I call her for an update, get everything sorted out, and officially begin my day.
The only place I want to be is home with Kiana in my arms. I can’t let another day go by without telling her the truth, regardless of what that may mean. I’ve never been two-faced, and now I feel like I’m wearing a mask at work that I can take off when I get back to my place. But it isn’t fair to do it there either if she’s embracing me without knowing that her father just bought me breakfast.
Breakfast with father and daughter, in separate locations, with secrets lingering in both.
The cowardly approach is never the most comfortable one.
I agonize over everything until lunch and take a quick break just to get out of the building for a few minutes. When I return, Lawson is waiting on me in my office. He’s smiling. I take that as a positive sign.
“You didn’t take a lunch?” I close my door and sit behind my desk.
“Nah, I was too busy and completely forgot about it. You need to remind me next time you’re heading out.” He laughs under his breath. “Another tradition you must have forgotten…”
He’s pretending like we never had a falling out, like he never left—like everything is just the way it used to be.
“It’s hard to keep up with traditions when they end.” I give him a blank stare, hoping that he’ll pick up on the underlying tone, but it seems to go right over his head.
“Temporarily, but we’ll pick up where we left off.” He smiles. “Anyway, I didn’t come in here to rag you about lunch. I actually wanted to talk to you about a potential new client.”
“We do need to talk about our clientele.” I nod. “Things are different now. We don’t have any of the accounts you used to manage on the books anymore. There’s a reason for that…”
“I’ve got a million reasons to motivate you to consider it.” Lawson puts a tablet down on my desk. “That’s just his starter investment. I’m sure you’ve heard of Walker DeLaney.”
“The soap opera guy?” I tilt my head inquisitively.
“Yep, back before I left the company, I had started talking to him, but then things kind of fell apart—for obvious reasons.” Lawson nods, and his smile gets a little wider. “He still wants to make money. No surprise there.”
“I’ll have to do some research.” I glance at the profile Lawson has put together. “We’re very selective these days.”
“He’s clean as a whistle, and he’s got a plenty of friends in Hollywood with money to burn if they can get a nominal return on their investment. We can do a lot better than nominal.” Lawson picks up the tablet.
“We probably can…” I let out a sigh. “Okay, I’ll have Dan do an extensive background check and a comprehensive review of his finances.”
“Thanks, I’ll get to work on my next one.” Lawson stands and nods before he leaves my office.
If any other employee brought me an account like this on their second day, I would probably want to hug them. Walker DeLaney isn’t the kind of client who would make us hire Keaton’s security firm every time he comes to town—much less the office. He’s just a standard Hollywood celebrity, and if he has any skeletons in his closet, the paparazzi would have dug them up by now.
It’s a good account. It’s a valuable account. It’s exactly what we need.
Lawson is working miracles while I’m daydreaming about having his daughter in my arms.
It was a lot easier when I was angry at Lawson. I can carry a grudge with the best of them, and he gave me every reason in the world to hold onto the one that strained our friendship. It’s getting harder by the minute, which means I need to tell Kiana as soon as possible. If this is going to blow up in my face, I’d rather set that bomb off myself so I can deal with the fallout.
It doesn’t matter if Lawson is trying everything he can to win Employee of the Month his first week back. Kiana is all that matters.
“Mr. Ward, you have a visitor.” Joanna pokes her head into my office, interrupting my train of thought.
“I didn’t have anyone on my calendar.” I look up at her.
“No, it’s the same unexpected one you had the other day—Mr. Brooks’ daughter.” Joanna shrugs. “I didn’t even get a chance to ask if she had come to visit her dad before she said she was here to see you.”
Oh no! Fuck!
“Send her in, now!” I hop up from my desk and nod with enough urgency that is conveyed on Joanna.
“Yes, sir.” She lets my door close.
I didn’t have a chance to hide the panic. Joanna obviously picked up on it based on how quickly she scurried away. This is terrible timing. I should have told Kianna last night, and now I may pay the price for getting lost in the moment we shared. I have to tell her the truth and get her out of the building as quickly as possible.
“Hi…” Kiana steps into my office, and she’s all smiles—goddamn, her smile is so intoxicating.
“We need to talk.” I walk to her.
“Am I not allowed to surprise you at work?” She bites down on her bottom lip and steps into my arms. I embrace her out of instinct.
“It’s not that, it’s…” I’m silenced by a kiss. Instinct kicks in again.
Kiana’s lips are more intoxicating than her smile. One kiss. Then I can tell her everything. It’ll have to be a rushed discussion, but she can’t be in the building when her father is literally working a few offices away.
I tell myself, once again, that last night was my opportunity. I let temptation take me away and savored it until morning, then I left without ruining any of our moments.
I really hope this doesn’t
