I cupped his face. This guy could melt me with one kiss. He’d sweep into bed and be gone before sunrise, but not until he’d rocked my world at least twice before he satisfied himself. Yet this moment was more intimate than all of those other times combined. “You’re not just anything. Everyone around you strives to be better, work harder, be the best version of themselves.”
His forehead creased. “I don’t want to make people feel like that.”
“Then let us in.”
Chapter 8
Aiden
* * *
A quick knock at my office door preceded Kendall poking her head in. “Got a minute?”
“Yes.” I clicked out of the projected expense report that should’ve been done last week. No later than the weekend, but I’d been rolling around on a wrestling mat with Kate, not giving a damn about the pile of work I’d left waiting.
With a quick smile, she clicked the door shut behind her and sat across from me. As Dad’s executive assistant, it wasn’t unusual for her to confer with me separately, but I got the sense from her tight shoulders and the pinch around her eyes that this was more.
“Is Dad okay?” Around the office, I called him Gentry, or Mr. King, depending on who I was talking to. Between us, he was just Dad.
Surprise flared in her eyes. “Yeah, he’s well.” Her unrepentant grin eased my anxiety. “You know I won’t let him be anything but stellar.”
She was a bulldog when it came to him, and she had my undying appreciation. A high-stress job and a life of traveling for work—not to mention eating high-sodium, high-fat foods, and drinking a few more brandies than needed—had given him a mild heart attack shortly after he’d married her.
Kendall had woven in more virtual meetings and online presentations and spun it so our investors thought we were being more environmentally conscious. Which was true. Technology didn’t replace the effectiveness of networking in person, but it was a balance that Kendall had a good feel for. Dad and Kendall went on lunch break walks if the weather was nice, and she ate the way Dad was supposed to. When he wasn’t constantly on the road or in the air, it was easier to take care of himself.
It was a good thing his heart attack had happened after he’d met her. He’d been too afraid to let someone get close to him for so long, but he was all in with her. And she with him, making her the only one who could’ve gotten him to the doctor and then sorted out the lifestyle changes afterward. My brothers couldn’t have. I wouldn’t have been able to. Dad didn’t want me interfering in his life any more than I wanted him meddling in mine. I might’ve had more luck getting through to him that he needed to change his habits because of work, but that was the majority of our relationship. Work.
So if it wasn’t Dad that was worrying her, it was work. Or me. “What’s going on?”
“I’ve talked with Gentry again about approaching the board.” Grams. She was the president, but the rest of the board followed her lead. She made sure of it. “We’d like to add more positions to the company, including at least two in the inner office. But really, we need at least three. In reality, a lot more, but I thought it’d be easier to start conservative.”
I folded my hands on top of the desk but concentrated on not wringing them. Discussion about adding more people to the inner office didn’t just stress Grams. “She’s going to balk.”
Kendall sighed. “I know. But I’ve gone through three other exploration and production companies that are similar in size and operation to King Oil. Compared to them, we are down a senior vice president, a VP for finance and treasury, and another one for operations.” She tapped her tablet. “Actually, we’re short on VPs for all major departments. Mrs. Chan could easily be promoted to marketing VP and we could hire a replacement for her old position. Gentry has trusted people in engineering and operations, but he shouldn’t have to oversee them all. That’s what a VP would do.”
“That’s five positions.” I lifted a shoulder. “Four, since you function as more of a VP than an executive assistant.”
“Exactly. We all function as something else. I’m Gentry’s executive assistant and take a lot of a VP’s duties. You’re doing the job of CFO and finance and treasury VP. Mrs. Chan is in the same position, and what happens when our top engineers find other jobs that don’t require such long hours?”
“They’re paid for those hours.” I hated to be the dick that pointed it out, but Grams would do the same. She had. Several times.
“They are compensated well. No one can accuse King Oil of crappy wages or benefits.”
That topic had kept me up more nights than I could count. Job security. Compensation. I had cost enough employees their livelihood.
“But,” she continued, “I have wage and benefit package comparisons too. We’re not that much better. Ultimately, we can’t keep going like this, Aiden. Emilia needs to understand that a company isn’t any stronger than its employees and if they’re burning out at alarming rates, the business will burn out.”
What she said resonated more than it had in the past. I didn’t approve of how Grams presided over the board as if the other members didn’t have a say, how she maneuvered the votes to go how she wanted. But when it came to this topic, the topic of hiring another VP to work under me, I’d resisted. For good reason. And Grams had backed me up without saying as much.
I wasn’t a natural micromanager. I hadn’t wanted to be. Until I’d experienced the hell that was having the buck stop at me when the person under me, the vice president that Kendall had wanted to hire, had majorly fucked up.
So I didn’t push Grams when it came to the inner office. Between Dad’s relationship with Kendall and my brothers nearly ignoring the stipulations of the trust, she’d been pushed more than she had in her whole life.
“All right,” I said. “All we can do is approach her and lay out the data. Hope she sees the need.”
Kendall leveled her turquoise gaze on me. “I need your voice too, Aiden.”
Damn. Anxiety curled up my spine. I didn’t want to oversee anyone. That just gave me more information that I might miss. I wouldn’t suffer the repercussions. I was the boss’s kid. Wasn’t that what the headlines had said shortly after I started in this position?
“Let me know what you need.” It wasn’t exactly noncommittal. Grams might see reason and approve more positions, and that didn’t have to be anyone under me.
“I need numbers,” Kendall said. “How much would it cost to advertise for and hire qualified applicants, and for job retention. Emilia’s going to see the cost and that a handful of us are already getting it done. I’d like you to put a price on how much it would cost the company if we lost you, or Gentry.”
My brow furrowed. “We’re not going anywhere.”
“Not by choice.”
My eye twitched at her statement.
“Don’t mean to be morbid, but this isn’t healthy. I love this job. So does Gentry. So do you. But there’s more out there, and our balance is weighed too heavily on one side.”
This topic had come up again because of my meltdown. Shame burned in my gut. “I’m sorry about that week I was out.” And this last weekend I’d taken too much time off. I couldn’t regret it, but then it hadn’t affected just me.
Her gaze softened. “It’s not that, Aiden. You’ve been long overdue for a week off. When was the last time you took a vacation?”
I’d been with the company for nearly ten years. I’d busted through my bachelor’s degree and fast-tracked a master’s so I could get on staff and be useful.
“Exactly,” she answered for me. “Between you and Gentry and me, we haven’t used any of our leave. I doubt we could dig through our comp time in a month or two before we had to tap our vacation days. Did you even take a honeymoon?”
“Yes.”
She cocked her head and her knowing gaze bored into me.
Right. She’d talked to Dad. “Kate and I went to the French Riviera for a long weekend.”
“A long weekend
,” she echoed. “And you probably still worked.”
I lifted a shoulder. My mama had had a way of asking questions that would lead me to admitting to just what she’d planned to accuse me of. Kendall was on the same track.
I clicked my computer screen on. “I’ll get you those numbers.”
Kendall watched me for a heartbeat just like Dad would’ve. Not only was she my stepmom, but she was like an extension of Dad. A parental figure that was my age. “Thank you. But don’t do it at the cost of taking care of yourself.”
If I didn’t do that, then I’d never get any work done.
Kate
* * *
I kept the engine running after I parked in front of the trailer.
My pulse rate kicked up and I clutched my phone. I needed to call Aiden. It’d been three days since our time wrestling, but his heat hadn’t left me. The weight of his big body. His defined muscles. That kiss.
I was giving him time, but I hadn’t considered that it might mean we’d stay together.
I pressed a hand to my fluttering stomach. This feeling rivaled the nerves I’d had on our first date. I’d been so nervous that I’d almost thrown up. My face had flushed so hard it’d looked like I was on day four of being sick with mono. I’d even taken my temperature to make sure I hadn’t come down with something.
I blew out a breath and hit the button for my husband.
He answered immediately. “Kate.”
“Hey, you mind if I stop by the house tomorrow and grab some of my belongings?”
“Anytime.”
My eyelids drifted shut at the way he purred the answer. Did everything about the man have to turn me on? “Thanks. It’s a last-minute conference. I mean, the conference isn’t last-minute. Well, it’s usually earlier in the year, and my boss was supposed to go, but her dad landed in the hospital. The admins said they could transfer her registration to me. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy with the airlines, but the conference covers innovative uses of communications in the library. Between the cost and the massive amount our patrons use our electronic services, someone should get the information.”
I wrinkled my nose and picked at the hem of my jacket. None of this mattered to him. Like before, I couldn’t dam the rambling.
“When do you fly out?”
“It was supposed to be Friday morning, but I might have to take the red-eye from Denver to Indianapolis. They’re going to check tomorrow.”
“You can use the jet.”
The private plane King Oil used? Aiden’s brothers also used it occasionally for personal reasons, and when Aiden and I had started dating, he’d flown me to New York for a meal that cost almost as much as my first semester of college. “No. It’s all right.”
“Consider it a donation. For the library.”
It’d help the budget since they wouldn’t have to buy a second set of tickets. “Are you sure?”
“What are the details?”
“Well, it’d be nice to get there Friday night for a networking meeting.”
“Want to leave Thursday?”
I closed my eyes again, picturing him scribbling notes at his desk, his broad shoulders curved over a small square of paper. He didn’t need to write a single detail down. His memory was a steel trap, but he wasn’t a guy who could sit still for long. He did, out of pure discipline, but at home, he paced the house when he was in a long-distance meeting and he often dictated notes to himself when he mowed the lawn. “Yes, that’s fine. I wouldn’t be able to fly back until Sunday afternoon. I don’t want to tie the plane up for that long.”
“Do you want to leave Thursday afternoon, or in the evening?”
My eyes fluttered open. “Aiden, it’s okay.”
“Kate, whatever you need.”
Was he talking about us, or the trip? “It’s this Thursday. I don’t want to make it inconvenient.”
“When are you coming over?”
“I have Thursday off. I can just swing by on my way to the airport.” Aiden would be at work and I wouldn’t have to bug him any further.
“I’ll double-check everything and send you a confirmation. It should take less than an hour.”
The King Oil Gulfstream flight crew would answer Aiden immediately. “I appreciate it. I’ll let you go now.”
“Kate—”
I waited for him to finish, but he didn’t continue. “Aiden?”
“How was work?”
“Good.” Had he ever asked me about work before? “Other than the conference rearrangement, it was pretty quiet. Normal.”
“Lauren applied here.”
“Lauren? From the library?” She was one of our regular patrons, and the staff was extremely protective of her. She wore stilettos and dressed for a Southern brunch when it was the middle of winter. Most days she tied a bandana around her military cut, and many times, she didn’t shave her salt-and-pepper five o’clock shadow. She talked with a low rumble while wearing her reading glasses, peering at everyone over them as if she were working on the computer. I considered her more of a friend than a patron after all these years.
“The same. She applied for the entrance receptionist position. She put you as a reference but didn’t list a number. Human Resources asked if it was okay to get your personal phone number.”
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
“No need. I said you spoke highly of her. I gave her a reference.”
He remembered me talking about Lauren? It’d been nothing more than commenting about the old war movies Lauren wanted to check out and maybe a running tally of how many online MS Office courses she’d completed during her allotted computer time.
“Do you think she’ll get the job?” Lauren hadn’t done reception work before. She’d mentioned once that she’d spent thirty years working a tow truck but wanted a job out of the elements to get her to her retirement years.
“I don’t pull rank often, but I expect my reference will go further than the others.”
He spoke so plainly my lips twitched. “I hope that means she’s not going to quit coming into the library.”
“She won’t be between the hours of eight and five Monday through Friday.”
I chuckled. Aiden’s sense of humor didn’t make an appearance nearly enough. “Thank you for checking on the flight.”
“The pilot just messaged. They aren’t scheduled, so your trip is cleared.”
That flight was more money than a lot of annual donations the library received.
I was about to ask him if I could stop by Wednesday night, perhaps late enough to catch him at home, when a phone rang.
A soft gust of breath came over the line. “I have to go.”
Work beckoned. “Thanks again, Aiden.”
As he disconnected to go back to work, I couldn’t quit smiling.
Chapter 9
Aiden
* * *
I whipped my pickup into a parking spot and hopped out. I yanked out my suitcase from the back seat and took off toward the terminal where the King Oil plane waited. It was supposed to have taken off twenty minutes ago, but I’d been hung up by a damn laptop. My travel computer had failed and I’d nearly pounded our IT guy’s door off the hinges to get another one running with all the programs I needed.
I didn’t take the time to use the wheels. With the suitcase in one hand and my tech bag in the other, I swept through the terminal and outside. The pilot waved from her seat in the cockpit. I lifted my chin, hating that I was holding up the show.
Luna probably didn’t care. She was getting paid the same amount no matter what, and this delay was nothing compared to what her commercial pilot of a husband experienced in his job, but it was a matter of pride. I didn’t abuse those who worked for me.
Mama had made sure I knew better than that.
Our longtime flight attendant’s back was to me when I charged inside. Kate was in one of the quad seats that we sometimes used for meetings in the air. She was unloading a book from her tote bag, her hand stallin
g and her eyes going wide when she saw me.
A pair of dark-rimmed glasses sat on her face. She never wore her glasses.
Shirley spun, her grandmotherly eyes sparkling. “Oh, I’m sorry, Aiden. I didn’t see you coming.” I didn’t recall her calling me Mr. King once, and I wouldn’t change a thing. A private plane was better if it felt like I was flying with friends. To Shirley, all of us were like her kids. “What can I get you, hon?”
“All I need is a moment with Kate.”
She gave me an indulgent grin. “I can do that. Just let me get the door closed and latched.”
Kate watched me stalk toward her. Her book was still half in and out of the bag. She stuffed it back in. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” I said as I dropped in the seat across from her. I’d left my suitcase by the entrance. Shirley was picky about where they were stored or I would’ve done it myself. I dropped the tech bag on the seat next to me. “I’m coming with.”
I tensed as I waited for her reaction. I rarely overstepped like this with my wife. The trust money had been enough.
She blinked, her eyes wide. “Oh. I didn’t realize that you had business in Indianapolis.”
“I…sure.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t?”
“I thought it’d be a good time to talk.”
“I’ll be in workshops, and the social Saturday night—” She blinked again and shook off an unvoiced thought. “It’s for attendees only.”
“That’s fine.” I tipped my head toward my tech bag. “I’ll be working.”
She adjusted her glasses like she wanted to take them off but didn’t want a blurry world. They were cute, highlighting her wide hazel eyes. “And where will you stay?”
Disappointment pummeled my insides like a punching bag. After our time grappling on the mat, I’d hoped we’d moved further than that. But that was the point of hitchhiking on my own plane. To find out what was still broken between us and figure out how to fix it. It was my fault I’d thought a few minutes of honest discussion in a rec center would be enough.
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