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He was demanding and intimidating, but he also knew how to inspire and push his employees to do better.
While he may not have been the obvious choice given his party boy reputation, and his ability to get under people’s skin, present company notwithstanding, I was beginning to see Killian in a whole new light. Since his arrival at the site, he had commanded respect and kept people’s attention as he moved around the site, offering insight here and there.
Every inch of him moved with charm and confidence.
It was a little unnerving to watch how they followed him around and nodded at everything he said. The longer I stood there, watching how he commanded respect and attention, the worse I felt about myself. For the life of me, I couldn’t determine if it was because of his position as CEO or because of Killian’s natural tendency to draw attention to himself.
Either way, it was unnerving.
In the time since I’d been here, even on the days when I was meant to be off, none of them had treated me with the same amount of respect or appreciation. Granted, they deferred to me, and they treated me politely, but it was nowhere near how they acted around Killian. When he circled back to me, a half-smile hovering on the edge of his lips, a little bit of my confidence had been chipped away.
“I’m impressed, Meg.”
I cleared my throat. “You don’t have to be nice.”
Killian lifted a hand up to his face and squinted. “What are you talking about, Meg? You run a tight ship and everyone around here respects you.”
“It’s different for me.”
Killian dropped his hand, and his blue eyes studied me intently. “It’s not the same thing.”
I scrunched up my face. “This is weird, I don’t know what to do when you’re being nice.”
A group of people jostled past us, and Killian drifted closer. “Is that your covert way of telling me that you like it when I compliment you? I’m flattered, Meg.”
“Don’t be. It wasn’t a compliment.”
Killian nodded. “I would never assume it was. All joking aside, you are doing a good job, Meghan.”
I tilted my head back to look at him, and the sun was directly in my eyes. He shifted, and the spots in my field of vision disappeared. The butterflies in my stomach stirred and fluttered. “Well. Thanks.”
“Don’t get used to it, Meg. I’m still going to bust your ass when I need to.”
The thought of that turned my throat dry, and my panties wet. “Good.” I said casually.
Killian came to stand next to me and squinted into the sun-soaked distance. “We’re a lot further along than I thought we would be.”
“Everyone is really motivated.”
“In other words, you’ve been making them work hard.”
“I don’t make anyone do anything. They want to work hard.”
Killian chuckled. “That’s the sign of a good leader. You’re inspiring them to work hard.”
A small thrill raced through me. “It’s not hard to do.”
Only it was.
I had been feeling a little off-balance since arriving. Between getting the apartment set up and finding my footing as the lead architect on the project, everything felt a little overwhelming. Although everyone was welcoming and civil, I still couldn’t shake the feeling that I was a fish out of water, trying to swim against the tide. Trying to figure out a way to balance everything out and figure out what to do about the baby was taking a lot from me.
So far, I had avoided thinking about it.
Except at night when I draped an arm over my stomach and sighed. Usually, it was Skittles who came up to comfort me, pressing his head against my belly and purring. Having him with me in Miami made things slightly better, but it didn’t make up for the fact that I was alone.
And months away from having a baby I hadn’t planned for.
Deep down I knew that I wanted to have a family, even though I didn’t know if I was ready yet. Still, I wrestled with the idea more than I thought I would.
