Chapter 14 Wyatt
I woke up the next morning somewhat ashamed by my actions. What the hell had I been thinking, kissing her last night? The truth was, I didn’t have an explanation. It simply felt like the right thing to do. Watching her enjoy the dinner so much had completely disarmed me.
But now, everything would change. We were heading back to San Diego. In order to keep things professional, I had to take a step back and reevaluate the way I handled things between Kinley and me.
Sage drove us to the airport, which was fantastic because she kept talking, and we made conversation the entire way. During the flight, Kinley and I both worked on our respective laptops.
After landing, as we took our luggage from the conveyor belt, I told her, “I’m going straight to the office.”
“All right. I’ll ride with you.”
“You can work from home if you prefer. After all, you don’t need the team’s input for that web shop demo you were working on.”
She frowned slightly and nodded. “All right. Then tomorrow morning, I’ll be at the office at eight o’clock sharp.”
I nodded. “Perfect. I’ll see you then.”
We waited in the Uber pickup area together. Her car came first, and I loaded her bag into the trunk. She opened her mouth but then closed it again, and her cheeks hollowed.
She was hesitating. Why?
“Wyatt,” she began, then shook her head, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I nodded curtly. It was best to keep things simple between us.
It was the only way this would work. I could forgive myself for a faux pas with an employee, but not more.
That was not who I was. Yes, I was laid-back about rules, but I didn’t like office romances.
And after what Kinley had been through, it was definitely the worst idea I’d ever had.
Once I arrived at headquarters, I took out my laptop and left my huge suitcase and carry-on with reception downstairs. I was already late for the weekly meeting with my brothers, but I’d let them know on the way over so they could start without me.
I greeted everyone I met on the way to the big meeting room. When I stepped inside, I realized it must be even later than I thought. The management team had already left, and it was just my brothers around the table.
“Man of the hour,” Finn joked. “How was your trip?”
“Yeah, with the employee who everyone advised you not to hire,” Knox said, barely holding back laughter.
“It was productive,” I told them.
Duncan cocked a brow. “Do you care to explain why you went ahead despite what we discussed? Did we not make our opinion clear?”
“No, you did.” I sat down next to Chase, whose expression mimicked Duncan’s skepticism. “I just went with my gut. Knox’s man gave me a full report on Kinley. She wasn’t involved in any way with the embezzlement.”
“Her name is still attached to it,” Duncan reminded me.
“I don’t care about any of that.”
“We’ve spoken about this,” Chase said. “Potential partners might—”
“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. So, what else is new? What are we brainstorming about today?”
“First, tell us how Napa Valley went. Did Sage drive Kinley crazy? What exactly did you do there?” Finn asked. I was grateful that he wasn’t giving me a hard time.
“I showed her around the area. We even did the wine tasting at the castle.”
Knox cocked a brow. “Why? The wines are shit.”
The truth was, I simply felt like taking Kinley there. But that wasn’t an appropriate answer.
“Checking out our competition,” I said smoothly.
“All right. What’s she working on now?” Chase inquired.
“She’s going to make a mock-up for a website. Then she’ll scout several companies and ask them to submit a proposal. She’s already started on it today.”
No one said anything for a while, and then Chase held his hands up.
“Fine. If you’re happy with her, then by all means, you have my support.”
“I’m still not convinced,” Duncan replied. “But it’s your team.”
“How come you think someone from tech is such a good fit?” Duncan asked.
“When you meet her, you’ll understand,” I told him.
“Fair enough. So, I believe this is a milestone,” Knox said. “This is the first time one of us has gone against the group decision.”
I stared at my younger brother. “Your point?”
“There is no point,” he admitted. “I just think it’s interesting.”
“That’s debatable,” Finn added, then gave Chase a shady grin. “Let’s not forget that Chase here created a shell company to secretly invest in Hannah’s inn despite the fact that half of us were totally against it.”
“Less than half,” Chase said, but he was laughing now too. “Man, that was some crazy shit I pulled.”
“Yes, it was,” Duncan agreed. “And it did come back to bite you in the ass.”
“Are we brainstorming or what?” I asked, because that was the whole point of this meeting.
“Not this week,” Chase said.
“We’re already burned out from discussing everything with management,” Duncan added.
I straightened up in my chair. “What’s wrong? I haven’t checked the news in a few days.”
“Dude, how could you not?” Duncan asked. Apparently, he was determined to give me a hard time today. “You didn’t even have time in the evenings to catch up?”
“Not if he went to wine tastings at the castle,” Knox replied with a smirk.
I laughed. “Guilty as charged. I just took it easy after work. I took Kinley to various activities.”
“Like what?” Chase asked, sounding a bit incredulous.
“We went paddleboarding one evening.”
The room went silent.
“I have to ask. Why?” Knox inquired after several moments.
“We needed to let off some steam,” I replied casually.
“Right. Team building,” Finn added.
I just shrugged. It wasn’t technically a lie even though I hadn’t gone with the entire team.
I drummed my fingers on the table. “So, can someone bring me up-to-date in a sentence or two?”
“People panicked due to the newest political developments. Movements on the stock market were erratic.”
“Same old same old,” I said.
“Exactly,” Chase replied. “But it did require overtime to calm all the panic.”
I was feeling guilty. I’d been partying with Kinley in Napa, and my brothers were dealing with the fallout from the stock market.
“Sorry. Next time I’ll stay on top of it.”
Chase waved his hand. “Don’t worry. I’m used to this.”
He was very good at calming our clients. I, for one, didn’t have as much patience, which was why I’d taken a step back from direct client contact over the years.
I drummed my fingers on the table again. “All right, since we don’t have any brainstorming to do, I’m going to go up and work on some things.”
“When can we meet this Kinley?” Knox asked.
“The opportunity will present itself soon enough,” I replied.
But I wasn’t going to rush it. I wanted my brothers to warm up to the idea of her before that; otherwise, they risked running their mouths and making her feel uncomfortable.
The past week had cemented my initial opinion that Kinley was a very good fit for the role. We clicked on many levels. I didn’t want to risk losing her.
“How is the hotel side of the business coming along?” Finn asked.
“For now, Kinley and I are focusing on the wines. I’m thinking of adding a small B&B to the vineyard too.”
Finn whistled. “I like that.”
“Yeah, I want to hear more,” Duncan added.
We spoke about the B&B until the end of the meeting. My brothers pitched in with great ideas, as usual.
After I left the meeting room, I couldn’t stop thinking about Kinley. I didn’t handle things well this morning. She’d clearly wanted to tell me something, but instead of encouraging her to be open, I simply shut her down. That wasn’t like me.
I headed to the elevator, but there was a large group waiting for it, so I took the stairs instead. It was just one level, after all.
Once I was upstairs, Emma immediately rose from the chair. “Good morning, Wyatt.”
“Morning.”
“Oh, you’re alone. I figured Kinley would be with you.”
“Not today. She’ll be in tomorrow. I’ll brief the team on everything.”
I was in meetings all morning. My San Diego staff consisted of ten people.
I’d handpicked each one of them over the years.
Kinley would fit right in with them. If anyone was concerned about her reputation, they didn’t bring it up at all.
I trusted them implicitly, and they trusted me to make decisions and lead them in the right direction.
It was lunchtime by the time I finally made it into my office. Christ, it was a good thing I’d checked my emails in the Uber this morning, because I hadn’t had another chance until now. Pulling up my inbox, I was pleasantly surprised to have an email from Kinley with a mock-up.
She’d sent it to me an hour ago. I immediately opened the file and whistled. Damn, this looked good. She’d used our current label design for the website, which was smart. It had an easy interface, very user-friendly.
I replied before I even finished looking at the entire concept.
Kinley,
This is brilliant. Go ahead and get quotes.
Wyatt
I’d barely managed to open another message when she replied.
Wyatt,
Your entire team agreed?
Kinley
Realizing it was easier to just call her, I dialed up her number while glancing over the last pages of the document.
“I’m so excited,” Kinley said instead of hello, and that truly summed her up as a person.
“I figured you’d need a whole week to do this.”
“Nooo! I love doing mock-ups. Anyway, does your team have any input? I don’t mind adjusting things.”
“I didn’t show it to them. It’s not necessary. Trust me, they won’t mind.”
“Okay. Then I’ll probably have quotes from web design companies by the end of the week.”
“I like your sense of urgency.”
“I jumped on it as soon as I got back, and I’m much more efficient at home. No distractions, so it was a good thing I didn’t go to the office today. I would have wasted all morning with introductions and getting to know people.”
That reminded me of how she’d acted at the airport. “Kinley, about this morning...”
“We’re all good, boss!”