Chapter 15 Kinley #2
“Yes.” He didn’t follow that up with anything else, as if he expected that to be a full-fledged explanation, only I didn’t get it.
“I’m confused.”
“Kinley, I decided to hire you despite the risk. I’m not going back on my decision. I still believe that hiring you is one of the best things I’ve ever done. You’ve already done more for this new business than I could have hoped to accomplish in weeks.”
“Thank you.” I hesitated, then blurted, “How come you don’t doubt my innocence at all?”
He cleared his throat. “A detective looked into your case before I hired you.”
I was stunned, and a bit hurt. I blinked rapidly, unsure what to say. “All right, that explains it. Um... I didn’t anticipate my name alone to create so many troubles.”
He steepled his fingers beneath his chin. “Here’s an idea. Let’s not mention your name in the initial correspondence with distributors.”
“Meaning?”
“You can just sign as ’The Sterling Company Team.’”
My eyes bulged. “I’ll have to introduce myself eventually when I talk to people.”
“Of course you will, but I can just mention your first name for starters. Once people actually get to know you, it won’t matter as much.”
I narrowed my eyes. “That isn’t a solution.”
“You think it’s deceiving?”
“No, that’s too strong a word, but sneaky does come to mind.” I was only half joking. I was surprised he’d even suggested it.
“You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. The prejudice they have against you is unfair and unwarranted. You were found not guilty in a court of law. That should be enough for people to move on. So, us leaving your last name out isn’t even that ‘sneaky.’”
“I don’t understand your logic exactly, but it works in my favor, so I’m all for it. There’s just one little problem. I already sent out emails to six distributors using my full name.”
Wyatt groaned. “Right. Well, this could be an issue, then. Do you still have any other distributors on your list that you’ve not yet contacted?”
“Yes, of course. I only emailed six because I wanted to be able to follow up properly.”
“Perfect. But this is cold emailing anyway. For all we know, most of them might delete it before they even open it.”
“That’s true. I was intending to follow up with calls next week and reference my email. But if they tell me they didn’t have time to look at it, I’ll just offer to resend. And I won’t sign my name to the new one.”
“You’re catching on pretty fast to this sneaky tactic.” He smiled. Wyatt truly was a good guy.
“I’m just so relieved,” I confessed. My body was buzzing, but not with stress. More with anticipation. “Wyatt, do you really think this will work?”
“I think it’s going to be more of a problem than I initially thought, but we can handle it.”
For the first time in a year, I felt invincible. “Thanks a lot for coming here tonight to talk about it, and thank you for being so supportive.” I shook my head slightly. “I almost can’t believe it.”
“Why not?”
“Because you could make life easier for yourself and just fire me.”
“I don’t choose things because they’re easy, Kinley.” His blue eyes were locked on me. God, I wanted to get lost in them. I didn’t want to look away. Ever. “Now, how about I open the bottle of wine? I remember sauvignon blanc being your favorite.”
“Yes, it is.” I was impressed that he even remembered.
“And what do you know? It works with chicken too.” He winked at me.
“I’ll bring glasses while you open it.”
I hurried to the cabinet, picking out two white wine glasses. I was still on pins and needles, but for other reasons entirely. Before he arrived, I’d been certain he was coming here to let me go, but now I had this sexy man in my house, and we were about to drink wine.
My face broke out in a grin. I couldn’t even help myself. My eyes were full of tears as I returned to the table. My goodness, things were working out. Wyatt was the greatest boss I’d ever had. I wasn’t going to mess this up in any way.
“I like that smile,” he said.
“Oh, be honest, Wyatt. It’s a full-on shit-eating grin,” I said as he poured the wine.
He laughed. “It is, but it’s a very good look on you.”
“You’re my lucky charm.”
He sat on the chair next to me instead of the one in front of me. “I like the sound of that. Please continue.”
“Well, first with the job itself, and now...” I took a sip of wine, trying to find my words. When I lowered my glass, I added, “I don’t even remember what it feels like for someone to have my back.”
His smile fell slightly. “Where was the BuzzPage CEO in all of that?”
“Pissed, obviously. He thought I was stealing from him.”
“Surely once you were declared not guilty, he changed his behavior.”
I shook my head. “There was too much bad blood between us by then. He still thinks I’m responsible for not catching on to what Mark was doing. Sometimes I wonder myself how I didn’t put two and two together.”
“You think you missed signs?”
“God, yes. In retrospect, we’re all smarter, aren’t we?” I took another sip. “Mark was making very good money, but his expenses were crazy. During the trial, they brought up stuff that I had no idea about. He’d bought a tiny island in Italy!”
Wyatt nearly dropped his glass. “I’m sorry. What?”
I laughed. “Yep. That’s actually why the CEO started to feel suspicious. He found out about that purchase and—”
“He put two and two together,” he finished.
“Yeah. Mark wasn’t making that kind of money.” I sighed. “Crap, how did we end up talking about him again?”
“I don’t mind.”
“Really? I think even my sister started to mind after a while.”
“But I haven’t been hearing the story for as long as she has.”
“True.”
How was this man so easygoing? I felt the muscles in my face move up into a smile yet again—just because he was looking at me with a twinkle in his eye and a dimple in his cheek. Oh, Wyatt, Wyatt, Wyatt.
I glanced down at my glass.
“Kinley.” He reached across the table and touched my chin, and I shuddered, looking up.
“What?” I whispered.
“You and I will get through this. I’ve got you. No matter what.”
“God, ‘you and I.’ That sounds like we’re a team,” I confessed.
“We so fucking are, okay?” He looked at his fingers and straightened up quickly and removed his hand, as if he’d only just realized that he was touching me. “I always support my team.”
Of course. I was part of his team. There was nothing else to it.
There was a loud noise in front of my door, and then it banged open.
“Auntie Kinley, we’re here,” Emily’s voice resounded through the house.
“Living room,” I said loudly. Wyatt looked perplexed. “My niece and sister are here.”
“You were expecting them?”
“Yes, but I thought they were coming later.”
Emily came to a stop when she noticed Wyatt. Elsa stepped right behind her, her eyes widening.
“Kinley, goodness. You said you didn’t have any plans for tonight.”
Wyatt rose to his feet. “I’m Wyatt.”
“He’s my new boss,” I explained.
Elsa narrowed her eyes but then gave him a friendly smile. “I’m Elsa, Kinley’s sister. Nice to meet you. Kinley’s very excited about the new job. She’s told me a lot about it.”
I’d told her about the kiss, too, and my sister had no qualms about telling me that it was a shitty idea considering my history. She probably thought I was losing my mind now that she’d found Wyatt in my home.
“And this must be your niece, Emily, right?” Wyatt asked.
Emily’s eyes widened. “Yes, I am.”
“Your aunt told me how cool you are.”
“Woooow,” Emily whispered. My heart melted.
“Right. I’m going to leave, then. Thank you for the salad.” He said the words almost as if he was suspicious of them. “I’ll see you at work.”
I nodded. “Sure. I’ll walk you to the door.”
We both headed that way as Elsa and Emily sat down at the kitchen table.
Once at the front door, I said, “I’m sorry that we were interrupted.”
“Maybe that was for the best,” Wyatt replied.
I drew in a sharp breath. He closed his eyes as if he hadn’t intended to say that out loud.
He tilted his head. “You know what I mean?”
“Yes, I think I do.”
With a grin, he added, “If you want, I can spell it out for you.”
I narrowed my eyes. What game was he playing?
“No, thanks. It’s safer if you don’t.”
“By the way, don’t bother replying to that guy. I’ll take care of it myself.”
“I wasn’t going to write anything. His email was clearly not meant as a conversation starter.”
“True, but I want to nip it in the bud,” Wyatt said.
“Okay.”
I had no idea what he meant, but if he wanted to give that guy a hard time, I wasn’t going to say no.
“By the way,” he said, “Monday morning, I’ve got that brainstorming meeting with my brothers. I’d like for you to meet them.”
“Sure. It would be an honor.”
“Perfect. It’s at nine o’clock, the floor below ours. Just ask for the big meeting room, and someone will direct you toward it. Also tell them that Wyatt personally invited you.”
“Why, you think anyone might try to keep me out?”
“You never know.”
I laughed. What a bizarre thing to say. “Have a great weekend, Wyatt. And thank you for the wine.”
“You bet.”
As I was closing the door, I yelled out, “All right, let’s start the Friday night party. Who wants popcorn?”
“Me!” Emily replied.
I went straight to the kitchen counter, taking out my small air fryer. It was perfect for popcorn.
Elsa came up to me. “So, what was that about? I thought you two agreed to keep things strictly professional.”
“He was here in a professional capacity.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” I told her about the email I’d gotten today.
“I’m going to kill Mark one day. Of course, that won’t help you.”
I snickered. “No, it won’t.”
“I’m starting to like Wyatt a lot for having your back.”
“I know, right? That’s so unexpected and thoughtful.”
“Oh, crap,” Elsa exclaimed.
“What?” I asked.
“You like him a lot, huh?”
“I’m not used to people being kind to me anymore,” I confessed. “Maybe I’m just reading too much into this.”
“I don’t know him enough to weigh in on that. But I still think it would be a good idea to—”
“I know.” I didn’t need her to finish that sentence. “By the way, he didn’t have a chance to even have a sip of wine, so it’s yours if you want it,” I mentioned as we cleared the table.
“Can we watch two movies tonight?” Emily asked just as we finished putting things away.
My sister and I replied, “Yes,” in unison.
Picking out a movie always took at least as long as watching that movie. Tonight, though, things were different. We immediately decided on a rom-com.
We all had to squeeze in a bit on my tiny couch, but that was okay. I loved the snuggles. Sipping wine and eating popcorn with my girls made my night.
Midway through the movie, I noticed an email on my phone. I cursed myself for even putting my work inbox alongside my personal one. It was a bad recipe for overworking. What if it was another distributor turning us down? I wanted to know, though. So I opened it and felt warm all over again.
Wyatt had replied to the distributor: I have full faith in my team and believe in Kinley’s innocence.
I could have cried as I read the rest of his email.
I smiled as I put the phone to my chest. I was feeling a bit gooey... probably from the rom-com. He had full faith in me. My phone beeped again, this time with a message.
Wyatt: If he replies, don’t engage him. I will.
I responded immediately even though Elsa was already side-eyeing me. We had a no-phone rule during movies.
Wyatt: What are you doing?
Kinley: Watching a movie with my girls.
Wyatt: Have fun, and don’t think about that guy for a second.
Oh, I wasn’t thinking about that guy. I was just thinking about my swoon-worthy boss and how much I really, really wanted to kiss him again even though it wasn’t a good idea.
Kinley: Monday morning, should I come dressed in a suit?
Wyatt: Why?
Kinley: Because I’m meeting your brothers.
Wyatt: No, they’re casual dressers, so don’t worry about that.
Hmm, but I was worrying a bit. I wasn’t sure what to expect, so I decided to ask him.
Kinley: Do they know about my rift with BuzzPage?
Wyatt took a few minutes to reply this time.
Wyatt: Yes, they do. They were against me hiring you in the beginning.
I sat up straight, swallowing hard.
Wyatt: But they’ll come around.
Oh crap. Now I was even more nervous.
Elsa gave me an exasperated look.
“Sorry,” I mouthed. “It’s Wyatt.”
Yeah, now she wasn’t just exasperated but also a bit judgy.
I typed back quickly.
Kinley: What should I expect?
Wyatt: Whatever they do, I’ll deal with them.
Ah, now I was gooey again, but it wasn’t because of the rom-com—it was because of him.