LAUREN
The exterior of the casino was completed and in just over five weeks there was to be a test run of the facility. All the investors and friends of the Thorntons were invited to spend a weekend, test the staff and the procedures, dine at the restaurants and gamble at the tables. Jimmy had long since disappeared from the site, and I wandered through the rooms as interior designers argued over which cushions to place on the plump couches that dotted the reception area. I was there when the electricians installed the massive chandelier. There when they interviewed staff to fill the various positions available. There when the chefs started to test their creations for the menu.
I was out on the balcony of one of the suites when Sadie found me. She wandered into the room, fingers running over the smooth bed linen, heels creating dents in the carpet that disappeared seconds later.
I pressed the shutter, capturing an image of her drenched in the late afternoon sun. “What are you doing here?” I asked.
With being Tyler’s best friend and, after getting over my initial reservation, Sadie and I had grown close since I had moved to the city. She was a regular visitor to the loft, and with Tyler’s long hours at work we often got dinner together, choosing to go to the movies or watch television afterwards. Even though Sadie was possibly the worst cook I had come across, thankfully it didn’t fade her affection for reality cooking shows.
She became a sounding board for ideas for my business and even helped me plan the office space that was being constructed on the ground level of Tyler’s building. We fell into a relaxed friendship that I didn't think was possible with anyone but Peta. But something was bothering her. She flopped down onto the chair and lifted her feet to cross her ankles over the table. There was a tension in her shoulders and her expression was one that I usually only saw when she was working.
“What?” I asked her.
She looked up, startled. “What?” she said back.
“As lovely as it is to see you, what are you doing here? Have you decided to up our friendship level to stalker?”
“Tyler told me where you’d be.” Her feet came down from the table and she leaned forward, legs wide, elbows on her knees and head in her hands.
“I’ve heard about the most brilliant opportunity for you.”
“For me?” I pressed the shutter, taking an image of the perfect line of balconies bathed in the evening sun.
“You’ve heard of the Haven’s Rest hotel chain?”
I nodded and squinted as I pressed the shutter again.
“They are looking for a new marketing campaign for their relaunch after their renovations. I thought you could put a proposal in.”
I lowered my camera. “Me?”
“Yes, you.”
“I wouldn’t have the first clue about marketing. I might be able to take some creative images, but I’d have no idea how to implement them into a campaign, or even how to present it to them.”
Sadie sat back up, pushing her long legs out at an awkward angle then slumped back in the chair again. “Okay,” she said, looking up at me hesitantly. “Here’s the thing. I know how to do all those things.”
I sat down opposite, placing the camera on the table between us and narrowed my eyes. “What are you saying?”
Sadie sat straight again and pulled her chair closer to the table. “I’m saying we do it together. You’re a brilliant photographer and some of the ideas you come up with are just shy of genius, and I know how to handle presentations and marketing plans and spreadsheets and numbers and I also have a lot of contacts. I think we’d make a brilliant team.”
“But what about Tyler?”
Sadie blinked. “I’ve been wanting to move on for a while now. He knows that. There is only so long I can play second fiddle to Tyler Thornton. I want my own thing. My own passion. Our company could be that.”
Chewing on my bottom lip, I tapped my fingers on the glass surface of the table. “You’ve thought about this?”
A flicker of excitement flashed through Sadie’s eyes. “A lot,” she said. “I really think this could be something. Haven’s Rest could be our first chance to work together. A trial run, so to speak. We could put our heads together and come up with a kickass campaign. I really think this could work.” Sadie pushed her chair back and stood up. “Have a think and let me know.”
I sat at the table a good while longer, thinking about Sadie’s idea. The excitement of having my own business had been building ever since Tyler first mentioned it, but I never dreamed of it as being any more than a one-man-band with small commercial projects, maybe some bigger stuff thrown my way by Tyler and perhaps the odd wedding to keep the funds trickling in, but what Sadie was proposing was on a whole other level. And she would be just the person to start up a company with. She was organised and outspoken, her skills with people and with computers far outdid anything I could even hope to consider. The more I thought about it, the more excited I got, but there was a little voice in the back of my head that worried about what Tyler might think. He and Sadie had been side by side for the majority of his career and I wasn’t sure how he would feel about losing her.
When I got back to the loft later that night, Tyler was home and in the kitchen, a jazz tune eerily crisp through the speakers as he sipped on a glass of wine and finely sliced an onion. He had not long got out of the shower and his damp hair hung messily over his eyes, causing my gut to clench when he looked up at me and smiled.
“You’re home.” He walked the distance between us, wiping his hands on the apron looped around his neck, and grabbed my face, the faint scent of onions lingering on his fingers. His kiss lifted me to the tip of my toes. Despite having lived together for months, his touch still melted me. Sometimes I worried about my desire for him, my need. I never got weary of him reaching for me. I constantly longed to see the desire in his eyes each time he sank into me. He let me go and I came down from heaven to open my eyes and gaze into his.
“How was your day?” he asked.
Beneath the apron his chest was bare, and I ran my fingers up his muscled arms and threaded them together behind his neck. His skin was soft and smooth.
“Interesting,” I replied.
Something sizzled on the stove top and Tyler ducked under my embrace, stepping over to stir the pan and toss in the onions. The scent that wafted from the pan was divine.
“Interesting?” Tyler repeated, prompting me to tell him more as I sat down on the stool beside the kitchen island and watched him work. Grabbing the bottle of wine, he pulled another glass from the cupboard and handed it to me. “Tell me everything,” he said.
“You are in an awfully good mood,” I said. Usually, he came back from work, shoulders tense and mouth set in a firm line. To see him happy and carefree, working in the kitchen was something that hadn’t occurred in a while.
“Don’t change the subject,” he said. “Why was your day so interesting?”
“Sadie came to visit.”
Tyler threw me an inquisitive frown as he poured some white wine into the pan. It bubbled and sizzled and splatters jumped over the sides. “She asked if you were at the casino today.”
I reached across the bench and popped a caper into my mouth. “She wants to go into business together.”
“You two?”
I nodded and picked up another caper. “Haven’s Rest is looking for a new marketing campaign for their relaunch and she wants us to come up with something.”
Tyler’s expression was often hard to read and this time was no exception. He didn’t seem startled or surprised at the news, and yet, I could also tell he hadn’t heard the idea before now. “I like it,” he said, nodding. “It’s a good idea. I think you two would work well together.”
“But what about you?”
After adding the capers and some prunes, Tyler poured the white wine sauce over sliced chicken and popped it into the oven. “What about me?”
“Sadie is your assistant.”
“I’ve always known I couldn’t keep her forever. As much as I value her and would love her to stay on, I’ve been waiting for the day she comes to me with her resignation. Working for the family business was my passion, not hers. She’s picked up valuable skills along the way, but I’ve always known she wouldn’t stay. Even Dad knows it.”
“So you think I should?”
Tyler walked around the kitchen island and pulled out the stool beside me. “I think you should talk to her more about it, yes. She’s got a good head for business on her shoulders and you have creativity leaking out your little finger. Together you could be quite the powerhouse.”
I laughed. “Powerhouse. Not sure about that.”
“Why not? A fresh new marketing company could be just the thing this city is waiting for.”
“What about the fact that our first proposal would be for Haven’s Rest? Aren’t they competition?”
“Everyone can be competition in some way or another. Dad has enough fingers in enough pies to create some level of conflict with most people. But this isn’t about him, it isn’t about Thornton Industries, it isn’t even about me. It’s about you. You and Sadie. And if it’s something you want to do, then you need to explore that option.” He leaned over to place a chaste kiss on the tip of my nose. “I’ll help in any way I can, you know that, right?”
I smiled cheekily. “With Sadie on board, I doubt I’ll need you.”
He cocked his head to the side, a smile playing at his lips. “You’ve got a point there.” His voice deepened and lowered, and a tendril of desire lifted its head. “But there are things I’m good at that Sadie isn’t.” Getting off the stool, he stepped closer, spreading my legs so he could stand between them. My skirt rode up my thighs and Tyler’s fingers brushed over the sides.
“I’m not sure,” I said breathlessly, caught between teasing him and melting into him. “Sadie could very well be just as good as you, I just haven’t explored that side of her yet.”
Tyler groaned and ran his tongue up my neck until his mouth pressed against my ear. “I don’t know whether to be turned on or jealous at the thought of you with a woman.” With a wink, Tyler returned to cooking dinner. “Something arrived at work today.”
“Huh?” I was having a hard time concentrating on the words that came out of his mouth because I wanted that mouth on me. And my eyes kept falling to his exposed flesh and the way his muscles flexed when he performed a simple task such as lifting a pot from the cupboard. “Did it?” I mumbled, hoping it was the right response.
Reaching over the counter, Tyler tipped my chin with his finger, pulling my gaze up to meet his. “My eyes are up here.” Laughing, he kissed the tip of my nose before reaching to pull an envelope from his laptop bag resting on the counter. He tossed it into my lap and I opened the glossy envelope to pull out an invitation made from thick and creamy paper. I frowned as I read the information.
“Gabe’s twenty-second birthday?” I said.
“I think we should go.”
“You do?”
I had spent some time in the presence of each of his family members since we got together, but we had never been as a couple in front of all of them at once. I was updated routinely on Billie’s life during our Friday lunches. Occasionally, I saw Hamish at Tyler’s office and Jake popped up from the third floor for a visit every now and again. But I hadn’t seen Gabe since Morgan’s drunken night back home.
“I do,” Tyler confirmed. “I think it’s time we faced my family as a couple. Are you up for it?”
I turned the invitation over in my hands. It didn’t look like something that Gabe would have picked out. The thick cream card had a fine black line as a border and the writing was embossed in gold. “It looks as though he’s hired out an entire nightclub.”
“Apparently he went to visit Dad a few weeks back. I think he’s the one that’s organised this.”
“Gabe visited Hamish?” The memory of Gabe telling me he was going on bended knee to his father flashed through my mind. I never thought he would actually do it though.
“That's what Dad said. So, am I RSVP-ing with a yes or a no? It’s your call. I don’t want to go if it will make you uncomfortable, but I do think I need to be there, Dad’s sort of insisting on it and I would love it if you were by my side.”
I looked over at him and smiled. “Let’s go.”
Tyler looked happy, if not somewhat surprised. “You sure?”
“Absolutely.”
But I wasn’t.