, slung her purse over her shoulder, and picked up a coffee cup with an imprint of lipstick on the lid that matched the fuchsia shade she wore this morning. “Yes.”
My sister had always been stubborn. She was used to getting her way just like I was. But I’d never seen her quite this hostile.
It pissed me off.
“You’re mistaken,” I said. “There most certainly will be a Lukas and Kayla because I intend to marry that girl, and you need to get on board.”
Lisa stared blankly at me. For a moment, I couldn’t read her expression, but when her brows drew together and her bottom lip quivered, it all started falling into place. She felt betrayed. Her anger was a deflection. “Why didn’t you tell me you were seeing her?”
“Things moved quickly,” I explained. “At first, there was nothing to tell. Kayla tried to shut things down time and time again, but every time we were thrown together for an activity to put on a good show for Rebecca Mills, sparks flew. We could only pretend there was nothing between us for so long, Lisa. Then, I don’t know. We both gave in. We stopped fighting it. We stopped letting outside sources make our choices for us.”
“You could have told me.”
“And have you react like this? Why would I?”
“I only want to protect you,” Lisa said firmly.
“Protect me? From what? I’m a thirty-year-old man. I don’t need protecting.”
“Everyone needs protecting sometimes, Lukas. I don’t want you to get hurt. You’ve never been in love before and it scares the hell out of me to think about how badly things could go. How they could end. You’ve been through so much. I don’t want someone else to hurt you.”
I got to my feet. Someone had clearly hurt my sister in the past and she’d never opened up about it with me. I intended to find out who that someone was and how they’d hurt her, but right then, I just needed to settle this.
“Kayla isn’t the type to hurt someone and you know that,” I said softly.
“She hurt me.”
“Not on purpose. She was trying to protect you. See how that bit her in the ass? Just like you trying to protect me would bite you in the ass.”
Lisa crossed her arms. “Those aren’t the same thing.”
“If you say so. Listen, Kayla is a good friend. She’s the best person you and I know. She made a mistake because she was afraid of how you’d react when you found out she was happy with me. You need to forgive her.”
Lisa didn’t say a word. She could hardly bring herself to look at me.
“And for the record,” I added, “you shouldn’t be upset. If you really want me to end up with a good woman, one we know isn’t after me for my money or any ulterior motive, then Kayla is the right choice. She’s made me a better man, Lisa. An infinitely better man. You can’t deny that.”
“Maybe that’s because you were getting laid.”
“No,” I said, irritated. “She taught me that I don’t have to sit on my pile of gold like a dragon. She showed me how to help people and how to effect real change. She’s made me vulnerable. Open. Generous. Do you know how good it feels to be this guy instead of the guy I was before her? I was so angry, Lisa. I was angry all the time. And I was so tired.”
Lisa swallowed hard. Her eyes grew glassy. “I know you were.”
“And now I’m not. Now I’m home. I’m me. Isn’t this what you wanted when you hired Kayla in the first place? Wasn’t this the whole point?”
“I did not push you two together.”
“You pushed me to grow, Lisa. That’s all. And Kayla was part of that growth. I didn’t know it at the time but she was. I’ve never met anyone like her.”
Lisa nodded slowly. “Yeah, me neither.”
“So?”
“So what?”
“Are you going to stop being mad at us and storming around the office like a furious cat, or are you going to be happy for me?”
Lisa sighed and peered up at me from beneath her brows. “Are you sure she’s the one you want?”
“There’s not a doubt in my mind.”
“How can you be sure? How can you be that sure? It’s only been five weeks!”
“I love her,” I said simply. “I do. I love her.”
My sister stared at me like she was seeing me for the first time. “You love her?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” I said, taking my sister’s hands. “And I’m pretty certain she loves me too.”
“Then she’d be here with you.”
“No, because she’s torn. Kayla never wanted to hurt you, Lisa. Do you know how much turmoil she must be in that she can’t make this right with you? How many times has she tried to call you?”
Lisa looked down at her feet. “Over sixty. And she showed up at me place.”
“She did?”
“I said some mean things.”
I sighed. “Nothing that can’t be forgiven, I’m sure. This is Kayla we’re talking about.”
“She probably hates me,” Lisa whispered. “I’d hate me.”
“Kayla doesn’t hate anyone. She wants her friend back.”
Lisa looked up at me and I wiped a tear from her cheek. “I want my friend back, too,” she whispered.
That was what I wanted to hear.
I smiled at my sister and kissed her forehead. “Then what do you say you and I make things right?”
“How?”
“Follow my lead, little sister.”
Chapter 38
Kayla
My fingers flew over the keyboard as I typed out yet another apology letter to Lisa. The words sorry and forgive were starting to look strange and I had to use spell check just to make sure that they were in fact spelled correctly. A quick glance at the time on my computer told me I’d been at this for two hours and hardly made any progress, so I slapped my laptop closed and slumped down on my sofa, pouting.
“She’s never going to forgive me,” I muttered to my empty apartment.
Nobody spoke back to me. Nobody offered any encouraging words. Nobody told me to stick to my guns. Nobody came and sat with me and told me not to waste any more energy on this.
Of course, the only person I wanted by my side telling me those things was Lukas. But I’d gone and botched that, too. I abandoned him hours after he had to go through a terrible night with his mother. Chances were he hated me too.
“You’ve successfully alienated yourself from both the Holts. Well done, Kayla.” I clapped for myself bitterly. It didn’t make me feel better.
De
sperate to feel something other than regret and guilt, I got up and put the kettle on to make myself a cup of tea. I chose a ginger and honey tea because my stomach had been bothering me due to all the nerves. As the kettle boiled, I stood by the counter slouched over, the sash on my robe dangling precariously close to the floor.
I heaved a dramatic sigh and willed the kettle to boil faster.
It didn’t.
“Why hasn’t he come to see me?” I asked the tea kettle. That was a question that had been playing over and over in my mind.
Lukas hadn’t bothered to reach out. Even if I’d hurt him, part of me assumed he’d push back a little. It was in his nature. He’d done it at the beginning of our relationship. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. But this time? The time I desperately wanted and needed him to step up and push me a little, he was nowhere to be seen.
That hurt.
I gave my head a shake. Nonsense.
Was I seriously upset with him for respecting my wishes? I’d told him we shouldn’t see each other for a while. So naturally, he wasn’t seeing me. He was doing what I asked. He was following through.
And clearly, it wasn’t what I’d actually wanted.
What I wanted was my best friend back. And my man.
Why couldn’t we all just coexist? Why did Lisa have to care? Why did she have to paint me with the brush that I was the same as all the gold diggers who’d pursued her brother before? Why did she have to make me feel like a movie villain for falling in love with her brother?
“All that’s missing is superpowers and a cool costume,” I mumbled.
The kettle finally started to whistle and I poured hot water into my teapot. The smells of honey and ginger wafted up on the steam until I put the lid on and set the timer on the stove for four minutes.
It was after the first minute had passed that there was a knock on my door.
I frowned and looked over my shoulder. Who would be dropping by my place? I didn’t get visitors. Not ever. Probably a neighbor looking for sugar or salt. Or eggs.
I considered ignoring them, but it wasn’t in my nature. With a tired sigh, I shuffled barefoot across the kitchen floor to my front door. I looked a mess and whoever was knocking was going to regret what they were about to see. My hair hadn’t been washed in approximately three days and had existed in the same messy bun on top of my head for that entire duration. It was oily, and the bun had come loose, so it had settled a little off center. My skin was oily and my robe was stained from food and drinks I’d managed to eat over the last four days.
I mustered up the energy to open the door.
And there he was.
“Lukas?” I breathed.
He smiled. He looked good as always. He was wearing a pair of dark jeans and black boots. He had a gray hoodie under a black leather jacket, and the hood and shoulders of his jacket were speckled in raindrops. He held a bouquet of red roses in his hand. The petals glistened with tiny drops of water.
“I brought these for you,” he said, holding out the roses.
I blinked at the bouquet and looked up at him. “How did you know I still lived here?”
The subject had never come up, so I never mentioned to Lukas that I still lived in the very same apartment I’d grown up in just down the road from where he and Lisa lived.
“I talked to my sister,” he said.
Right. Of course. “How is she?” I asked.
“She’s good.”
“You talked to her?”
“I did.”
“And she said that herself? That she’s good? Because I’m not good. I am so not good. I think I might be falling apart a little bit. I’ve been trying to get her to talk to me but she won’t talk to me, Lukas. And I don’t know what else to do because I don’t know who I am without Lisa in my life.”
“Hey,” he said softly, stepping forward to cup my cheek. “Take a breath. Everything is okay. You’re okay. Lisa’s okay. We’re all okay.”
I swallowed. “Okay.” The word was beginning to sound strange, just like sorry and forgive.
He smiled. “Are you going to invite me in, or what?”
“Oh.” You’re a bumbling idiot, Kayla. The hallway smells like Kraft Dinner and wet cardboard. Get the poor man out of there. I stepped aside and gestured for him to come in. “Sorry. Clearly, my mind is a little jumbled.”
Lukas brushed past me and stepped into the kitchen. I closed the door behind him and set the roses on my kitchen island right as the timer on my stove went off. I padded over to it. “Do you want a cup of tea? It’s freshly brewed.”
Lukas tucked his hands in his pockets. “Sure. Why not?”
I took two mugs down from the cupboard beside the stove and filled them with piping hot tea. I passed one to him and we moved into the living room to sit down.
Then I remembered how much of a mess I was.
I paused as he took a seat and looked up at me. “I should shower,” I said.
“What?”
“I should shower,” I said again, like that would help clarify things for him.
That little frown formed between his eyebrows. “Right now? Why? Can we talk first?”
Priorities, Kayla. Priorities.
“Yes.” I sat down and gripped my mug in both hands. “Yes, we can. I’m just… I’m all over the map. I look like a mess.”
“You don’t look like a mess.”
“I feel like one.”
“It hasn’t been an easy week.”
“No,” I admitted. “It hasn’t. What do you want to talk about?”
“Us.”
“Us?”
God, I was starting to sound like a fool. Everything he said, I repeated back to him or stammered over.
Lukas smiled graciously. “Yes. Us. You and me.”
“There can’t be a you and me. Lisa forbids it.”
“I spoke with my sister.”
My heart began to thump wildly in my chest. “You did?”
“Yes. It wasn’t easy, and it took some time, but I got her to come around and finally understand how I feel about you.”
How he feels about me? I put my mug down on the coffee table as my hands started to shake. “How do you feel, Lukas?”
He smiled like he had a secret he was about to let me in on. “I’m head over heels in love with you, Kayla. I told Lisa I wasn’t going to give you up.”
He did? “You did?”
“I did.” Lukas nodded. “Lisa admitted it was wrong of her to be so upset. She’s given us her blessing, Kayla. So, if you’ll have me, I want to start over.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Was this real? Or had I passed out while I was waiting for the kettle to boil and this was all some cruel dream?
If I woke up Lukas-less, I was going to blow my top.
“Say something,” Lukas said.
“Are you positive this is what you want? That I’m what you want? We’re from different worlds, Lukas.”
“I’m certain. And we’re not from different worlds. We’re from this world right here. This neighborhood. This town. You and me? We grew up the same. I’ve never been more certain about anything in my life.”
“Me neither,” I breathed.
I fell toward him. Lukas met me in the middle of the sofa. He engulfed me in his arms and lowered me down onto my back. His lips sealed over mine, and every single nerve ending in my body sang to life. After feeling numb and hollow for nearly a week, the rush of emotions and joy was almost overwhelming. Tears spilled down my cheeks and Lukas wiped them away with his thumbs while he kissed me.
A kiss had never tasted so good, like honey, ginger, and hope.
“Wait,” I stammered, breaking away.
His eyes darted back and forth between mine. “What?”
“I need to tell you something before we go any further.”
“What is it?”
I smiled. “I love you too.”
Lukas grinned. “You’re a shit disturber, you know that? I thought it
would be something bad.”
“It is bad,” I teased. “I’m not supposed to end up with you. I’m supposed to end up with the safe-choice guy. The guy in the khakis who likes to barbeque but doesn’t know where he leaves his car keys. The guy who doesn’t care about driving a minivan to take our kids to swimming or piano lessons.”
“Rodney?” Lukas teased. “Are you talking about Rodney?”
I laughed as he nuzzled his way to the groove of my neck. “Poor Rodney.”
“You snooze you lose, Rodney.”
I held his face in my hands. “Why are we still talking about Rodney?”
“I don’t know.”
I kissed him hard. Lukas’ hands wandered all over my body and began pulling my clothes off. I relished the feeling of his fingers grazing my bare skin and I fumbled with the sash on my robe. Realizing I needed to shower, I extracted myself out from underneath him and led him down the hall. He followed me like a lost puppy dog and I relished the power I held over him.
I slipped into the bathroom with him hot on my heels and turned on the water. I dropped my robe and he looked me over, his eyes filling with desire.
“Want to know something wild?” I asked.
“Tell me.”
“I’ve never had sex in this shower before.”
Lukas grinned like the devil himself. “I think it’s time we change that.”
Chapter 39
Lukas
I took her in the shower.
Kayla gasped as I filled her up. She hooked a leg around mine and held herself up with one arm draped around my shoulders. The other gripped the wrist of the hand I had planted on the tiled wall at her back. She moaned softly and closed her eyes. Shower water clung to her lashes and left streaks down her cheeks, and I was quite certain in that moment that I’d never laid eyes on anyone more beautiful.
She was like a starry night sky in the country where city lights didn’t compete for attention. She was a canvas of oil paint capturing the epitome of beauty and depth. She was everything and anything in between, and I couldn’t understand how she’d chosen me back.
She was an easy woman to fall in love with.
