18. Kimberly
KIMBERLY
I'd barely entered my office on Monday morning when Reese burst in. She and Travis were leaving for Aspen in two hours.
"So, I've been to Travis's office. I asked him how your weekend was, and I only got a few grunts in response." She sat down in front of me, smiling wildly. "Also, I was hoping for a call from you, and I got none. Now I'm starting to get ideas."
I loved my sister to bits, especially when she was like this. It was good to see her excited again. For a while after she canceled her wedding, I feared she would simply forget how to be happy.
"I'm listening. What exactly are you imagining?"
"That you spent the weekend with a very sexy man, and when you came back, Travis saw something he wasn't exactly happy with."
I blinked, putting down my pen. "Okay. That's freaky. Are you having me followed?"
She blinked, looking confused. "What? I don't understand."
"That's exactly what happened. How would you know?"
"Oh, trust me. I've had a long Valentine's Day weekend with nothing to do except try not to get depressed that I was on my own and imagining that my sister is much happier."
That was a disheartening admission. "You didn't do anything?"
"I went to that play, and then I wanted to rally the girls, but you know, the girls have guys, so I decided not to butt in."
"How about Gran?"
Reese cocked an eyebrow. "She had a date."
My eyes widened. "Oh my God. Okay. Don't tell the guys. They can't handle us dating, and they seem to go out of their way to ignore that Gran is dating. They don't need a reminder."
“I wasn't going to say anything. Besides, now you're the hot piece of gossip in town. I can't believe my plan worked."
I grinned. "I don't know how to say thank you without encouraging you to do it again."
"Oh, don't worry. I just hoped I wasn't wrong, you know? So… how are things?"
"We had a nice weekend in Aspen.”
"What's the status?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. We're having fun. Isn't that enough?"
"You're right. Okay." She got to her feet, sending me an air kiss. “I need to grab a few things from my office for the trip. I finalized the spreadsheets last night.”
I blinked, checking my email. She’d sent it to me at three o’clock in the morning.
“Reese! Are you having trouble sleeping again?”
She smiled sadly. “It never went away.”
My sister had suffered from insomnia ever since we were kids. Gran took her to several doctors, and they all agreed it was a coping mechanism for stress. She kept it under control with meditation and such, but sometimes—when she was overly stressed—it reared its ugly head again.
I hated the idea of my sister being troubled.
“Anyway, I just needed my morning dose of endorphins,” she added.
"That means getting your fill of gossip?"
"Yes. It's what keeps me going, you know." She smirked as she looked at me. "You have a dreamy expression on your face. That means you're too busy reliving the weekend and are in no mood to share details."
"Right again."
"See? We can do a margarita night at some point. Maybe in a couple of weeks, when I predict you'll be willing to share more. Just…enjoy this."
"I am enjoying," I promised her.
She winked. "Good. You deserve it."
"You were shopping this weekend?"
She pointed at me. "See, you know me just as well as I know you. Yes, I was, and I bought this wonderful outfit."
"I approve."
My sister was a knockout. She was wearing a white pencil skirt and a white blouse with a golden buckle on the belt. Her dark hair cascaded around her back in loose waves with a few curls underneath.
I wished that she'd find someone soon who loved her as much as I did. Reese had always been a true believer in soulmates. I dearly hoped she'd find hers—without encountering any more heartache, if possible. She'd had enough of that to last her for a lifetime.
After my sister left, I realized I hadn't thought this through. Drake and I still hadn't talked about how things would work between us at the office. We were going to be professionals, obviously, and not flaunt everything in front of the team. But I needed more details.
I grabbed my phone, hesitating before opening the messaging app.
Kimberly: We need to talk.
Delete.
Kimberly: There are some things we should discuss.
Delete.
Oh, this is ridiculous. I put the phone back down on the desk and rose to my feet, heading out of my office and toward his.
I wasn't going to beat around the bush. I was a kick-ass woman. And yet I was getting nervous as I approached his office. What exactly did I expect him to say?
His door was closed, so I knocked.
"Come in," he said.
I opened it, stepping inside. He was on his feet, clearly pacing, phone to his ear.
"I'll call you back." Someone clearly was protesting at the other end of the line. "I'll call you back," he repeated firmly.
That voice. Yummm.
He lowered his phone, throwing it on his desk with a loud clack.
"Close the door," he said.
I did it right away, that tone of his voice sending tendrils of heat down my body. Damn, we were going to have a problem. I couldn’t react like this every time he spoke.
"Who were you talking to?" I asked.
"A supplier. I'll call them later."
"You didn't have to dismiss them like that."
"Yes, I did."
He seemed to dominate the space around him. I swallowed hard, already feeling on edge.
He stepped closer. "I've been fighting myself all morning not to come into your office." He'd lowered his voice.
"Why?" I whispered.
“Because I knew I couldn't keep myself from doing this.”
He pinned me against the door, kissing me. Oh God, how he kissed me. My knees instantly weakened, my nipples hardening against his chest. He smelled like aftershave, and his five-o'clock shadow was gone. His cheek was smooth, and I couldn't stop touching him. I wanted to take off his clothes.
"Drake," I said, stepping to one side. He stayed put, leaning his forehead against the door, taking in a deep breath.
"Fuck, I have no control around you." He moved back, snapping his head up. "What can I do for you, Kimberly?"
I cleared my throat, pushing a hand through my hair. "We haven't discussed how to do this. How to work together and—”
“Not rip the clothes off each other every time we're in the same room?"
“Yes.”
“I don't know, Kimberly. My mind's so full of you that I can barely think straight.” He came next to me again, touching my neck with the back of his fingers. My skin broke out in goose bumps. “But I was going to suggest that we discuss it tonight on our date.”
The corners of my lips lifted. "We're going out, and I didn't know about it?"
"You said you were free tonight."
"Yeah, but I thought you were asking just in case we need to work overtime tonight in order to clear our schedules for tomorrow when Reese and Travis are back." I remembered Drake very randomly asking the question Sunday morning.
"Go out with me, Kimberly."
"Where?"
"You didn't check your emails, did you?"
"I opened the one from Reese but didn’t look at the rest.”
A knock at the door startled us both. I jumped to one side, and Drake opened the door smoothly. My assistant, Teresa, was standing there.
"Oh, Kimberly, I thought I saw you come in." She looked frightened. "I'm truly so sorry about the mix-up in Aspen. I'm not sure how that happened. It never occurred to me to check the year. I mean, who on earth has booking already opened for next year?"
"Many hotels, actually," I said in a stern voice. I didn’t want her to feel bad, but this couldn’t happen again. "Please check from now on."
"I certainly will. Drake, I got in touch with that beverage supplier you asked me to, and I've got some updates. Are you free?"
"Yes, he is," I said.
Drake nodded at me. "Kimberly, let me know about that email."
Am I blushing? It feels like I'm blushing.
I cleared my throat, nodding in what I hoped was a professional manner. I walked slowly and composed right until I reached my office; then, despite my open-door policy, I closed it and raced to my desk, immediately clicking on my email. He'd sent me a calendar invite.
Oh my God. I couldn't decide if this was hilarious or romantic. Maybe a bit of both.
Subject: Meeting this evening.
Where: The Signature Room
Pickup time: 6:30 p.m. at the office.
I was giggling. Good thing I'd closed my door; the team would probably think I'd lost my mind, as I didn't think they'd ever heard me giggle. It wasn't professional. Then again, I didn't exactly feel professional right now. I was so happy, I wanted to pinch myself.
With a shaky hand, I clicked Yes to the invite and then drew a deep breath.
Okay, Kimberly. Now, get your wits about you and start working.
The great part of the day was that Travis agreed to move forward in negotiations on the property and put forward a bid.
The not-so-great part was that I worked at maybe 30 percent productivity.
My goal was to be as efficient as possible so I could enjoy my free time.
But today, I spent more time daydreaming about the evening.
As six thirty approached, I was on pins and needles.
Everyone was filtering out of the office, having finished their workday.
Travis never came back after his trip and instead went directly home, which was understandable.
Reese texted me, telling me she dropped by Tate’s house after they got back, which was good.
I was a big believer in work-life balance, and we encouraged our employees and ourselves to do just that.
At 6:20 p.m., there was a knock at my door. I’d been so involved in what I was doing that I’d forgotten I’d closed it. I stood up just as Drake opened the door. There wasn't much light in the corridor, and he looked so damn seductive with his silhouette against the dark background.
"Ready to go?" he asked in his gruff voice.
"Yeah." I closed my laptop, putting my bag on my shoulder and playing with the straps. I was nervous for some reason. I’d been looking forward to this the whole day, and now suddenly….
He came over to me. "Second thoughts?"
"No. I don't even know why I'm nervous."
"It's me and you, Kimberly," he said in that casual, comforting way he had.
"I know."
"Come on, let's go."
As I grabbed my coat, his phone rang. "It's my sister."
"Answer," I said. "Maybe she needs you."
"She only calls if she needs me," he replied, putting the phone to his ear.
"Hey." I could hear a female voice speaking quickly on the other end, and Drake closed his eyes. "Calm down. All right. Are you okay?"
His shoulders slumped, so I assumed that meant no one was in immediate danger. I stepped close to him, trying to read his expression. His eyes hardened. "I'll take care of everything, okay? Don't you worry about a thing. Speak to you soon." He hung up, pocketing his phone.
"What happened?"
"My sister went back to work last week. She has an emergency at work, and she can't send anyone else in her place."
"All right."
"She asked me to watch Michael."
"She wants you to babysit? Oh, that's cute."
"I'm sorry to do this, but—"
"No, you don't need to be. Actually, can I come with you?"
Drake looked absolutely stunned. "You want to come with me and babysit my nephew?"
"Yeah, why not? Maybe I can even talk to your sister like we spoke about." I stopped and held up a hand. "Wait, if I'm overstepping—”
"No, you're fucking not. This is the best thing that has ever happened to me.” He caressed my face as he looked deep into my eyes, saying, “You are."