18. Warren
18
WARREN
Damn, I need to work a little harder on my lower body.
My quads and glutes are screaming at me as I power up the front steps of Kira’s home, bags slung over my shoulder and her wrapped around my waist, clinging to me like a baby koala while sucking on my neck. Kira might be small but all those delicious muscles of hers are proving to be heavy, especially when I’m trying to keep my balance on the steep steps and trying not to come in my pants from the feel of her lips on me.
The second our car drove off, leaving us on the sidewalk outside of the pastel pink Victorian, Kira was on me like a spider monkey. Apparently, hours of oral only broken up by a few minutes of refractory period, cuddling wasn’t enough for my horny girl.
My tongue may never recover from the cramping, but fuck, it had been worth it. I promised her I’d finally– finally –fuck her properly when we were back in her home, and I intend to keep my promise.
When we reach the top of the steps, I palm the keypad.
“What’s your door code?”
“Eight-four-three-seven-six-seven-seven-three,” she says, pausing between each number so I can punch it in–and so she can lick my earlobe. The lock turns and we tumble inside, my lips finding hers as I suck her tongue into my mouth. I use my instincts and muscle memory to guide us through the entryway, over a pile of sneakers, and into the kitchen, where I press her against the closest wall. Her hands fall to my pants, fumbling with the zipper as I buck up into her, grinding against her sweet heat and moaning into her mouth.
“Quiero que me cojas,” she moans. I might not understand the words, but I understand their intention, perfectly.
“I fucking knew it!” A voice calls out, scaring the absolute piss out of me.
I panic, pushing my hips further into Kira’s so I can block her body between mine and the wall, though that’s probably stupid. If there’s an intruder in here intent on killing us, we have a much better chance if I sic my little pest on them. She looks over my shoulder, gasping and swatting at me when she sees whatever is waiting for us.
“Daddy! And Daddy!” She squeals, and I go ramrod straight, freezing as if I’ve just had ice water dumped on my head.
Daddy? I mouth, and she nods.
Slowly, I lower her to the ground, where she brushes herself off and pushes past me. I turn, grateful for the kitchen island separating my lower half from the rest of the room where Kira’s brother, fathers, and a woman who looks like the spitting image of Kira–save for her eyes–stare back at me.
The woman—who I can guess must be Tía Camila, based on her grey eyes that match Kira’s to a tee—looks me up and down. I think she looks impressed, and I preen a bit. Dean smirks, clearly enjoying his sister’s misery, while the dads seem to be intent on ignoring my presence, choosing to hug their daughter instead.
I’m fine with that. I need a minute to cool off and settle down , anyway.
“Did I or did I not call it on Friday? My little sister, ladies and gentlemen. Getting mauled in the kitchen, of all places. We eat there, Keeks.”
“Fuck off, Dean. Go throw another interception,” Kira flips him off. She’d checked the game highlights in the back of the car when she realized I wasn’t going to fuck her in the back of an SUV, either.
“Oh, fuck you, we won, didn’t we?”
“No thanks to you. That’s a pretty sweet gig you’ve got, Dean. I wish someone would pay me millions of dollars a year to fucking suck at football.”
“?Bastá! Dios mío, you two still bicker like little children. Come here, chiquitina,” the woman interjects, pulling Kira into a hug while she and her brother continue to make faces at each other.
“What are you all doing here?” Kira asks as she’s passed off to the dads for more hugs.
“It was a last-minute thing. We came to see your brother play and stuck around to surprise our baby girl,” the smaller of the two men says.
“And what a surprise it was,” says the other, staring at me like I’m the dirt on the bottom of his shoe. It’s clear to see which of Kira’s fathers was once a professional football player. I can’t blame the man for the ire he’s throwing my way. If I had a daughter and…
Nope. Not even gonna go there in my mind. If this dude wants to kill me, I might just let him.
“IronDad, Pops, Tía, this is Warren Yates. Warren, these are my dads and my Tía Camila. And you’ve met my asshole brother.”
Pops holds out a hand for me to shake. I round the kitchen island, thankful that my erection has subsided and that I had the good sense to wash my hands after finger-fucking Kira within an inch of her life on that plane.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. McKenna,” I say as we shake.
“Likewise! And you can call me Keith. Nice accent you’ve got, there. London?”
“Born and raised,” I answer with a nod.
“Oh, how wonderful. I love London. I took a gap year after high school and spent six months drinking laps around The Square Mile.”
“Maybe you ran into each other. You look about my husband’s age.” IronDad looks me up and down, his eyes lingering on the silver hair by my ears that certainly ages me up a bit. I swallow, unsure of what to do with my hands. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve had to meet a woman’s parents, and I’ve already started on the wrong foot.
“IronDad!”
“Jay!”
Kira and Keith chastise in unison, and fuck, it’s kind of creepy the way both of their eyes turn dark when they’re pissed.
“Alright, alright,” Camila interjects, ushering the group out of the kitchen and into the living room. “We can keep making introductions after we order some dinner. Kira has nothing but vodka and lemon protein bars in her fridge and I’m starving. ?Vamos!”
“You order for everyone, huh? It’s not just a me thing?” I ask Kira, my eyes lingering on her lips as she sips her cabernet next to me. I let the McKenna clan argue about dinner until they finally settled on Chinese, conceding the menu to Kira .
While we waited for the food to be delivered, Kira spent ten minutes talking to the damn fish, asking if it had a good weekend, if it missed her, if Dean was nice to it. It was seriously weird, but also a bit endearing. Kira truly loves that little slime mongrel. Though the whole display nearly made me lose my appetite, that changed as soon as the food arrived. We wound up with a spread that includes two different kinds of pork belly, stir-fry, sticky rice, and three whole Cantonese roast ducks. Every bite has been fucking heavenly.
“I always know what everyone is going to like. It’s my superpower.” She shrugs, offering me a wink over her wine glass.
“It’s not a superpower, baby girl. It’s a finely honed skill,” Jay says, speaking for the first time in nearly half an hour. The rest of us have been swapping stories while we break bread and sip wine at Kira’s table. Jay, on the other hand, has remained stoically silent.
Except, of course, when I made the mistake of asking him to pass the soy sauce and he told me in no uncertain terms that I was to address him as “Mr. McKenna”, not Jay.
It was awkward as all hell.
“That’s right,” Camila pops in, wine swishing in her glass. “Can you believe that our little Kira was once a shy little child? Wouldn’t say a word to anyone but her daddies, her brother and her Tía. We had to coax her with lollipops to order her own food in a restaurant. Then that became the only time she’d speak up for anyone else. So, we started letting her order for the whole table. I can’t tell you how many chicken tenders and plates of mac and cheese we ate until we finally begged her to explore the adult side of the menu.”
“Yeah, biggest parenting mistake you guys ever made. Now it’s twenty years later and she’s still a control freak that hasn’t shut up.” Dean says, ducking when Kira chucks a dumpling at his head.
His needling bothered me at first. I don’t like the idea of anyone talking down to my woman, but I quickly learned that annoying each other is Kira’s and Dean’s sibling love language. As the night goes on, I find their jabs more and more endearing.
For the first time since we were caught with our pants almost down, I decide to risk a touch and put my arm around her Kira’s shoulder.
“I’m glad for it. I’m having a hard time imagining you as shy or quiet. It doesn’t suit you. I quite like the sound of your voice, darling.”
A chair screeches across the hardwood floor and Jay–ahem, Mr. McKenna –is pushing up from the table, tossing a cloth napkin on to his plate.
“Warren, I’d like to speak to you outside.”
“Jay, honey,” Keith says, placing his hand in his husband’s, but it’s shaken off. I stand, brushing down the front of my shirt as I do.
“No, it’s fine. Please, Mr. McKenna, after you.”
I follow Mr. McKenna as he stalks towards the back of the house, ready for what I hope is only a verbal flogging and not an actual beatdown for deigning to touch his little girl.
“IronDad, if you kill my boyfriend, I’ll never forgive you!” Kira calls out. I turn to look at her over my shoulder.
Boyfriend? I mouth.
Fuck yeah. She mouths back.
Am I too old to be a boyfriend? Maybe I should ask her to call me her man friend. Though that makes me seem like a dog…boyfriend it is.
Holy hell. I’m Kira McKenna’s boyfriend .
Jay McKenna had better not kill me before I get a chance to kiss her again.
He swings open a door and gestures for me to cross into the cool night air. I haven’t seen Kira’s backyard yet, but I’m not surprised to find it lit up with fairy lights, highlighting an array of wildflowers and several lemon trees. I eye a garden gnome dressed in a pink tutu, ballet slippers and a crocheted yellow hat on its head. I can’t help myself; an amused chuckle slips free.
“Is something funny?” Mr. McKenna asks, and I shake my head.
“Not funny, just amusing. I haven’t seen the backyard before. It’s just…it’s so Kira. It’s lovely.” I lean against the railing of the small balcony, trying to see what kind of plants and other gnomes I can spot in the low glow of the twinkling lights.
“My daughter is a brilliant woman. She’s smart as a whip, strong. She's a killer. ”
“I know. She’s quite remarkable,” I agree.
“But she has a history of trusting the wrong people. People who have taken advantage of her.”
Ahh, I see where this is going.
“I’m aware of what happened between her and Jonathan Graham. Trust me, I know what he took from her. I don’t take that kind of betrayal lightly, sir.”
“And yet, here you are. You’re her boss, but she’s making out with you in her kitchen and calling you her boyfriend? You bought her company out from under her and then…what? Used the opportunity to seduce her?” I can hear the anger, fear, and love in the man’s voice, and I can’t say I don’t understand where he’s coming from. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to defend my feelings and the relationship Kira and I are building together.
“I can appreciate your questions, Mr. McKenna. But honestly, you’re selling Kira short if you think she’d ever let herself be seduced. Your daughter is a headstrong, confident, pain in the ass who doesn’t do a single damn thing that she doesn’t want to do. Even if my intent with her was malicious–and I can assure you, it’s not and never has been–I’d be a stupid man to think a little wooing would get her to sway to do my bidding.”
“Then what is your intention? Because from where I’m standing, you’re just another grown man who thinks he can take what he wants and fuck with my little girl’s professional career. You sit there, eating noodles off her plate and claiming her with an arm on her shoulders and yet you were complicit in the destruction of her dreams. Explain that to me, Warren.”
There’s no point in arguing that his little girl isn’t little or a girl, but a grown woman who can hold her own. Again, if I had a daughter, I’m sure I’d be calling her my little girl even when she was old enough to collect Social Security. There’s also no point in bringing up the fact that I had no idea that she was involved when I inked the deal to buy Spin Sync because that would open a can of worms that involves me tongue-fucking the man’s daughter in an abandoned bridal suite. So, I pull the only card I have that has the potential to be the trump.
“I’m going to tell you something in confidence. No one knows this, so if Kira finds out before I get a chance to tell her myself, I’ll know who let it slip. Spin Sync is hers. Not officially, not until she agrees, but it will be. When Jonathan Graham approached me with an opportunity, it was just that. An opportunity to try something new. To spend some of the money that’s constantly burning a hole in my pocket. To actually work at one of the companies I invest in and maybe not feel so fucking lonely for once. And then I showed up and got to know your daughter. I was furious when she told me how Jonathan had betrayed her, taking her idea and then selling it without giving her a chance to throw her hat in the ring. Kira is the lifeblood of Spin Sync. She’s the beating heart that makes the place run. I saw it on my first day. I experience it every time I sit in on or watch one of her classes. I saw it this weekend, when she took Manhattan by storm and closed two deals with ease.
“I’ve already spoken to my legal and financial advisors. I have two offers drawn up. One, where Kira can pay me what she had been ready to offer Jonathan for sole ownership of the company. And the real one, where she receives a gift of ownership free and clear, because there is no way in hell that I’m taking a penny from her. The only reason I haven’t told her yet is because I care about her so deeply. I was waiting until she trusted that I’m not just another piece of shit guy out to ruin her. I’m afraid that she’ll feel betrayed and leave the company altogether if she doesn’t trust that my intentions are sincere.”
I take a breath, having winded myself with my impromptu confession.
“However,” I continue, “I’d already decided before this weekend that I was going to make her the offer first thing on Monday morning. It doesn’t matter what she thinks of me. None of this was ever supposed to be mine. Spin Sync belongs to Kira.”
Mr. McKenna stares at me for a long moment. I stay quiet, allowing him to think over what I’ve said.
Finally, he sighs, and the sound is so eerily familiar, it’s clear to me where Kira gets her dramatic sighing from.
“I really did not want to like you,” he says, offering his hand out for me to shake. I take it happily .
“Neither did your daughter, Mr. McKenna,” I laugh.
“Jay. You can call me Jay.” It sounds like it pains him to say it, but I take his extended olive branch, anyway.
“Jay, then.”
“How old are you?”
“Forty-seven,” I answer, not skipping a beat. I’m surprised it took him this long to bring up the obvious age gap again. I point to the most prominent stripe of silver at the front of my hairline. “I know the hair makes me look older, but I swear this grey streak wasn’t as prominent before I met Kira.”
“Yeah, my baby girl has that effect on a man’s aging process,” he laughs, pointing to his own head of silver hair. “Fuck. You love her, don’t you?”
I clear my throat, coughing as I take in the brunt of what he just asked me. I’d be lying if the thought hadn’t crossed my mind once or twice in the last few weeks, but hell. The McKenna’s don’t fuck around when it comes to asking the big questions.
“Honestly, Jay, she’s only just decided to give me a chance today. Like, within the last few hours. I don’t want to jinx it by putting the cart before the horse but, I’m crazy about her. She has very quickly made herself the center of my universe, and I don’t hate it.”
“In that case…can I give you one piece of advice, Warren?”
“Please do.”
“Wait a little longer before you make the offer. You’re right. Kira deserves the chance to trust you on her own before you make any grand gestures. She’s…punchy. She might take offense to the whole thing, and that won’t do any of us any good.”
I nod and tell Jay that I will wait a bit longer while also assuring him that the offer is coming. With a new mutual understanding–and maybe even a mutual respect–we head back inside, my heart swelling when I see my girlfriend smiling with her family over cracked fortune cookies.
Not long after my talk with Jay, the night begins to wear down. I’m counting my lucky stars that the clan already has rooms booked at a nearby hotel and didn’t take Kira up on her offer of guest rooms. I send Kira text under the table while the McKennas and Camila get ready to leave.
Warren
Should I get ready to leave, too?
Kira
Only if you want to be single mere hours after I’ve claimed you.
That has me cracking a smile. I fucking love being claimed by her.
Warren
Fair enough. Should I at least *pretend* to leave? Out of respect for your parents?
Kira
Fuck that. IronDad might have tried to scare you off earlier, but they know who they raised. My dads harbor no delusions that we are waiting for our wedding night.
Besides, if I don’t get to climb the ladder tonight, I will literally start screaming and never stop.
I look over to her, and she raises an eyebrow as if to say, “try me”. But there’s no need. I’m here for the night, and for the long haul.