“Who’s asking you to stop your feelings, Kandi?”
“I just . . . I don’t know what this is between us. I know that we’ve had great chemistry, and the last week has been something special. But I recognize it for what it was. It was nothing more than the holiday magic of the season. You had a lot going on with your family, and it was a very emotional time for you all. I happened to be there as your support system, the closest thing to you from your other life. It’s a no-brainer that you would reach out to me and lean on me during that time.”
“So, are you saying that you took advantage of my weakened emotional state?” he teased.
I reached out, caressed his cheek with one finger, and smiled.
“Not at all. But I do realize that we have to go back to life as normal. I can’t do it. Not with how I feel about you, Kayn. I . . . it’s the stupidest thing that I could have done, but I’ve fallen in love with you.”
“Why is that stupid?”
“Because I know who you are, and I know that you and I don’t want the same things. You’ve been upfront with me about how you move. You never had a relationship. Women are useful to you for one purpose only. I cannot be that to you and for you because that’s not the girl that I am.”
Kayn turned sideways on the couch to face me. There was a look in his eyes that I could not decipher, but it seemed that he was analyzing me and the situation. Although I knew that I was risking a lot by putting my feelings out there for him to see, I could do nothing else but that. I owed it to him and to myself to be honest about how I felt and where I stood. If we couldn’t professionally move beyond that, then I understood.
“I never thought that you were that girl. If I did, you wouldn’t have been hired to be in that position. I don’t make it a habit of surrounding myself with women who want me and that I know that I can easily have.”
“Yet, you had to have felt the chemistry between us before you moved me into the role of your assistant. Or at least you had to see the way that I watched you and followed your every move.”
He nodded. “I did. But I also knew that it wouldn’t be that easy to have you, so I comforted myself with that thought. You are a rare gem, Kandi, and I also know that you are a professional who takes pride in your work. I saw that from day one. I figured I was safe with you around. I was wrong,” he stated as he traced the shape of my lips.
“You were?”
“Yeah.”
“How so?”
“My heart was never safe with you, Kandi. You’ve come in and constructed heart surgery on me. Where I was torn, you’ve mended me. Where I was bruised, you healed me. Where I was shattered, you put me back together. You have taught me how to love and be loved. You’ve shown me grace where I didn’t deserve it, and you forced my heart out of its cage, and it can’t help but love you.”
“Love me? You love me?”
“I do. I was in denial about it because it was all happening so fast. It scared me. You scared me because you were so open and gentle. You hid nothing from me, and you weren’t afraid to be who you were. You showed my family a beauty like no other with your open heart, and you stood by my side through some dark moments. Kandice Noelle Jolly, I love you.”
“How did you know my entire name?” I was stunned because I didn’t know that he had paid that much attention. I knew that I hadn’t told him my middle name.
“When I realized my fuck up about your birthday, I called Paige and asked her to send me your file. I scoured over it to learn every detail about you.”
“Those are just details, though, Kayn. But I will admit that I’m thankful that you cared.”
He placed his hand over my heart and made a declaration. “Everything else that I need to know, the things that matter, I’ll learn from you. I will take it one day at a time, for the rest of my life, to learn everything there is to know about you, Kandi. Every fear, smile, desire, goal, everything.”
I smiled as my heart exploded in my chest. “The rest of your life, Kayn?”
“The rest of my life,” he stated with firm finality.
28
UNWRAP ME
Kayn
I couldn’t believe that she had been afraid of loving me when I’d been the one who had been afraid.
“You’re not quitting on me, baby. And you don’t have a reason to be afraid. I won’t say that I won’t fuck up, because I’m certain that I will. But I promise that I’ll try to figure it out as I go along, and whatever I mess up, I’ll spend that much time and more fixing it and making it right.”
Kandi leaned forward and pressed her lips against mine. “You’re so sweet,” she whispered against my lips. I lifted her onto my lap, and she straddled me.
“You’re the one who tastes so sweet.”
