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“So,” I started again. “Any particular plans?”
Without looking away from his paper, Kane took another sip of his coffee. “Yes, I figured we would spend the morning on the yacht and then, once the lawn is clipped, you could try to beat me at croquet.” The side of his face I could see was smirking and he was trying not to laugh at his joke.
I huffed, not the slightest bit annoyed that he remembered how I teased Sloane. “We can’t play,” I said sensibly, pointing out the window with the butter knife, “there’s too much snow. The balls won’t roll.”
“Mmmhmm?” Kane murmured, raising one eyebrow, amazed that I seemed to be taking this seriously.
I stuffed another bite of toast in my mouth and chewed thoughtfully. “Besides, I always win at croquet.”
Kane started laughing and put his newspaper down. “Fair enough, pet. However, I would like to test that in the future.” He picked up his cup and took another sip of coffee. “Our plans today are rather lenient. I thought you could help me make a business decision and then, perhaps, you could give me a little fashion show.”
I stopped digging into the jelly jar with my butter knife and glanced at his face. “A fashion show? What kind of fashion?” My thoughts immediately went to black leather or pleather dresses and stripper shoes. Or perhaps lingerie? Either thought was exciting.
“Evening gowns.”
I looked over Kane’s face to see if he was kidding. He wasn’t. Okay. Cool. It sounded like being a princess for the day.
I took another bite of toast and chewed thoughtfully. “Will these gowns be used later?” I asked.
“Indeed,” Kane confirmed. “That’s the business decision that I need help with.” He reached over, grabbed the coffee pot, and refilled his cup. After resettling, he looked up at me with his deep brown eyes. “Over the next few weeks, McKenzie Tech will be going through some big changes. We are going to merge with a company that one of my good friends owns. His name is Ashton and he will be my new business partner.”
I nodded, encouraging him to speak further. I had heard the rumors of what was going on. We had even been moving our office around some to accommodate the new employees. It wasn’t very long ago that McKenzie Tech had taken over the smaller company I worked for, so this really didn’t seem like a big deal.
“Ashton is a good man, a good friend, and he likes to do a lot of charity work. I do as well, but to impress my new business partner I want to hold a fundraising ball at the office in two weeks. It’s all very last minute. Melissa has most of it planned, but for one very important detail. I’m not sure who to fundraise for.” He took another sip of his coffee and looked at me expectantly, his eyebrows raised.
Fundraising?! I had spent years now as an accountant following and tracking money. I had never had a say in where it went and now Kane was asking my advice. Oh wow!
“Puppies and kittens!” I blurted out without thinking.
At my unrefined answer, Kane almost spit out his coffee. “What?”
I sat back in my chair and tried to calm my breathing. “Animal shelters. I would love for you to do a fundraiser for New York’s animal shelters.”
Kane took a minute to think. He tapped his fingers on the table. “That would work. Thank you, Reese.” He took my hand briefly and kissed the top. “I didn’t realize that you were such the animal enthusiast. Do you have a pet… of your own?” He laughed a bit here at his wording.
I smiled at his joke and nervously picked at my nails. “No. Not currently. According to my lease I can’t have any pets. But I do love animals.” I wasn’t sure if it was the get to know each other portion of the day, but I took a deep breath and jumped in. “My dad died when I was only five years old,” I started to explain. “It was only mom and I for the longest time. Mom believes that you only have on true love and well, dad was hers. So, she gave up on finding a man. Anyway, mom had a lot of love to give so she started picking up stray dogs and cats. It got to be too much for the house. So, she started a shelter.”
Kane nodded in understanding as I talked. His deep chocolate eyes drinking me in. “And you didn’t want to join her in this venture as an adult?” he asked when I stayed quiet for a few minutes.
I slumped my shoulders a bit. “There’s no money in running a shelter. Mom and I barely got enough to eat. I promised myself that I would be financially stable as an adult. I miss it, but I can’t live that way anymore.” I rubbed my eyes, surprised to find a few tears there.
