by Ella Miles
Who knows? If this turns into something, Granddad might think Cedric is capable of helping me run the company.
“Sure. I’m free tonight,” I say.
Cedric’s smile and erection grow in unison. His body presses closer to mine. “Tonight is perfect.”
He lowers his lips to mine, which surprises me because Brock never told us to kiss. This kiss is real. It’s not planned. It’s tentative and gentle, just testing the waters in a way that most first kisses are. When I kiss him back, wrapping my arms around his neck, I try to keep myself from comparing this kiss to Killian’s. Cedric deepens the kiss. His tongue easily slides into my mouth, like he has practiced this many times before. I don’t care though. I feel his hand slide up and cup my breast, and I moan.
Shit, I moaned. I’m on camera, moaning, as a man I just met is feeling me up.
“Cut!” Killian shouts.
I look up and am shocked that he was the one yelling cut. He looks angry, but I don’t know why. He walks over to us. His face is bright red, and his nostrils flare with each step.
His eyes travel to Cedric’s and then mine. “This isn’t a porno. Just kiss her, and then deliver your lines.”
I gulp nervously as Cedric’s body stays plastered to mine, but Cedric seems unaffected.
“Sorry, boss.” He looks back to me, winking as he does. “It’s just hard not to get lost in a beautiful woman. I forgot I was doing a job.”
“If you don’t just do your job, you won’t be getting paid, Cedric,” Killian says.
Now, I’m glaring at Killian. That’s taking it a little too far.
“Sorry. It won’t happen again—at least, not until tonight,” Cedric says, winking at me.
I giggle at Cedric. It wasn’t the most suave of lines I’ve ever heard, but I don’t care. I’m having fun, flirting with Cedric. I’m excited to see where he takes me to dinner tonight. That’s two dates in two nights. I’ve never had my beauty work so well in my favor, but maybe that’s the strength I should be playing up. Everyone has always told me I’m beautiful. I’m sure I can find a man my grandfather likes more than Killian. It was my father who was in love with Killian after all, not my grandfather. It might not be Cedric, but if I spend the next month dating, I’m sure I can do better.
I smile, happy to have a new plan. It’s my own plan for my life.
“What does that mean?” Killian says.
“Kinsley agreed to go out with me tonight,” Cedric says.
“Is that true?” Killian asks, looking at me.
My smile drops when I see a hint of sadness in his eyes. I don’t know why he’s sad. This is what he wanted—for me to live my own life.
“Yes,” I say weakly.
Killian shakes his head. “Just finish the shoot. I’m not paying for overtime.”
I watch as Killian walks away, but this time, he doesn’t stop. He walks back into the hotel. He doesn’t finish watching the shoot. And I have no idea why he reacted like that.
I turn my attention back to Cedric, back to the job at hand. And I do my best to erase any thoughts of Killian from my brain.
I hear the knock on my door. I glance down at the time on my phone—seven fifty-five. He’s five minutes early. I finish applying my red lipstick before I head to the door. I check through the peephole first before I open the door. Cedric is standing there in a suit. I exhale, happy that I wore appropriate clothing for once.
I am happy with the response he gives me. His eyes drop to the cutouts on each side of the black dress before dropping lower to take in my exposed legs. When his eyes find mine again, I see the appreciation there.
“You look even more beautiful, if that’s possible.”
“It’s possible. You look beautiful yourself,” I say, eyeing his tailored suit and toned chest that is visible because he left the top two buttons unbuttoned. “I mean, you look handsome,” I say, flushing a bright shade of pink already.
“Don’t be.”
He holds his arm out for me, and I take it.
We walk down the hallway and into the elevator in relative silence. It’s when we get to the casino floor that I realize that Cedric doesn’t know that I’m Kinsley Felton, daughter of Robert Felton. Maybe he won’t notice the stares as we walk through the casino floor, arm in arm.
“Good evening, Kinsley,” one of the bartenders says.
I nod my head in her direction, smiling. I try walking faster to get us out of here as soon as possible, but Cedric doesn’t take the hint. Instead, he seems uneasy, and more and more employees begin staring at us. Some seem shocked to see me walking, hand in hand, with a man. Others just smile knowingly. And others just give me a friendly nod of recognition as we walk through the floor.
It gives me time to see Killian. He’s sitting at the bar in the center of the casino floor. He’s not alone. A young woman is sitting with him. She touches his arm and smiles. He smiles, too. I thought I was the only one he really smiled at. I thought I was special. I’m not.
I tear my eyes from them as Cedric escorts me out the doors.
“Do you work here?” Cedric asks when we are outside.
“You could say that.”
He stops us, as my answer didn’t cure his curiosity.
“My name is Kinsley Felton. My father used to own the company. Everybody in there knows who I am because of it.”
I run my hands through my long blonde locks. I twist and twirl them as I wait for him to change how he acts around me, but he doesn’t.
“That’s cool.” He shrugs. He begins walking again, but then he suddenly stops.
I curiously look at him. “Something wrong?”
“Wait…you don’t work as one of the slutty bartenders or something? I’m not sure I could handle dating someone who has men ogling them every night.”
I laugh. “No, I’m not a slutty bartender, but I am a model. What do you think men do when they see my ads or magazine covers?” I raise an eyebrow at him.
“Good point.” He sighs before he softly kisses me on the lips.
It’s a nice kiss. It doesn’t send fireworks exploding throughout my body though.
He pulls away with a look of contentment on his face. “I guess I’ll just have to be jealous then.”
I smile against his lips. “I guess so.”
“I do like jealous sex.”
I twist away from him. “Me, too,” I say. But I’ve never had jealous sex before, and even though we spent half the day making out while mostly naked, I’m not sure I’m ready to have sex with this man.
Cedric quickly catches up to me and loops his arm back around me.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
We walk less than a block when Cedric stops. “Right here.”
I smile without looking at the restaurant we are stopped in front of. I already know which one it is. It’s one of my favorites. My father has taken me here hundreds of times.
“Is this okay?” he asks.
“It’s perfect.”
We take a seat in the beautiful restaurant. A piano player plays softly in the background, and red roses sit on the center of the table.
“Do you like red wine?” Cedric asks.
“Yes,” I say.
I glance down at the wine list and find that my favorite is listed, the one Killian got me hooked on. I’m just about to suggest it, but Cedric interrupts me.
“I think we should share a bottle of the house cabernet. Is that okay with you?”
I sigh. I’m not going to get my favorite. But that’s okay. I don’t want to be thinking about Killian anyway. And drinking that wine will make me think of him. It will make me wonder if he has already convinced the woman he was with to go to his hotel with him—although I don’t think Killian would have to do much convincing. I think most women he meets would willingly jump into bed with him. That means, if he’s asked, she’s already made her way to his bed.
“Sounds perfect,” I say, trying not to think about Killian.
I watch Cedric order our wine. It felt nice that he asked my opinion before just ordering for me. I’m so used to Killian, who just orders whatever he wants.
“Where did you go to school?” Cedric asks.
“Yale.”
His eyes widen. “Seriously?”
My smile drops from my face. “Yeah. I studied theater…although I don’t think that’s what I want to do. I don’t technically have my degree yet, but they should be sending it soon. I missed finals, but my grades were high enough that I didn’t need to make them up.”
“Why did you miss finals?”
I look down, not ready to hear his I’m sorry that is going to follow what I say next. “My father died the weekend before finals.”
He reaches his hand across the table and grabs ahold of my hand in a comforting manner. “I’m sorry.”
I smile weakly. “Thanks.”
An awkward pause passes where I don’t want to talk further about my father, but Cedric isn’t sure if he can change the topic or not.
“I’m not really sure about what I want to do next with my life,” I say. That’s not completely true though. I just don’t know exactly what I want to do with my life. I know it doesn’t involve marrying Killian. “What do you want to do once you finish your law degree?”
“I want to start my own firm. I like corporate law. And then I want to settle down with a beautiful girl like you. Somewhere warm.”
“Of course,” I say, smiling.
“And I want to marry her. I want to have kids with her. I want my life to be her.”
I blush. “I hope you find that someday.”
His eyes stay transfixed on mine. “I’m getting close.”
His eyes sparkle, and I quickly lose myself in them. It would be nice to be married to someone like Cedric. He seems nice. He seems like a gentleman. He seems like husband material, unlike Killian who is too focused on his work to ever give proper attention to a wife and family.
“Kinsley?” my grandfather says.
I turn and see my grandfather standing at the end of our table. He has a stern look on his face. I see Killian standing behind him with a small smirk on his face.
I try to pull my hand away from Cedric’s, but he doesn’t understand what’s happening. He just tightens his grip as his thumb slowly moves over my palm.
“Hi, Granddad,” I say.
“Who is this?” he asks, looking at Cedric.
“This is—” I start.
But, of course, Cedric, being a gentleman, jumps in immediately.
“I’m Cedric Allum. I’m her date for the evening—and, hopefully, if she will have me, for many dates after this.”
I wince at his words, and Cedric looks at me in confusion.
“I’m not just a model,” Cedric says in a rush, thinking that is the reason that my grandfather and I are so unhappy with what he just said. “I just do that on the side for some extra money, same as Kinsley. I just graduated with a business degree from UNLV. I got accepted into a law school in Chicago. I plan on being a lawyer, sir.”
My grandfather is paying him no attention. Instead, he is looking at me. “I think you’d better end the date now, Kinsley.”
I nod, unable to argue with him in such a public space. I don’t look at Killian. And I don’t look at Cedric as I begin to stand from my chair.
I take a deep breath before I do my best to look strong as I look at Cedric. “I’m sorry. You’ve been wonderful, but I think it’s best if we stop this here.”
“Why? I thought this was going well.” He glances up at my grandfather. “If your grandfather and”—he looks at Killian—“your brother would like to join us, they are more than welcome. Then, they can get to know me a little better and feel more comfortable with us going out.”
I chance a glance at Killian when Cedric calls him my brother. His smirk is gone. He’s rubbing the back of his neck in annoyance instead of the anger I was expecting. It seems he doesn’t even see Cedric as worthy of a challenge.
“That won’t be possible,” Granddad says.
“Another time then?” Cedric asks.
I smile weakly at his persistence, but he needs to learn when to give up.
That’s when Killian steps forward. “I’m sorry, Cedric, but you need to go home and forget about Kinsley. Don’t call her. Don’t think about her. Don’t try to reach out to her in any way. Plenty of other girls are out there who would be more suited to you.”
I close my eyes to keep the sting out of them after what he just said.
“I think Kinsley is plenty suited to me,” Cedric says.
“No, because Kinsley is my fiancée,” Killian says.
Cedric gasps. Then, he looks to my left hand to find that a ring isn’t there. His eyes narrow in my direction. “You’re engaged?”
I twist my hair as I look at him. I don’t know how to answer that. I’m not technically engaged. At least, I wasn’t the last time I spoke with either of the men glowering over me, but it’s too complicated to say that I’m not engaged.
Cedric takes my lack of an answer as an answer. “She’s all yours,” he says as he throws his napkin down on the table before storming out.
I don’t bother to follow him with my eyes when he leaves. I feel like crying. I feel like going home and spending the night taking a long warm bath, trying to forget what just happened.
“Come on, Kinsley. We have a table for us set up upstairs. We will have them add another chair. You’ll eat with us,” Granddad says. His voice is dripping with disappointment.
I just nod, unable to say any words without losing it. I feel so embarrassed. I watch as my grandfather begins walking, but Killian hovers over me, waiting for me to follow my grandfather.
I take a second. “How could you?” A tear falls.
“You can’t be with him. He’s not a good guy.”
“And you are?” I shake my head in frustration. “You can’t tell me you want me to make my own decisions about my life and then make every decision for me. You can’t tell him I’m your fiancé one minute but then tell me you don’t want to marry me the next. You can’t pick up a random stranger at a bar one minute and then say I can’t go on a date myself. Talk about indecisive. What do you want, Killian? Other than the CEO position, what the fuck do you want?”
I close my eyes when I realize I just cursed in front of a table with children. I never curse. But Killian brings out the worst in me, the absolute worst.
“I want to marry you,” are the words that leave his lips.
I haven’t looked at Killian since we sat down at the table, opposite my grandfather. I can’t. I don’t believe what Killian said when we were alone downstairs. He didn’t say anything else. It was just those five words.
“I want to marry you.”
I don’t believe them. I don’t think I ever will until I see him down on bended knee. And even then, it won’t be because that’s what he really wants. It will be because that is the only way he can become CEO.
“What were you doing with that boy, Kinsley?” my grandfather asks.
Our waiter interrupts us, and my grandfather orders wine for the table. He asks Killian for his opinion but not mine.
When the waiter leaves, Granddad turns his attention back to me, waiting for my answer.
“He was nice. I met him at the shoot earlier. I didn’t realize I wasn’t allowed to date while I waited for Killian to decide if he wanted to marry me or not.”
I feel Killian’s eyes on me, but I still don’t look at him. I’m too pissed to look at him. He did the same thing an hour earlier with a woman. Why can’t I?
“You know the rules, young lady. The same rules still apply as when your father was alive. If you want to date, you run the guys by me. I will tell you whom you should or shouldn’t date. You’ve made too many horrible decisions in the past to allow anything else. You shouldn’t have been on a date with Cedric.”
“I’ve made one horrible mistake. One,” I say, glaring at my grand
father for bringing it up.
My eyes dart to Killian, but he doesn’t seem to know what mistake we are talking about.
I move on. “What was wrong with Cedric? He seemed like a perfect gentleman if you asked me.”
“Tell her, Killian.”
Killian takes a deep breath. “Cedric is a scam artist. He only dates rich women and then scams them or steals money from them.”
I turn to him. “And how exactly do you know this?”
“We do background checks on all our employees, including the models. There were some suspicious things when his returned. The suspicious information didn’t touch my desk until after the shoot. Otherwise, I would never have let him do the shoot. He’s a wanted felon in three states. We called the police. He was arrested as soon as he left the premises.”
Fuck! How the hell am I supposed to make my own decisions in my life when I keep making the wrong ones?
The waiter pours us each a glass of wine, and I down my glass in one gulp. I can feel everyone’s eyes on me as I do, but I don’t care. The waiter pours me a second glass.
“This is why you can’t make your own decisions without consulting me or Killian. You are too naïve, too easily taken advantage of, sweetheart. We are just trying to protect you.”
I don’t respond to Granddad’s words, but I can’t believe them. I didn’t do anything, except go on a date with Cedric. I didn’t make up my mind about him yet. If they had just given me time, they could have seen that I would have turned Cedric down on my own.
“Are you ready to order?” the waiter asks.
My grandfather nods. “I’ll have the sirloin, medium rare. Kinsley will have the same.”
I don’t hear Killian order. I’m too busy sulking. This is what my life will be like. Everything will always be decided by these two men. I will never get a choice in what I eat or drink. I will never get a choice in what I do. I will never get a choice in when I have children or what their names will be or what they do with their own lives. I will never get a say. I’ve never had a say.
I quickly sip on my wine, and before I know it, I’ve finished another glass. The waiter immediately fills it again.