by Holly Rayner
Rightfully so.
She couldn’t help but feel a bit smug. He’d gone quiet on her after their date, and now he had to face her at work. If that was uncomfortable for him, well, it served him right.
“Hello.” He stopped right after entering the room and looked at where she sat in the makeup chair.
Voices drifted up the stairs. The crew was down there getting ready for the next shot, which meant the two of them had privacy for the time being.
“Hi.” Leyla sat straighter and smiled. No way would she show the sting his quiet had caused.
“I saw some of the takes. You’re doing great. You really are perfect for this.”
“Thank you.” She cleared her throat. “How are you?”
It was hard to look at him longer than a couple of seconds. If they maintained eye contact for too long, he might see past her facade.
“I’m good, thanks.”
Kane stuffed his hands into the pockets of his dark jeans and took one step forward. In his dark blue button-up and pointy cowboy boots, he was the most Texan she’d ever seen him.
It hurt that he looked so damn good.
“Jessie said it looks like you’ll finish up here by five,” he said. “Do you have plans this evening?”
Leyla’s ears rang. “No. I don’t.”
“Will you have dinner with me again?” Before she could answer, he went on. “I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch this week. It’s been crazy.”
She bit the inside of her cheek, debating. It seemed weird that he hadn’t at least texted her since their date, and she had heard the “oh, I was so busy” excuse from guys before.
In his defense, Kane was a CEO. He’d recently lost a parent, and she knew firsthand how that could mess with your mind and make you distracted and antisocial.
Why not give him a second chance? If it didn't work out, then it was only dinner. At least she wouldn’t spend the rest of her life wondering about what could have been.
“Dinner sounds nice.” She smiled. “I’d love to.”
A broad grin broke across his face.
Leyla wouldn’t have been able to check her own giddiness if she wanted to.
When it came to Kane Clayton, she truly was a goner.
“I’ll see you at seven again, if that works,” he said.
“Perfect.”
With that, he honest-to-goodness cowboy-tipped his hat and retreated downstairs.
The rest of the afternoon couldn’t pass fast enough. Having let go of any bitterness and deciding to give Kane a pass, Leyla found she couldn’t wait for that evening.
At home, though, she had the same dilemma as last time. What to wear when she had no clue where they were going?
Eventually, she decided on another floral dress, this one white eyelet lace. Although, this time, she took a chance and paired it with some red cowgirl boots that had been her mom’s.
Maira had gotten the boots ages ago because she’d wanted to “look more Texan.” Once, when Leyla was a little girl, her mom had mentioned something about loving old western movies and how that had inspired her to pick Texas out of all the other states as their new home.
Predictably, when Leyla had begged for more information, Maira had clammed up.
The buzzer made Leyla jump and catch her reflection in the living room mirror.
How long had she been standing there, lost in thought about ten years ago?
With one last fluff of her hair, she answered the buzzer and let Kane in. As she opened her apartment door, she couldn’t help but laugh.
“Something funny?” A grin stretched across his face.
“I was worried about how to dress, but it looks like I shouldn’t have been.” She waved her hand at him.
Though he’d kept on the white cowboy hat from earlier in the day, he’d changed into a flannel T-shirt.
“Looks like we go well together.” He nodded at her boots.
“I take it we’re not going to another five-star restaurant?” She grabbed her purse and locked up. “Not that I didn’t love that place.”
“I thought that tonight we could go somewhere a little closer to heart.”
Kane offered his arm, and she looped her elbow through his. The contact was warm and comforting. She almost hoped he didn’t say anything else while they walked to his car, because if he did speak, she probably wouldn’t hear a word of it.
During the ride into the heart of town, Leyla tried guessing where they were headed. Each time, he only smiled and shook his head.
“I’m no good at this.” She slumped back against the sports car’s leather seat.
“Keep going. I think you missed about a hundred restaurants.”
She stuck her tongue out at him. Right then, the car passed a familiar hair salon.
“Hey!” Leyla sat up straighter. “Are we going to Hog Wild?”
“What are you talking about?” He pretended to be puzzled.
Sure enough, they ended up at the barbecue restaurant they’d talked about on their first date.
“We really are dressed perfectly for this.” Leyla settled on a wooden bench, Kane seated across from her.
“Along with most of the people in here.”
He was right about that. The joint was a true Texas hole-in-the-wall. There were more cowboy hats and boots than not, and the speakers blared classic country.
“Yeah,” she agreed, “but none of them look as good in a Stetson as you.”
Kane’s eyes lit up. “Do they, now? Okay. I like that. Keep talking, please.”
She made a scene of hiding her face behind the laminated menu. “Sorry. Compliments are for order. You’re gonna have to earn them.”
“In that case, I’ll be working extra hard for them. You’re about to be super annoyed.” He glanced at the drinks menu. “Would you like wine? A cocktail?”
Leyla rolled her eyes. “Please. I’m having sweet tea.”
“You truly are a Southern girl.”
“Born and… well, no. Not born. Just raised.”
Kane’s face abruptly turned serious. He opened his mouth as if about to say something, but paused.
“What?” Leyla asked.
His mouth closed, and he cleared his throat. “Nothing.”
Suddenly, the menu drew all his attention.
Leyla blinked, not sure what to say or think. There was a mysterious part to Kane, and her sixth sense told her it had nothing to do with the fact that she’d only spent a handful of hours with him.
Why hadn’t he called after a great night together? Why was he often so joyful and carefree one moment, and then unsettlingly somber the next?
If London were there, she would say Leyla was being paranoid, that she needed to relax and enjoy herself more. And that was no doubt at least partially true. Sometimes she wondered if she even knew how to have fun anymore without constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Taking a deep breath, she put down the menu. Screw fear. Time to push on in spite of it.
The waitress arrived, and Kane ended up ordering sweet tea as well. Over a meal of brisket and collard greens, they talked about recent movies they’d seen and the daily events of their lives.
“I guess I’m fortunate,” Leyla said as they perused the dessert menu. “I get to have a new job each week. Even if it’s mostly a week full of more auditions than bookings, it’s exciting.”
“It certainly sounds more fun than my job.” He lowered his eyes, his words taking on a serious tone.
“I’m sure there’s a lot of pressure to do what you do. Not just from other people, but from yourself. You want to do a good job so you can fulfill your dad’s expectations for the company. Am I right?”
Kane’s eyebrows rose with surprise. Heat crawled up Leyla’s face. Holy heck, had she really just said that? Could she be any more out of line?
“I’m sorry.” She waved her hand, wishing she could brush away the whole little speech. “I shouldn’t have assumed…”
He sat
up straighter. “No. Don’t apologize. You’re right.”
“Yeah?” she asked slowly, not sure whether he was humoring her or not.
“Most of the pressure comes from myself. Before my dad got sick, I didn’t have much direction in life. When it became clear he wouldn’t make it, that, ah…” He cleared his throat gruffly. “It really shook me awake.”
“I understand.” Before she considered whether or not it was a good idea, she reached across the table and took his hand.
Turning his arm over so that his palm faced up, he gave her hand a squeeze. “I know you do.”
Butterflies took off in her chest.
Kane looked like he was about to say something else, but the waitress was back.
“Dessert, y’all?”
Leyla caught his eye. “Only if it’s—”
“Banana pudding?” he suggested.
“How did you know?” she asked on a laugh.
“It seems we keep finding things we have in common.”
With the waitress off to fetch their dessert, Kane withdrew his hand. Leyla missed his touch already and tried not to feel pouty that he’d taken it away.
Maybe later there would be more than a quick hand squeeze. If he was feeling even half of what she was, then he was burning to kiss her.
“So.” He sat straighter, his shoulders square. “I’ve had a really good time tonight.”
“Me, too.”
“There’s something I want to ask you.”
His eyes were locked on hers, but there was uncertainty there. An unease crept into Leyla’s chest.
“Uh-huh?” Her tongue had become dry as sandpaper.
“First of all, this is going to sound strange, but please bear with me.” His throat rolled with a swallow.
“Okay…” She hadn’t been imagining things. Something was off about this guy.
He caught his bottom lip between his teeth and paused. “I’ve been trying to come up with the best way to put this, and I’m not sure there is one. But let me say, I think you’re really great. I respect you a lot.”
“Can you please come out and say it? Whatever it is?” She hadn’t realized her hands had been clenched together between her knees until they started hurting.
His shoulders rose with an inhale and stayed there. “If I pay you a million dollars, will you marry me?”
“Um…” She closed her eyes. Opened them.
Kane stared at her, his eyebrows raised in expectation.
“I’m sorry.” She held up a hand and laughed shakily. “I thought I just heard you ask to pay me to marry you.”
“I did.”
Her jaw went so slack she could barely get it closed again. “You’re proposing to me?”
Wait. That wasn’t right. He was offering her money!
“A business proposal,” Kane clarified.
“Right.” Her cheeks burned. Hurt flashed through her, but a second later, it turned to anger. “What happened to us going out being personal and not business?”
He grimaced. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“What you really shouldn’t be doing is asking me to marry you!”
The couple at the next table looked over in alarm. Kane bowed his head, hiding his face under his Stetson.
Folding her arms, Leyla took a few deep breaths and lowered her voice. Kane might be absolutely off his rocker, but that was no reason for her to make a scene. She still needed to remain in charge of her own behavior.
“Why?” she demanded.
“I have an explanation that will make a lot of sense.”
She seriously doubted it.
She liked this guy. Really liked him. Correction: she had liked him, up until a minute ago. Now, any developing feelings she’d had for him had been blown to smithereens.
“You’re Sharraini.”
“Uh-huh.” Her crossed arms tightened.
He looked around them, checking to see if anyone listened. “I’ve been discussing drilling in Sharrain with the government there. They’ve been reluctant to accept my offers. If I had you as my wife, that would be an in.”
“How are you so sure of that?” She laughed dryly, still having trouble believing this was real.
“That’s the culture there. It’s all about family and personal connections.” He looked surprised that she didn’t know that.
Heck, maybe she should have, but researching culture in Sharrain had always been on her “one day” list, just like visiting the country. She was too busy with her life in Texas to think about customs on the other side of the world, even if her heritage was connected to them.
Her mom hadn’t raised her to be Sharraini. She’d raised her to be American. Texan.
For reasons that Leyla had constantly feared she’d never discover.
“So, let’s say I accept your offer. Okay?” She paused, head spinning. “Then what? You show Sharrain our marriage certificate, and what? They suddenly decide to give you the deal?”
“Well… yeah.”
Leyla pressed her fingertips to her temples. The nonsense was already making her head ache.
“What about when one of us wants to be with someone else?” she countered.
His lashes fluttered. “We wouldn’t be able to. We’d have to keep up the facade of being completely devoted to our marriage.”
The facade?
So, he wasn’t into her at all?
God, the night couldn’t get any worse.
“I really don’t know why you think my family being from Sharrain can help you,” she said. “I’ve never even been to Sharrain. I know next to nothing about the place. I don’t speak a word of the language.”
“Yeah, but you have ties to power.” He laughed once, looking confused.
“Um, no, I don’t.”
She scooted a little closer to the edge of her seat. Was she going to have to snatch up her purse and make a quick getaway? Would Kane be crazy enough to grab her in the middle of a crowded restaurant?
“Leyla.” His voice dropped, becoming throaty. “I’m talking about where your mother is from.”
“Sharrain.” Her heart pounded. It didn’t feel right to think he might know more about her mother than her.
“Yeah, but I… I’m talking about her family.”
Leyla stared at him, wishing she had something to say. She felt so many things at once. It was embarrassing that she didn’t have the facts on her mom’s past, and she ached to get them. She wanted Kane to keep talking, but she also had too much pride to ask for that.
She didn’t have to.
“Your mother was the first cousin of the king of Sharrain,” he said.
“No, she wasn’t,” Leyla blurted out. Was this a practical joke?
“I assure you, she was.” He reached his hand out for hers. “I’m sorry. I thought you knew.”
Leyla drew herself away from his touch. “There is no way you would know that and I wouldn’t.”
“I had a private detective look into it.”
His voice was gentle, and she hated it. The tone was such a contrast to the information he spewed. He should have been shouting at her instead.
But instead, he looked at her like he’d just revealed her dog had died.
“And you do that with everyone you hire?” she spat. “Look into their past?”
“No. I did it because once I found out you were Sharraini, I saw an opportunity there. Finding out you’re related to the king made me even more sure the plan could work.”
Leyla grabbed her purse. “I’m not your plan, Kane. I’m a human. One who thought you were actually interested in me.”
She pressed her lips together hard to stop herself from crying. No way in hell would she let tears fall in front of this guy. He’d lied to her and wasn’t worth it.
“Leyla, you’re amazing.” His eyes softened. “But the truth is that I haven’t dated at all since my dad got sick, and I haven’t even planned getting back into it. Right now, it’s all about ClayFuel.�
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She could at least understand that viewpoint, even if she hated it. Her mom’s absence had made her even more focused on her goals, on getting her life perfect and achieving things she’d only previously dreamed of.
“This is crazy.” She stood from the bench.
Kane’s shoulders dropped. He looked deflated.
But no way was he shaken to the extreme she was. To him, this was a matter of business. To her, it was the history that her mother had worked to keep hidden.
If Maira had wanted the past buried, there had to be a good reason for it.
“This is my life you’re meddling in,” Leyla hissed.
“I know. I don’t mean any disrespect.”
“Too late.” With that, she spun on her heel and stormed from the restaurant.
It wasn’t until ten minutes later, when she was in the back seat of the car she’d ordered on her phone app, that she finally let the tears come.
Chapter 8
Kane
The dry heat wafted from the dusty ground to swirl around Kane’s boots and lick his face. Pushing his black Stetson further down his forehead, he closed his truck’s door and headed for the stables.
It had been too long since he’d indulged in a day on his ranch. He’d owned the place for years. Even though he’d been quite the party animal back in the day, he’d never so much as hosted a dinner at Crystal Clear Ranch.
No, the ranch was sacred. The place where he went when the outside world didn’t fulfill its promises to make him happy.
When he’d purchased the hundred acres five years before, he’d expected his parents to throw a hissy fit. They were both pretty conservative with money, and it wasn’t like Kane’s inheritance came from a bottomless well.
But they’d been supportive of him. Like with rodeo competing, they’d probably hoped that the interest would carry through into a successful life. Or maybe they’d just taken it as a sign that he’d be spending fewer nights out at clubs.
Turns out, he’d only cut back on the clubbing a little bit. He had, however, gotten in the saddle more. He’d been getting in shape for his next big rodeo when the first call came from his dad’s doctor.
Since then, he hadn’t thought about much at all other than what he could do for his family. But he knew he missed his passion.