The Tycoon And I. Kandy Shepherd
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“There. All taken care of.”
Lucas’s eyes sprang open. What was taken care of? Certainly not his needs—his desires.
“Don’t worry.” Kate held out a white piece of fuzz for his inspection. “At first, I was worried that it was some spackling, but it’s just lint. Your suit has been saved.”
His suit? That wasn’t what he was concerned about at this moment. His clothes might be fine, but his mind and body were a jumbled mess. He swallowed hard, working hard to control his wayward thoughts.
“Why are you working so late?” His voice came out much harsher than he’d intended.
Kate’s brown eyes flashed with surprise. “I had things to do.”
“You’re supposed to be overseeing the project, not doing all of the work yourself.”
Her hands pressed against her slender hips and her eyes narrowed in on him. “I’m doing what needs to be done. Unlike some people in this room, I keep my word.”
Her barbed comment didn’t go unnoticed by him. She was still ticked at him about the episode at the hospital. He should explain to her what had happened. But that would only lead to more questions...questions he didn’t want to answer.
Not now.
Not ever.
When he didn’t respond, she added, “You know, if you didn’t want to meet my daughter, all you had to do was say so in the first place.”
“But I wanted to—”
Lucas stopped. His jaw tightened, his back teeth grinding together. What was he saying? This wasn’t going to make things better for either of them. But the damage had been done.
An inquisitive gleam showed in her eyes. “What do you mean you wanted to? Why’d you change your mind?”
He glanced away and shuffled his feet. His gut told him that she wasn’t going to drop the subject until he fessed up. But how could he do that? He didn’t talk about his past with anyone...not even his aunt.
“Surely you have something to say for yourself.” Her tone was hard and sharp.
He didn’t like being pushed around. His ex-wife had known his vulnerabilities and used them for her own benefit. He wouldn’t allow someone else to take advantage of him again.
Kate could push and shove as hard as she wanted, but he wouldn’t give in...not until he was ready.
“I’m tired. And I still have reports to go over. There’s Chinese takeout on the counter if you want some. And just so you know, I am truly sorry.”
He turned away from the confused look in her eyes, telling himself that he didn’t care. This woman meant absolutely nothing to him.
Nothing. At. All.
But if that was the case, why as he yanked the door shut behind him did he feel like a total heel? And why did he want a chance to make things right with her?
HE’D TOTALLY OVERREACTED.
So what if he’d lost his mind for a moment and kissed her again? It didn’t mean he was falling for her big brown eyes or her cherry lips. The whole lack of judgment thing could be written off to a few restless nights and the stress of not bringing in enough money to cover the overages regarding the San Francisco expansion.
Days passed and with each day that went by, Lucas noticed that they were falling back into an easy routine. Pretending they hadn’t shared yet another even more intense lip-lock seemed to work during the day, but at night, when he should be sleeping, images of Kate and her tempting kisses filled his thoughts.
“Sorry I’m late.” She rushed into the kitchen after returning from her visit to the hospital. “You didn’t have to wait to eat. In fact, I’m not really hungry.”
“I have plans for us tonight. Instead of the food coming to you, you are going to the food.”
She shook her head before sinking down onto a kitchen chair. “I’m sorry. I’m too tired to go anywhere.”
Dark shadows under her eyes sent up warning flares. Maybe asking her to work on the house was too much for her.
He realized that in his attempt to avoid his unwanted attraction to her, he’d failed to do his duty as her boss—and, dare he admit it, as her friend. He’d let her work herself into the ground while he’d been busy at the office. He had to fix this, but how?
“No problem. When you get your appetite back, I’ll get you whatever you want.” He sat down next to her. “Your wish is my command.”
With her elbows propped on the table, she rested her chin on her upturned palms. Was it exhaustion that had her so down? Or did she have bigger things on her mind? Was it Molly? Had her health taken a turn for the worse? His chest tightened.
“How’s Molly today?”
Kate’s eyes widened. “How did you know that’s what I had on my mind?”
“What else would you be thinking about?” Unlike him, she probably hadn’t fantasized the afternoon away, imagining the temptation of another kiss.
“Molly’s refusing the surgery.”
This news set him back. “What do you mean refusing?”
“Well, she didn’t put it in those terms. But she’s moody and depressed. She’s insisting on going home and I can’t blame her. She’s been poked, prodded and examined for months now.”
He’d have a hard time dealing with that and he was an adult. He didn’t know how a child could put up with visiting doctor after doctor. Children were supposed to be outside, running around in the fresh air playing dodgeball or jumping rope, whatever it was that little girls liked to do.
“I’m sorry. That can’t be easy for either of you. Did you tell her that it won’t be much longer?”
Kate nodded. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “What am I going to do? They say with tricky surgeries that the patient’s attitude plays a huge role in the recovery.”
He didn’t have any experience with sick people or surgeries. He’d been a kid when his grandparents passed on. And his father died of a massive coronary at his desk at the Carrington offices. So all he could do was try to remember what it felt like to be a kid. And his favorite memories were of the times when he’d been with his aunt.
A thought sprang to mind. “Why don’t you give Molly something to look forward to?”
Kate narrowed her gaze on him. “Don’t you think that’s what I’ve been trying to do?”
“You aren’t understanding me. What if you give her something to dream about? A plan for when she gets out of the hospital?”
“I’m running low on brilliant ideas. And by the time Molly is out of the hospital, I won’t have two pennies to rub together much less money for a trip to Disneyland.”
This was a small way he could help Kate. “You don’t have to spend a lot to make your little girl happy. And you don’t have to visit Sleeping Beauty Castle either.”
Kate jerked upright. “How would a bachelor like yourself know about Sleeping Beauty Castle?”
He wasn’t about to tell her that he too had a little girl and when he used to read her bedtime stories, he’d promised to take her there when she got a little older.
“Who doesn’t know about the castle?” he bluffed. “It’s in almost every Disney commercial. But what I was trying to say is that you don’t need that. You could plan a whole vacation right here in New York City.”