12. Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Kaitlyn
Maybe I got ahead of myself with this whole Griffin’s girlfriend thing because it’s been three days since our conversation in his hotel room, and he still hasn’t reached out to me.
I’d be a liar if I said there wasn't a part of me that was a little disappointed. Not because of our arrangement potentially falling through, but because I was looking forward to hearing from him.
I could have taken his head off that first night, and nearly did. In reality, he didn’t do anything wrong, besides be overexuberant in his defense of a woman. It was my issue, not his. I don’t think I told him that. Maybe I’ll never get to.
It’s nearing lunchtime and I’ve just closed out a document that’s been driving me crazy for nearly a week, when Mika knocks on my door then pushes it open.
“Um, Kait?” she says, sticking her head in.
I toss the black-framed glasses I wear when I’ve been staring at a screen too long, onto my desk. “Yeah?”
“I want to preface this with I’m not lying. There’s an incredibly hot man with an accent at reception asking for you. Gina rang me since you were listed as do not disturb.”
I don’t want to immediately assume it’s Griffin. I do have a deposition in about an hour. “You shouldn’t talk about the opposition like that.”
“Giiiiiirl, this isn’t work. You don’t come to a depo with a flower bouquet in hand. Red fucking roses to be exact.” I feel a warmth rush through my body as I stand up and instinctively smooth my hair then my skirt. “Mmmhmmm. That’s what I thought. Should I show him to your office or do you want to…go get him?” She winks.
“Bring him to me. Wait… no… I’ll go to him. Wait.” I’m suddenly more nervous than I was expecting to be.
“Breathe, babe. It’s going to be all right, though I do enjoy seeing this side of you.”
“Shh,” I say, waving her out the door ahead of me. “Play it cool, Mika.”
“I’m the Queen of Cool.”
I smooth my skirt one more time, and thank the divine beings above I took extra time on my hair and makeup today, before rounding the corner to reception to see my counterfeit beau waiting for me.
I swear he has a closet of suits any man would kill for. They’re all Armani, tailored, and are perfect for him. He’s left a couple days growth on his beard. The darker color to his face makes his eyes shine brighter than I’ve ever noticed them to be. My shoes make their usual clicking sound on the marble floors of our hallway. When that sound makes it to his ears, I know it instantly because he turns his head, in what feels like slow motion, to meet my eyes. When he does, he smiles a smile I’ve never seen on him before.
“Wow. That was worth the wait.” He strides slowly toward me with the largest bunch of roses I’ve ever seen at one time. With his free hand he cups my elbow, leans in, and places a soft kiss on the apple of my cheek, just below my temple. “Hi,” he whispers.
“Hi,” I whisper back. “The roses are huge. Compensating for something?” I tease him.
He laughs. “Hardly. I simply want to make a good first impression and perhaps even embarrass you a little. You blush easily and it’s fun.”
Just as he predicted, I do feel a heat brewing in my cheeks, but I don’t have time to revel in it before I hear Mr. Wilder’s voice booming from behind me.
“Personal visits in the middle of the day aren’t exactly a good look, Ms. Logan.”
Before I can open my mouth, Griffin steps to my side and slightly in front of me. “Hello. Pardon the intrusion. I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Griffin Shaw. I think your firm has been in contact from time to time, trying to recruit business from my father, Lachlan Shaw.”
The irritation on Wilder’s face goes through many stages until I can almost see an actual light bulb illuminate above his head. “Oh. Yes. The pleasure is mine, Mr. Shaw.” Mr. Wilder sticks out his sausage fingers to shake Griffin’s hand.
“I know I should have made an appointment. However, I don’t always stand on ceremony like my father does.”
“Oh, I don’t care about that.” I hope my poker face is holding because my mind is screaming. Has he grown a different personality because I don’t know who my boss is right now. “How can we help you, Mr. Shaw? Would you like to chat in a conference room? It would give me an opportunity to get to know you better.”
The smirk on Griffin’s face is classic. I’m holding my breath to see what comes next. “Thank you, Mr. Wilder, but I think Ms. Logan would be best suited to my needs.”
I think I hear Mika snicker at her desk from fifty feet away.
“Ms. Logan?”
“Yes. Her father is a family friend, and I believe she has just what I need to make the contract I’m trying to compose come to life.”
Mr. Wilder steps closer to me and crosses his arms. “That makes sense. Kaitlyn is one of the most gifted, sought after members of our staff here.”
I have to actively keep myself from scoffing because he never, not even once, has complimented me like that. Certainly not without it dripping in some form of sexual harassment first.
“I have no doubt about that,” Griffin says before turning his attention back to me. “Ms. Logan, you were showing me to your office so we can discuss the contract privately?”
“Yes, yes I was.” I motion down the hall. “Right this way.”
Griffin heads down ahead of me, but I’m stopped with a hand on my arm before I can follow.
“Don’t fuck this up,” Mr. Wilder grumbles in my ear.
“Why would I do that?” I respond before yanking my arm away.
I can feel Griffin side-eying this exchange. I don’t want to give too many of the dynamics away. That’s not what it seems he wants for today. After I create a little distance from Wilder, I motion with my hand to the office at the end of the hall on the left. Mika’s curiosity is following us until I’m in my doorway. “Put me back on do not disturb while I’m in this meeting.”
She nods with a knowing smile before she busies herself with potential work at her desk. When I turn my focus back to Griffin, he’s set the wrapped bouquet on my desk and is wandering my modest space. When the door is finally closed, he slides his hands slowly into his pockets, greeting me with a soft growl. “I don’t like how he speaks to you.”
“Please don’t threaten to punch him. I need this job.”
“What you need is someone who treats you with the respect you deserve, Kaitlyn.”
“I agree with you, but I don’t plan on working under him forever, and regardless of how he speaks to me, he’s one of the most respected attorneys in the city. His approval will carry tremendous weight in my career moving forward, and this is a stepping stone to get there.”
“It doesn’t make it right.”
“No, it doesn’t.” I lean back against my closed door and smile. “Thank you for the flowers.”
He drops his hands to his sides. “You’re welcome.” He turns away from me and begins to look around my office. He eyeballs the photos I have on a bookshelf and my framed degrees on the wall. He stops and points to a photo of Gillian, Jason, and Joseph. “Is this your nephew?”
“Mmmhmm. That’s my little chunk, Joey.”
“He’s a handsome lad. Is he a handful?”
I laugh. “With Gilly and Jason as his parents, without a doubt.” I think about rolling right into a million questions, but I only really need answers immediately to one. “What are you doing here? I didn’t think I’d see you again, if I’m honest.”
Griffin’s head cocks a little to the left. “Why would you think that?”
“Oh, I don’t know. You said you’d call, then you didn’t.”
“To be fair, Kaitlyn, I was giving you time to think. You came to your conclusion quite quickly. Sometimes, impulsivity can lead to regret.”
“True. Other times though, it can mean you’re instantly certain. I haven’t changed my mind, Griffin.”
I can see a subtle tension in his face release with my words. He’d been worried I’d be saying no, just like I was concerned he’d regretted our agreement. We aren’t too different after all, are we? “I’m happy to hear that, but now comes the true work. The real conversations and the nitty-gritty, as I’ve heard it called.”
“Did you just say nitty-gritty?”
“I did.” He smirks, then pulls out my desk chair. “Have a seat. We have a lot to work through.”
I round my desk to sink into my chair and laugh when he pushes it in for me. “I could get used to this kind of treatment.”
I feel him lean down, then his breath is on my ear. “This relationship may be fake, but I’ll treat you the way you deserve in front of the cameras and behind closed doors.”
Griffin
I’m a possessive man by nature. That’s not a quality I try to deny about myself, but I’m somewhat surprised by my desire to beat my chest like an ape and lay claim to Kaitlyn in front of her boss.
“All right,” she says, laying her hands flat on her desktop. “Tell me about this nitty-gritty.”
I sink to sit in the chair across from her and pull my phone from my pocket, firing off a quick email to her. “I’ve sent the draft we composed together to your inbox. It covers the basics, of course, but if we are going to do this, we need to talk through quite a bit.”
I watch her eyes as she scans the words on her computer screen. “And you mean…?”
A smile plays on my lips. “I mean public displays of affection.”
“Well,” she sighs and leans back in her chair, pulling her beautiful blond hair over one shoulder. “If we’re doing this, we should give it our all.”
“I hope that was a sigh of pleasure and not one laced with thoughts of, if I must.”
Kaitlyn rolls her eyes. “I’m not saying it will be torture. It’s just we're still getting to know each other.” She lightens the mood with a hint of laughter. “I guess you could say we’ve already slept together, because, well, we did.”
I chuckle. “We most certainly did. You slept more than I did, however. I had the pleasure of studying you in your most peaceful form.”
“You watched me sleep?”
“I did. It was entertaining. You would smile on and off. Was that the product of a dream or that I was an adequate and comfortable pillow?”
Her cheeks flush and it’s the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen. “Let’s stay on track, shall we?”
“Absolutely. We were about to discuss the fact I’ll have the pleasure of kissing you in public whenever I’d like.”
“Whoa.” She holds her hands up, but there is a grin on those lips. “Don’t get too ahead of yourself. I’ll allow…” She taps her chin. “One or two kisses a day, only when absolutely necessary to sell our relationship.”
“Are you wanting this to look unnatural? Counting may make it feel as such.” I lean in. “Kaitlyn, I know you’re putting a lot on hold and on the line, both personally and professionally, for me. I want you to know I appreciate it more than you know. What I also need you to hear is, I will not be taking advantage of you or the situation in any circumstance. I would never force you into something you’re uncomfortable with. I believe I’ve said that at least once already.
“What I’d like to do…” I reach my hand toward her, turning my palm up, hoping she can hear my silent ask. After a couple of long awkward seconds, she reaches forward and places her hand in mine. “…is hold your hand, watch you enjoy the times we’re together, whether it’s for show or not. If the moment is right, and the feeling calls for it, I’d like to be able to kiss you or slide my hand into the small of your back. Even when I do, I want you to know your virtue will always be safe.”
She giggles softly. “My virtue. I’ve never had it called that before. You sounded like you’re a Bront? novel come to life.”
“My mother would be delighted to hear you say that.” I curl my fingers up to hold her hand even tighter.
“I do have a question about semantics though.”
“That’s what this conversation is for.”
“I don’t know if I want our first kiss to be in front of other people. I don’t think it would appear very natural to others. I have a feeling we’d exude big, first-kiss energy. Does that make sense?”
I laugh. “It makes sense to me, yes, and just to be clear, are you proposing we practice snogging? Because that’s not something you’ll ever hear me say no to.” I can feel the edge of her nail drawing a line back and forth inside my palm. “Something else on your mind?”
“My father. I hate lying to him. I’ve never really done it before when it mattered. This matters, but I kept my promise to you. I chose my person and it’s my sister. She flipped out at first, but then calmed down. She didn’t say so, but I know she’ll insist on meeting you and putting you through the third degree. Remember when I told you that you reminded me of someone?”
“I think you were more colorful about it, but yes, I do.”
“My brother-in-law is former military and is connected globally. He’s going to sniff this out a mile away if we’re not careful. I don’t want that for you or me, for that matter.”
“Well, then. I guess we’d better sort ourselves out to impress him because if he buys it, then my father will too.”
She squeezes my hand just as I did hers. She feels comfortable under my touch, at least, I think she does. “So… how do we start this?”
“In simple terms, I’m going to wine you, dine you, and show you off to anyone who decides to snap photos of us. I’d like you to accompany me to a few functions I need to attend while I’m Stateside.”
“And after that?” She tips her head to the side slightly and regards me close.
“Ideally, I’d like for us to take a trip back to England together to meet my father face-to-face, and before you say anything else about taking the time off from work, I have a plan for that.” I flip our interlocked hands over so mine is on top. “I will, in a perfect world, be making deals and finalizing contracts on the fly over the next few weeks and especially once I’m back overseas. Having a professional with me to prepare those seems logical, does it not? Duncan Wilder is nothing if not a businessman. He’ll jump at the opportunity to charge your retainer and all other fees to me.”
“I can trust you, right? You have all of this under control? I’m really handing the reins to you in some ways, and that’s out of character for me.”
“Kaitlyn, trust me when I say, it may seem like I’m at the wheel here, but your hand is on the gearshift. We are a team. I have your best interest at heart, just like I hope you have mine. This, if we allow it, will be fun and beneficial to us.”