by Karen Baney
“I don’t want to leave—especially in the middle of a project like this. Who would you send over to Helitronics then?”
“I don’t know.”
What was it with GAS? Why did they keep asking for her? And, more importantly, why did Brian keep bringing it up? All he had to do was tell them no and then sell them on whoever they were getting.
Maybe he wanted her to make the switch.
“Where do you want me? Do you want me to finish up with Helitronics or do you want to pull me?”
He shuffled papers around on his desk before answering. “We’ll talk more. I’m going to bring Joe in.” He walked to the door.
She greeted Joe as he entered. He cleaned up nicely. The fresh grey suit with rich blue shirt and yellow tie was a far cry from the brown plaid shorts and t-shirt he wore on the camping trip.
Brian motioned Joe to sit then started the second interview by asking Niki to give some background on Global. She happily obliged. About an hour later, he wrapped up the interview.
After he returned to his office from escorting Joe out, Brian asked her to head out to one of his favorite restaurants and get them a seat—a good indication that their discussion about Global was far from over. About fifteen minutes later, he joined her at the table. She hoped he would cut to the chase, but he stalled until their meal was served.
“Come on, out with it.”
Brian sighed. “How are things with Kyle?”
She rolled her eyes. “What does Kyle have to do with this?”
“Just answer the question.”
“Things with Kyle are fine. We’re getting along well. The whole team is. Well, maybe everyone except Todd.”
“What’s the deal with Todd?”
“He keeps trying to change deadlines, shifting things around, almost like he doesn’t believe me when I tell him how long something is going to take. He even does it when Russell has my back. I don’t know what’s with him.”
He rubbed his hand across his chin, an action that made more sense when he had a goatee. It seemed awkward now that he shaved it off. “That’s what Russell said.”
Niki’s blood started to boil. “Are you checking up on me?”
“I check up on everyone. You know that.”
“Then what is this all about? It’s not like you to shift leads during a big project unless there are serious issues. Is something going on that you’re not telling me about?”
Brian sipped his iced tea, before answering. “No. There are no issues. At least none with you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I think Todd wants you gone.” He held up his hands when she sucked in a deep breath, ready to launch into her defense. “I know. It’s completely unjustified. There are no grounds whatsoever. But, he’s dropped some serious hints to Russell.”
She set down her fork, suddenly losing her appetite. “And you would really cave to him, even if it is unjustified?”
“No. But, I might not have a choice. Right now he’s not brought it up to me. But, if he does… He’s the customer.”
“So, you want me to quietly sulk away to Global?”
Brian heaved a sigh. “They’ve made a really good offer. Higher than last time. Don’t know exactly why they’re adamant you’re on the project. But they want you. It’s weird. But it would be a way out of the sticky situation—if it becomes that—with Helitronics.”
“I don’t want to go.”
“Just think about it, Niki. I’ve got a week before I have to let them know. And I do think it would be good to pair you with Joe. He could benefit from your experience and leadership.”
“I doubt I’ll change my mind.”
“Just consider it,” Brian reiterated as he paid for the meal.
Niki checked the time on her phone and faked an appointment. She was ready to bring this conversation to a close. “Gotta run. I’ll call you in a couple of days.”
Not waiting for his response, she got to her feet and headed to Helitronics.
When she arrived, an angry Todd waited at her desk. Fantastic. This day was starting to get the better of her.
“Where have you been?” Todd grilled her as she tossed her purse in her cube.
“Meeting with my boss. What’s up?” She smiled sweetly.
“Are you ready for Friday’s simulation?”
“We have a few questions for Kyle, but we should be.”
“Should be? Either you are or you aren’t.”
She resisted the urge to smack the smug look off Todd’s face. “We are. When is Kyle going to be back?”
“I would think you would know better than me.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’m on to you, Niki. I see through your little charade. You can’t manipulate me.”
“What? I’m not trying to manipulate you. You’re the one that has been manipulating things. You take everything I say, toss it out the window and come up with your own timelines. Why is that?” She was in no mood to be bullied by this guy.
“You better be ready for Friday.”
“We are,” she said to his retreating back, still confused by his insinuation.
As she sank into her chair, she turned on her laptop.
“He’s been stalking your desk for an hour and a half,” Doug said, poking his head in her cube.
Niki snorted. She wasn’t surprised. He probably found out she was going to be off site and made a big show of it.
“Any word on Kyle?” Doug asked.
“No. Give him a call. See if he can help.”
“I did. No answer on his cell or his home.”
“Really?” she asked growing concerned. What was going on with him? “Did you leave a message?”
“Yeah. This morning.”
As Doug left, she turned her attention back to work. Now she was getting worried. This was completely unlike Kyle.
On her way home from work, she called Marcy. “Have you heard from Kyle?”
“Niki, he’s in bad shape.”
Her stomach sank to the floor. “What happened?”
Chapter 27
Stopping at the store, Niki picked up the makings for her homemade lasagna. She was a good cook—one of the few good things she learned from her mother. The conversation with Marcy left her more unsettled than it should have. She said Kyle’s back flared up. He was on some heavy muscle relaxers that left him pretty useless. By the end of the call, she told Marcy she would check up on him and cook him dinner. It was the least she could do after all she put him through on Sunday. Besides, she still wanted to apologize.
Following the directions Marcy gave her, she easily found the complex of townhomes. She was surprised at how close it was to her own house—just a few miles away. She parked in the uncovered parking near Kyle’s place, suddenly nervous. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea. What if he was really mad? What if he didn’t want to see her?
Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and grabbed the grocery sacks from the back seat. She opened the gate to his back door then knocked loudly. She waited several minutes, debating whether or not she should look for the hidden key Marcy mentioned. Probably wouldn’t be a good idea to sneak in on him unexpected. She knocked again.
Finally on the third knock, the door opened.
“Niki.”
“Now who’s grumpy?” She smiled trying to hide her shock at his appearance. He looked terrible. His short hair hadn’t seen a brush or comb. It stood every which direction. Two day’s stubble darkened his face. His skin was pale and his eyes looked a little glassy. Marcy hadn’t prepared her for this.
“What do you want?”
“May I come in?”
He hesitated a few seconds before swinging the door wide open. Leaving her there, he walked slowly toward the couch and lay back down.
She entered, closing the door behind her. She dropped the food on the counter and looked around. A wide open great room took up most of the space of the lower level
of the townhome. The back door entrance was between the living and dining areas. The small kitchen sat further towards the front of the home, next to the dining area. The stairs divided the kitchen from another room with double doors. The doors were closed, but she figured it was probably an office. Under the stairwell, towards the front of the house was a small bathroom.
“Marcy said you weren’t feeling good,” she ventured as she began cleaning up the kitchen. It looked like he hadn’t done much around the place in the last few days.
From his prone position on the couch he said, “So you thought you’d stop by. Why is that?”
The shortness to his tone hurt. She was trying to do a good thing.
“I thought you might like a home cooked meal.”
He grunted and flipped through the channels on the TV, settling on Fox News.
In just a few minutes she had the kitchen cleaned. She started the dishwasher, hoping it would be finished before dinner so she could load it again with their dishes. She searched around his nearly empty cupboards for the pots and pans she needed.
She found a skillet and set it on the stove. Then she dumped the ground turkey and her secret seasonings in. She quickly became engrossed in the meal preparations, almost forgetting Kyle lay nearby.
The clattering sound of plastic hitting the tile floor drew her attention. Glancing up, she saw the TV remote on the floor. His limp arm hung to his side. She left the half-prepared lasagna to move over to the couch. As she knelt to pick up the remote, she heard his soft snores. She lifted his arm and laid it across his torso. Hopefully that would be more comfortable.
Back in the kitchen, she finished preparing the lasagna and put it in the oven to cook. Kyle slept on.
Niki walked around the townhouse. His small dining table was immaculate. She wondered if he ever used it. Judging from the stack of stuff on the coffee table, she thought not. The rest of the place was a little messy, which seemed out of character for his normally neat appearance. She picked up the scattered dishes and empty soda cans from the living room.
Once both the kitchen and living rooms were cleaned, she thought about seeing what else needed cleaning, but she didn’t want to invade his privacy. She picked up her phone and texted Marcy an update as she waited for the lasagna to finish cooking. Then she found some plates and silverware and set the table. Nothing like making herself completely at home.
When the buzzer went off, she removed the lasagna from the oven and set it again for ten minutes.
Kyle stirred. As he opened his eyes, he looked around confused.
“Niki, what are you doing here?”
Marcy warned her he got a little loopy on the meds. “You do remember answering your door right?”
He sat up, taking a minute to answer. “Kinda.” Taking a deep breath through his nose, he added, “Smells incredible.”
“Feel up to eating at the table?”
“Sure.” He looked around his home. “What, did I let you in then pass out for an hour?”
“Something like that.” She dished up a healthy portion for him and a smaller one for her. “I made enough so you would have some leftovers for a few days. It also freezes pretty good, in case you don’t feel like eating lasagna for a week.”
He smiled as he sat down at the table. He ran his hands through his hair. “I must look a sight.”
“Hey, it’s your home.” She smiled reassuringly.
His sweet blue eyes connected with hers as a smile stretched across his lips. Then he bowed his head and said a prayer for the meal. His words were a little slow and he still looked pretty dazed.
He finished the first bite. “This is really good.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
Silence settled over the meal as they each took another bite. She was trying to find a way to bring up her apology. Better now than later.
“Kyle—”
“Niki—”
They started at the same time. He nodded letting her go first.
“I just wanted to apologize for Sunday. I had no business treating you that way or prying into your life like that. I know it must have hurt and I’m sorry I was being so selfish.”
His eyes grew dark and unreadable. Maybe it hadn’t been the right time.
Her gaze fell to her plate. As the silence filled the room, she lobbed off another bite of lasagna and chewed it slowly, hoping to make the time pass faster. She was an idiot. Still not looking up, she stuffed another bite in her mouth. She couldn’t take the silence. Anger was better than silence. Silence was…
“Say something!” She looked up from her plate.
Her breath caught as she gazed into his eyes. She saw forgiveness, tenderness, and compassion there. And something else—something that reminded her of those kisses on the sky ride. She felt heat rise to her cheeks and she quickly looked away.
“Niki, look at me.”
She didn’t want to. If he still had that look in his eyes, she thought she might just melt into a pile on the floor. But she had to look.
“Please don’t apologize for that again,” he said, throwing her off balance. “I don’t know that there was any other way you would have listened to my story and believed it. Or that you would have made the decision you did. There is nothing more precious than that. I am honored to have been a part of it.”
“Oh,” she whispered, unsure what to make of him.
She looked at him—really looked at him—not as the teenager who made her life miserable, but as the man he’d become. Since stepping into her life again, if she was honest with herself, she saw Kyle Jacobs as a compassionate man. He tried to help her from the beginning. When she freaked out when he asked about Jack, he tried to smooth it over and he didn’t hold it against her. When she was hurt by Marcy’s comments at dinner, he took her to a movie, thoroughly distracting her from the mess that was her life. When she worked herself to exhaustion, he was there to keep her from losing it completely.
He was still looking at her with those beautiful eyes. Her breath caught in her throat. Yep, she was definitely about to melt into a puddle.
“What were you going to say?” she asked when she remembered he had been about to say something earlier.
Now it was his turn to look uncomfortable. He shifted in his chair. “Thank you for all of this,” he said, waving his hand in the air. “You have no idea what an incredible gift you gave me today.”
“I just cooked you a meal and picked up a few things. No big deal.”
He took her hand, sending a jolt up her arm. “It is a big deal, to me. I haven’t felt well enough to pick up or make myself a decent meal.” He released her hand and looked away. “I’ve spent the last two nights sleeping on the couch because climbing the stairs takes too much effort.”
Was he in that much pain?
“I knew it was stupid to buy a multi-level house. Stairs have been the most difficult thing to manage in my rehab. But, I liked the place and it was close to Marcy.”
“What’s in the room downstairs?” Niki asked pointing toward the room she thought might be an office.
“Nothing.”
“Why don’t you move your things down here, then? I mean, if you don’t need it for something else. Just think it’d be easier.”
He seemed to consider the idea. “Guess I could. The bathroom down here has a shower, even though it’s not the master suite. Maybe I should rent out the second floor to a roommate,” he said jokingly.
“I don’t think they’d want to listen to your snoring.”
“I don’t snore.”
“You sure?”
Kyle smiled. Standing, he stretched, before carrying his plate into the kitchen. He went for a prescription bottle and downed another pill.
She picked up her plate and set it on the kitchen counter. When she went to open the dishwasher, he put his hand over hers.
“I’ll get this later.”
She glanced up at him. “I’m sure you will.” Then she tried to open it anyway.
“No,” she said, batting her eyes. She smiled sweetly at him before shooing him away. There was no way she was going to let him win this one. Bending to unload and reaching to put away dishes was probably not what he needed to be doing right now.
He released her hand and went back to the couch. “You’ve got ten minutes. Then I’m kicking you out.”
“Why, you turn into a pumpkin or something?”
“No, the meds will kick in and you’ll be stuck here.”
She quickly unloaded the dishwasher. She threw some plastic wrap on the lasagna pan and set it in the fridge. Kyle could do what he wanted with it later. Then she put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, all under the ten minute mark.
“Ready.”
As he showed her to the door, he weaved—the medicine must be taking affect. When they got to the door, he nearly tripped and thrust his hand out to the door frame for balance, trapping Niki between his body and the door.
“You okay?” she asked, looking up at him. Even in his disheveled state he looked incredible.
He leaned forward and brushed a light kiss across her lips. The gentle touch brought forward a memory of the heated kisses from the sky ride—which she now admitted she enjoyed very much. She resisted the temptation to put her arms around his neck.
“Thank you for everything, Niki,” he whispered in her ear.
Tingles traveled up and down her spine. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his check, almost veering towards his lips.
Then he suddenly stepped back and opened the door, saving her from the ideas running through her head.
“Off with ya now,” he said, motioning her through the door.
“Goodnight, Kyle. Call if you need anything.”
“Um, hmm,” he muttered before closing and locking the door.
She stood on his back patio for a few minutes trying to recover from his closeness. Something just changed between them. For the first time she lowered her guard around him. It felt good.