HR_Final-12

Chapter Nine

Kennedy

After photocopying a bunch of documents, I drop into my chair and ignore my buzzing cell phone. It’s been ringing all week, but I’ve disregarded all calls from my friends, especially Olivia, and spent the last week busying myself with work. Anything to keep my mind off Sean and the pain those memories bring. A sound catches in my throat, and I blink to dispel the image of him and…Deanna.

I turn sideways to my door and boot up my computer, needing to input some data. But my hands freeze over my keyboard when I hear, “What do you think you’re doing?”

I spin and glance up. When I see Sean in the doorway, looking so relaxed and handsome, dressed in a dark suit and impeccable as always, my heart pounds in my chest.

“Sean––” I say. “What––how?”

He pushes off the doorframe, and his presence overwhelms me in the small space of my office as he nears. “Kitten,” he responds. “Or, should I say Kennedy?”

Oh God, what kind of game is he playing now?

“What do you think you’re doing?” I ask as he stalks toward me.

He stops on the other side of my desk and dips his head. “I’ve already asked you that question, and I’m waiting for an answer.”

“When did you figure it out?” I ask.

“Two seconds after I got off the elevator the first day you arrived in London.”

I take in the smirk on his face. “You knew all along…” I say, and look down, hardly able to believe it.

He knew all along and still wanted to play with me.

My heart picks up tempo as I chew on that. He never thought he was sleeping with Kitten, and knew all along it was the annoying girl from his youth he had between the sheets. A little thrill moves through me. I guess I kind of like that he knew from the get-go that it was me, and that he’d been anxious to have me beneath him.

Oh, how anxious he was.

As my mind races back to all the naughty ways he took me, and the deliciously dirty things he said to me, he says, “I guess you don’t remember me calling you Kennedy when you were coming for me.”

My mouth drops open, and I glance past him to make sure no one in the hall heard.

“Sean.” I lower my voice, but past experiences tell me he’s not about to hush for anyone.

“The tickets to Random Nation weren’t random, Kennedy,” he says, a new softness to his voice. My heart squeezes painfully, more touched than ever by the tickets. “I knew it was you all along, and the game of Truth or Dare, well, that was so I could get the truth from you. But you took off before we could play it. Why did you do that?”

“It was a one-night deal that turned into a one-weekend deal,” I say, my pulse beating so hard against my throat I think I might pass out. I can’t tell him that I’m in love with him and that spending any more time with him would surely kill me. “Besides, you had Deanna.”

His brow furrows. “Who the fuck is Deanna?”

“I know your reputation, Sean. I saw her put the card in your shirt pocket that night at the cocktail bar.”

“Fuck. Right, I remember now. It actually flew in and out of my mind that night because I was so caught up in you.”

“So you didn’t––you haven’t…?”

“Jesus Christ, Kennedy. I could never sleep with another woman after you.”

“Are you serious?” He only wants to sleep with me?

“Fuck yeah, I’m serious.” He dips his head, and his eyes lock on mine, holding me captive within a whirlpool of need. I love him so much. “This is how serious I am.” He lifts one hand, and I notice the big brown bag he’s holding. Oh my God. I hope he doesn’t have a bag of sex toys with him. I know our relationship has been all about bedroom games, but I’ll lose my freaking job if he dumps a bunch of vibrators on my desk.

He opens the bag, and I hold my hand up. “Sean, don’t,” I say quickly, my throat so tight it’s hard to speak.

He turns the bag upside down, and a thousand candy hearts fall onto my desk. Some roll onto the floor, and I gasp when I see that each candy has Be Mine written on it. My hand goes to my chest, and I falter backward. Good God, he must have gone to a million stores, opened a million packages to collect all the ones that said Be Mine.

“Sean,” I say, confused. My mind races back to the day I gave him that exact candy and he laughed in my face.

“I’ve always wanted you, Kennedy. I pretended you were a nuisance because back then a three-year age gap was too much. Today, it’s not.”

I can’t breathe as I stare at him, and my ears are buzzing so hard with the rush of blood that I’m not sure I’m hearing what he’s saying. He picks up a candy and hands it to me.

“I want you. You want me.” He comes around to my side of the desk, and when he tugs on his tie, my body fires. “Now, say yes to this before I toss you over my shoulder, drag you to my place, and tie you to my bed until I coax the answer I want from that pretty mouth of yours.”

“Sean…I can’t believe this.” I shake my head. “I’m surprised you knew right away it was me. I’ve changed so much.”

He laughs. “Yeah, you changed. Grown up. I have, too, but I’d know you anywhere. You’re still that sweet, fun-loving, sexy-as-hell girl I fell for ten years ago.”

He pushes a candy into my mouth and lets his thumb linger there for a moment. His eyes darken as his gaze drops to my lips. “What do you say?”

I’m about to say yes when reality hits. “You live in New York. I’m in Chicago. There’s no way…”

“I really hate that word. In fact, I don’t want you to ever use it with me again,” he says, his voice hardening.

My entire body quivers at the command in his tone. “What word?”

“No.”

“But—”

He presses his lips to mine to seal my protest, then says, “My head office is around the corner. I’ve already made the change. The only thing left is for you to pick out whatever house you want to live in.”

He wants to live with me? Is this just about sex, or more? Oh God, do I dare hope it’s more? My heart couldn’t take the alternative. “This is all coming at me rather fast.”

“Now, there’s a word I want you to use all the time.”

“What word.”

His grin turns wicked. “Coming.”

My legs wobble, and he pulls me against him. “Do you think you could take the afternoon off? I’d like to take my fiancée out to celebrate our engagement properly.”

“Your fake fiancée, you mean,” I remind him.

“No.” He pulls a box from his pocket and drops to one knee. “I love you, Kennedy. Will you be mine?”

I stand there, shell-shocked, looking at the man I love—the man who loves me—down on one knee, proposing for real. I sink to the floor next to him. “I’ve always been yours, Sean. Always,” I say, and press my lips to his.

He kisses me deeply then pulls back and says, “And I’ve always been yours, Kitten. Now, let’s get the fuck out of here so I can tie you up and make you purr.”