by Mia Madison
“I’m not asking you to, but maybe Bill—”
“Maybe you should ask her yourself instead of getting me to ask Bill to ask her as if we were passing notes in second grade.”
I rolled my eyes again for show, but my pulse sped up as I made my decision. “Get her in here this afternoon at two.”
“You’ve got that meeting with Lara and her team.”
“Okay, three.”
“There’s that conference call with—”
“Just get her in here sometime before she goes home.” My patience was wearing thin—something that never happened when I was speaking with Monica. My company wouldn’t be where it was today without her. But she took my crabby attitude in stride.
“Sure thing. You’re the boss, boss.”
As she left, and I stood up and looked out my window. The city spread out in front of me with the hills in the distance.
Little Kaitlin Barnett would be here, in my office, sometime this afternoon. I knew it would happen, sooner or later. She worked for me, after all. If I’d wanted to avoid it, I wouldn’t have approved her hiring.
But was I ready for this?
I should be. I wanted to be. I was the CEO, and she was my employee. That I’d known her since she was a little girl with skinned knees was immaterial. A grin stole over my face at the thought of how she used to follow us around. Or the way she’d hide, and we’d pretend we didn’t know she was there. She’d been so cute back then.
That’s the way I needed to remember her. As my best friend’s kid sister. Because the last time I’d seen her, four years ago at Alex and Megumi’s wedding, she hadn’t looked anything like a kid. She’d grown into a stunningly beautiful woman. It had taken every ounce of willpower I possessed to keep my eyes—and my hands—off her.
So as much as I tried to remember her as a little girl, I couldn’t get rid of the image of her in that soft, pale blue bridesmaid gown.
A spike of energy had me pacing the room. It was finally happening. After purposefully avoiding her for nearly a month, we were going to be face to face this afternoon. And when she was sitting across from me, I needed to remember that I was the boss. Or even an old family friend.
Either would work, just as long as I didn’t act like I had four years ago at the wedding… like a man completely infatuated by his oldest friend’s little sister.
5
Tyler
A sharp rap on my door came promptly at four. I’d like to say I was deep in thought when it came, or working on a program. But that would be a lie. At least I’d stopped staring at the door a few minutes prior.
Deliberately, I focused my attention on Monica as she opened the door. My assistant whispered something to the motionless young woman next to her. When that didn’t produce any results, Monica put her hand on the newcomer’s back and gave a slight shove.
Then I had to look. It would’ve been strange not to. Plus, I couldn’t have stopped myself.
Kait looked good. In fact, she looked gorgeous. Yeah, I’d just seen her on Friday at the weekly meeting, but that had been from a distance. Besides, I’d tried to avoid staring directly at her for a multitude of reasons.
But now I didn’t have to pretend not to notice such a beautiful young woman.
I rose to my feet as she moved toward my desk with halting steps as if walking toward the gallows. Was I really that much of an ogre? If I was, then she was a beautiful, fairy-tale princess. She looked even more stunning than she had at the wedding. Then, she’d been a waif-like nineteen. Now her curves were more voluptuous, more womanly. Her caramel-brown hair flowed in waves to her shoulders—so different from the functional ponytail so many women around here wore. And her hazel eyes showed flecks of gold, even without the aid of natural light.
She was simply dressed, jeans and a soft peach-colored blouse that, if anything, was a bit less casual than the t-shirts most people in her department wore. But the scoop-neck shirt that rested on the tops of her breasts made my mouth go dry.
Little Kaitlin Barnett had grown to be a stunningly beautiful woman, there was no question of it.
The only question was why she was approaching as if walking toward her doom. Time to dispel that myth. “Kait, welcome. Have a seat.”
She glanced into my eyes and just as quickly looked away as her rose-colored lips parted. “Thank you, Mr. Reynolds.”
For a moment, I had the urge to glance behind me to see if my father was there. Had she really just referred to me as mister? For god’s sake, I’d seen her in footie pajamas when she was not much more than a toddler. She’s seen me cry my eyes out when I fell out of a tree and broke my arm. We’d been camping together with Alex and their parents. And here she was acting like I was a goddamn stranger.
Cocking my head to the side, I raised an eyebrow. A gorgeous flush rose to her cheeks as she peeked at my face and then looked away again.
At last, a sheepish half-smile appeared on her face as she seemed to realize how ridiculous her address to me had been. “I mean, thank you, Tyler.”
I winked. “I was beginning to think you didn’t recognize me.” Her blushed deepened, making me curious as to why. But I was supposed to be behaving like a professional today. I gestured toward the chair opposite the desk and watched as she gracefully sat down. I sat as well, pushing my laptop out of the way so I could see her better. She’d always been on the short side. She’d always been delicate and petite. Now she was all those things plus womanly as well.
She cleared her throat nervously. “I wasn’t sure you knew I’d been hired.”
I scoffed. “It’s my company.”
“I know, but you weren’t on the hiring committee, and I thought maybe each supervisor was in charge of hiring for their own department.”
“They are,” I said. “But I sign off on everything. I know everything that goes on here. It’s my company,” I said again.
For some reason, this made her anxious. “I’m sorry about the other day when I was late getting back from lunch. I know I wasn’t supposed to take that long, but my roommate tried to use the blender while the microwave was running, and it shorted out half the outlets on the first floor and she didn’t know where the circuit breakers were.”
“In the basement on the back wall under the stairs,” I said automatically. I could picture that dark, dusty corner of the Barnett’s basement as easily as I could any room in my current home.
Kait stared at me with her mouth slightly open, her plump bottom lip looking eminently bitable.
I stifled a grin at her reaction. “I practically grew up in that house.”
“Oh,” she said, her mouth snapping shut.
“I didn’t call you in here about that. I didn’t even know about that.”
For a moment, humor flashed across her eyes. “I thought you knew everything that goes on here?”
That made me grin, and for a moment, I remembered another side of her as a girl. How when she wasn’t spying on us, we’d play board games with her or take her on hikes. During those times, she’d always do her best to hold her own even though she was so much younger. And lots of times, she had. She was quick-witted and feisty—or at least she had been before we went off to college. After that, when I’d come home with Alex to visit, I’d find she’d gotten shyer and more tongue-tied with each passing year. At least around me, at any rate.
“Touché. Let’s just say I know most of what goes on around here, and I trust my department heads to use their best judgment. They’re supervisors, not snitches, KB.”
I paused in surprise about the same time she did. Where had that old nickname come from? I hadn’t called her that in years. She went by Kait, or maybe even Kaitlin now, not her initials. I cleared my throat. “That’s not why I wanted to talk to you. I heard that you requested an advance from Payroll.”
Kait gulped. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know that wasn’t allowed for new employees. It won’t—”
“Kait, will you please relax?” I got up abruptly and mov
ed around the desk, pulling up a chair next to her. “Alex is my oldest friend. That makes you another one of my oldest friends. I’ve known you since you were in pigtails. I went to your fourth-grade science fair. I saw your middle school play. I danced with you at your—”
I cut myself off mid-sentence. Because while the first few examples were about how she was an old family friend, that last one had not been. That time at the wedding had been something entirely different. At least for me. I didn’t know if it meant anything to her or if she even remembered it before I mentioned it. Her hazel eyes were wide but gave nothing away.
Time to move on. “I know I’m the CEO, but I care about my employees and I care about my friends. I need to know if everything is okay. Are you in some kind of trouble?”
“I’m fine.”
“Then what do you need the money for?”
She looked at me for a long moment, and I stayed silent, taking in the lingering hint of rose on the creamy skin of her cheeks. How did women do that? How did they go from cute and adorable as a child to absolutely stunning as an adult?
But she was more than just a gorgeous young woman. She truly was my friend, and I cared about her and her family as much, if not more, than my own. Probably more, if I were honest. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d spoken to either of my parents.
“It’s the house,” she said, her voice hardly more than a whisper.
“What about it?” I was pleased she was confiding in me.
“It’s falling apart. It was built in the forties, and everything is starting to have problems.”
“Like what?” I asked and then listened as she explained about the leaky roof, the plumbing, the hot water heater, and the electrical problems. I asked questions and she answered as fully as she could. I was no handyman, but I’d always had a natural curiosity about how things worked. And it helped that I could envision every part of that house as she told me about it.
Clearly, something needed to be done—but it wasn’t like I could wave a magic wand and make all her problems disappear. Sure, I could hand her a platinum credit card that would accomplish the same feat, but I didn’t think she’s welcome that. “Have you talked to Alex about this?”
“Yeah, but you know, it’s so expensive over there, and he’s got a baby now.”
“I know. I’ve met her.”
“You have?” Kait seemed quite surprised.
“Yes. I was at a conference in Tokyo in December. She’s adorable. Congratulations, Aunt Kait.”
At this, Kait’s face lit up and she looked the most relaxed she had since entering the room. “I talk to her on Skype whenever I can. And I send her gifts. Alex says she recognizes me on the phone.”
“I’m sure she does. She’s a cutie.” I decided to strike while Kait wore a dreamy expression that women sometimes got when speaking about babies. “I can loan you the money.”
The dreamy expression vanished immediately. “Oh, no, I could never ask that.”
“You didn’t,” I pointed out. “I offered.”
“No,” she said firmly. “But thank you.”
“Then I’ll help you get a loan. I can cosign. It would be your loan to pay back. I wouldn’t pay a thing unless you decided you wanted to spend more time with your niece and skipped the country permanently.”
Kait was already on her feet, which was an answer in and of itself, but she replied anyway. “That’s very kind, but I can’t accept.”
And now she was being all weird and formal. Shit. I shouldn’t have offered, but I couldn’t help it. For over half my life, her family had meant everything to me.
“Kait…”
She was already edging toward the door. “It was nice seeing you again, Sir. I mean Tyler. I mean… boss.”
I shrugged. She could call me that if she wanted. Monica did. But she used to have no problem calling me by my first name.
She’d made it to the door. I could’ve called her back, but I’d already upset her enough for one day. It was inadvertent, but that didn’t make it any less true. So instead, I wished her a good evening.
I stared at the open door for a long while after she left. It was all out in the open now. She knew I knew she worked here, so I was done avoiding her. Done with pretending she was just another employee. Done with all that shit.
Now I had to figure out what to do next.
6
Kait
On Saturday, I woke up a little before eight. That was unusual—usually Saturday morning was my favorite time to catch up on sleep. But last night after work, I’d Skyped with Alex, Megumi, and my niece. Little Yuka’s face had lit up when she’d seen mine on the screen. No shyness, no hesitation, just pure joy. With a little coaxing from Megumi, she’d showed off her vocabulary which included water, cat, dog, her name, the Japanese word for apple, and a word that sounded like “way-way” that none of us could figure out.
The call had put me in such a good mood that I thought I’d sleep like a baby, but instead I woke up early, strangely energized. I took a shower and washed my hair. I felt a little guilty at that. It would be at least a half hour before either of my roommates would have enough hot water, but at least I felt refreshed. I let my hair air dry in lazy waves as I threw on jeans and a long-sleeve t-shirt.
Suddenly famished, I threw open my bedroom door and almost crashed into Gabi who had evidently been about to knock. “Kait!” she exclaimed in a loud whisper.
“What?” I whispered back, tilting my head toward the stairs. We shouldn’t talk here, it might wake Sierra. Joe had been here last night. Sometime around one in the morning, I’d heard them arguing. Then I’d woken again when the front door slammed. Moments later, I’d heard tires squealing as he raced off.
But Gabi shook her head, grabbed my sleeve, and pushed me back into my room, closing the door behind her. What on earth?
“There’s a gorgeous man downstairs.”
“What?” I blinked at her, confused. “Is it Joe?”
She rolled her eyes. “I said gorgeous, so obviously it’s not Joe. He asked for you.”
“Who is it?” For a moment, my heart leaped in my throat. Suppose it was Alex arriving for a surprise visit? But that was dumb… I’d just spoken to him last night on the phone. He was obviously still in Japan.
“I don’t know, but he’s got things with him.”
“Things? What things?”
“How should I know? I wasn’t paying attention to what was in his hands. Haven’t you been listening? He’s drop-dead gorgeous and he wants to talk to you!”
That didn’t make any sense.
I frowned at Gabi as she rolled her eyes and then looked to the side, her brow scrunched in concentration. “Oh, yeah, he had a toolbox. Did you hire a handyman?”
“No. Maybe he has the wrong house? I’d better go talk to him.”
I started toward the door but again, she pushed me back. “No! This is the most handsome man on the entire planet. Put on some earrings, mascara and lipstick, and then you can come down. It’s too late for me—he’s already seen me like this. But it’s not too late for you.”
I snorted. Gabi always looked good with her tan skin and glossy curls. But the serious look in her eye made me sigh. “All right, I’ll get dolled up. But if he’s a door-to-door ax murderer, I’m going to tell the police that you made me stop and put on mascara.”
She nodded. “Once they see him, no one will blame you for my untimely death. Now put on some makeup!”
It was ridiculous, but two minutes later, I was descending the stairs, looking considerably better than I had before. I’d even changed shirts.
Voices were coming from the kitchen, and it wasn’t until I was a few steps away that I realized both of them were familiar. I halted at the doorframe, took a deep breath, and stepped onto the worn linoleum.
There, over by the ancient dishwasher, was Tyler Reynolds, looking every bit as at home standing there as he had as a teen.
Tyler.
In my kitche
n.
He was holding a mug of coffee, and behind him, Gabi was gesturing her hand up and down, as if willing me to see how damn hot he looked in the flannel shirt, black jeans, and black work boots.
She needn’t have bothered—I had eyes. They were currently about to pop out of my head, but they were working. She was right… he was the most handsome man I’d ever seen.
And he was here.
In my kitchen. My brain just couldn’t seem to get past that fact.
Seeing that I was lost for words, Gabi spoke up. “You didn’t tell me your boss was dropping by, Kait.”
Tyler’s eyes sparkled as he looked at my roommate. For a moment, a hot spike of jealousy shot through me. Gabi was gorgeous with her dark eyes and glossy hair. She carried a few extra pounds, but I’d seen the way men looked at her. None of them seemed to mind very much.
Then I mentally shook my head. Tyler was my boss, not my boyfriend. And he could look at whatever woman he wanted. Nonetheless, I was pleased when his gaze returned to me. And he actually winked which somehow made my pulse double. “I was in the neighborhood, so I figured I’d drop by.”
Yeah. Right. In the neighborhood. Actually, when I thought about it, I realized I didn’t know where he lived. His parents had lived a few streets over, but it seemed unlikely that Mr. Tech Genius still lived there. He probably had a penthouse suite somewhere. His company was sure doing well enough.
“He likes my coffee, Kait,” Gabi said, her tone normal but the flashing in her eyes meant ‘say something, dammit.’
I obliged. “Would you like something else? We have—” Desperately, I looked at Gabi. The kitchen was her area of expertise, not mine.
“I can make some cinnamon rolls or fix you bacon and eggs.”
She was so much better at this than me. Gabi knew what men liked. But all I could focus on was why he was here—and how damn good he looked.
“I’m fine, thank you. I was hoping Kait here could show me where the leaks are.”
“Leaks?”
