Chapter 37
Chapter
37
"Alright, spill the actual beans, Kate Morgan Aaron plopped into the chair in front of her desk, placing an enticing cup of coffee down in front of her in the process
She rolled her eyes at him very briefly, ignoring the drink at first. She wanted to frign innocence for as long as possible. Which wouldn't be long. not with someone like Aaron who knew her too well.
I say that Kylan is possessive of you." Aaron pressed again
"I'm serious, Kate. I know a possessive man when I see one. Trust me when I say
She could see how raised his eyebrows were out of the corner of her eye, but she kept her own gaze fixed solely on her computer, typing away at an email. Honestly, she didn't know what she was meant to say to him
She didn't know how she was supposed to explain to him that Kylan cornered her when he dropped her off. She didn't know how she was supposed to explain to Aaron that Kylan kissed her again, only to then reaffirm that she was his whilst the contract was in motion. It was dizzying and difficult. Now that it was Thursday and she was leaving for home only tomorrow, it was h
was becoming even worse. She was anxious and so on edge. She wasn't sure how the weekend was going to go. She wasn't sure how to pretend with Kylan in front of someone like her own father. And she wasn't sure if she would even go further with the fake marriage which will happen right after their visit to Maine.
She had truthfully mostly avoided talking to Kylan as much as possible during the week. She had trouble looking him in the eye because every time she did, she either had memories of kissing him, or her brain would recall different dreams she harl of him lately. It wasn't only throwing her off balance, it was infuriating her. Infuriating her because she couldn't stop the dreams, let alone the waking thoughts she was plagued with about Kylan. About her boss, rather. Her boss who was clean, organized, and chiseled just right. Her boss who was realistically Dan unbelievable kisser. Her boss who made her heart rate quicken and her mind turned into an embarrassing pile of freaking nothing.
And yet, this was also her boss who knew how to belittle her, who knew how to manipulate any given situation to fit his agenda. This was the boss who insisted she was just like everyone else in his life. Didn't he? A convenience, a properly placed pawn in his everyday game of chess. Even if he had said she was an asset to the company, she knew he meant it as that being all she was.
It was like real-life chess, she thought. In a way, it felt like Kylan was constantly overthinking where to put his next pieces, his eyes fixed on the end goal of overtaking the king and declaring checkmate. She saw him do exactly that time and time again, over the last three years.
But now, now she had no idea what he was doing. She was left spiraling in confusion, and she had to admit it sometimes felt like even Kylan himself had no idea what he wanted, or what he was meant to get out of her newfound relationship.
When she signed the contract, she never anticipated feeling confused like this. Feeling attracted and weird. She knew she needed to bury all of it. and that fact was largely the reason she had remained extremely professional with Kylan since he last kissed her. She needed to remember the contract.
Always, the contract
She prided herself on being put together, on remaining dependable and predictable, especially when Kylan himself was anything but easy to handicText © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.
With this resolve in mind, the finally closed out the email she was only half paying attention to and picked up the coffee Aaron brought her. She kept her face perfectly neutral while she took a sip of the warm liquid.
"There isn't anything to tell you," she said it with so much assurance, she nearly believed it herself. Which she should believe it because there wasn't anything to tell him.
Aaron snorted at her, shaking his head, and running a hand through his hair. "You're a bad liar, Kate, he informed her. He took a drink from his own cup of coffee and then narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you really going to visit your dad this weekend?" he decided to ask her next
She nodded her head, ignoring the fresh bout of nerves that crawled their way into her gut at the reminder of her impending flight.
"I really am, yes," she confirmed, busying her hands with the protective sleeve that covered the cup in her grasp
"Does her dad know anything that's really going on, or is he in the dark?" The way Aaron asked it, his tone almost taunting her, told her that he already knew the answer. He only wanted her to admit it, thus maybe admitting she was in over her head at this point. Which she wouldn't do.
because she wasn't
"My dad thinks we're dating, just like everyone apart from you, Maine, and Oscar Max and Ryan, of course." She glanced at the time, realizing she needed to join kylan for one more conference call before the end of the day. "I don't want to hear it, okay? I told you that I don't want to talk about Kylan with you, and I wish you would respect that." She stood from her chair, taking her coffee with her. She walked around her desk and paused when she reached Aaron. "Don't worry about me." She squeezed us shoulder tightly, and he lifted hus free hand and placed it over hers.
"I do worry about you, Kate. Not because I don't think you're capable, but because you have a big heart like I've told you before. I only want to make sure that heart is taken care of. Aaron looked up at her, and she instantly felt slightly guilty when she saw just how sincere he actually seemed.
She sighed and nodded, feeling more resigned now. "I get it. I do. I have this under control. I can handle Arnold Morgan and Kylan Ross equally" Chapter 37
With that, she leaned down and quickly kissed his cheek. "I love you, Aaron. Thank you for the coffee. Go worry about what wallpaper Maine is going to pick out next." She ruffled his hair and walked out of the room, her heels loudly clicking on the ground as she turned into Kylan's office.
She found him sitting behind his desk, his deep blue tie perfectly in place, his navy suit still wrinkle-free, even though it was the end of the workday. He looked put together. Powerful Stale. Not at all like the rare glimpses of Kylan she had seen ourside of the office lately He looked up from his computer as she entered, grey eyes as masked as ever. Which was fine, she was especially used to the same treatment from Kylan this week that she herself was giving him.
The call is in about five minutes, Sir. If they're on time, that is." She made herself comfortable in the seat in front of his desk, setting her coffee down and pulling her nearby tablet toward her.
"They better be on time." Kylan sighed in front of her, shifting in his own chair.
She could feel him looking at her still and she finally glanced up to meet his gaze, surprised when he was regarding her curiously now instead of with his usual apathy
"Sir?" she asked him cautiously.
"Are you prepared for Maine?" he responded, closing out of several programs on his computer screen and then clasping his hands to rest beneath
his chin
She nodded, allowing herself to smile slightly. "I am, Sir. I'm looking forward to seeing my father. He wants to take us to a nice dinner tomorrow night. I thought it might be uh, fun to take a stroll along the boardwalk as well if it isn't too cold. The sunset is beautiful near the water, and we could watch it one of the evenings we're there."
She could feel herself blushing, truthfully nervous to bring up any sort of plans like this with Kylan. He was always t the one in control of where and what she did together. She would be, quite actually, in her territory for once.
"All of that sounds fine," Kylan responded briskly, turning away from her and examining his computer screen once more.
Her shoulders slumped slightly. She was relieved he was on board with the plans, but he was just so so closed off this week, just like her. She wondered again, how it would all go. How it would all play out pretending in front of her dad. Would they be able to convince him she and Kylan were together? Would they be able to pretend they were truly in love?
Just as her stomach began to do repeated backflips, Kylan's phone rang from atop his desk. He glanced at her and then answered the call in the same way he always did, with cold professionalism and poise.
He put the phone on speaker and just as she always did, she sat up more fully in her chair and cleared her mind in preparation to listen to one last stuffy business call for the day.