twenty-five
HAVE A GOOD day, Mr. Kingman.” As the midforties brunette who worked in the real estate offices on the third floor exited the elevator, she stared longingly at the white bakery box in King’s hand.
The doors shut, and the scent of freshly baked lemon poppy-seed muffins filled the elevator.
He’d almost missed out on getting them that morning. New construction in his neighborhood had backed up traffic and then there was an accident. He’d spent nearly twenty minutes sitting there, watching workers hammer two-by-fours as they’d built a wall. The whole scene had irritated him in a strange way. He’d even started to get a headache like the ones he got when he was trying too hard to remember something. King slipped his keys into the front pocket of his black slacks. By the time he’d made it to the bakery, they’d sold out of lemon poppy-seed muffins. He’d offered them a generous sum to make more and waited while they’d made a fresh batch.
King got off the elevator. As he strolled to the office suite, he nodded at the maintenance guy coming out of the ladies’ room. Anxiousness about giving Sophie the muffins mounted inside of King. He was out of practice when it came to presents. In the past, he’d just given a woman his credit card and turned her loose. With Sophie, he wanted to buy things for her, to discover what would make her face light up. He walked into the office.
Sophie glanced up from where she sat at her desk, talking on the phone. “Yes, I understand. Thank you for letting me know.” She hung up. “You’re late. Why haven’t you been answering your cell?”
“Something’s wrong with it.” King took it from his inside suit pocket and laid the cell on her desk. “I also had an important stop to make.” He leaned in and set the box in front of her.
She opened it and her mouth twitched with an emerging smile. “A dozen? You shouldn’t have.”
“You don’t want them? I’m sure I can find someone who does.” He reached for the box.
Sophie slapped his hand. “Don’t you dare.” Her gaze drifted to the flowers on her desk. “I don’t know if I can handle so many surprises.”
A standard bouquet of roses had seemed too formal. The mason jar filled with sunflowers, pink Peruvian lilies, and purple daisy poms was more her style. He’d recalled seeing a painting of a similar arrangement in her bedroom.
As he sat on the edge of the desk, he snagged the card from the plastic pitchfork in the middle of the flowers. “From a secret admirer.” He feigned contemplation. “Sounds mysterious.”
“Not really.” She ate a small piece of muffin. “They’re probably from that guy who owns the bistro next to the boutique. Oh wait, I forgot about the firefighter friend of the guy Robin’s dating. She mentioned he wanted to take me out.”
The teasing glint in her eyes did nothing to assuage the surge of possessiveness that snaked through him. “Firefighter my ass.” He cupped her chin and kissed her. As his tongue flowed over hers, he encountered lemony sweetness.
When he backed away, she stared at his gray geometric tie. A flush spread from the V of her blue-and-white wrap dress into her cheeks. “You can’t do that.”
He could do whatever the hell he wanted except make her stay. Or could he? Entrepreneurship was a huge endeavor. If she stayed on as his assistant while she got started, Sophie could minimize the risk of starting her own business. He could convince her of that, for her own good. Right?
King swiped his thumb over her cheek. “You had crumbs on your lips.”
“We’re at work.”
“Why the complaint? Last night you praised me for what I can do with my mouth.”
Desire sparked in her eyes. “You know what I mean. I could have used a napkin.” She held one up.
“Now you don’t need it.”
“But you do. I think berry crush lip gloss is definitely your color, but I’m biased.”
“I’m glad you are.” King accepted the napkin and wiped his lips. A banging noise echoing from the hall drew his attention. “What’s that?”
“Maintenance—they’re working in the ladies’ room, trying to find the leak. The guy said they may have to tear out part of the wall . . .”
Walls . . . A montage of images of all the walls he’d noticed over the past week flashed in his mind. The hotel in Virginia Beach. The construction site by his home and . . . someplace else. “What is it about damn walls?” He stalked out the door.
Sophie hurried after him down the hallway. “King. Wait, it’s not that big of a deal.”
King pushed open the door to the ladies’ room, strode through the short entryway, and turned left.
Blue tarps covered the floor in front of the sinks, the counter, and the metal section of the bathroom stall beside it.
Two guys from maintenance looked at him from where they were shining a flashlight into a hole in the wall. A section of vertical two-by-fours peeked out.
Prickles danced along King’s spine as what he’d struggled to understand fell into place. He’d seen a section of two-by-fours in the restaurant’s wall at the Ivy Gate. The ones in front of him were evenly spaced. The ones at the restaurant hadn’t been.
As he whirled around he nearly knocked Sophie over.
She gripped his arms, holding herself steady. “Are you okay?”
“Damn right I am.” A grin he couldn’t stop took over. “I’m not paranoid or crazy. I was right about not investing in the Ivy Gate, and now I know why because of you.” On impulse, he cupped her face and kissed her long and hard on the mouth.
“King . . . what are you doing?” Sophie’s tone held concern and mild admonishment as she pried his hands from her flushed cheeks. She tried to move away from him, but he gripped her hands.
The guys cleared their throats and chuckled, but King didn’t care if he and Sophie had an audience.
“For the record, you’re not going anywhere.” King kissed her again then strode out the door. He had to find Aiden before they potentially made one of the biggest mistakes of their career.
Sophie hiked the stairs carrying her purse and King’s cell. Issue solved. The staff at the cell phone store had discovered that the carrier settings hadn’t been updated. Since they’d fixed it, the phone had been buzzing and chiming like crazy with incoming texts and calls, including a call from the new general manager of Grove Terrace. Apparently, King had re-upped his lease a few weeks ago with the former company, but the paperwork had been lost.
Irritation bristled inside of Sophie, and she tamped it down. She didn’t have a claim on him after the coming weekend. King could do whatever he liked with whomever he liked. It didn’t matter to her. Sophie’s carefree bravado rang false inside of her. Once she stopped working for him, it would get easier. She wouldn’t have a close-up view of his personal life or know who he was with next. Or receive surprises like flowers and muffins. She’d never guessed he had such a sweet, romantic side to him. She liked it.
She exited the stairwell. King’s and Aiden’s voices drifted into the hallway from Aiden’s office space on the right.
Sophie went inside. Carol wasn’t at her desk in the admin area. Where was she off to now?
Feet away, on the left, Aiden’s office door was ajar.
King was probably going crazy without his phone. The guys wouldn’t mind if she popped in to drop it off.
“It’s done,” Aiden said. “The owners of the Ivy Gate will get back to us with a time when our construction expert can inspect the restaurant. Hold on. Sit back down a minute. Explain this thing between you and Sophie.”
Sophie froze in midstep to the office.
King laughed. “What do you mean by thing?”
“Don’t bullshit me. You told me earlier that you took her to the gala at the Ivy Gate, and ever since you two have gotten back from the conference you’ve been acting strange around each other. Now it’s starting to add up. You two are sleeping together, aren’t you?”
The condemnation in Aiden’s tone brought heat to Sophie’s face. Once King explained she was leaving, maybe Aiden wouldn’t hold it against them.
“Yes, we are, and it’s not a problem, so stop giving me that look.”
“Not a problem.” Aiden’s voice rose. “What about the agreement we made not to let our personal relationships get in the way of business? Sophie practically runs the admin side of the office on her own. We can’t afford to lose her. Why would you take the risk of sleeping with Sophie, knowing full well that you’re going to get tired of being with her? Did you even think about the potential shit storm breaking up with her could cause for us?”
Seconds ticked by in silence as King didn’t deny it or defend himself.
Hurt pricked inside of Sophie. It was hard to hear Aiden say what she already knew in her heart. What she and King had was just a fling.
King released a heavy exhale. “Look. I’m sorry for breaking our agreement and not telling you about it, but nothing’s changed. Kingman Partners is my priority.”
“Is it?” Aiden released a snort. “Then you’d better come up with a good plan to make sure she stays put.”
“I have. You just make sure the inspection happens at the Ivy Gate. I’ll handle Sophie.”
Handle her? Sophie left the office in a daze. Was that what the muffins and flowers were really all about? King always had an ulterior motive for his actions. How had she missed it? As she walked down the hallway, it felt as if her heart had turned into a weight. When she reached her office, she dropped her purse and King’s phone on the desk and plopped into the chair behind it. Having to sit there knowing King prioritized the company over her happiness and didn’t support her entrepreneurial dreams was even harder than the prospect of watching him with his next fling.
Sophie opened the left bottom drawer and removed the resignation letter she’d written weeks earlier and that King had given back to her a couple of days ago. She’d done her part. King was back in full form. She was no longer obligated by anything or anyone to stay.
King walked in. “Going to lunch?”
“Yes.” She stood and handed him the letter. “Permanently.”
Confusion filled his expression as he looked from the letter to her. “What is this?”
“Me not being handled by you anymore.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Kingman Partners is your priority, and Sophie’s Originals is mine.” She’d struggled to come up with a name for her company. Now she had one. “And it’s time I move on to it.”
She rounded the desk to leave.
King caught her hand. “Don’t do this. Do you know how many start-ups fail? You don’t just take a blind leap—”
Anxiety rose along with the old voices that had encouraged her to put herself second and her dreams on hold. Sophie swallowed the lump forming in her throat. “No, King, you’re wrong. When it matters, you do.”