by K. M. Scott
“What’s that face for?” Ethan asked, tearing me from my memories.
“I was just wondering if Mom and Dad ever knew you’d brought your girlfriend over that night. Do you remember how she had to climb out your bedroom window?”
A sly smile spread across his face, and he threw his head back in peals of laughter. “I can’t believe you remember that! Damn. We were right in the middle of having some fun when you yelled up about Mom and Dad pulling up the driveway. Poor Shelby. She twisted her ankle climbing down the lattice, and by the time I got down to her, she was in tears. I had to carry her all the way to the back of the estate before we snuck through the fence and she hobbled the four blocks to her house.”
“And you had to run all the way back while we kept Mommy and Daddy at the front door talking about wine tasting and how Aunt Jordan and Uncle Gage were doing,” Diana said with a giggle. “Daddy kept looking at Tressa and me like he suspected something, but he never asked. Thank God, because he would have seen in my eyes that I was lying.”
“Then I would have had to give him my serious face because he always trusted my serious face,” I said. “You still owe us for that, Ethan.”
He smiled and nodded. “I know. I owe you guys for a ton of stuff from back when I was a teenager. What can I say? I don’t know what I would have done without you two.”
For a moment, we all looked at one another like we used to when we were younger, and it felt good. We’d drifted apart in the past few years, but I could never forget that my brother and sister were my first best friends in the world.
And then Ethan, in his usual funny way, looked over at me and said, “Are you ready to start asking questions? Because it’s pretty damn obvious you had no idea what was going on in the entire first half of this game.”
Leave it to my brother to point out how painfully lacking I was with the one thing Killian excelled at. I lowered my head and quietly admitted the truth.
“I honestly have no idea. Like where is this pocket in his uniform you guys keep talking about? And why can’t I see the screen you keep mentioning when he passes the ball?”
My questions were met with silence for a few moments before the two of them burst into laughter. Diana leaned over on the couch and hugged me in my embarrassment.
“Don’t feel bad, Tressa. Ethan knows all about football because he played it, and I know a little from those Sundays when I went to the games with Dad. But don’t worry. We can help. We have a whole second half for you to ask whatever you want.”
I looked up to see both Ethan and Diana eager to help me understand the game. That’s what they’d always been deep down, no matter how strained things got among us. They were my brother and sister, and for good and for bad, we were family.
* * *
The touch of someone’s hand on my shoulder startled me, and I sat bolt upright in bed to see Killian next to me wearing a big smile and nothing else. While my heart returned to its normal beat, I wiped the sleep from my eyes.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up. I just got back and came directly here. I figured I’d surprise you in the morning.”
“It’s okay. How did it all go?” I asked, knowing even in my groggy state that the team had won against New Orleans hours before.
“Twenty-eight, twenty. I had an interception, but other than that, pretty good. We’re eight and two and now we’re on a bye week, so I’m all yours until next Wednesday.”
I stared at him, amazed at how cute he got whenever he talked about football. “I’m sorry I’m not more fun. You’re on vacation, and I’m all knocked out.”
Killian slid his arm around me, pulling me to him. “Shhh. Go back to sleep. We can talk more in the morning.”
My nose pressed against the skin of his neck, and I inhaled, loving how he smelled so clean, like soap and water that had washed away the remnants of his day. Curling up next to him, I sighed, perfectly content to be there with him at that moment. If there was anything like bliss that existed in the world, I experienced it in his arms at times like this.
My eyes fluttered closed as Killian slowly ran his fingertip up and down my arm, lulling me back to sleep.
“Boyd, I’m on vacation this week, which you and I both know means I only want you to call me if it’s an absolute emergency. The fact that there’s a strike at a factory in the UK which is going to hold up the reupholstering of the lobby chairs at the London Richmont is not an emergency.”
My assistant stared at me in shocked silence, which wasn’t surprising since he’d never seen me take a vacation before this and he’d grown accustomed to problems always being emergencies. Both of those were my fault, but now I wanted things done differently.
“Tressa, I’m sorry. I thought you’d want to know about this right away,” he said, his eyes wide with fear.
He had every reason to be afraid. The old Tressa all too often found a reason to bark at him for just about anything.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize. The chairs in the lobby of the London Richmont will get reupholstered when they do. In the meantime, hold down the fort and only call me if there’s something you can’t handle that comes up. I have faith in you, Boyd. It will be fine.”
I smiled because I knew he was as capable an assistant as anyone had ever had. He’d never let me down before, and I believed he’d do a great job this week while I stayed away from the office.
“Thank you, Tressa. I won’t let you down.”
“I know. I’m sorry I don’t tell you that more often, but I’ve always known.”
The fear in my assistant’s eyes melted away at my kind words, and he visibly relaxed on the screen in front of me. “Have a wonderful vacation. I’ll see you next week.”
I ended the call and leaned back against the chair. From behind me, I felt Killian’s hands slide over my shoulders, and I looked back at him.
“Did I wake you up with my call? I didn’t mean to. It was just Boyd calling about some issue with the lobby chairs in the redesign in London.”
“I heard,” he said with a smile. Leaning down to kiss me, he added, “I also heard you tell him you’re on vacation and not to bother you. Who are you and what have you done with my Tressa?”
“Funny. We’ve had this time off planned for months. The company can do without me for a week.”
He walked into the kitchen and yelled back, “Again, who are you and what have you done with my Tressa? The woman I fell in love with was a hyper Type A who never took time off and worked day and night. Vacation was a four-letter word to that woman.”
I sat there in my chair stunned at what he’d said. Love? Neither one of us had ever used that four-letter word before in all the time we’d been together.
Killian returned to the living room and sat down on the couch to drink his coffee as I wrestled with how I should respond. Was I supposed to tell him I loved him too? I did and had for months, but I’d never said the actual words to him. Should I just not say anything and act like I hadn’t heard him say he loved me for the first time?
Lost in thought, I didn’t notice he’d said something until he tapped me on the knee, tearing me from my mental tug-of-war about what to do. “What? I didn’t hear you. What did you say?”
“I asked if you were okay. You looked a million miles away. Something wrong?”
Shaking my head, I tried to think of a good lie so he wouldn’t know all I could think of was that he’d said he loved me, but my mind went blank.
He seemed satisfied with my non-answer answer and leaned back against the couch to close his eyes. If only I could relax after hearing those words.
I definitely loved Killian. I had for so long that I just took it for granted that he knew. I didn’t know why we never said it before today. There had been hundreds of times in the past months when I could have said it. The man had pursued me when I fought him at every turn. He made me smile when no one else could, mostly with his stupid jokes and refusal to let me wallow in worry or negativity.<
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“You’re uncharacteristically silent today, Tressa. I’m not sure I like the vacation you. I’m used to the Tressa who talks more. What’s going on?”
My brain short-circuited, and I blurted out, “You said you loved me. That you fell in love with me. You’ve never said that before this morning.”
He smiled in that sexy way that never failed to make my stomach flip and shrugged. “I’ve found that coming at you from a place you aren’t expecting usually works best. So I didn’t tell you I loved you when I first wanted to. I just decided to work it into a conversation one day. Today happened to be that day.”
“I really am that difficult, aren’t I?” I asked, sad that the man I loved felt like he needed to sneak his declaration of love into a conversation so I didn’t give him a hard time about it.
Killian shook his head and leaned over to kiss me sweetly on the lips. “Not difficult. Unique. You’ve just got some walls up around you, so I decided to tunnel in instead.”
Looking into his green eyes that I’d once thought might have the ability to hypnotize me into caring about him more than I wanted to, I said the words I should have said months before. “I love you, Killian.”
He shrugged, and with a smile, made a joke just when he knew I needed one. “I know.”
“And you love me.”
“Of course I do. I’ve been in love with you for months. If I didn’t think you’d bolt, I would have told you when I first realized it.”
I hung my head and quietly said, “I’m sorry for being so…unique.”
Kneeling in front of me, he smiled up at me. “Don’t be. You keep me on my toes, Tressa. There are men who wouldn’t appreciate that, but they’re not me. And we didn’t have to say the actual words I love you to feel them.”
I ran my hand through his soft brown hair, and he laid his head on my thigh as I admitted the truth of how I felt. “I’ve loved you since that night up in the Catskills, you know that?”
“You run, and I chase you. And even after I caught you, I still chased because you’ll always want to run. That’s okay, though, because I’ll always chase.”
That was who we were. I didn’t know if it would work with any other man for me or any other woman for him, but it didn’t matter. It worked for us.
Chapter Nineteen
Tressa
Reaching around him, I adjusted Killian’s tie as I looked at the two of us in the mirror. Just like with his tux, he wore a suit better than any man I’d ever seen. “You clean up nicely,” I joked as I finished fixing his tie.
“I do, don’t I?” he said with a sexy grin as he leaned forward to admire his look.
“You’re so cocky, Killian. You know that?”
He raised his eyebrows in fake surprise and laughed. “Confident. Cocky doesn’t have the goods to deliver. I do.”
I stepped in front of him and pushed him away from the mirror. “You’ve done enough fawning over yourself for one night. I need to check myself out to make sure I’m ready.”
Rolling his eyes, he walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge as I examined my black dress for any imperfections. I loved Killian more than I could say, but I didn’t love some of the things that came with being with a man like him.
Actually, I just disliked one thing. Attending events with him where there was sure to be press in droves. He loved having his picture taken, as he always had. I still hated it, no matter how much I tried not to. I’d gotten a little better in the time we’d been together, and I didn’t freeze in terror at the sight of a camera anymore, but given the choice, I’d avoid any event if I could.
From behind me, I heard him say, “You look incredible. You always do. I don’t know why you worry about these things.”
I ran my hand over my cheekbones wishing my makeup looked better. “I worry because I want to look good. You should care about that since every picture they take tonight will have me standing right next to you.”
“You act as if that would ruin them, Tressa. You’re gorgeous. You make me look better, if I’m being honest. You’re the real draw anyway since there are a million pictures out there of me by now. Since this is only the fifth event we’ve done together, you’re the one who’s the new thing. I wouldn’t be surprised if they asked for you and told me to step away.”
Spinning around to face him, I shook my head as the mere idea of that happening filled me with terror. “Don’t you dare leave me like that, Killian Brenton.”
He stood and walked over to me. Taking me in his arms, he kissed me and whispered against my lips, “Uh-oh. She used my full name. This must be serious.”
“Promise me you won’t step away, even if someone stupidly thinks they should take a picture of me alone.”
Killian’s expression grew serious. “I won’t step away, Tressa. Not tonight. Not ever. I promise.”
I breathed a sigh of relief and the fear subsided. “Okay. Good. Now let me make sure I look perfect since we have to leave soon.”
Taking a lock of hair between his fingers, he lifted it away from my head as he walked away. “You’re always perfect.”
I leaned in toward the mirror and wished that was true. My makeup never lasted for more than a couple hours before it started to look stale. Whipping out the mascara wand from the tube, I gave my lashes a third coat and wished I had gone with the false eyelashes this time. Frustrated, I tossed the mascara into my makeup tray and sighed at the face staring back at me in the mirror.
Why did people need so many damn pictures anyway?
Killian squeezed my hand as the car slowly stopped in front of the Manhattan Room. One glance out the window told me the press had come out in force for the NYCBest! launch party. Dozens of people rushed the car in the few seconds we sat there, and I swallowed hard as fear swirled inside me.
He smiled sweetly and kissed me on the forehead. “This is going to be great. You look beautiful. I’ve got you. Remember that. I’ll have your hand the whole time, so it’s just like we’re going out for dinner or a few drinks, right?”
Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly as I tried to calm my nerves and racing heart. “Right. Just like that.”
“I love you, Tressa,” he whispered as he pressed his forehead to mine. “Thank you for being here with me tonight.”
All it took were those few words, and in a second, I relaxed and my anxiety about what awaited us outside that car melted away. I squeezed his hand in return and took another deep breath.
“I love you. Let’s go do this magazine launch and show them why it was a good idea to choose you as their cover model.”
Killian rolled his eyes. “You sound like Sherilyn now. She’s been calling me that for months since she found out they planned to put my picture on the front of their magazine’s first edition. I’m not a cover model. I play football.”
“I think it would be a cover model and football player as of tonight. Don’t downplay this. You love it, and you know it,” I teased him, knowing everything I said was true.
He did love it, and even though I still wasn’t someone who appreciated the limelight, he did so I supported him.
“Fine. I like it,” he grudgingly admitted. “Now let’s go out there and have a good time.”
A second later, he opened the car door and all I saw were reporters and cameras. Killian held my hand securely in his and helped me out of the car, standing in front of me so I had a few moments to get my bearings. Men and women barked out questions before the car door even closed behind us, but I attempted to block out the noise and focused on keeping a smile on my face as the two of us began walking toward the front door of the club.
They asked the usual questions about how he felt the team was doing and if he thought they’d go all the way to the championship. Every so often, one asked about us and our relationship, but after six months together, very few reporters seemed to focus much on that anymore. I silently thanked God that they didn’t because the last thing I wanted to do was be the center of attentio
n at any event I attended with Killian.
He was the star quarterback, the one who enjoyed the spotlight. They should focus on him and his career. We were just two people dating who’d finally said I love you a few hours before. Nothing to see here. Go find some starlet with man troubles to bother about her relationship. We’re just two happy people in love.
By the time we walked into the Manhattan Room, my hand hurt from holding onto Killian’s so tightly. He didn’t seem to mind, though, and when I pulled mine away to stretch out my fingers, he immediately sought it out, even as he made small talk with a man standing in front of us.
When the man turned around, I leaned in next to Killian and whispered, “My hand’s cramping up. I guess I was pretty nervous out there. I figured you might like your hand back for a few minutes.”
“You sure? I got you. Don’t forget that.”
“I’m okay,” I said as I continued to stretch my fingers out. “Let’s celebrate your big night.”
We finally made our way into the club to see balloons and streamers in the magazine’s blue and red signature colors hanging from the ceiling and tied to every chair in the room. As he said something to me about balloon overkill, Sherilyn hurried over to us and latched onto his arm.
“You have to come over and meet the people who started NYCBest!” she squealed in her usual excited way. “Have you seen the enormous life-sized picture of the cover on the wall over there? Just wait until you see it!”
I’d always found Killian’s publicist a bit much for my tastes, but he’d explained even though she did tend to be a little over the top sometimes, she’d been with him since his college days supporting his career in any way she could. She rarely spoke to me, and when she did I had a feeling she had to force herself to, but since I’d had to see her only a handful of times since we started dating, I put up with her and always had a smile on my face when she was nearby.