by Rye Hart
“We’ll do both. I promise. Let’s go to the dress store first, then we’ll do the toys. Does that sound good?” I asked.
“Okay,” Daniel said. “But we gotta hurry. I’m already hungry.”
“You are? Man, you can really put away some food,” I said.
“Daddy says I’m growing big and strong,” he said.
“Well, then maybe that’s what happening. Maybe you’ll wake up tomorrow and be taller than me.”
“But you’re really tall,” Sydney giggled.
“And you’re really pretty,” I said.
We weaved in and out of the island shops, and the kids were running in all directions. I had the best time shopping with them, and we were coming out of stores with armloads of stuff. Sydney had a new summer dress and Daniel found a shirt he claimed was just like one his dad had. They got new sandals and some toys for the beach to keep at the house, and we even ducked in to get them some more sunblock and other toiletries I knew they needed.
We piled everything into the cab to get it all back to the house, then we set off for lunch. We found a wonderful little place that served the best fish tacos while sitting on the veranda and watching the waves roll in. Daniel was holding his sister’s hand as they lost themselves in the rhythmic patterns, and I smiled as I watched the two of them bond.
With each passing day, I was becoming more and more attached to them. The day was wonderful and we stayed out so long walking around the island that Kevin beat us back to the house. The kids ran up the stairs and piled into his arms, but the look on his face told me things still weren’t okay.
He looked into my eyes before diverting them quickly and I felt my stomach sink to my toes.
“You guys hungry for dinner?” Kevin asked.
“Yeah. We walked around all day, Daddy,” Sydney said.
“Then you guys are really hungry, huh?” he asked.
“Can we go back to the fish tacos place?” Daniel asked.
“You ate fish tacos?” Kevin asked.
“Yeah. They were awesome, Dad.”
He looked up at me briefly before looking back down at his son.
Suddenly, I didn’t feel as welcome as I had before.
“Then we can go back and have more fish tacos,” Kevin said.
“Yay! Thanks, Daddy,” Sydney said. “We can watch the ocean again. It was so pretty.”
“You can watch the ocean from here you know,” he grinned.
“No. The ocean is for swimming here,” Daniel said. “That ocean is for looking.”
“Oh. Okay. Got it,” Kevin said.
We all piled into a cab and headed back to the restaurant we were at earlier, this time, the kids were squished in between Kevin and me. Instead of sitting beside him like he usually insisted, he was putting space between us. He didn’t sit by me at dinner or try to steal glances like I knew him to do. I didn’t feel his foot creeping closer to mine or anything of the sort. He was present with his children but distant toward me, and I felt myself regretting the decision to stay.
The kids fell asleep getting back home so Kevin and I had to carry them up to their rooms. We tucked them in and I kissed Sydney’s forehead, staring down at her peaceful face. Her grin was contagious, and I felt one slowly crawling across mine.
Until I heard Kevin retreat from the bedroom without me.
Instead of snaking my way into the kitchen and talking, I went straight to my room. I didn’t want to see him or talk with him or interact in any way. If he wanted distance, I would give it to him. I did have a book that needed to be written after all, and I hadn’t touched the damn thing in days.
“Here it goes,” I said with a sigh.
I pulled out my laptop and hooked it up. I placed pillows against my back and leaned into the headboard. I opened my manuscript and read through what I had already written, painting the picture of the woman in my story. Strong. Independent. Quiet, but not a pushover. And the man, with his hills of muscles and his tall stature. Looming in the darkness. Watching his island girl. Making sure she was safe and happy, despite the fact that he didn’t even know her name.
I was able to type up a few more paragraphs, but the imagery wasn’t coming after that.
I shut my laptop and tossed it to the side. This was fucking ridiculous. I’d never struggled this much to write before.
I drew back the covers and resolved myself to a decent night’s rest. Hopefully, my dreams would bring about the rest of the story that wanted to flood through my fingers. I tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable as tears rose to my eyes.
But when sleep finally took me under, it wasn’t my characters in the story or the island they were on that I dreamt of. It wasn’t the lighthouse the woman lived in or the chiseled architecture of the male protagonist I saw in my dreams.
It was Kevin.
CHAPTER 15
KEVIN
“How did it go?” Owen asked. “You never called me yesterday.”
“Believe it or not, I’m still in the Caribbean trying to salvage my vacation with my children,” I said flatly.
“Then you shouldn’t have attempted to open up this deal while you were there,” he said.
“I saw an opportunity and jumped. I didn’t think it would fall apart or cause this much drama,” I said.
“It’s business, Kevin. Every deal is filled with drama of some sort.”
“Well, you’ve got only ten minutes of my time. The rest of the day is for my kids.”
“I’m getting nasty emails from Gianni,” he said.
“What kind of nasty emails?”
“The kind threatening us with a defamation lawsuit,” he said.
“A defamation lawsuit? What are we, the press?” I asked. “What the hell do they say?”
“That I’m trying to ruin his reputation and that my calculations must be off. You showed him the numbers yesterday, right?”
“Yeah, I did. He accused me of having the wrong financials, but I told him this was exactly what you were sent, which was why we were so concerned.”
“What did he do after that?”
“He accused you of lying, trying to destroy his reputation and our strong business relationship. I told him you were very reputable and that you would never lie about something like this, then I broke off the contract with him. But I didn’t think he would try to personally attack you like this,” I said.
“Well, he is. I’m forwarding all of his emails to Legal for them to handle, but if it gets to be too much I’m going to have to address him personally.”
“Don’t do that. You’re a hot-head when you do that.”
“Every time I turn around, that asshole is sending me another email, with more financial files that only prove my point. It’s like he’s not even looking at them himself.”
“Or he refuses to see what’s really going on,” I said. “Gianni’s been in business for over twenty years. He built the wealth of his entire family off one institution, and that’s hard to do. He’s got a sparkling reputation in the community and he’s about to lose it all. But you can’t lash out at him, Owen. Promise me.”
“Is there a way to auto-forward his emails to Legal so I don’t have to see them?”
“There is. Do you want me to go in and set that up?” I asked.
“Please. And now.”
I hung up the video conference with Owen and pulled up my email. I logged out and plugged in his credentials, and I saw what he was talking about. There were four unopened emails, all at the top of the hour like clockwork, and all from Gianni with pretty nasty headlines. I had no idea what the hell was going on, but I felt like I’d woken up in another universe. I forwarded the emails to Legal before deleting them, then I opened the settings and started plugging in requirements for the email address. All of Gianni’s emails would go to spam as well as be forwarded to our lawyers, and they could handle the harassment from there.
I pushed away from my desk and started for the kitchen. This entire fucking thing w
as turning into a damn mess. And to top it all off, Brooke was acting weird. Distant. Like she didn’t want to be around me. She wasn’t making eye contact or smiling at me and she was clearly doing everything in her power to put space between us, like going straight to bed after we put the kids down and having breakfast apart from me and the kids the next morning.
I had to talk with her.
I had to figure out what was going on.
“Brooke?”
“Yep?”
“Could I talk to you for a second?” I asked.
She pushed up from the floor where they were all playing with Legos and came walking toward me. But she still wouldn’t make eye contact. She stood in front of me with her arms crossed and her eyes trained on the kids, clearly doing everything in her power to close herself off to me.
I didn’t like it.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“Yeah. Why do you ask?”
“Because you’ve been distant and generally off.”
She looked at me like I was off my rocker.
“Did you have a bad day with the kids?” I tried again.
“No.”
“Okay. Is there something you want to talk about?”
“Nope,” she said coolly.
“So we’re simply going to act like nothing’s wrong when something clearly is?”
She flashed her gaze up to me and I knew that look. I recognized it—the same white-hot look she used to give me when I had stood her up. Whatever had happened, I’d really pissed her off.
Fuck. Did it have anything to do with us waking up together that one morning?
Had sneaking around somehow scared her off?
“Look, you’ve been with the kids quite a bit, and I admit, I’ve worked more than I should have on this trip,” I said.
“You don’t have to apologize to me for it. Your kids, on the other hand, might deserve one.”
I furrowed my brow at her statement as I reached out for her hand. But she yanked it away, leaving me with the ghostly sensation of her skin against mine without the reward of her heat.
“Let me take you out tonight,” I said. “An adult night. Just you and me.”
“Who’s going to watch the kids?” Brooke asked.
“There’s a nanny service on the island. I’ll have them send over their highest-rated caretaker. The kids will be okay. But I think you could use a night out with an adult.”
She just continued to stare at me.
Wow. She was really fucking angry. “Just say yes and the night is ours. Come on, an adult night, with no kids, plus wine, good food, and conversation. Or no talking, if that’s what you want. Let me do this for you. Please?”
She quirked an eyebrow up at me and I knew why. I never said please. I never begged. It wasn't in my nature. But I wasn’t leaving things like this between us. I would do whatever it took to get her alone, away from the chaos of my twins, the tension in the house, and all the bullshit work had brought down on my shoulders.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll go.”
“Great. Why don’t you go take some time to yourself today? I’ll play with the kids, call and set up the nanny, and all you have to worry about is being ready to go by six.”
“Fine,” she said. “Six, it is.”
I spent the afternoon playing with the kids, but when I broke the news to them about my plans for the evening, they were not happy. First, they begged us to stay home, then they begged us to let them come along. I explained to them that I wanted some alone time with Miss Brooke, and that sent Sydney to her room in tears. Daniel stomped up after her and I sighed, exasperated by the mood swings of my children.
It was just one of those days.
The ringing doorbell sounded and relief flooded my veins. Finally, someone else to deal with their tantrums. I walked the nanny through the house and showed her where things were, but the moment Brooke stepped into the kitchen, my jaw went slack.
She had on a beautiful teal and yellow dress that fell over her body. It clung to her breasts and dipped salaciously at her waist. The fabric fluttered around her knees with every step she took, and the heels she had on flexed her calves in a way that made me want to sling her over my shoulder and take her into my room. The valley of her breasts housed a necklace that almost disappeared into her soft skin. Her hair was piled on top of her head and her earrings dangled from her ears.
She was drawing me in, like she did all those years ago.
I offered her my arm and the two of us walked to the cab I had called. I was worried about my kids, but I was determined to give Brooke a night away. I had dinner reservations for us at the best restaurant on the island, and the dimly lit atmosphere cast shadows along her skin that made me want to run my fingertips along every surface of her body.
There wasn’t much talking over dinner, but I got the sense that Brooke wasn’t in the mood to talk. The only reason why I didn’t break the silence was that I felt her foot resting beside mine, gravitating toward me like she had in bed, and resting against my warmth.
I caught her staring at me every now and again, and it sent shockwaves of relief through my veins.
Maybe that was all it was.
Maybe she was simply overwhelmed and needed an evening away.
We wrapped up dinner and I escorted her back to the cab, then we set off to the other part of our journey. There was a dance club on the other side of the island. There would be drinks and bonfires, good music, and sand beneath our feet. We removed our shoes and held them in our hands as I twirled her around. She laughed and spun around as our bodies moved to the beat of the music filling the air.
She looked happy.
Beautiful.
Radiant in the firelight.
At one point, I grabbed her hand and spun her into me, but she stumbled somehow. She fell into me and I caught her, our eyes connecting underneath the Caribbean moon. The wind kicked up and pulled the hair from the bun on her head, and it began whipping around both of us. Closing us off from the crowd as I steadied her on her feet, I wrapped my arms around her and drew her nearer to me, basking in her warmth as her breasts pressed up against my body.
I could feel her breathing shallow, and a tint come to her cheeks. I reached down and took a chance, nuzzling my nose against hers.
And I felt her sigh against my lips.
Grazing my skin against hers, I felt her lips puckering to meet mine. Her hair was fluttering about and her dress was rising up the backs of her legs as each song flowed into the next. I cupped her cheek, my thumb grazing her chin before I grasped it.
I tilted her lips into mine, with only millimeters of ocean air between us.
“Kevin.”
“Yes, Brooke?”
“I—”
I waited for her words and hung on her every breath as my hand fell to her lower back. I pressed her hips into mine, closing the only other gap we had between us. Her eyes were dancing along my face as my thumb stroked her skin, waiting for her to finish her statement and open herself up to me again.
But before she could finish, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Hold on.”
I heard Brooke let loose the breath she was holding and the moment was lost.
“What?” I asked.
“Mr. Spencer? It’s the nanny. Your children—they won’t stop crying for you.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “Is something wrong?”
I looked over at Brooke and saw her heading for the shoreline. Of course, she would go running for my kids, that was what I was paying her to do.
Why the fuck did it have to be tonight?
“Daddy! Please come home,” Daniel said, sniffling.
“Come cuddle with us,” Sydney said.
“Can we come with you and Miss Brooke? Please?”
Their words echoed off the corners of my mind, spiraling me into a frenzy as I climbed up the shoreline and headed for the road.
“We’re coming
home now, kids. Okay? Just sit tight,” I said.
I disconnected the call before I said something I regretted.
Brooke was already in a cab she flagged down, furiously trying to put on her shoes. I slid in beside her and put my shoes back on, then gave my address to the driver. We rode across the island in silence, and Brooke’s leg was jiggling a thousand miles a second.
I slid my hand over her knee, massaging her until she stopped.
“I’m sure they’re fine. They’re just being spoiled,” I said.
“What happened?” Brooke asked. “Why were they crying?”
“Because they want us home. They’re upset that we went out without them.”
“We could’ve brought them. They would’ve enjoyed the dancing.”
“I promised you an adult night out. My children don’t get to throw tantrums just to get their way. But I can’t force a new nanny to put up with them either. We’re getting home, they’re getting reprimanded for acting out, and I’m putting them to bed.”
“Don’t be so hard on them, Kevin. All they want is their father.”
“And they have me.”
“No, they don’t. You promised them that this was going to be their vacation with you. And you’re working more often than not. You did this to me all those years ago. Empty promises and dates that took a backseat to work. But this is different. These are your children. You have a billion-dollar company, Kevin. Slow down and pay attention to your kids. They’re begging for you and now you’re upset with them,” she said.
She fell silent and I watched as tears filled her eyes.
“Is that why you’ve been so distant?” I asked.
“Don’t do this now,” she said.
“When the hell are we supposed to do it, Brooke? We were having a good time. We had a moment down there. I felt it. You felt it.”
“We’ve had many moments, but I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”
Her words were like a punch to my gut.
“Give your children the vacation you promised them and maybe they won’t act out like they are,” she said. “You neglected me. But don’t neglect them. Find a way to balance your personal life and your business life.”
Her knee slid away from my hand and she pressed herself against the cab door for the rest of the ride home.