Chapter 18 Kinley
On Monday, I cautiously stepped onto the main floor for Sterling Investments. As Wyatt predicted, a very helpful assistant showed me to the big meeting room.
“They’re waiting for you,” she said.
“Thank you.”
I hesitated for a split second in front of the door before stepping in.
“Good morning, everyone,” I said, holding my head high as everyone turned to look at me. “I’m Kinley McGuire.”
Wyatt was already there, thankfully. I decided right then and there not to make too much eye contact with him. My ears would turn red, and I vowed to maintain my professionalism.
Wyatt stood up. “Kinley, these are my brothers Chase, Duncan, Griffin.” He gestured to each one as he named them, then pointed to the other side of the table. “And Knox and Finn, the youngest.”
“I’m so happy to meet you all.”
“Why did you even mention that we’re the youngest?” Knox asked. “You didn’t point at Chase and say, ‘The oldest.’”
Wyatt laughed before winking at me. “You’ll get used to this after a bit.”
Chase cleared his throat. “Wyatt’s been very impressed with you and your work.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” I replied. It felt good to hear this from one of his brothers.
“Take a seat.” Chase pointed to the chair next to Wyatt, and I sat down.
Sexy Wyatt was giving off pheromones that I absolutely didn’t need right now. I was on pins and needles just from sitting next to him.
“It’s best if they hear our plans straight from you,” Wyatt said.
“Of course.” I’d worked on my notes yesterday. I hadn’t memorized them or anything, but it helped me tremendously to make a list with bullet points. It was largely because I had a visual memory; if I closed my eyes, I could see my notes in front of me.
I started by telling them about the website, then moved on to potential distributors.
“I hit the ground running last week and pitched distributors. I ran into a snag with one of them, but there are many more to contact.”
“What snag?” Duncan asked, and Wyatt cleared his throat. He gave me a warning look, which was odd.
“He wasn’t impressed that I had been drawn into the BuzzPage scandal.” I wanted to be up front about this, as there was no getting away from it, and I wasn’t a dishonest person.
Wyatt groaned. Ahh, that’s what he’d been warning me about? He wanted to keep this from his brothers? Well, that didn’t sit well with me.
Chase looked straight at Wyatt. “Why didn’t you mention that earlier?”
“Didn’t seem like a big deal, really. Distributors are a dime a dozen,” he said in a very nonchalant tone, but I detected the tightness in his voice.
“Except that’s exactly what we warned you about,” Duncan said, glancing at me.
“Let’s not bring that up in front of Kinley,” Knox added. He leaned over the table, looking straight at me. “You’re brilliant. Wyatt was 100 percent correct to hire you even though it was against our recommendation.”
“Thanks for the compliment!” I took a deep breath, grateful for his words.
Wyatt glanced at Knox. “Dude, you’re odd today.”
Knox shrugged. “Yeah, sorry. Didn’t have enough coffee.”
“I don’t think you’re that different from when you do have coffee,” Finn informed him. “You just run your unfiltered mouth more.”
“He started it.” Knox pointed at Duncan.
“Wyatt and I have discussed this.” I was trying to keep my professionalism.
The brothers were very different than I’d imagined.
I’d thought I’d come into a board meeting of sorts, and they’d drill me on my business ideas.
Granted, I’d been very thorough in my notes, so I didn’t leave much open for discussion, but still, I wasn’t expecting this low-key bantering between them.
“We devised a strategy so this issue won’t come up again,” Wyatt went on.
“What strategy?” Chase inquired, then held up a hand. “Actually, we don’t need to know.”
“Yeah, I agree,” Duncan said. “When it comes to Wyatt, it’s best not to know.”
I looked at Wyatt and couldn’t help but smile.
His eyes flashed. “My brothers know that I have a reputation for doing sneaky things to get my way.”
“I see.” I was fighting laughter.
“Wyatt also said something about a possible B&B at the winery,” Griffin said, clearly trying to get back to business.
“Honestly, it’s such an idyllic place. Waking up every morning to that view was amazing, wasn’t it?” I looked at Wyatt, who nodded. “The whole vineyard is very beautiful. Sage would enjoy running it.”
Chase cocked a brow. “Do we have a cost proposal for that?”
“Not yet,” I answered. “That’s not on my list of priorities. Distribution comes first. I’ll deal with everything else after.”
“Hey, I could use someone like you,” Knox said with a slow smile. “To keep me in check.”
I laughed. “Why?”
“Because I’m not great at prioritizing. I tend to do everything all at once.”
Finn shrugged. “So do I, but I think it’s good. Means we’re more creative than the rest.”
“Who’s ‘the rest’?” Wyatt asked indignantly.
Goodness, what is going on?
“Does anyone have any further questions for me to answer?” I asked, figuring it might bring them back on track.
To my astonishment, Wyatt burst out laughing. He stopped when he noticed me looking at him and cleared his throat.
“We do talk about business in these meetings, I promise you that.”
“Yes, we do,” Duncan said. “And I do have a question.”
I nodded. “All right.”
He went on to grumble a bit about the ins and outs of the website. I was pleased that I’d done the mock-up myself, because I knew every detail.
When I finished, Finn whistled. “Maybe we should ask you to take a look at the platform for our financial services.”
“Sure, I’d be happy to do that as—”
Wyatt cut me off.” “No, Finn. She wouldn’t!”
“Oh yeah. See, that’s what I meant about prioritizing,” Knox said.
I pressed my lips together and didn’t say anything more on the topic. I think this might be one of my favorite meetings that I’ve been a part of.
Wyatt looked around the table once. “Anyone else have questions?”
“No, that should do it. Welcome aboard, Kinley,” Chase replied.
“Thank you, all,” I responded as Wyatt said, “Then Kinley and I will be going.”
“Sure. We all have things to do,” Finn murmured.
Wyatt and I left the room first. “Forget the elevator. Let’s take the stairs,” he said.
“Oh, there’s a secret staircase connecting the floors?”
He laughed. “It’s not a secret. But people are lazy.”
Leading me through a door by the elevators, he said, “I wanted to talk to you this morning.”
“About what?”
“Do you have plans on Friday?”
“No. Why?”
“Because there’s a wine fair in town.”
My brows rose. “Oh my goodness. Why didn’t I know about it?”
“It’s a pop-up thing. I want to check it out. A lot of our competitors will be there.”
“We’re being sneaky again?” I asked him.
He stopped climbing the stairs. “No, that’s just business. But this... this is sneaky.”
Before I realized what he planned to do, he pushed me against the wall and kissed me shamelessly right there.
Holy shit.
Instead of doing the right thing and chastising him, I threaded my fingers through his hair and pulled him into me. I wanted to glue myself to him.
He groaned and pulled away. “Fuck. Shouldn’t have done that.”
“No, you shouldn’t have,” I agreed.
He took a deep breath. “Anyway, what was I saying?”
“That this is sneaky.”
He laughed. “Yeah, it is. Let’s stay here for a few seconds.”
“Why, so you can kiss me some more?”
“Nah. I’m not making that mistake again. Not here where anyone can walk in. I just want a few moments alone with you.”
His honesty was disarming.
“Okay.”
“What did you think about the meeting?” he asked.
“That was the most bizarre thing I’ve ever attended.”
He threw his head back with loud guffaws.
“It’s true. With your brothers being half serious...”
“Half punks?”
“That’s a good way to describe them,” I said, then added, “They really warned you off? You made it sound as if they were just mildly disagreeing with you.”
“There’s nothing mild with my family. It’s always a ‘go big or go home’ attitude.”
“I see.” My stomach lurched. I put a hand against it. “Why did you go against what your brothers said?”
“Because they hadn’t met you. They were just judging based on—”
“What’s been written about me,” I finished for him.
“Exactly,” Wyatt replied. “Besides, I trust my instincts. I’ve never been disappointed with anyone I’ve hired.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. That’s why everyone on my team has been with me for years. I have a knack for people. Though things were different in your case.”
“Why was that?”
“I was fucking blindsided by how sexy you were when you stepped into my office.” He smirked. “That might have clouded my judgment a bit.”
I gasped. “Wyatt.”
“What? I’m telling you the truth.”
I covered my ears, and he smiled. “You’re so fucking adorable. How come you don’t blush, but your ears turn red?”
“You noticed, huh?”
“It’s impossible not to.”
“Honestly, no clue. It’s always been this way, though.”
He tilted his head, frowning silently. “All right, let’s head upstairs.”
I nodded. “You stay at least two steps away from me.”
He took a theatrical step back. “Is this enough for you? I mean, if I take a second one, I might end up on the other side of the railing.”
“Ha ha. Very funny. You know what I mean.”
“Yes, I do. Trust me, I do. I had no intention of kissing you.”
“Really? Because you luring me into this stairwell seemed to be a very premeditated moment.”
“Nah. I just wanted to save us from waiting forever for the elevator when we just have one floor to go up. After you.”
I skipped a few steps at a time as Wyatt walked lazily behind me. When I glanced over my shoulder, I caught him staring at my ass. I immediately straightened up so he wouldn’t realize that I’d noticed and began to sway my ass in a ridiculous manner.
“Kinley.”
Oops. He caught on. Damn it, it was too exaggerated. No normal person walked like that.
“Well, since you’re looking, I thought I’d give you something worth watching,” I teased without even bothering to glance back.
As we stepped into the corridor, Emma came toward us.
“Hey, Wyatt. Was wondering what took you so long. Knox texted that you two left a few minutes ago.”
Oh shit.
Wyatt smiled without breaking eye contact. “Kinley and I were talking about the details for the wine pop-up on Friday.”
“Oh, so you’re both going? That’s confirmed?”
“Yes,” I said.
She nodded. “I’ll let the organizers know we need two tickets, then.”
I liked Emma. Many other assistants would have complained that it was too short notice, but not her.
“All right, then.” Wyatt turned to me. “I’ll be in my office the entire day, Kinley. In case you need anything, you know where to find me.”
“Perfect.”
For the rest of the week, the two of us threaded a fine line between business and flirting—or whatever it was that we were doing. I buried myself in work because I had a lot to catch up on, and he was mostly in his office.
On Friday around noon, I walked into Wyatt’s office. Emma was there too.
“What time are we leaving for the festival?” I asked.
“I suggest you leave early in the afternoon,” Emma answered for him, “so you don’t hit traffic. It starts at five o’clock, but if you arrive too early, maybe you can use the time to grab something to eat. No one wants to do wine tasting on an empty stomach.”
“No, we don’t,” Wyatt said. Now he was looking straight at me. “That can be very dangerous indeed. Excellent idea, Emma.” He was still looking at me as he added, “Kinley and I will leave in the early afternoon, and we’ll have some fun in the area until the event starts.”
I couldn’t wait to see what kind of fun he had in mind. I suspected it might be way more than the snack Emma had suggested.