I stashed the cup in the storage bin my helmet came out of with the bag of food, and hoped nothing spilled on my ride. I took the turns slowly and prayed with each one that her coffee and my bike survived.
The cup was still upright when I arrived. My cheek was starting to hurt, so I went looking for Kiana hoping for some sympathy. A few kisses would help me feel better.
“I brought breakfast since you ran out so fast this morning,” I said when I walked into her office.
She shushed me, pointing to the phone. Someone was speaking. She pressed a button and said, “That all sounds great. I think we have everything figured out. Same time next week?”
“Definitely. Thanks Kiana. I’m really looking forward to meeting you.”
“Me too. Bye, Steve.”
“Have a good day, Kiana.”
She hung up but kept scribbling on the notepad in front of her. I took a few minutes to stare at her. She had her hair pulled back in a neat ponytail. I could only see her top half, but the coral top that crossed just above her breasts gave me a hell of a view of the cleavage I’d had my hands on just a few hours earlier. My mouth watered thinking of getting my lips back on her skin.
“Stop looking at me like that,” she said with a grin. “Everyone’s going to know something’s going on.”
“Why is that a bad thing?”
She shrugged and avoided my eyes.
“I don’t want everyone around here to think I’m screwing the help.”
“I’m the help?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
I sat down across from her and handed over her coffee. “Then tell me what you meant.”
“I need to make sure everyone knows I’m in charge. I don’t want them thinking you’re pulling my strings.”
“I’d love to pull your strings, but not here. This is your world. I’m just visiting.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Are you not planning to stay here? Are you looking for something else?”
I shook my head. “No. I never planned to be a wedding photographer though. I think I’ll enjoy it a lot more when my boss talks to me instead of glares at me.”
She pursed her lips, her cheeks puffing. I grinned and winked at her, and a laugh burst from her.
“See. It’s better already.”
“Anthony always said if everyone knew we were together, they would question my authority. I don’t want that to happen.”
I sighed, staring past her out the window. I wanted to blast that asshole. He twisted everything in her mind to have it all his way. And I was dealing with it. Why any man would want to hide a relationship with someone like Kiana baffled me, but he was clearly not right in the head.
“I respect your opinions, but I have to disagree. I don’t think this is how you really want it. I’m guessing you wanted to tell people you were dating him and he talked you out of it.”
She shrugged noncommittally, making me think I was spot on.
“I don’t want to hide whatever is happening between us. I already took two shots from your brother for it. I—”
“What!” she blurted, jumping up from her seat.
I turned my cheek so she could see Kapena’s handiwork.
Her hand ghosted over my skin, giving me goosebumps. Her fingers touched my cheek, and my eyes slid closed. She caressed me gently, then her lips touched my cheek.
I growled and tugged her into my lap. She laughed and let me kiss her. I wrapped my hand into her ponytail, loving the feel of the strands running through my fingers. I grew hard under her ass, again desperate to have her someplace private.
She pulled back, her red lipstick smeared and her eyes beautifully glossy.
“You make me forget where I am.”
“You make me forget everything,” I said.
She crawled off my lap. “I’m sorry about my brother.”
“Well, there goes my erection. Won’t have to worry about that.”
She laughed. “You can’t use it here anyway. I should have stayed and talked to Kapena. I’m sorry about him.”
I shook my head and shifted in the seat. “It’s fine. He’s pissed off, but I told him I’m not here to hurt you. Speaking of which, know anyplace else I can live?”
“Why?”
“Staying with him was always supposed to be temporary. I think it’s time I find my own place.”
“Did he tell you to leave?”
I shook my head. “No, but I don’t think he’ll be crushed if I do. He was pissed that you were in my room.”
“I’ll talk to him.”
“Nah, it’s fine. I get it.”
“I wanted you to live there for a selfish reason. I was hoping you’d be friends and he would relax a little. He still thinks he has to take care of me.”
“You’re his little sister. I get that. My brother is getting married over the summer, but I still feel like I have to watch out for him.”
“How old is your brother?”
“He just turned thirty-four.”
“And you are?”
“Are you fishing, Ms. Palu?”
She shrugged, her eyes dropping to her lap.
“I’m thirty-seven. Don’t you know that from my employment stuff? I thought you knew my social security number, date of birth, and mother’s maiden name.”
She laughed, a throaty chuckled that was different from the flirtatious giggles she’d given me in the past. I liked them all. Maybe a little too much.
“I probably do have all of that somewhere. Jack does a lot of that kind of thing though. He’s sort of like my HR department and right hand man in one.”
“Did I hear my name?” Jack asked, walking into the room. He was in another suit, a cream one this time, with a hot pink tie over a navy blue dress shirt. I had to laugh when I saw his navy shoes. “What’s so funny?”
I shook my head. “I’ve never known anyone with your sense of style.”
“I’m not surprised. I see how you dress. I imagine most of the people you know roll out of bed and grab whatever almost clean clothes they find on the floor.”
That hit a little too close to home. That was basically what I did most days. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Jack’s perfectly manicured eyebrows arched toward his hairline. “Tell me you’re joking.”
“I don’t like putting away my laundry. It’s just as clean as if it were in a dresser. Besides, the room I’m in isn’t very big.”
“You should have moved in with Kiki instead. She has a big extra bedroom. And an even bigger master.”
“Jack,” Kiana hissed.
“Oh, please,” he said with a wave of his hand. “I know something happened between the two of you. It’s the first time you haven’t been at his throat since he got here.”
“She doesn’t want anyone to know about us,” I supplied.
Jack pursed his lips and looked between us. “You know everyone around here knew about you and Anthony, right? I mean, except me, which I take great offense to. They all told me you two were together, but you insisted it was just ugly rumors and I believed you.”
“You know why I didn’t tell you,” she said, her dark eyes pleading with him.
Jack nodded. “Because you knew I would tell you he wasn’t worth your time.”
“Jack,” she warned.
He shrugged. “I would have been right. He wasn’t worth your time. And you’ve spent weeks running from this hunk of beef instead of trapping him in your bed,” Jack said with a hand on my shoulder. “I tried to get him to play for my team, but he said no.”
Kiana raised her eyebrows. I just shrugged. It was the most relaxed I’d seen her. She wasn’t threatening to fire me or telling me to leave. She was talking to me and laughing with me. And letting me into her little circle.
“I have to admit I’m happy to hear that,” she said softly.
Jack clapped me on the back then rubbed his hands together. “On that note, my work here is done. I’m going back to my office
to get things together. I’ll wait for your word to move forward with the rest of the stuff for the Carrington wedding. When you’re ready, we’ll have it all set.”
Kiana eyed me and nodded at Jack. He left just as quickly as he came, oblivious to my pain when he simply mentioned Carrington’s name.
“I’m sorry,” Kiana said.
I met her eyes and shook my head. “Don’t. This is your business, and from what you said yesterday, it’s a great opportunity. You’d be crazy not to take this on.”
“Yeah, but it’s brought back a lot of pain for you.”
“Kiana, listen,” I said, going around to her side of the desk. I sat on the edge and tilted her chin up so I could see her eyes. “You didn’t know me when you agreed to this. Even if you did, it would have been insane to say no. I’ll handle it. We’ll make this the best wedding Opposites Attract has ever seen.”
“You’re going to do it?” she asked, excitement and surprise warring in her voice and eyes.
I nodded. “I’ll do it. I’m anxious as hell, but I’ll do it for you.”
She clapped, her grin broadening. “This is great. I had no idea who I was going to get. The pictures you’ve done so far have been amazing. You’re even more talented as a wedding photographer than as a…well, whatever you were.”
I grinned. “Thanks. I think.”
She reached up and cupped my jaw, her delicate fingers sending a jolt from my lips to my cock. Shit, I was like a teenager with her. I wanted more than just sex from her, but when she touched me, I couldn’t stop the way I reacted to her.
She rose, bringing her lips to mine. I kept my hands on the edge of the desk so I didn’t grab her and sink my fingers into her. If I got her back in my arms, I wasn’t sure I’d be strong enough to let go.
Her lips were soft and teasing on mine. Her fingers stroked my cheeks, and her hips wedged their way between my legs, bringing her into contact with my aching cock.
She was going to kill me.
“You’re making it hard for me to behave,” I murmured between her kisses.
She sighed and stepped back. I snagged her waist and tugged her back to me.
“That didn’t mean I wanted you to stop.”
She smirked at me. “I know. But I wasn’t trying to tease you.”
“You’re not teasing me. You’re turning me on. How about I take you to lunch?”
“It’s too early for lunch.”
I shook my head. “I didn’t mean now. I meant a little closer to lunch time. Give me a chance to kiss you without worrying about someone catching us.”
I didn’t mean to spit the word out, but she heard the venom in my voice. Her expression softened.
“We’ll tell people.”
“When?” I demanded, knowing full well I was pushing too hard.
“After our first date. Make sure it goes well.”
I grinned. “It’ll go well.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“I’ve never slept after a nightmare, Kiana. Until I held you in my arms.”
“Oh,” she said.
I didn’t know if she understood the significance or not, but I didn’t care. I knew she was different. Hell, she made me want to take her out. If that wasn’t enough of a reason to realize she was different, nothing was.
Chapter Thirteen
I took Kiana out to lunch every day for the rest of the week. She actually laughed and let me in. A little. I could tell she was gun-shy about getting involved.
Fuck, I was, too. It had been a while since I actually dated anyone. Years. My job kept me on airplanes and shacked up with men more than in the company of women. I was just happy when I could check out a nice pair of tits instead of risk seeing a dick hanging out.
Since our weekends were always full of weddings, Kiana and I agreed we’d go to dinner Monday night. It was killing me to see her every day and pretend we were just work colleagues, but I wasn’t going to press her to change her mind. She’d had enough of her ex-dickhead telling her what to do. I wasn’t going there.
I was getting set up for our Saturday wedding when Jack walked up to me. “You’ve been keeping my friend very occupied all week. I haven’t been able to get a thing out of her.”
“About what?” I asked.
“Duh. About you.”
I laughed. “If you want to know something about me, ask me. I’m not hiding anything.”
“You’re hiding your relationship.”
I threw my hands up. “Hey, that’s not me. She said once we have our first date we can tell people.”
“You took her to lunch four days in a row.”
I nodded. “She said it doesn’t count because it was from work.”
“You’re more patient than me. If I’d gone to lunch with someone four times, I’d be counting dates and expecting something special for our fifth date.”
I barked a laugh and shook my head. “I think she needs to take things slow.”
“And how do you feel about that?”
I shrugged. “I’m not gonna tell you I don’t want her, because I do, but I’m going at her pace.”
“You really do like her, don’t you.”
I laughed. “Seriously? You thought I was just fucking with her?”
He shrugged. “I have to watch out for my girls. She and Ada are like my sisters. I screwed up with Anthony. I should have known she was lying to me, but I was in the middle of my own drama and missed it.”
“You can’t beat yourself up for that.”
Jack forced a smile. His eyes were sad, like he really did blame himself for her pain. “I should have seen it. She wasn’t herself when she was with him. I was too distracted to notice though. Or to push when she denied it.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s that dill hole. He’s the one who treated her like shit.”
Jack nodded. “He really did. Even though I didn’t know what was going on, she was never happy. I’ve seen her smile more this week than the entire time he worked here.”
My chest might have puffed up a little with that news. Damn straight she was happy. And I made that happen.
“Don’t let it go to your head,” Jack warned. “She’s not yours yet.”
“She will be,” I promised. “She will be.”
Jack walked off to help Kiana with the last details of set up. The bride was inside, hiding from her groom. The groom was on the back patio with his groomsmen. Guests were trickling in, which meant it was almost showtime.
Kiana caught my eye and winked at me when I passed her. I smiled the rest of the damn night.
When the wedding was over and the bride and groom were likely halfway through round one, I caught up to Kiana. “Need some help?”
She shook her head. “I think we’re good. You can head out.”
“Are you kidding me?”
She spun and faced me. “I appreciate the offer, but as I told you before, if you get hurt, I’m out a photographer. I can’t have that.”
“Can I just wait here until you’re done?”
She shook her head. “I’m exhausted, Sawyer. It’s been a long week and a long day.”
I nodded. “Are we still on for Monday?”
She nodded, not looking at me. She watched everyone around her except me.
“What happened?”
“What do you mean?” she asked, finally meeting my eyes.
“You winked at me before the wedding. We had plans to get together Monday night. Now it feels like you’re blowing me off.”
“I’m sorry,” she sighed. “I heard whispers today about us.”
I glanced around and saw more than a couple pairs of eyes looking our way. I didn’t know why she cared so much. I wanted to kiss the shit out of her and tell them all to fuck off, but she’d be pissed if I did that. Instead, I nodded and took a step back.
“I apologize. I’m not trying to push things you’re not comfortable with. You had to figure they’d know something when we went to lunch every day.”
She nodded. “I know. And I’m trying not to let it bother me. I like you, Sawyer. I’m looking forward to getting together Monday night, but I’m not up for anything tonight.”
I smiled. “I was just going to wait around and make sure you got out of here. I wasn’t trying for anything else.”
She sighed and grinned. “Thank you.”
“So, do you want me to stick around?”
She glanced around and shook her head. “You go. I know you’re as exhausted as I am.”
“I am,” I admitted, “but I’d stay here without a second thought.”
“Thank you,” she said again, her eyes melting. “It’s going to take some getting used to that you’re a nice guy.”
I smirked. “I’m not always good, Kiana.”
She trembled, telling me she was as turned on as I was standing a few feet apart and unable to touch each other.
“Monday, Sawyer. If Monday goes well, we’ll tell everyone.”
“I’m gonna hold you to that.”
She grinned and winked. I walked away, knowing if I didn’t leave, I’d blow our secret wide open. It had been more than twenty-four hours since I’d had my lips on hers, and I wasn’t going to be able to resist much longer.
Kiana showed up at Kapena’s house for dinner the next night. He gave me another surf lesson, one I’m fairly certain was designed to hurt me. I spent more time getting swallowed by waves than riding them.
He was cooking dinner, and reminding me about the wave that dragged me to the bottom, when she walked in the door.
“Hey, Kiki! You should have seen it. Malihini ate it today. I almost had to go in after him.”
“What?” she asked, her eyes seeking mine.
I shrugged like it was no big deal. Kapena could trash me all he wanted, but I’d be damned if I let him make a fool of me in front of her.
Plus, I wasn’t sure how to react to her. If she didn’t want her employees to see us together, maybe she didn’t want her brother to either.
Dating fucking sucked. Which was why I never did it.
“Are you okay?” she asked me.
I nodded as Kapena jumped in. “He’s fine. A little banged up. Nothing that won’t heal.”
“Are you trying to be an ass?” she asked her brother, moving past me. “Do you do this to all the grooms who come to you for lessons?”
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