A Secret to Keep

by Railyn Stone

  “Hey Gates, we should probably get out of here. Gelly’s going to be wondering where we are.” Evan referred to their friend Angelica who was having a party further down the shore. “I’m going to say bye to a couple of people and I’ll meet you at the car.”

  “Gelly? That your girlfriend?” Gates could see apprehension in Sloane’s eyes and he was quick to explain who Gelly was.

  “Oh, no. We went to school together. Her name is Angelica. We call her Gelly or Gel. She’s having a party and we told her we’d be there. If you want, you’re welcome to join us.” Gates offered, hoping she would accept. He was enjoying his time so much with Sloane; he didn’t want it to end.

  “Go with you guys? I don’t know. I’m just in town visiting friends with Liyah and I don’t want to dip out on her.” Sloane turned to scan the crowd for her friend before turning back to Gates.

  “Both of you could come. It’s literally right down the beach.” He looked at her with hopeful eyes. He couldn’t remember ever wanting to spend time with someone as much as he did with her at that moment.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah. Gel’s cool and you guys will love her.”

  “Well since you put it that way, let me go find Liyah and see what she says.” He nodded as she disappeared into the crowd to find her friend. As Sloane walked away, Allie seized the opportunity to move in on Gates.

  “Gates McCall, have you been ignoring me?” He rolled his eyes at the sound of her voice and the feel of her arm coiling around his.

  “Allie, hi.” Great. He cringed as the young woman purposely leaned her body against his and smiled seductively. She was so saccharine sweet it made his teeth hurt to listen to her voice and he silently prayed for someone to come and save him. As if his prayers had been heard, Sloane reappeared with Liyah in tow.

  “Gates, I can’t leave you alone for a second can I? You ready to go?” She sidled up to his other arm and linked her hand in his while smiling at the other girl.

  Releasing the breath he was holding, he leaned over and shrugged. “Sorry Allie, I have to go. I gotta date. See you.” He dislodged himself from her hooks and walked hand in hand with Sloane towards the door. As the two sauntered across the room, Sloane looked back and winked at the shocked young woman.

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Gates laughed as they reached the car where Evan stood. “I owe you big time.”

  “Yes you do.” Sloane giggled as the four piled into Evan’s SUV and headed to the next party.

  As the plane continued to New York, Gates thought about their time together and how that chance meeting was the beginning of a whirlwind romance. He became so enthralled with Sloane he invited her to join him when he traveled to a couple of cities for business. It should have been strange for two people to hit it off like they did from the beginning, but it felt so comfortable and right. She hesitated a bit at first. But he was patient and never pressured her for anything more than her time. He didn’t try making any moves on her and they genuinely grew closer during the various trips.

  “Hey, gorgeous.” Gates flirted, opening the door and stepping aside for Sloane to enter his penthouse.

  “Hi yourself.” She stopped just inside and turned to face him. Closing the door, Gates closed the gap between the two, enveloping her in his embrace. He dipped his head and planted a soft kiss on her lips. He relished the thought of spending two weeks in London with her. Honestly, they hadn’t known each other very long, but it didn’t feel that way. He was so comfortable with her and it seemed like he’d known her as long as he’d known Evan. Out of all of the trips she made with him, this was the biggest. He was leaving New York to spend two weeks in London and once again he’d asked her to come along.

  “I’m so glad you agreed to come with me.” Taking her hand in his, he guided her down the few steps into the den.

  “How could I turn down a trip to London?”

  “It’s just the trip, huh?”

  “Hmmm, well, I guess it’s the company too. Your place is beautiful, Gates. I mean if you can call a guy’s house beautiful.” The place was very masculine, but it was nowhere near a bachelor pad. It was so warm and welcoming with the wine, cream and chocolate color scheme. Something his sister had done as a favor to him. He had no talent when it came to decorating anything. If it had been up to him, the house would have had stark white walls and been reminiscent of a hospital.

  “Thanks. I didn’t do it, you know. I have the decorating skills of a colorblind lab rat,” he laughed, squeezing her hand. He hadn’t let go of it since she entered the penthouse.

  “Well, whoever did it did a great job.” It was so easy to spend time with her and talk about anything. He had never met a woman with such a great personality and they found themselves laughing most of the time they talked, whether in person or on the phone. Since they met, they hadn’t gone more than two or three days without speaking. “I still can’t believe you want me to go with you to London.”

  “Why not? I have to be there and we had a good time on the last trip you came with me on, so why wouldn’t I ask you?”

  “I don’t know, maybe because you have more important things to focus on besides me?”

  “They’re important, but not as important as you.” Reaching over, he pushed her hair behind her ear and motioned for her to take a seat on the sofa while he retreated to the kitchen.

  “Well, I do thank you for thinking of me.” She called after him.

  “So, how was your flight,” he asked, grabbing two bottles of water from the refrigerator and walking back to the den. He opened one of the bottles and handed it to her before opening one for himself. “I would have sent the jet to pick you up, but Gel didn’t get back from her meeting in Denver till late this afternoon.”

  “Oh, please. First class was quite enough for me. The flight was fine. I did feel somewhat like royalty when your driver picked me up. That’s never happened to me before. People in baggage claim were looking at me like I was someone special.”

  “You are special. Very special to me. I’m sorry I couldn’t pick you up myself, but I got out of my meeting late today and it was more convenient to send a car for you.”

  “It’s okay. Like I said, it was kind of nice being treated like a princess.”

  “Good. I’m glad you felt special. That’s something I want to talk to you about too.” He moved to sit on the coffee table in front of her and took her water from her hands and sat it down beside him. Taking her hands in his, he looked in her eyes.

  “Uh oh, what’s wrong?” She looked at him with curious eyes and his lips quickly curved upwards trying to reassure her that everything was fine.

  “Nothing’s wrong. I just have to ask you to promise me something.”

  “All right.”

  “I want you to feel special. I want you to feel important and like a princess; especially anytime you’re with me, but also when you aren’t with me.”

  “Okay.” He could tell she was a little puzzled by what he was talking about so he continued with his explanation.

  “There’s something I want you to promise me Sloane. I want you to promise me if I decide to do something for you or buy you something, that you’ll let me regardless of how big or small or how expensive it may be.”

  “Gates, I-” She started to refuse his offer and he shook his head before cutting her off with that million-dollar smile.

  “Sloane, please? This is something I want to do. It’s not to show you how much money I have or show off or anything like that, it’s just that this is what I want to do, for you.” If he could buy her the entire solar system and hang it in her backyard, he would. There was nothing he didn’t want to do for her.

  “Gates, that’s sweet, but you don’t have to do anything like that. I mean, sending me the ticket to come to New York and taking me with you to London is overly generous.” She reached out and placed her hand on his cheek and he reveled in the softness of her skin agai
nst his face.

  “Let me do this, okay. Please?” He desperately wanted her to know how much he cared about her and how he wanted to take care of her. He’d never felt so deeply about anyone. It was a new feeling for him and he was completely enamored with Sloane.

  “How can I say no to you when you’re looking at me like that? Okay, but nothing too extravagant all right?”

  “Hmm, can’t promise that.” He reached over to the side table, reaching into the drawer and pulled out a small box.

  “Gates, what’re you up to?”

  “Well, I saw this and I immediately thought of you. Open it.” Handing her the box, he sat back and waited.

  “You were going to buy me things regardless of if I said yes or no?” She tilted her head to the side and raised an eyebrow.

  “Pretty much,” he winked. “Now open it.”

  “You’re kind of demanding aren’t you?” She giggled, turning the small black velvet box in her hands.

  “Yes, now open it.”

  Laughing at his eagerness for her to open the box, Sloane grasped the sides and opened the box to reveal a beautiful sapphire and diamond pendant on a delicate silver chain.

  “Gates, it’s beautiful.” It was an exquisite two-carat sapphire surrounded by diamonds.

  “You like it?” He watched her eyes sparkle almost as much as the diamonds on the pendant as she continued to look at the jewels.

  “Like it? I love it. It’s gorgeous. But this is-”

  “Nah, unh uh, you can’t say it’s too much because you promised, remember?” He quickly took the necklace out of the box to put it on her. She reached and pulled her hair up off of her neck as he leaned around her and closed the clasp of the necklace.

  “It looks as beautiful as I thought it would.”

  “Thank you.” When she leaned over to gently kiss him, he inhaled the scintillating smell of her perfume and his insides did somersaults.

  “You’re very welcome.”

  Shaking him from his nostalgia, the pilot’s voice reverberated in his ear informing him they were preparing to land. Gates couldn’t believe he’d done nothing but think of her the entire flight home. He was trying his best to put her out of his mind, but it wasn’t possible.

  “This is crazy, Gates. You’ve got to get a hold on this. She’s engaged and she’s in love with someone else.” He watched the sun bounce off the clouds as they made their descent into New York. “You’ve got to let her go.”

  Chapter 9

  “Okay, so spill. Tell me everything and leave nothing out. We didn’t get to talk in detail. You can only imagine what was going through my head when you told me Gates was getting out of the shower.” Liyah curled her legs under her on the oversized sofa in pure anticipation. She and Sloane were having a ‘girl’s afternoon’ and were now sitting on Sloane’s couch eating popcorn and barely watching the movie playing on the TV. Brayden was finally down for his afternoon nap and she and Liyah were taking advantage of the peace and quiet.

  “I told you, nothing happened. We got stuck in Charleston and got drenched running to the car at the airport and that’s it. He slept in the other room,” Sloane added softly, thinking about the conversation she and Gates had. The one person I would have given it all up for is engaged to someone else. Shrugging her shoulders, she reached for more popcorn and glanced at the images flashing on the screen.

  “Whatever chica. You may’ve been able to tell Chase that and have him believe it, but you’re talking to me. I know your past and I know what you and Gates had, and from where I sit, it’s not over.”

  “Liyah, really. Gates and I are over. We were over the day I left. He’s made that abundantly clear.” Sloane hoped she was convincing but she knew she could never fool her best friend.

  Cocking her head to the side, Liyah raised an eyebrow. “As much as I know you want to believe that, I know differently.” Pausing, she looked at Sloane before continuing. “Yeah, I know the whole song and dance about you wanting to keep Brayden from being hurt, but you’re still in love with Gates.”

  “I’m not listening to this.” Sloane got up from the sofa and strolled into the kitchen. She was trying her best to deflect what Liyah was saying but somewhere deep down; her best friend had hit a nerve.

  “Come on, Sloane.” Liyah followed her into the kitchen. “You’ve got to face it. You’ve been running from Gates for a while and now that he’s back in your life, you’re still trying to run away. Why?”

  “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because he’s not back in my life and I’m not running away, Liyah. I don’t even know what you’re talking about.” Opening the refrigerator she pulled out a bottle of water.

  “Sloane, you know full well what I’m talking about. You left Gates because you said he had changed, but I know you. I’ve known you practically your whole life and I know that, yeah, maybe he did change from what he was initially when you met, but you left because you were scared.”

  “Of what? That’s crazy Liyah. I was not scared.”

  “Yes, you were. Same reason you’re so determined to keep Brayden from Gates.” Liyah finished, crossing her arm and challenging Sloane.

  “You don’t know anything.” Rolling her eyes, Sloane moved past Liyah to head back to ‘watch’ the movie.

  “Then if that’s the case, why don’t you tell him? If you aren’t scared, then why don’t you tell him he has a son? And don’t give me that ‘to keep Brayden protected’ junk.”

  “It’s not that easy, Liyah. Gates is a busy man. Too busy for a child in his life.” She knew it was a weak excuse, but she was trying to justify her decision to keep her secret. She knew Gates had a right to know about his son, but she couldn’t muster the nerve to tell him. She had so many fears that he was truly like Victor; cold and callous, and would look at Brayden as a burden rather than accept him as their precious son.

  “Look, you’re my best friend and I care about you. I want you to be happy, and if that’s raising Brayden alone, then so be it. But you and I both know you have unresolved feelings that you need to deal with. Maybe you should step back and reevaluate your decision.”

  “Liyah, I know you care about me and Brayden. I know you want the best for us, just like I do for you, but I think I know what’s best for my son. I know I can depend on myself to be there for Brayden, and I can keep him from being hurt by his father.”

  “You sure it’s Brayden you’re trying to keep from being hurt?”

  “What?” Sloane turned around to look at Liyah.

  “You heard me. I think you’re the one that’s afraid of being hurt or rejected.” Liyah continued with her arms crossed, glaring at Sloane.

  “Now you’re starting to sound like Chase.” Sloane could feel the tension building between the two of them. How could Liyah insinuate she was the one afraid of getting hurt by Gates? She was merely looking out for her little boy.

  “Well if the high-heeled red bottom fits. You’re afraid to be with Gates because if it doesn’t work you know it would hurt too much.”

  “Now I really think you’ve lost it. Life is not about jumping off cliffs blindly, Liyah. And that’s exactly what I’d be doing with Gates.” Sloane rolled her eyes and sank down on the sofa, opening her water and taking a sip. “I want Brayden to have a family and a stable environment with a mom and dad who aren’t at each other’s throats, or upset with each other constantly.”

  “Sloane, do you truly want to live your life safe? Wondering what could’ve been? You’re hiding behind the guise of ‘protecting Brayden,’ when you’re really trying to protect yourself. You’re afraid of the possibility that Gates would be accepting of Brayden, but maybe not you.”

  “Are you for real? Liyah, that’s so basic. That’s what we all want. To be accepted? To know there’ll always be someone there for you and someone you can depend on. I can’t do that with Gates.”

  “Sloane, no one’s life is perfect. There are going to be good days and bad.
You of all people should know that. When you find that person that’s willing to go through all of that with you, it’s not something you should throw away. Is this really what you want?” Liyah questioned, motioning around to their surroundings.

  “That’s enough, Liyah. I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I’ve got to move on to the next chapter of my life.” Sloane cut her eyes at Liyah. She was tired of hearing everyone else’s opinions of what she needed to do. They didn’t know. They couldn’t understand what she was dealing with on the inside.

  “Really? Then why is it that even when another guy approaches you, you won’t have anything to do with him? I mean if you’re really serious about moving on with your life, why don’t you give other guys a chance?”

  “Liyah. Please, just stop.” Sloane groaned, wishing her friend would talk about something else. Anything else but the man she loved more than life.

  “I’m simply saying don’t push Gates too far out of the picture. I still believe he’s a good man and I’m pretty sure he would be a great father if you’d give him a chance.” Sloane could see Liyah was not going to give up on her endless tirade.

  “Liyah, it’s too late…okay?” Sloane found herself desperately trying to convince not only Liyah, but herself. “Drop it.”

  “Okay, okay. I’ll stop, but I don’t understand you. Hell, maybe you’re right and there’s more to life than jumping off cliffs blindly. But I would at least want to jump and know that I have someone like Gates beside me taking the same leap than to just sit on the sidelines watching everyone else,” Liyah finished, grabbing her keys and stalking out the door.

  ###

  “So how was Wilmington?” Gates heard Angelica’s probing lilt and he looked up to see her watching him with an eyebrow raised. “Evan told me you took Sloane on a little trip.” It was early Monday morning and of course Gates had gotten into the office earlier than most, except Angelica. They were almost identical when it came to work ethic. Most thought they would be a perfect couple, but they both knew that wasn’t possible. They were way too alike to be compatible and both had a great respect for the other, but that was as far as it went. Gates knew there were two people in the world he could trust to run things if he wasn’t there, Evan and Angelica. They were as tight as three peas in a pod and when one was hurt the others felt it. That was the reason Angelica was so interested to find out what transpired between him and Sloane.