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CHAPTER 4
Dylan
“Those are just a few things I see that could help your bottom line. I thought I’d mention them, even though you didn’t ask for my advice on that,” I told Kylie the next afternoon.
She swiveled her office chair around to face me. “Thank you. I honestly didn’t mean to take up so much of your time. I just meant to ask you a few things about the profit and loss, but I appreciate the advice. I can implement so many of the things you suggested that I never thought about before.”
“Glad I could help,” I replied, realizing that I was actually sincere about that comment. “You already knew what you were doing. I think all you needed was a second opinion.”
Kylie actually had a savvy business mind, and she absorbed information like a sponge. All she’d really required was some guidance.
She smiled, and her entire face lit up.
Fuck!It had been a long time since anyone had looked at me as though they actually…liked me.
And I wasn’t quite sure what to do with that.
She’s grateful, which is entirely different from her actually being fond of me.
It wouldn’t do for me to start thinking that she didn’t mind my company.
The problem was, I was actually getting used to her being around.
Granted, we didn’t speak often, but just hearing another person moving around in the house was better than total silence.
I wasn’t about to say that I liked her pathetic canine, but I didn’t dislike it when he sought me out and decided he’d grace me with his presence.
Jake was fairly unobtrusive once a person got past the fact that he tended to snore rather loudly at times.
“Right then,” I said. “If that’s all you need, I’ll just pop down to my own office.”
There was no need to ruminate over whether or not Kylie could tolerate being in my presence any longer.
“Dylan?” she said in a questioning tone.
I didn’t rise from my chair as I replied, “Did you need something else?”
She shook her head. “No. I just wanted to ask why you’re helping me. You don’t want me here, yet you spent a couple of hours of your time working on my business with me. I thought you hated me.”
How was I supposed to answer that? I hardly knew why I was doing it myself. “I don’t hate you, Kylie.”
Well, at least that was true. I hated myself far more than I disliked her.
Honestly, I didn’t dislike her presence at all anymore.
True, she was annoyingly blunt and outspoken, but it wasn’t like everything she’d said about me wasn’t true.
I’d just resented the fact that she’d pointed out every single one of my failings.
She sighed. “I don’t hate you, either, Dylan. Maybe I do detest some of your actions, but I really don’t know you.”
I shrugged. “Is there really a difference between those two things? It’s nearly impossible to like someone when they’ve acted like a complete idiot.”
“It depends,” she mused. “Sometimes a person can act out of character for a lot of different reasons.”
“You don’t want to know me. Take my word on that one. That would mean going to a very dark place,” I cautioned her.
She tilted her head in an adorable way that completely fascinated me, like she was trying to figure me out and find some kind of redeeming qualities in my personality.
