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It must have taken her forever, and she must have spent a long time trawling stores and markets to get everything she needed to put it together. This area of the site had been partially finished for some time and she had mentioned a few times that it was taking more work, but it had been worth it. Again, I regretted sending Henry back to the office, but I knew I would need to come around again. I would bring him here and make him see this for what it truly was. A masterpiece.
One thing was sure. Kit knew how to do her job, and I felt proud of her. Still, she didn’t seem to understand how amazing this was and how much we genuinely loved it. Her confidence had been damaged and I wasn’t going to let it slide. I had protected her from the hurt in one way, but now I needed to find the right space to help her put herself back together.
“I think this calls for a celebration,” I said, taking a leaf out of Sarai’s book. “And I know just the place to go to celebrate Kit and her unique and skilled taste.”
Kit lifted an eyebrow as a plan formed in my head. I knew the perfect place to make her feel at home and help show her I appreciated her.
“Well, I happen to agree,” Sarai replied, looking between us and catching on enough to go with it.
“I still have some work to do.” Kit frowned, clearly not sure she wanted to go with it. Her eyes still carried the sadness Henry had put there, but I took her hands in mine before she could object too much.
As soon as she looked up at me, I kissed her. It was a bold move in front of Sarai and Richard, but I hoped they wouldunderstand. Kit was more important, and I was putting us out of work mode and into fun time. “Trust me. I know the perfect thing, and besides, you’ve earned this. This is amazing. You’re amazing. We all know that you’ve been working really hard on this section of the site the last week or so. You can’t work hard all the time and not stop to celebrate your achievements.”
The moment Kit pulled away and I let go of her, Sarai put an arm through hers. “I happen to agree. You have worked hard on this section and it shows. While I want the same level of attention and detail to the whole project, I know when it’s time to unwind and celebrate the wins along the way. Let’s go, take a few hours. I need to come back later; I’ll bring you back with me and we’ll do what we need after celebrating.”
This removed any other objection as Richard opened the door for all of us.
“Good man,” he whispered to me as I walked past him, the two women already a little way ahead. I gave him a nod, grateful that he understood what I was trying to do. The more time I spent with Richard and Sarai, the more I liked their relationship and the understanding both showed to each other.
Sarai was confident and bold, and it overwhelmed Kit a little sometimes, but it was bringing her out of her shell, and Richard and I had their backs. That was the way it should be. Both women had their own talents, and the role of a partner was to know when to celebrate them and stand back and let them have the limelight.
I knew Kit had worked hard, and in that regard she deserved success. It was a reminder that no matter how much her interest in me might also be because it furthered her career, she deserved at least some level of achievement of her own. And that made me feel a lot better.
Given how she had taken to being a submissive, I was also feeling good about that part of our relationship. I made a mentalnote to thank Daniel as well. I really was having a good time dating Kit.
Kit still looked at me questioningly when we reached the parking lot. I was without a car yet again, but Sarai was already motioning for us to go over to her vehicle, and I didn’t see any point in denying the woman driving us out.
“Okay, Lukas, in the front so you can direct me.” Sarai smiled as I did as I was told for now. Part of being a good leader was knowing when to go with the flow.
She trusted me as I gave her the directions, using my phone to navigate as we got closer so that none of the others could see where we were going. Kit was sitting behind me. I could just see her face if I looked in the rearview mirror. She had no idea where we were going and she had furrowed her brow as she looked ahead and out the windows to try and work it out.
It made me feel good inside. This way I could show that she was accepted by us. Just as she was.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
Kit
It took until we were driving down the right road and I saw the restaurant for me to know where Lukas was taking us to celebrate, and I didn’t know what to do or say when I realized.
While I had taken him here and wanted to share it with him, I had thought it would stay between us. It was a very different sort of restaurant to the usual places that Sarai took us to, and I didn’t know what they would make of me dipping fries into my milkshake.
Lukas had made the decision, however, and I was sure he was trying to be kind. I had spoken of this being one of the things I had missed and that it was comfort food. But I didn’t know what Sarai and Richard would think of something like this.
I didn’t know if I should be embarrassed or not, and I found myself wondering if that was the point. Had Lukas possibly hated that I’d taken him here a few weeks ago and wanted to get his revenge? It wouldn’t have been the first time in my life that someone had done something like that to hurt me.
Trying to hide my nervousness, I waited for Sarai to park the car and Lukas to lead the way right up to the restaurant entrance before I exclaimed in delight.
“You’ve been here together before?” Sarai asked.
“Yes. It’s adorable and simple, but sometimes that’s perfect. Kit has been so right about respecting differences in culture and style, so I wanted to celebrate in a different way. We’re used to this glitzy world, but not everyone is. And Kit is fantastic at appreciating all sorts of things the rest of us normally don’t even know are there. I loved coming here with her, and I thought we’d all enjoy it today.”
I exhaled, wishing I had trusted him from the moment he’d taken us here. He was complimenting me, not trying to mock me.
“Thank you,” I said, feeling tears stinging my eyes. I fought to hold them back. “I know it’s simple food, but for a lot of people this is actually a treat, and it was for me growing up.”
His belief in me helped me be honest about this. I hadn’t grown up rich but being myself wasn’t proving as scary as I feared.
“I’ll let you in on a secret,” Richard said, putting his arm around Sarai. “Before I got to college and pushed myself to excel, I was exactly the same. As much as I love my wife’s refined palate, part of me craves nothing but a good burger and fries. This is perfect.”
