Rowan

by MarieRochelle

  Akayie’s shocked eyes flew over towards the door and panic set in as she saw it was wide open. “Oh my God,” she whispered as Rowan’s fingers eased out of her body. He quickly got off her, pulled her up from the couch and yanked down her skirt as the footsteps got closer.

  “I told you that we would get caught,” she hissed, shoving him, “but you just had to have your way.”

  “Technically, we didn’t get caught, but I couldn’t resist kissing you, not with you looking so good in that skirt.” Rowan gave her another quick kiss before he walked towards his desk. He had just made it to the side before Morgan came through the door.

  “Good, you haven’t left for your…” The words stopped in Morgan’s mouth when he spotted her sitting on the couch. “Hey, Akayie, I didn’t realize you would be here. How are you doing?”

  She smiled at Morgan, hoping he couldn’t read the guilty look on her face. “I’m good. Rowan was just running some ideas by me about the calendar. It’s almost time for me to take his pictures and he had a few suggestions.”

  “Whatever he told you, do the exact opposite. I can’t have him outdoing me. You know that I want to be on the cover,” he teased, smiling back at her.

  “Now, I can’t make any promises about who will get the cover. I still have more pictures to take,” she answered, getting up from the couch. She went over to the chair and picked up her camera. “I’m going to leave so the two of you can talk.”

  Akayie was halfway to the door when Rowan’s voice stopped her. “Akayie, thank for making time to see me. Don’t forget we are having dinner tonight, so be ready by six.”

  “I’ll be ready,” she answered then continued towards the door.

  “Akayie, don’t leave. Do you have a minute?”

  Spinning back around, she looked at Morgan. “Yeah, sure, but I thought you came here to see your brother.”

  “I did, and it was about you, but since you are here I can just ask you myself.”

  “Okay, what is it?”

  “If you don’t have any shoots already lined up for the day, I was wondering if you might like to take some pictures of me at my office. I don’t have any clients today because it’s Friday. The only other person that will be there is my assistant, Nationia Hilton.”

  Excitement shot through her. “I would love to do that.” She really needed the time away from Rowan because what almost happened in here was too close for comfort. He was working some kind of magic on her that she wasn’t prepared for.

  “Great, but let’s get approval from your boss first,” Morgan said, turning to look at Rowan behind his desk. “Do you care if I steal away Akayie for a couple of hours? I will have her back here with more than enough time to get ready for your date.”

  Rowan looked at Morgan then back over to her. She knew that he had a problem before with her spending time with Morgan, but surely that still wasn’t an issue for him.

  “I can’t tell Akayie what to do,” Rowan answered, shocking her.

  “What?” Morgan said. “Usually you are trying to tell everyone within hearing distance of your domineering voice what to do and long it should take. What has changed?”

  He looked in her direction and smiled. “I’ve learned that using a gentler hand gets you more than an iron grip.”

  Akayie felt her face grow warmer at the double meaning of Rowan’s words. If Morgan had walked through that door a few minutes earlier, he would have seen the exact place his brother’s gentler touch had been exploring.

  “Damn, I can’t believe what I’m hearing. You look like my overbearing big brother, but you sure as hell don’t sound like him,” Morgan said. “What did you do to Rowan?” He looked in her direction and waited for an answer.

  “I haven’t done a thing,” she replied. “We have only been out once and that is it.”

  “Hell, if one date with you changes my loner brother like his, then go out with him every night. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen Rowan so…” Morgan tossed up his hands. “Honestly, I don’t know how to describe it, but I really like it. Who knew all he needed was a beautiful woman to stand up to him?”

  Akayie shook her head as she headed for the door. “I’m not beautiful, but thanks for the compliment, anyway.” She paused in her tracks when Morgan’s fingers wrapped around her arm. She glanced down at his hand then back up at his face.

  “What is it? I thought we were making a trip to your office. Have you changed your mind about it?”

  “We are, but I don’t want you to think I wasn’t serious about my compliment because I was,” he told her.

  “Morgan, enough with the compliments about Akayie before I get upset,” Rowan suddenly warned in a low voice.

  “I didn’t mean any harm,” Morgan said, letting go of her arm as he glanced over at his brother. “I was only giving her a compliment.”

  “Thanks for the compliment, but can we get on the road?” she asked.

  She felt a low humming tension building in the room between Rowan and Morgan over his praise towards her. She didn’t want her amazing morning to end as a huge blowup between them two of them.

  “Sure, let’s hit the room. Nationia is probably wondering where I’m at, anyway,” Morgan said, turning towards the door. “She worries about me way too much.”

  “You know why that is,” Rowan yelled at his brother as Akayie followed him out of the room.

  “What is Rowan talking about?” she asked Morgan once they were in the hallway heading for the front door.

  “Don’t pay any attention to him. He’s just trying to be a pain in my side. Besides, we have a lot of work to get done at my office. I promised Rowan that I would have you back at a certain time and I always keep my words.”

  Akayie wondered what Rowan meant by his comment, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. Right now, she had to focus on Morgan and she wanted to set up her shots with him. She would get into her questions later over dinner tonight with Rowan.

  Chapter Twenty

  Nationia doesn’t like me.

  Akayie couldn’t stop thinking that from the moment Morgan introduced them. Every time she got too close to Morgan, or touched him in any kind of way, the younger woman would give her the side eye. She wasn’t supposed to see it, being a master of it herself, but Nationia wasn’t good at hiding it from her.

  Akayie wondered if Morgan realized that his secretary was interested in more than a boss and employee relationship with him. Morgan was such a natural flirt that he was probably clueless to what was right in front of his face.

  Walking around Morgan’s desk, Akayie sat down on the edge and fixed the corner of his shirt for his pictures. It had looked a little crooked through the camera lens. He was such a good-looking guy and she wanted everything to be perfect for his pictures. He might be just the person to have the calendar flying off the shelves. She wanted to make Morgan and his brothers as much money as possible for their sister-in law’s charity.

  “Do you think I need to undo another button on my shirt?” Morgan asked, reaching for another button. “I mean, I don’t work out five days a week for nothing and we both know that Rowan’s ugly face isn’t going to be the selling point of the calendar, since I’m the one who got all of the good looks in the family.”

  Laughing, Akayie brushed Morgan’s hand away from his shirt. “Will you stop it? I don’t want your assistant coming over here pushing me away from you. I’ve been seeing the looks she has tossed my way since I walked through the door.”

  “Are you talking about Nationia?” he asked, glancing past her out the door.

  “Yes.”

  “I apologize. She’s usually a lot friendlier towards people. I did notice how she has stayed at her desk since you got here. I don’t know what has gotten into her lately. At first, she thought the calendar was a good idea but now she seems totally against it.”

  “Does she usually come in here more than she has today?” she questioned, giving Morgan’s collar one final pat.


  “Nationia is in and out of my office most of the day with clients’ files. She’s my right hand. I don’t know what I would do without her. She has been here since I practically started my business. She is like my best friend and I’m not friends with too many females. I can tell her anything and not get judged.”

  How could men be so dense sometimes? Nationia’s eyes were shooting daggers at her and it wasn’t because she wanted to be his friend. That girl wanted him the same exact way she wanted Rowan.

  Akayie decided to test her theory by moving closer to Morgan and brushing a piece of his hair off his forehead. A second didn’t pass before she heard a drawer slamming at Nationia’s desk. She could barely keep the smile off her face.

  Stepping back, she looked at Morgan then peeked over her shoulder at his assistant. Nationia barely got her head turned away before their eyes connected and the glare shooting from them proved her point. Shaking her head, she focused her attention back on Morgan.

  “You do know that she has feelings for you and it’s more than you being her best friend/boss, right?”

  Morgan groaned underneath his breath. “Why does everyone keep telling me that?” he asked, looking out the door again at his assistant and then back at her. “You are just as bad as my brothers. We are only friends. She has worked for me close to five years now. I’ve never seen her as a potential girlfriend. Our friendship means too much to me, because when I’m done dating someone that is it. It’s over and I never have anything else to do with them. I would hate for that to happen with Nationia. I care too much about her for that.”

  “I was just giving you my opinion. Nationia has feelings for you, and you’re ignoring what is directly in front of your face. You know that you are an attractive guy and women are going to be drawn to you, including your best friend. Just be careful you don’t brush off the signs for too long or you might end up making things worse for the both of you.”

  Picking up her camera off the desk beside Morgan’s leg, Akayie stepped back and started taking a few quick shots. She turned the camera around and looked at some of the shots. The camera truly loved Morgan’s chiseled features. He was going to captivate every woman in America with his good looks. Akayie took several more shots, wanting to have several to choose from later, back at the ranch. It was getting close to the time for her and Danya to sit down and start putting the mock calendar together for Rowan to look over and give his opinion.

  In the next few days, Danya was going to take Tanner’s photos at his ranch since Rowan tossed him off Braden Ranch a few weeks ago. She didn’t know what was going on between them, and when she brought it up the other day Rowan gave her one of his looks and she knew to drop it altogether. They were in a good place right now and she didn’t want to mess it up.

  “Can I ask you something personal?” she asked Morgan.

  “Depends on what it is,” he answered honestly.

  Taking the camera from around her neck, Akayie laid it down in the chair next to her. She hated going behind Rowan’s back with this, but he wasn’t opening up to her. She was falling for him, but there was still a wall between them. She had to break it down if she ever was going to get a piece of Rowan’s heart.

  “Why isn’t Dante a part of the decision making for this calendar if it’s for his wife? Also, why isn’t Tanner allowed back at Braden Ranch? What did he and Rowan get into a fight about that was so bad he was kicked off the property?”

  Morgan arched an eyebrow. “Wow, when you said personal question you really meant it, don’t you?” he said.

  Akayie glanced away embarrassed, but she couldn’t help wanting to know more about Rowan. He was so complex and hidden about certain aspects of his past. He wasn’t opening up to her like she wanted him to do because something was holding him back. Why shouldn’t she ask what it was?

  He fascinated her more than any other man she had ever known.

  “Sorry, if I overstepped my job duties, but I asked Rowan and he silenced me with one of those looks of his. I didn’t inquire again because I didn’t want us to get into a fight. We have been getting along so well lately.”

  He nodded. “Oh, I get those hard stares at least three times a week,” Morgan admitted, getting off his desk. He walked around her and took a seat on the couch. “Have a seat and I’ll tell you a tiny bit about Rowan’s past with Tanner and Dante, but he will have to fill you in on the rest. You are the first woman in a very long time my big brother has shown this kind of interest in. You’ve something about you that has drawn him out of that hard shell he built around his heart for the past several years.”

  Walking towards Morgan, Akayie sat down in a chair directly in front of him. She could barely contain her excitement about finally getting more information about Rowan. Morgan was always her go-to person since she arrived here, and he wasn’t about to let her down now.

  Thank God she got enough courage to ask him. Maybe now she might be able to get Rowan deeper into her life.

  “Rowan has always been a bit of a loner, ever since we were kids. He was close to us, but the friendship he had with Dante didn’t compare to anything he shared with us. Dante was not only his big brother, but his closet friend. They did everything together. So, when Dante didn’t come back home it hurt the rest of us, but it devastated Rowan. He wasn’t the same after that. He started to…”

  “Stop right there,” a voice snapped. “Don’t say another word.”

  Jumping in her seat, Akayie spun around and her eyes locked with Rowan’s angry blue ones as they shot back and forth between her and Morgan. A tense silence enveloped the room as no one said a word. Half in anticipation, half in dread, she nibbled at her bottom lip, wondering what Rowan’s next move was going to be. Her spirits were out of tempo as she continued to stare at the tension on Rowan’s gorgeous face.

  “What are you doing here?” she finally asked.

  Rowan walked further into the room and stopped behind her chair. He glanced down at her then at his brother. “I thought you might be finished taking pictures of Morgan by now, and I wanted to surprise you by picking you up and taking you to lunch. However, I was the one who got surprised walking in on my brother about to tell you all the secrets from my past.”

  “I…”

  “God, Rowan, calm down. I wasn’t going to tell Akayie anything you wouldn’t want her to know about you. I like Akayie, but you are my brother and all of your secrets are safe with me because we are family, but you do need to open up to her more,” Morgan said.

  “I will tell Akayie everything she needs to know when the time is right. It isn’t for you to decide for me.”

  “Look, I wasn’t trying to decide a damn thing for you.”

  Akayie got up and stood next to Rowan. She touched him on the arm, drawing his focus back on her. “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I shouldn’t have asked Morgan anything about you, but you are just so hard to read sometimes. I want to hear the entire story from you and I can wait until you are ready to tell me. Now, how about we go to lunch and you can tell me how your conference call went, and besides I’m starving. Taking pictures of your brother was a lot of work.”

  She gave Rowan a quick kiss and moved back from him. His entire face lit up as he ran the back of his hand down the side of her face. “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have gotten upset so quickly. Everything I’m experiencing with you is so new and I’m not used to it. I promise to tell you about Dante and Tanner later. Just remember if you want to know anything about me, please ask me and not any of my brothers,” he said.

  “Okay.” Akayie gave Rowan another kiss, a longer one this time, before stepping back. “Are you ready to leave? I know exactly where I want to go for lunch.”

  “Where?”

  “There is this new Mexican place near the hotel Danya and I was staying at. I meant to go there before I moved out to the ranch, but I never got a chance.”

  “I know the one you’re talking about, Papa Grande’s. I’ve heard a lot of good things about it.
Grab your stuff and we can get going.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Akayie answered. She looked back at Morgan. “Thanks for letting me come here and get some shots of you. If you come back to the ranch tomorrow, I should have them printed out and you can give me your opinion about them.”

  Morgan smiled at her. “I like that idea. I have two meetings early in the morning, but I should be there a little bit after one o’clock.”

  “Great, have a great day and remember what I told you. She is right there in front of your face.” Moving away from Rowan, she went around and picked up her stuff while he made his way towards the office door. She gave Morgan one final wave before grabbing Rowan’s hand and heading out the door. She stopped in front of Morgan’s assistant’s desk. She had to make sure that Nationia understood there wasn’t anything between her and Morgan.

  Akayie noticed how Nationia’s shocked eyes shot down to her and Rowan’s linked hands. “It was nice to meet you, Nationia,” she said.

  Nationia looked back up at her. “You too, Ms. Mathis,” she answered.

  “Will you please keep Morgan out of trouble for me? I have enough on my plate dealing with him,” she said, smiling up at Rowan. Her heart melted when he squeezed her hand and returned her smile.

  “I will do my best.”

  “Wonderful,” she answered before walking out the door and going towards the elevator.

  “What was that all about?” Rowan asked her once they were out of earshot from Nationia.

  “Morgan’s spunky assistant back there thought that I was trying to make the moves on him, which was totally crazy. I had to show her that there was only one Braden brother I was interested in getting to know better and it wasn’t the good old doctor back there.”

  Moving closer to her, Rowan slid his hand behind her neck and gently tugged her back against him. “I’m sorry I yelled at you back there. I was just surprised when I walked in and heard Morgan talking to you about Dante. He is still a tiny bit of a sore spot with me. I promise I will tell you all about it.” He brushed his lips slowly over hers before lifting his head. “Morgan was right about one thing, though.”