Sweeter Temptation (Kimani Hotties) (13 page)

And finally, the tearful drive in the rain with her mother at the wheel, ending in the crash that took her life.

Nia turned away from the mirror, but not before she saw the radiance her face held moments ago had drained away. So had her high expectations for the rest of the evening.

She wanted to go home.

* * *

Something was wrong, Kyle thought.

The shift in Nia was barely perceptible. She’d been gracious and engaging with his family as they made their exit.

Yet, when she looked at him the light in her brown eyes dimmed, and her smile bore little resemblance to the one that lit up her entire face and his entire world.

Kyle had no idea what had happened between the time they left the dance floor and she returned to their table, but he intended to find out. Then he’d do everything in his power to put the light back in her eyes.

“Are you okay?” he asked as they stood outside the country club’s circular drive waiting for the valet to retrieve his car. He reached for her hand and gently squeezed, but it remained limp in his grasp.

“No,” she said simply.

Kyle had seen Nia annoyed. He’d also been on the receiving end of her anger. However, he’d never seen her like this, not even when he’d turned down her proposal.

“What’s wrong? Did someone do something to upset you? Did I?” He asked the series of questions, hoping to get an answer to at least one of them.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

They stood in silence until the valet arrived with the car. Once they were seated, Kyle tried again. “How about I take you home with me.”

By then she might be ready to open up, he thought. “The cook can make us something to eat, and when you’re ready to talk...”

“No, thank you.” She stared straight ahead. “I just want to go home.”

“But you just got here. I thought we’d spend some time together.”

“Home, Kyle,” she reiterated. “If it’s going to be a problem, then drop me at the airport and I’ll take a commercial flight. That would probably be best, anyway.”

Kyle put the car into gear and headed in the direction of the airport.

“I brought you here, and I’ll take you back.”

Reluctantly, he called his pilot to inform him they’d be flying back to Illinois tonight after all. He’d had him on standby, but had foolishly hoped he wouldn’t need him until Sunday evening. Or not at all.

Nia’s silent treatment continued even as they boarded the jet.

Only now she wasn’t the only one whose disposition had changed.

She wouldn’t talk to him, so Kyle had no idea what was bothering her. All he knew was he didn’t deserve the cold shoulder.

Nia left her seat in the front section of the plane shortly after takeoff, when she returned he noticed she’d exchanged the red gown for the clothes she’d worn to work. She sat on the other side of the cabin and stared out the window.

Kyle moved to the seat closest to her.

“Will you please tell me what’s going on?” he asked.

Nia sighed, before finally turning to him. “I was cornered by your ex in the bathroom. Tall, with long dark hair. A younger version of model Naomi Campbell.”

Greta,
Kyle thought.

Kyle had spotted her earlier, but he’d been engaged in a conversation on the other side of the room and hadn’t given her a second thought.

“What did she say to get you so upset?”

Nia faced him.

“When you surprised me at work this afternoon, I thought it was a grand romantic gesture on your part, and it literally swept me off my feet,” she said. “Until your girlfriend informed me whisking women away on your jet is commonplace. It wasn’t special. I wasn’t special.” She glanced around the cabin. “This is just the way you roll.”

Kyle ran his hand over his head in frustration. There was a big difference between the weekend jaunts he’d taken with Greta or any other woman, and the trip he’d made to bring Nia back to Nashville with him. He’d taken them on romps that were fun, but meaningless.

Nia, he’d introduced to his family as the special woman in his life. He’d shared his work with her. Nearly told her he loved her tonight.

“You are special.” He brushed her cheek with his fingertips. “Nia, I’ve never felt about any woman the way I feel about you.”

Nia rolled her eyes and turned back to the window. Like he hadn’t just poured his heart out to her, Kyle thought.

“Is that what you told Greta right before you initiated her into the mile-high club?”

“No. It’s not,” he replied, irked by the question. “I never claimed to be a choir boy. I’m a grown man, Nia, I won’t apologize for living like one.”

“I’m not asking you to.”

“Aren’t you?” Kyle lifted a brow. “I never pegged you as the jealous type. Especially over someone I knew before we even met.”

Nia continued to stare out of the window. “It’s not jealousy. It’s not about the woman,” she said. “Believe it or not this isn’t even about you.”

He reached across the armrest and caressed her soft cheek with his palm. He turned her face toward him. “Then talk to me,” he said. “Tell me what it is about, so we can work through it.”

Her shoulders deflated as she released another sigh. She looked so forlorn any annoyance he’d felt toward her melted, and he wanted to do everything in his power to make it better.

“The conversation in the ladies’ room got heated,” Nia continued. “I caught sight of myself in the mirror. Me. Standing in a public place arguing over a man.”

“Sounds like she was trying to bait you.” Kyle knew Greta was an expert at it. Underneath the physical beauty, she had a mean streak when things didn’t go her way. “All you did was stand up for yourself.”

He could almost feel her sadness and disgust as she shook her head.

“When she stood over me poking her finger near my face, I wanted to smack her. I nearly did.”

“But you didn’t.”

Nia shook her head. “You don’t understand.”

“I want to understand,” he said. “Talk to me.”

Nia slowly exhaled. “When I saw myself in the mirror, it took me back to a place I work every day of my life to forget,” she said. “One of the last things I watched my mother do before she died was brawl with another woman over my father.”

Kyle immediately remembered her nightmare. She’d told him she’d dreamed about the accident, but apparently there had been more to it.

“I stood with her in the pouring rain outside that woman’s house as they carried on over a man who cared more about himself than either one of them. Then my mother got behind the wheel. The rain was relentless, and she was crying inconsolably.”

Nia paused and swiped a tear from her face with the back of her hand.

“The car swerved and I screamed at her to look out for the tree, but we kept barreling toward it,” Nia said. “I still have dreams about her lifeless eyes staring at me.”

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart.” Kyle stretched across the armrest to gather her in his arms, wanting to comfort her, but she evaded his embrace.

“So now you know what happened and why I can’t see you again.”

“Wait a minute, I get how the confrontation brought back extremely painful memories. I’m sorry it happened, but I don’t see why it has to destroy our relationship.”

“I won’t be the kind of woman that fights over a man.”

“You aren’t,” he said. “Nor are you a person who allows herself to be pushed around.”

“I was angry enough to hit her—” She hesitated as if she were gathering her thoughts. “The fact I even wanted to do something like that means I’m in over my head. Initially, my attraction to you frightened me, and I was right.”

Nia confiding the strength of her feelings for him should have been something for Kyle to celebrate. Instead, dread washed over him.

“I tried to fight it. I’d even convinced myself the one time would be enough to get it out of my system...” Her voice trailed off.

“I thought the same thing, but instead of getting you out of my system it got you under my skin.” Kyle took her hand in his. “I love you, Nia.”

Instead of the joy he’d expected to see on the face of the first woman he’d ever said those words to, all he saw was sadness.

“I love you, too.” She shook her head. “But I can’t...”

“Yes, you can,” he said. “We can.”

Kyle’s eyes dropped to her lips, before he leaned in and brought his mouth down on hers in a kiss that was slow, deep and filled with the soul-deep passion she evoked in him.

Nia moaned, and he cupped her neck, deepening the kiss even further. He was seconds from dragging her over the armrest separating them and pulling her onto his lap, when he felt her hands pressing against his chest.

She broke off the kiss. “I’m sorry, but I can’t,” she said. “I won’t end up like her.”

“You’re not your mother, Nia, and I’m not your father,” he said. “I’d never do that to you.”

She closed her eyes briefly; when she opened them again he knew what she was going to say before she said it.

“I can’t take that chance,” she said.

“You mean you won’t,” Kyle said.

Hurt mingled with the sting of her rejection, and the fact she could dismiss what they felt for each other so easily.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

The pilot’s voice sounded in the cabin announcing they’d be landing soon.

Nia had made her decision, and as much as he wanted her, Kyle wouldn’t beg. Still, he had another question for her.

“Tell me, do you really think so little of me?” he asked. “Or is it yourself you don’t have any faith in?”

She didn’t answer. Then again, Kyle hadn’t expected her to.

“My father was right. You can’t give someone a lesson. They always have to be learned the hard way.” He shook his head. “It’s unfortunate, when a woman with so much going for her throws away a chance at love, because she doesn’t
know her worth.
”

Chapter 19

A
splash of cold water and eye drops had erased the telltale signs of a weekend spent crying in her apartment, but not the overwhelming ache in Nia’s heart.

She pulled into the employee parking lot of the suburban city hall building Monday morning with one objective—just get through the day. Nia actually looked forward to the routine drudgery of her job. The busywork would keep her mind occupied with thoughts of something other than Kyle.

Walking through the office door, she found Janice sitting in her chair. Veronica and Deborah flanked her. Even Gerald Randall’s nieces were staring at her expectantly.

“Nia!” Janice bounded out of the chair at the sight of her.

Damn.

Memories of her and Kyle’s dramatic exit on Friday came back to her in a painful rush. Fighting the urge to run out the door she’d just come through, Nia walked past her coworkers curious stares to her desk.

“No wonder you weren’t interested in going out with us,” Janice said. “All this time, you had Mr. Tall, Rich and Good-Looking stashed away.”

“When he strode through the door and took your hand, I nearly fainted,” Veronica said. “He was like a fantasy come to life.”

“He seemed a bit too good to be true, if you ask me.” One of Gerald Randall’s nieces snorted. “Are you sure he wasn’t some paid escort?”

Janice spun around, and this time Nia didn’t stop her. “Nobody asked you. So shut up,” she said.

She returned her attention to Nia. “So what happened after you left? Where did you go on your date?”

Nia opened her bottom desk drawer and stuck her purse inside. “It wasn’t a big deal. It was just one date, that’s all.” She shrugged with a nonchalance she didn’t feel.

“It certainly looked like a big deal to me,” Janice said. “The way he looked at you. I swear my knees turned to Jell-O.”

So did mine.
Nia bit the inside of her lip hoping the sting would stave off the onslaught of memories.

“Where did you meet him?” Veronica perched a hip on her desk. “Wherever it was we’re headed there tonight,” she said, which earned her a high-five from Deborah.

Nia sat down in her chair. “Really, you guys are making a big deal out of nothing. It was just one date, and now it’s over.”

Her boss’s nieces exchanged glances and one giggled. “Just like an escort.”

Deborah rolled her eyes at them. “The cat is out of the bag, so you might as well tell us.”

Nia thought answering a few of their questions would get her coworkers off her back, but it only spurred them on to ask more.

She’d never been so happy to see her boss walk through the door.

“Don’t you ladies have jobs to do?” Gerald Randall’s entrance sent Janice, Veronica and Deborah scurrying out of the door, and his nieces powered on their computers to feign working.

He turned his attention to Nia. “Now that the social hour is over, I need to see you in my office.”

Nia grabbed a notepad and pen, almost eager for him to pile as many mundane items as he could onto her to-do list. The more the better, as far as she was concerned. Like she’d done with the renovations to her grandmother’s house, Nia wanted to work until she was too tired to think about anything. Especially, Kyle.

Seated in the chair across from her boss’s desk, Nia took notes as her boss listed the things he needed done. A list that would keep her good and busy, she thought, relieved.

“I’ll get right on it.” She rose from the chair and started for the door.

“Nia, there’s one more thing,” her boss said.

She stopped and turned around. “Yes, Mr. Randall.”

“There’s a candidate interviewing for the new assistant-director position coming in later this morning,” he said. “See to it that we’re not disturbed.”

Nia stood there staring at him, too stunned to move. He’d all but promised the job to her. He’d dangled it like a carrot in front of her as he shifted work off his nepotism hires’ desks and heaped it on hers.

“That’s it,” he said.

Nia cleared her throat. She spoke slowly to keep her tone even and professional, although every cell in her body trembled in anger. “You said I was the top candidate for that job.”

Her boss glanced up from his computer monitor.

“Yes, but I’ve decided to expand our search before making a final decision. You know, explore all of our options,” Mr. Randall said. “Now if that’s it, I’ve got a lot to do today and so do you.”

Having dismissed her, he began typing on his computer keyboard. As if she weren’t standing there, she thought.

Nia turned to slink back to her desk. Her boss didn’t say she was out of the running, only that he was looking at other applicants. None of them would know this office like her. She was practically doing the job now.

Mr. Randall would come to the same conclusion, she told herself. Everything would work out. All she had to do was continue to be patient.

As she sat down at her desk in the outer office, Kyle came to mind and standing in his arms in the center of Ellison Industries’ opulent lobby. She closed her eyes to blink away the memory, but she couldn’t block his words from echoing in her head.

...you deserve better...the most important lesson my father taught me. Know your worth.

Nia opened her desk drawer and retrieved her purse, before retracing her steps back to her boss’s office.

“Mr. Randall.” She knocked on his open door.

He didn’t bother looking up from his monitor. “What is it now, Nia?”

“Like you, I’ve decided to explore my options, which means I’m resigning my position here. Effective immediately.”

His head jerked up, along with the rest of him as he scrambled out of his chair.

“Hold on,” he called to her back. “You can’t just up and quit. I need you around here. Let’s talk about this.”

Nia kept walking.

Her boss followed her out of his office. “Nia, please. You’re a valued employee. Surely, we can work something out.”

Too bad he didn’t realize it before. Nia kept walking out the door and through the employee parking lot to her car.

Kyle’s father had been right. Life’s lessons always had to be learned the hard way. Unfortunately, she’d learned hers too late.

* * *

Kyle looked up from his computer monitor to glare at his assistant.

“My sleeping arrangements are none of your business,” he said, returning his gaze to the rows of figures on his computer screen.

“Security says you’ve been here all weekend.”

After returning to Nashville late Friday night, he’d come directly to the office where there had been plenty to keep him busy. At home all he would have done was brood over Nia.

“I had work to do.”

“Nothing so urgent you couldn’t go home.”

“I have a shower and a closet full of suits here.” Kyle jerked his head in the direction of the bathroom and closet. “Everything I need.”

“You still haven’t told me why...”

Kyle looked up from the screen again, cutting her off. “I don’t answer to you, Margie,” he said. “I’m
your
boss, remember? You answer to me.”

Nonplussed, Marjorie Sims dragged a chair from across the room and planted her butt in it.

“A hardworking, cocky, wiseass Kyle Ellison, I can deal with,” she said, crossing her arms in front of her ample chest. “This tight-lipped, grim, miserable version worries me.”

Kyle noted the lines etched in her forehead and sighed. For all her gruffness, he knew Margie really did care.

“It’s nothing for you to worry over,” he assured her.

“I know when there’s something bothering you,” she said. “I’ve known you since you started working here after school and summers as a teenager, and I’ve been your assistant for over seven years. This isn’t like you.”

“I’m CEO now. It’s a bigger job with tons more responsibility. I need to get up to speed.”

Margie waved a dismissive hand. “We both know you’re more than capable of handling this job,” she said. “Your uncle should have moved out of the way months ago.”

“Uncle Jon just wanted to be sure. After all, Dad handpicked Adam to succeed him.” Kyle defended his uncle.

Margie shook her head. “Your father, God rest his taskmaster soul, never saw what was right in front of his face. Adam never wanted to run this company, and he wouldn’t have been half the CEO you’ll be.”

“Thanks, Margie,” Kyle said, touched by her praise. Anyone else, he would have pegged as trying to make inroads with the boss, but not Margie. She told him what she thought, even when he didn’t like hearing it.

Like Nia, he thought.

Margie narrowed her eyes before rising from the chair. “If you decide you want to talk, I’m right outside your office.”

Actually, he did need to talk to her, but not about what was bothering him. The subject of Nia King was off-limits. He’d even begged off meeting his brother yesterday to pack up their father’s room.

“Hold up, Margie. There’s something else we need to discuss.”

He inclined his head toward the chair. “I think you’d better sit down,” he said. “As you know, I’m set to move upstairs when renovations are completed this week.”

She nodded. “Looking forward to it. In fact, I’ve already been up there to peek at my new office.”

Kyle looked down at his desk a moment, and then cleared his throat. “The thing is, Margie, we, uh...I mean you...”

She stood abruptly. “I don’t freaking believe this.” She planted her fists on her hips. “You aren’t taking me with you.”

“Margie, it’s just...” He began, but she wasn’t done.

“You’re leaving me down here for your replacement and moving on with your father’s administrative staff.”

She paced the room grumbling a few choice words that made even his seasoned ears burn red.

“Margie!” Kyle shouted, and she stopped in her tracks. “Please. Just sit down for a moment and hear me out.”

“I prefer to stand.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“You’re right. You will no longer be my assistant,” he said. “However, I won’t be using my father’s old staff, either.”

She continued to glare down at him.

“I’m offering my father’s staff the option of early retirement or moving on to other administrative positions at Ellison. My style is different from Dad’s, and I don’t want to be second-guessed or constantly reminded about the way he handled the company.”

“So where does this leave me?” she asked. “Are you going to put me out to pasture with early retirement, too?”

“No, I’m placing you in our executive training program,” he said. “The program’s stipend is more than you make now, so it won’t mean a pay cut for you.”

Margie stared at him unmoving, before she finally took his earlier advice and sat down.

“Me?”

“Unlike my father, I don’t miss what’s right in front of my face,” he said. “You know Ellison Industries inside out, and as much as I want you to continue running my office, I need you to help me run this company even more.”

Kyle had never seen Margie at a loss for words. If this thing with Nia hadn’t gutted him, he probably would have enjoyed a good laugh over it.

“I’m fifty-two years old, by the time I finish the training program I’ll be too old to be an executive.”

“That’s ridiculous,” he said. “Besides, you’ll be doing an accelerated version of the program.”

He went on to explain because of her experience and years with the company, she’d complete the usual two-year training program in a year.

“Afterward, you’ll be taking over my old job.”

“V-vice president?” she stammered.

“At my old salary,” Kyle nodded. “I have every confidence in you, Margie.”

“I still don’t know what to say. Are you sure you want to do this?”

Kyle straightened in his chair and looked her directly in the eye. “You’ll spend the next month helping me get settled upstairs and selecting my new administrative staff. Then you’re taking two weeks off with pay.”

She tried to protest, but Kyle pressed on.

“No arguments,” he said. “I want you fresh and ready to go when the program starts.”

Kyle knew he’d done the right thing in moving Margie out of his office and up the ranks at Ellison. Still, doing the right thing was hard.

Now that he’d settled the Margie issue, he had another bit of unfinished business to take care of today.

Logan.

A few hours later, his cousin was in his office seated across from him. The smug attitude of their initial reunion was gone. He looked tired and nervous.

“How’s your wife?” Kyle asked.

“Good.” Logan shifted in his seat. “Busy working on the baby’s nursery.”

For an expectant father, he didn’t sound very excited.

Uncle Jon’s last act as CEO had been to let his son go. However, he’d allowed him and his wife to move in to his vacant house on the Ellison estate. His uncle had said the house was too big for a man alone and years ago had moved in to the larger house. The one Kyle, Adam and their father had once shared.

“I’m sure you’re wondering why I asked to see you.”

Logan shrugged. “I figured it was either to tell me how I made a mess of things or gloat over your new job.”

“So why did you come?” Kyle steepled his fingers.

Logan dropped his head, but when he looked up Kyle could see pleading in his eyes. “Because I wanted to ask for my job back,” he said.

“I can’t do that.”

Kyle had given his cousin’s credentials more than the cursory look his uncle had, and in no way did Logan qualify to take over Adam’s old job. While it was true his cousin held a degree in international business and was fluent in Chinese, his only job experience was managing a bank.

A few weeks ago, Kyle wouldn’t be having this conversation with his cousin, but his short stint in Candy had changed him. Enough for him to offer Logan a second chance.

“However, I do have another job in mind.”

His cousin straightened in his chair. “Despite my rocky start, I can be a real asset around here. You’ll see.”

Kyle nodded. “I hope so.

“Tell me about the job.”

“It’s in the mailroom,” Kyle said.

“The mailroom?” Logan sputtered. “B-but I’m not some entry-level kid. I’m a grown man with a college education.”