I went into work the next morning, still very much in the same mind set as I had been since Saturday evening. I wanted nothing to do with it despite Ash’s little talk. The second I stepped through the door, Mr. Andrews commandeered me, steering me into his office before giving me a twenty-minute talk on his entire client database, which he wanted redone.
He was halfway through his monotone drone when I heard the office door click shut and Mr. Harris walking across the floor.
“Is Kyra still off?” he asked.
A second voice answered that stilled my heart in an instant—Paul. “I don’t know.”
“Can you call her, please, Paul? She should be ringing in sick every day she’s off and speaking to one of us, not her friend downstairs.”
“If she calls before we’re in, there isn’t a lot she can do except leave a message, is there?”
Harris went silent for a moment before he snapped at Paul. “Just call her.”
“You are not my boss, Harris. Get one of the admin girls to call her.”
I heard Paul’s office door slam shut and moments later, Harris’ followed suit.
Struggling to contain a smirk, I finished listening to Mr. Andrews before heading back out to my desk. Making my ritual cup of tea, I sat at my desk, quietly humming away to myself as I worked through his client files.
“Kyra?”
I lifted my gaze to see Paul standing in front of my desk. My breath caught in my throat when I looked at those beautiful blue eyes. I wanted to melt at his feet. Using every last ounce of strength in me, I focused my attention back down to my work, not even dignifying him with an answer.
“Can we talk, please?”
My heart started racing at the thought of being alone with him again. I could feel my body responding to his presence already. I refused to look up at him but gave him an answer. “What about?”
“You know what.”
“If it’s not work related, then no, we can’t talk.”
“Is that it? You’re not even going to hear me out?”
“Hear you out about what?” I took a deep breath, only to be met with his pained expression. “You have your life and I have mine. That’s it. Simple.”
He sighed and ran his tongue over his lips. My mind began betraying me, showing me memories of what that tongue could do to me. I pushed the thoughts away, my heart continuing to race.
He took a step closer, his eyes imploring for my sympathy. “Just five minutes?”
I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest. “Fine.”
I walked into his office and marched to the other side of the room before turning to face him.
He started coming towards me, arms outstretched.
“Don’t.” I held my hand up to stop him. “You can talk from there.”
“Okay.”
A long silence fell between us whilst I waited for him to speak. I glared at him, secretly enjoying watching him squirm. “Well, you have three minutes left.”
“Look, I know what it looks like but I didn’t start something with you in order to get you involved in all of that.”
“At the moment, Paul, that is the least of my worries. I’m more concerned with the fact you’ve been sleeping with other people whilst sleeping with me.”
“I haven’t.”
I snorted at him. “Please. I didn’t fall from the Christmas tree yesterday.”
“I’m telling you the truth. I have no need to lie.”
“Yes, you do if you think you’re going to involve me in all of that…stuff.”
“Look, I know it’s weird to most people but it’s how I was brought up. I don’t know any different. You can’t miss what you never had.”
“So you’ve never had a normal relationship?”
He faltered for a second before answering me. “One. When I was younger. It was a long time ago now, though.”
“What happened?”
He cleared his throat. “She went off with someone else.”
“Oh.” Something inside of me softened but I ignored it. “How old were you?”
“I was sixteen. We both were.”
“Oh. So what is this, then? Your way of dealing with the fact you got cheated on?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “It’s all I know. I just kind of fell into it after her and that’s all I’ve known since. I’ve spent nearly twenty years like this. The year I had with her doesn’t really compare. The way I see it, there are no jealousy issues, no complex dealings of relationships, no expectations, no arguments. It’s just all easy and I can pick and choose as I please to an extent.”
I raised my eyebrows. “All just easy and picking and choosing as you please? Are you being serious right now? You talk about it like they’re pieces of meat.”
“No, I didn’t mean it like that. Sorry, that came out wrong. What I meant was that my life is easy. I am just me. I don’t have to worry about anyone else or anything else that goes with it. When it comes to sex, I have what I know.”
I shook my head, chuckling. “Wow. And I thought I was screwed up.”
“I’m not screwed up, Kyra. It’s just how my life is. Just because it’s different to yours it doesn’t make me wrong.”
“It makes you wrong to me.”
“Why?”
“It’s dirty, it’s wrong. What happened to the sanctity of marriage?”
“You’ll be surprised how many relationships this has saved. We provide a place for people to have their fantasies but still have their partners too. It’s a win-win.”
“How exactly? I know for a fact if I was married, I wouldn’t want my husband acting out his fantasies with some other woman, I’d want him to act them out with me.”
“But not everyone is like that. Some women only like sex once a week, once a month, not at all. Or they only want it in certain positions. Or they won’t play and experiment. Would you deny your husband the experience of trying something out just because you didn’t like the thought of it?”
“If that involved being intimate with another woman, then yes.”
“Coming from the woman who won’t commit? Yet you speak about it like you’re experienced in the area.”
My jaw clenched as I hardened my stare on him. “You pompous bastard. How dare you.”
I stomped towards the door, my anger boiling once more. As I passed him, he grabbed my arm.
“Ky…”
Before I knew what I was doing, my hand reached out, slapping him across the face with a hell of a crack. His grip loosened and I shook his touch from me, reaching for the door handle.
“Ky, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I’m just trying to make you see it’s not like you think it is.”
“Why is that so important to you?”
“Because I liked the time we spent together.”
My heart flipped upside down at his confession. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. A deep ache began to grow in my chest as I thought of his touch, his kiss, his skin against mine. That one simple sentence made me question my own beliefs, the whole point of my being mad at him.
I opened my eyes to see him stood within arm’s reach, his eyes sweeping me up in their captivating gaze once again. “I…”
“We had fun, right? We enjoyed our time together? Why should my parents’ business stop us enjoying each other?”
My arguments melted into oblivion and I became lost in a hazy ocean between his twinkling eyes and his silk laden voice. “I…I’ll think about it.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Okay.” He grinned before giving me a cheeky wink. “I’ll give you a week.”
I narrowed my eyes at his reference to our conversation on Saturday. Snorting at him, I strode out of the door, muttering various curses under my breath as I headed for the bathroom. Locking the door behind me, my mind wandered back to what happened in here a mere few days ago.
A deep yearning grumbled in my gut as I struggled between my head and my heart. I knew I didn’t need his complications in my life but my God, I did want him.