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Cary looked down at the steno pad in his hand. “So you have Mrs. Caracas coming in at ten. She wants to shift some investments around. Then I have Mr. Bristol in after lunch—he’s ranting about the big loss he took last week.” He rolled his eyes. “As if you didn’t warn him that it was a shit move. And—”
Wyatt held up his hand. “Just send the schedule to my email. And cancel anything I have for the rest of the week.”
Cary’s eyes widened to panicked-deer mode. “What? But you have—”
“I don’t care,” Wyatt said, cutting him off, but not having the energy to explain further. “I’m going meet with my father in a few minutes. We aren’t to be interrupted.”
Cary clamped his jaw and nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Wyatt grabbed a folder off his desk and walked over to Cary, putting a hand on his shoulder when he reached him. “Thank you for keeping the ship afloat while I was gone. I know your position isn’t an easy one and that I can be a prick to deal with sometimes. You’ve done a great job.”
Cary looked stunned, as if Wyatt had spoken it in a foreign language, but he quickly found his composure. “Thank you, sir.”
Wyatt left him behind and headed toward his father’s office. It was a walk he’d made thousands of times. But never before had he carried the dread he did today. He still had a sliver of hope he was wrong, but his gut never lied. And his gut was screaming foul.
He strode past his father’s assistant, giving her a curt response when she attempted to thwart him from walking in unannounced, and opened his father’s office door. His dad was on the phone when Wyatt walked in but he waved him in anyway. Wyatt shut the door behind him and took a seat in the palatial space that the rest of the staff secretly referred to as the Oval Office.
His father wrapped up his conversation after a few minutes, then hung up the phone, sending Wyatt a smile. “Welcome back, son.”
“Thanks.”
He leaned back in his chair and folded his hands over his stomach. “Looks like you got some sun.”
Flashes of running through the waves with Kelsey flickered through Wyatt’s mind, a painful reminder of what he no longer had now that he was back in this gray fog of a building. “Well, it was a beach vacation.”
His father chuckled. “I’m impressed you spent that much time outside. I heard you got more than a suntan, though. Saw the email about Belle Pritchard. And I just got off the phone with Andrew Carmichael a few minutes ago. Seems you made quite an impression on him.”
Wyatt’s gaze narrowed. “What the hell is he doing calling you?”
“He’s ready to work with us. Said he needs a risk-taker and you proved yourself to be one last week.” A beaming smile broke through. “I have to tell you, son. I wasn’t sure you could pull it off. But color me impressed. You’re not as socially inept as I thought. Maybe I’ve raised a true CEO after all.”r: Roni Loren
“A month, Wyatt. Don’t give me the forever eyes.”
“Kelsey—”
“Don’t,” she repeated. Her throat went tight, and she wished he wasn’t so close. She couldn’t think with him staring at her with those naked blue eyes. “That’s not what this is. It’s not what it’s supposed to be. No romance, Wyatt. No sweet pillow talk.”
“I love you.”
“What?” The trap door fell right out from beneath her. She pulled her knees to her chest and pressed her forehead to the top of them, barely resisting covering her ears. No. No. No. “Don’t do this, Wyatt. Please. I can’t—”
He sighed. “You can’t, what? Handle it? Love me back? Deal?”
“You don’t love me. Don’t say that.”
“Don’t tell me what I do and don’t feel, Kelsey,” he said, anger leaking into his tone as he reached over and grabbed for the robe he’d hung on the bedpost. “Believe me. This wasn’t my plan either. But I’m not going to sit hear and lie about how I feel.”
“Love? That’s bullshit and you know it. You barely know me. Yes, this week has been fun and I enjoy being with you. But we can’t do this for real.”
“Why the hell not?”
She looked at him, disbelief coursing through her. “You want to go through what we did last night every time you take me somewhere? Get those looks? I will never fit into this world. And even if you don’t see it yet, I’m just a shiny, new toy for you—something different and exciting. As soon as the novelty wears off, I’ll be the next Gwen. Only with a nice check in the bank so you don’t have to feel so guilty.”
A thundercloud crossed over his expression. “So this is what you’re going to do, Kelsey? This is your life plan—push away anyone who could care about you so you can’t ever get hurt?”
Her vision went blurry with tears. “You told me not to let you hurt me. You told me. This will hurt me. You said yourself you’re no good for me. I deserve better than becoming another Saturday night special. Don’t pretend that’s not what this would become.”
He scowled. “How the fuck am I supposed to know what this could become? But you’re not even willing to see where it could go? To feel whatever we feel and go from there? I care about you, dammit. Not just fucking you. Being with you. I’m old enough to know the difference. Are you?”
