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She’s just playing her part. This is all an act.
My gaze drops to the white t-shirt Kayla borrowed from my closet. She dressed the part of the fiancée who just rolled out of my bed, but she skipped her bra. I can see the outline of her dark nipples. She’s teasing me, or extracting retribution for Zack’s surprise visit.
I cast a warning look at Zack. His eyes sure as hell better remain fixed on his sneakers.
“Did you want a bagel, Zack?” Kayla asks as she draws my shirt up an inch.
“No.” He lets out an amused laugh. “I should go get cleaned up. Leave the newlyweds alone.”
Kayla’s hands
freeze. “We’re not married yet.” She turns to Zack and offers him a smile that leaves my teeth grinding against each other. “Do you need help getting in the elevator without the dogs?”
“I can manage.” Zack reaches down and pets Ava. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Gavin.”
“Sure,” I say. Then I wait until my sparring partner’s footsteps fade. The elevator arrives with a ding. A dog barks, possibly Ava protesting our guest’s departure. The others, Luna, Rocky and Cleveland, are still in the kitchen.
As soon as the elevator doors close, Kayla steps back. “I think he believed us.”
“Yes.”
I want to catch her hand and pull her close. My body believed the scene she set for Zack. I know better. That doesn’t change the fact that I’m standing in my kitchen with a hard-on. And my gym shorts don’t leave much to the imagination.
“I need to take a shower and head to the office,” I say.
Kayla slides onto the stool and picks up a plastic knife. “Thanks for the bagels.”
“You’re welcome.” I move through the kitchen, heading for the bedrooms.
“Gavin?”
I glance back at her. She dips the knife in the cream cheese. “Yeah?”
“I wanted to see if we could fool him.” She spreads a thin white layer on half her bagel.
“You did a great job.” My cock throbs against my boxer briefs. “You fooled me too.”
She laughs, dammit. “I noticed. Go take your shower. Then come have a bagel and tell me about the plan for the day.”
“I’m going to work. You have all day to play with the dogs before we go to a black tie charity event tonight.”
I hear Kayla demanding to know where we’re going this evening and why, but I’ve already fled to my bedroom. After my shower, I’m heading straight for the office. I need to pull my life back together. Work has saved me before. I’m counting on it again.
“Gavin, the robotic process automation software isn’t ready. There are too many glitches to take this product to market.”
My lead designer sits across the long white table. I spent the morning reading the code for the new technology and I know Maisy James is telling the truth. She assembled a talented team to create this software. But shifting my company’s focus to products that rely on machine learning has been an uphill battle. We’ll win the fight in the end, but it won’t come easy.
“I know.” I raise my latte to my lips and take another sip. Behind me, at the coffee bar, one of the junior designers brews an espresso.
“We did our best,” Maisy says over the coffee machine’s noise. “But in order to sell this product it needs to improve productivity and—”
“Maisy.” I hold up my right hand in a universal stop gesture. “I know there is a problem. Do you have a plan to fix it?”
“Yes, sir.” Maisy nods and her team follows her example, their heads bobbing in agreement, even the junior designer who has returned to the table with his coffee in hand.
“How long do you need?” I demand.
“I would estimate about a month.” Maisy reaches for the Lego bin inserted into the table. Top of her class at MIT, Maisy’s talent likely surpasses everyone else on her team combined. But she can’t sit still. I had the Lego bins installed in every meeting space to keep her hands busy when she isn’t writing code.
