28. Kian

28

KIAN

E xactly two minutes later, Lorelei walks into my office with her notebook tucked under her arm and two—yes, two—coffees in her hands.

My eyes narrow.

"Cappuccino with a double shot, extra hot. Just the way you like it, sir."

She places it in front of me with a smirk playing on her lips.

"All of your meetings have been canceled. They'll need to reschedule, so if you could let me have?—"

"Sit."

"I-I'm sorry, it may have escaped your notice, but I'm not a dog. Nor do I appreciate being spoken to like one."

I shake my head as I reach for my coffee and take a sip, watching with amusement as she lowers herself into the chair on the other side of the desk like I instructed her to, despite her little tirade.

"Noted."

"What is happening today?" she asks curiously.

"Something has come up."

"Right. Do you require me to do anything for whatever situation has arisen?"

"Yes, actually, I do."

She grabs her notebook from the corner of the desk and places it before me, giving me enough time to read the front.

Internally, I laugh, but I don't let her see that.

Instead, my lips press into a thin line and my eyes narrow dangerously.

My pointless notes from meetings…that could have been an email…

She's trying to rile me up, but I will not rise to it.

And today's pen…

This job is shit.

Wonderful.

Finally, she flips the book open on a fresh page and is poised ready to scribble down notes…that could have been an email.

I take another sip of my coffee.

"Ten AM: Appointment with a personal shopper."

She scribbles it down, but not before she glances up at me suspiciously.

She may have joked about collecting my dry cleaning and delivering it home for me the other day, but contrary to popular belief, I don't actually want my assistant doing personal tasks for me. Lorelei is here to assist me at work, not with my personal life.

"One PM: Lunch reservations. Three PM: Hair and makeu?—"

"M-makeup?" she stutters, confusion written all over her face.

"Yes," I agree, swallowing the rest of my coffee and pushing to stand. "Are you ready?"

"Ready?" she balks.

"Yes. I hate being late, and the traffic across town to your first appointment will be horrendous."

"My appointment?"

"Yes," I say for the third time. "You didn't think it was all for me, did you?"

With a smirk playing on my lips, I pull my jacket on and pocket my cell. I may have gotten her to cancel all my plans, but that doesn't mean the end of my work for the day.

Her mouth opens and closes like a fish, but she fails to find any words.

"I have the charity gala tonight," I explain. "And you're my date."

The statement lands exactly as I predicted it would.

Hard.

She jumps to her feet, her eyes wide with shock.

"Your…your date. No, Kian. That is absolutely not–"

"It is. Your name is already on the guest list. We just need to get you ready."

"B-but—" She cuts herself off as she looks up to the ceiling as if it might give her some divine intervention. "What about Sasha?"

When her gaze comes back to mine, the fire burning in the depths of her eyes makes my breath catch.

It only confirms that I'm making the right decision.

"What about Sasha?"

"Isn't she your date to this thing? Or one of the other women you spend time with?"

"No," I state simply. "Get your things together, we're going to be late. Jamie is waiting."

Striding toward the door, I pull it open and wait for her to walk through it.

She's reluctant, but after a silent stand-off, she finally concedes.

"Good girl," I say quietly behind her.

It's so quiet that there's a chance she won't hear, but the second her shoulders bunch and her steps falter, I know she has.

She likes it too.

I had a suspicion she would.

The reception area is still empty. Melissa is in a meeting with Kingston, allowing me to do this without being under her watchful eye.

"Ready?" I ask when she emerges with her purse hanging over her shoulder.

"Not in the slightest, but I'm not sure I have a choice."

"You're learning fast."

Pressing my hand to the small of her back, I gently push her forward and into the elevator once the doors have opened.

"For the record, I want you to know that I'm against this."

"Why? What could possibly be so bad about spending the night with me?"

"Plenty of things," she mutters under her breath.

"You get to get all dressed up, eat incredible food, and enjoy outstanding company."

"Debatable."

"Don't even try to convince me that you didn't have fun on Sunday."

"Donning a Chiefs' jersey and going to a football game is very different from attending some fancy gala. What's it even for, anyway?"

I smile, knowing that this is the exact moment I change her mind about the whole thing.

"How much do you know about Kieran's career outside of on the field?"

"Uh…I know that like you, he gets pictured with the world's most beautiful women on a weekly basis, and that more than a handful of them have sold stories about their…activities together."

"So not a lot, then," I muse making her roll her eyes.

"He runs a foundation that helps kids from underprivileged backgrounds get the education and training they need to stand a chance at playing professional football."

Her chin drops.

"And tonight, there is a silent auction to help secure funding for scholarships for students around the country."

"Right…"

"Changing your mind about attending now?"

She sucks in a sharp breath.

"What makes you say that?"

She's been very closed about her family, but it doesn't take a genius to work out why.

"Your little brother…does he plan on attending a college with a successful football team next year?"

Her lips purse in frustration.

"He plans on it, yes."

"And does he have the funding in place to make that happen?"

"He has scouts attending his games, as you well know. He's hoping to secure something soon."

"And should he not get a scholarship? Is your family able to support him?"

The second the question rolls off my tongue, every muscle in her body pulls tight.

"That is none of your business."

There is it again. That sore spot she doesn't like me poking.

"I'll take that as a no. And in case you're wondering, I've already put your brother's name on Kieran's radar. He's impressed."

"No," she snaps. "My brother has nothing to do with you. His future, his career has nothing to do with you."

I study her for a moment, loving the way her cheeks glow and her body trembles with pent-up frustration.

"No, he doesn't. But he also deserves the best chance at getting the life he wants, no?"

We hit the ground floor and the doors open, allowing us to walk out before she gets a chance to respond.

A couple of people try to stop me as we exit the building, but I put them all off in favor of getting Lorelei into the car and en route to finding her a dress for tonight.

The atmosphere is tense as we drive across the city, and despite my words from the elevator still floating around us, Lorelei doesn't make a comment.

In fact, she doesn't say a word. Instead, she pulls her laptop out and continues working on a spreadsheet.

I watch her, impressed with her skills until she makes a predictable and common error.

"That won't work."

She freezes, her fingers hovering over the keyboard.

"Then I'll learn that myself when I test it and find a way to fix it."

"Or you could let me tell you the correct way."

"I prefer to learn for myself. I don't need anything to be spoon-fed to me," she snaps.

"Fair enough."

Unwilling to pull my cell out and continue trawling through my emails, I watch her experiment with different formulae.

The desire to blurt out the answer she's looking for is strong, but this time, I refrain. I think I've probably already put enough on her this morning.

She's still got her head in her laptop when we pull up at our destination.

"As much as I appreciate your work ethic, we have other places to be right now."

She barely looks up as I climb from the car, and it's not until she joins me on the sidewalk that reality hits her.

"We're on Oak Street," she says, her eyes wide as she looks up and down the rows of designer shops.

"Uh…yeah. Where did you think we were going?"

She swallows thickly before taking a step back toward the car.

"I-I don't belong here."

I study her as she tries to retreat to the car.

Those pink cheeks and the fire in her from earlier have gone. In their place is nothing but trepidation.

"What are you talking about? Of course you do."

Glancing at my watch, I find that we have five minutes until her appointment.

Reaching out, I take her hand in mine. "Come on, they're expecting you."

I hold her with enough force that she can't slip free, giving her little choice but to follow me.

We pass several boutiques before we get to the one Melissa suggested—not that she was really aware of what I was looking for, of course. I knew asking Tate for advice wouldn't work. She'd go straight to Lorelei and tell her what I was doing. Honestly, I wasn't sure that Melissa wouldn't do the exact same thing, but she was my only other option.

I certainly couldn't call up Sasha and ask her advice.

A shudder rips down my spine at the thought alone.

"Here we go," I say, coming to a stop beside a fully glass-fronted store.

The security guard inside sees us coming and opens the door to invite us in.

Aside from two members of staff, we're the only ones here.

Perfect.

"Good morning, Mr. Callahan," one of them gushes as she strides over with a smile on her face. "Lorelei," she says, turning to the woman currently hiding behind me. Her hand trembles slightly in mine.

It's bizarre. She is so strong in so many ways, and yet, at the flip of a coin, everything can change.

I've seen it twice in two days now, and I can't say I like it very much.

No. I fucking hate it.

"My name is Magda. I'll be assisting you today."

Tugging Lorelei around in front of me, I allow Magda to get a good look at her.

"Okay, I think I've already got some fantastic ideas for you. Sir, if you'd like to take a seat," Magda says, gesturing to the back of the store. "Lorelei and I will get started. My colleague will get you both drinks, and if there is anything we can do during your time with us, please, don't hesitate to ask."

Lorelei remains frozen on the spot, not that Magda seems to have noticed. She's too busy mentally dressing her in luxury gowns that will make her sing tonight.

Reaching out, I grip her upper arm and duck my mouth to her ear.

"Trust her. She knows what she's doing." She trembles again, although something tells me that it's more of a shudder this time.

"I don't," Lorelei hisses back. "This…this isn't the kind of place I shop."

"Today it is. Consider this a work event. I require you to represent Callahan Enterprises in the way we see fit. You're just doing your job, Lorelei."