by Zuri Day
She sure as heck did. Cayden Barker. Those eyes. His voice. That hard, chiseled body. Instead of turning left to go back into the ballroom, Avery turned right and made a beeline for the valet booth. She was sure there were people she needed to speak with, any number of potential clients who could bring business and good publicity to the Point Country Club. If that were the case, she’d have to catch them at another First Friday. Because if she ran into Cayden Barker, there was a real good chance that she’d kiss him again.
She was too keyed up to go home. It was one of the few times that she wished she had girlfriends. She could use a whole gaggle of women to distract her right now. But when their mother died and Lisa and Avery moved to their great-aunt’s home in Point du Sable, Avery’s bright personality dimmed. It wasn’t until meeting Brittany that she felt real sisterhood with someone other than Lisa. She looked up to the woman, several years older, who was beautiful, confident, always the brightest light in the room. The day Brittany shared what Cayden had done, Avery had been appalled. She knew what betrayal felt like. Had dated a man for over a year before discovering that he’d lied about his marital status, then went to great lengths to hide the truth. It wasn’t until her tablet ran out of juice and she grabbed his to check emails that she discovered that there was a very real wife and child one state over.
When the bank accused Cayden of theft, all hell broke loose. There were threats of charges and retribution. Words like embezzlement and fraud were tossed around like golf balls. Cayden was almost fired from Eddington Enterprise. It all played out on the front pages of the Point du Sable Star, and even made the news in Chicago. A few months later, it all went away—quickly, quietly, everything stopped. The threats were rescinded. No charges were filed. Cayden kept his job. Brittany left town and cut off all contact from her and Lisa. A hurtful act indeed. Later, she met a man who represented old money from Boston. They married a short time later.
Avery reached the city limits of Point du Sable. All the way there, she’d relived that kiss a hundred times. She wanted to experience a hundred more. Real. Up close and personal. Preferably while naked and lying horizontal. In a position involving numbers or cuddling after sex. It wasn’t going to happen, the sex, but Avery allowed herself the fantasy, let her imagination run wild. The only place such intimacy would take place was in her mind. The Point had a strict rule regarding fraternization: don’t do it. While interviewing, the club’s zero tolerance policy was a point Maggie had underscored.
Then there was the matter that started it all. Or rather, the man—Lawrence Kincaid. She’d been caught off guard when he approached her and began flirting, asking, then demanding, that she give him a dance. She hadn’t expected that. What had been even more surprising was when Cayden came along, swept her up as though it wasn’t the first time and became her protector. She was taken aback not only that he’d done it, but how much she’d liked it. How being rescued made her feel. It had taken her a moment to even admit that was true. In this modern age of female empowerment, #MeToo and equality, admitting that a man stepping in to protect or defend felt good might come off as chauvinistic. Avery didn’t care. Her dad had died when she was ten. She never knew or didn’t remember either grandfather. There had never been a man in her life to come to her aid. Cayden had shown her how that felt. And she’d liked it.
What she didn’t like was feeling embarrassed and a bit stupid for not being able to contain her “gratitude.” Cayden was a client, the first event she was in charge of from beginning to end. That and the zero tolerance policy alone should have stopped her uncharacteristic behavior. That the event was for SOMA, one of the most prestigious organizations in the world, should have ended her shenanigans for sure. Instead of feeling as badly as she should about acting unprofessionally, Avery began thinking about how good it would feel to kiss him again. When her thoughts returned to the present, she found herself pulling into her sister’s driveway. She hadn’t thought about calling and hoped she was home. Lisa was a practical, no-nonsense kind of woman. Avery didn’t know what she’d think about her making out with a client in the middle of the ballroom of a networking event, but she’d surely have an opinion and probably some pretty good advice.
Avery grabbed her purse and headed up the walkway. The stilettos that looked so cute an hour ago now felt like torture devices. She gingerly climbed the concrete steps and knocked on the door.
Her brother-in-law answered. “Hey, Avery. What brings you here?”
“I was in the neighborhood and decided to drop by?” Said in the form of a question and with a look of guilt on her face.
“Bullshit.” His tone was gruff but his smile was genuine as he opened the door to welcome her inside. “Why are you limping?”
Avery reached the chair nearest the door, plopped down and eased her feet out of confinement.
Frank walked by, shaking his head. “I don’t know why you women wear those stilts in the first place. Lisa! Your sister’s here.”
Avery knew the running footsteps she heard didn’t belong to Lisa. She looked up as her niece, Amanda, bounded into the room.
“Aunt Avery!”
“Hey, girl.” Avery laughed as Amanda fell into her arms.
“You look pretty, Aunt Avery. What are you doing all dressed up?”
“I left a party but am not quite ready to go home yet. Thought I would come visit you.”
Amanda looked dubious. “You came here to visit me, or Mom?”
“Both of you, Miss Ask-Too-Many-Questions. How’s Lisa doing?”
“I’m doing okay.”
Lisa slowly entered the room. She looked tired, but her skin had gotten back some of its color. Her weight seemed to be holding, which gave Avery hope that the treatments were working.
“It’s about time you came to see your sister.”
Avery stood and gave her sister a heartfelt embrace. “I know, it’s been a couple weeks.”
“It’s been a month!”
“No way!”
“The last time I saw you was the first of April, right before your boss went on maternity leave. I think it was the very next day you called and told me the doctor had put her on bed rest, and that you were handling the office on your own.”
“Now I feel like a selfish cad.”
“I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
“No, it should happen. I deserve it. I can’t believe time is moving so fast. I’m sorry, Lisa, and promise to do better. You’ve got more color than the last time I saw you. Are the treatments helping you feel better?”
“The treatments make me feel like shit, but I think that means they’re working.”
“Mom, you said a bad word.”
“How about another bad word—grounding—if you don’t stay out of my conversation.”
Amanda became überinterested in Avery’s shoes. “Those are pretty, Aunt Avery. Can I try them on?”
“And break your neck?” Lisa asked. “We can’t afford for two of us to be in the hospital. Go finish putting your toys away.”
“But I want to talk with Aunt Avery!”
“I’ll come help in a minute, honey. Let me speak with Lisa first.”
Avery watched Amanda run out of the room. “She’s growing up so quickly.”
“She sure is, which is why you’d better get busy making her a cousin. Keep procrastinating and my child will be grown.”
“I’m not sure I’m ready to start a family, but when I do, that process usually involves a man.”
“You’re still not dating anyone?”
“When have I had time? Maggie taking leave so early threw a wrench in all those social plans and hot dates that I didn’t have.”
The sisters laughed before sharing a few seconds of companionable silence. “Your boss have that baby yet?”
“No, but she went from semi to almost complete bed rest.”
“How’s work going, you being in charge of such an important location? It has to be a bit intimidating considering you’ve not been there that long.”
“I’ve been too busy to feel intimated. There is a huge event happening on the Fourth that I only have two months to organize.”
“Dang, why’d they wait so late?”
“I don’t know, but it didn’t matter. It’s a charity for SOMA, the Society of Ma’at.”
“The one with all those bougie brothers, attorneys, politicians and whatnot?”
Avery nodded. “They do really good work. There’s even a connection with you, at least indirectly. The proceeds will help those who don’t have insurance or can’t afford it get quality cancer treatment at PDS Medical.”
“I can’t say anything bad about that.” Lisa rose slowly out of her chair. “Come in here and tell me more about it while I make this chicken salad. Be careful not to get anything on that fancy schmancy dress.”
Avery went to the sink to wash her hands. Lisa pulled items from the cabinets. “It’s being put on by a guy who works at Eddington Enterprise.”
“I should have known that they were involved.”
“They’ll probably attend but they’re not a part of the planning. Cayden Barker is handling that.”
Lisa whipped around. “Brittany’s ex? The same one you crashed into a month ago?”
“Small world, huh?”
“What’d you do, offer him a discount for totaling his car?”
“His coming into the office was a complete coincidence, a meeting he’d planned with Maggie right before she left.”
“That meeting had to be awkward.”
Girl, you haven’t heard awkward. Just wait. “We were both uncomfortable. I even offered to get someone else to take over the account.”
“Doesn’t sound like that happened.”
“After learning about Maggie and we talked a bit, he calmed down.”
“How does it feel working for someone you thought was a criminal with enough money and connections to make things go away?”
“I try not to think about that.”
“Probably not too hard. He’s a cute guy.”
“I kissed him.” Out. Just like that. She couldn’t contain herself a moment longer.
The knife Lisa held hovered over the rotisserie chicken. “You did what?”
“Tonight. At First Friday.”
Lisa eyed her curiously before saying, “Well, clearly you got over his transgression.”
Her delivery had been drier than the Mojave Desert. Avery burst out laughing. The regret taking root in her heart dissipated the more she cracked up.
Lisa resumed cutting up meat. “How’d that happen?”
“The short version? I lost my frickin’ mind.”
Avery grabbed the bowl of onions and celery and started chopping, a process slowed by drawn-out pauses while recounting certain key points and by her near-nonexistent kitchen skills.
“From everything I’ve seen of Cayden, he’s a solidly good guy. I don’t know what was going on back then to make him do what he did, but I can tell you one thing, Lisa, with no doubt in my mind. He’s changed for the better.”
“Sounds like you’re crushing on him pretty hard. How does he feel about you?”
“I’ll admit I’m attracted but there’s nothing happening there. The two of us were just caught up in the moment. Another month and a half of working together and our contact will be over. He and I travel in completely different worlds. After the event on the Fourth of July I’ll probably not see him again.”
Nine
Cayden stood looking out of the large paneless windows that lined his office’s back wall. Eddington Enterprise owned the town’s tallest building, fifteen stories of glass, brick and steel brought together in a sleek, modern design that was as impressive as it was functional. The year following its completion, Stride Kincaid began boasting of plans to build a twenty-story structure. Derrick politicked and greased enough hands for the council to pass an ordinance that outlawed buildings that tall. That was one of many battles that had happened between the Eddingtons and Kincaids over the years. Cayden knew that Derrick had lost fights, too. But he seemed victorious in the ones that truly mattered.
For the most part, Cayden felt good, too. He’d put feelers out regarding his software and received enthusiastic responses. He’d also begun compiling names for a national sales team. There was only one area of his life that seemed out of sync. Him and Avery, and the distance between them. Professionally, there was no difference. She kept in regular, sometimes daily contact regarding every aspect of the event. The purple, silver and black combination matched the organization’s colors, while the rich magenta accents alluded to THAT Pink, the charity organization that along with his mother and her team would oversee the project for PDS Medical. If everything went off the way it had been planned, this would be one of the best SOMA events he’d ever attended.
The event planning wasn’t the problem. That all of the discussions in the past two weeks had happened via phone, text and email is why his world felt tilted off its axis. When she’d left for the restroom, and the evening passed without him seeing her again, he’d texted her. She’d responded and told him something had come up, and she was fine. He wanted to discuss what happened. The kiss and all of the feelings it had stirred up within him. How she felt about what had occurred and what she wanted to do about it. He also wanted to find out what happened between Avery and Teagan, who’d tracked him down and tried to grill him about matters that weren’t her business. He’d shut down that conversation immediately, told her to lose his number and wished her well. With Avery, the situation wasn’t so simple. The less they interacted, the more he wanted to be around her. On pure instinct, and before he gave himself time to think or change his mind, he tapped Avery’s cell phone number and sent a text.
Are you busy on Memorial Day weekend? Would like to invite you to a party.
He sent a second text with the address and instructions to dress casually. Once done, only one thought came to mind. That was stupid.
A tap on the door drew him out of his musings and prevented him from sending Avery a third text telling her to ignore the first two. He turned to see another person who’d occupied his thoughts walking through the door.
“You wanted to see me?”
Derrick Eddington looked like walking success. Everything about him screamed money, authority, power, control. He was fifty-seven, but if not for the gray he allowed to streak his temples and goatee, he could have easily claimed forty or forty-five. He was tall, handsome, fit and self-assured in a way that went above simple confidence. His aura suggested he knew more, owned more and could do more than anyone else in the room, a trait he’d instilled in his children, and in Cayden, too.
“Mr. Eddington.” Cayden paused as Derrick smiled. They’d gone past formal a long time ago but Cayden still preferred using the respectful title. “Thanks for coming over. I told Eileen that it wasn’t urgent, that I could call you later.”
“I needed a break from over there, anyway.”
“Over there” was the side of the building holding all of the family offices. Derrick sat and stretched his long legs out in front of him. “Everybody arguing, wanting to be heard, changing their minds and getting their way.”
“Well, if you thought you were about to get away from that,” Cayden deadpanned, “you’re sadly mistaken.”
Derrick groaned even as his eyes smiled. “That damned Eddington energy has rubbed all the way off on you. I guess I have myself to blame for that. All right, lay it on me. What’s going on?”
“I wanted to talk with you about AI Interface.”
“Magnificent product, man. That presentation was spectacular.”
Derrick’s words tugged at Cayden’s emotions and filled him with pride. Aside from his gran
dfather, who passed ten years ago, Cayden rarely had the praise of a father figure. Since meeting him at the Boys and Girls Club, Derrick Eddington had been the most constant example of what being a man meant.
“It’s taken a lot of hard work but I’m confident that the generic model I’ve designed will change the world of financial services, especially wealth management. I also know how quickly the world of technology spins. The successful programmer isn’t so much who has the best idea as it is the one who presents it first. That’s why if the company is interested in first access to AI Interface, I’m hoping we can move forward quickly, within the next thirty days.”
“You finally brought Dwight around? He’s ready to sign off?”
“Dwight is my singular holdup, and if you don’t mind me being frank, Mr. Eddington, it’s starting to piss me off.”
“Dwight has always been extremely cautious. You know that better than anyone.”
“There’s cautious and then there’s contentious and foolish. Dwight has moved from the first to the latter. I don’t want to engage in office politics and go over his head—”
“Isn’t that what you’re doing?”
“But if there’s a window of opportunity to move forward, I’m not going to miss it.”
“You two will have to work that out.” Derrick’s phone pinged. He checked the face and stood. “I knew I was forgetting something.”
“Another meeting?”
“Yes, with someone who’s extremely important to my bottom line—my wife.”
Cayden stood and walked around the desk. “Thanks for stopping by.”
“No problem. We’re looking forward to your event, by the way. Several of Mona’s friends will be attending. Everyone is excited to be a part of what you’ve put together.”
“I appreciate the support, Mr. Eddington. You’ve always had my back.”
“I always will, son. We may not be blood but we’re family.”
Derrick’s words meant more to Cayden than the elder Eddington could imagine. He hoped they still held if Dwight refused to change his mind and come around. Because regarding AI Interface, he’d like to have the family’s approval. But with or without his boss’s permission, Cayden was moving full speed ahead.
