Kelsey’s gaze drifted toward the water line and the crashing waves. “Sounds familiar.”
He frowned at the implication. “Hey, that’s not why I was saying that. This is a very different situation.”
She turned back to him, a small smile in place, but cynicism in the lines around her mouth. “No, it’s not. It’s the same exact thing. Only you offered me money for it. And it’s a shorter term of service.”
“That’s not what the mo—”
“It’s okay, Wyatt,” she said softly. “It’s what I signed up for, too.”
Before he could respond, a hand clapped him on the back. “There you are.”
Wyatt swallowed the rest of his words and turned to the newcomer, Kade Vandergriff. Wyatt had run into him a few minutes ago and had wanted to introduce Kelsey to him. But that’d been before he’d seen Gwen perch next to Kelsey with that predatory look.
Wyatt exchanged a quick handshake with Kade and nodded at Kelsey. “Kade, I’d like you to meet my girlfriend, Kelsey. She’s looking to start her own bakery. Kelsey, this is Kade Vandergriff. He owns—”
“A crap-ton of restaurants,” Kelsey said, grinning.
A wide smile broke over Kade’s face, and he swept Kelsey into an enthusiastic hug, taking Wyatt by surprise. “Hey, dollface, how the hell are you?”
“I’m good, I’m good,” Kelsey said, embracing him back and laughing with the tight squeeze he gave her.Author: Roni Loren
Wyatt cleared his throat, not exactly pleased that the big blond seemed so happy to see Kelsey. “You two know each other?”
Kade’s grin remained in place, but a flicker of unease went through his eyes. “Uh, yeah, we have mutual friends.”
Kelsey glanced at Kade and nodded, but didn’t offer any further clarification. Wyatt’s bullshit meter shot up like a thermometer in summer. How exactly would a waitress and a restaurant mogul have mutual friends? And that embrace hadn’t been a Hey, friend who I vaguely know through other friends. It’d been comfortable, warm. An ugly crackle of jealousy went through Wyatt. Was Kade Vandergriff one of Kelsey’s clients or maybe one of her customers from the strip club?
“Well, I thought I’d introduce you two since you have an industry in common, but I guess introductions weren’t necessary,” Wyatt said, feeling his stoic mask slip into place.
Kade tucked his hands in his pockets, the picture of casual ease. “Actually, I had no idea Kelsey was wanting to open a bakery. That’s fantastic to hear.”
That niggling feeling in Wyatt’s gut grew even stronger at that statement. So he didn’t know Kelsey through their shared interest in food.
Kelsey pushed her hair behind her ears, looking a little shy under Kade’s gaze. “I’m still a long ways off. I want to go to culinary school first, become a pastry chef.”
“That’s terrific, Kels. Really great,” Kade said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. “You should’ve told me that’s the direction you were wanting to go. We do apprenticeships in a lot of my locations. If you ever need a job, you let me know. I know how hard of a worker you are.”
Kelsey beamed. “Really?”
It was the kind of business connection for Kelsey that Wyatt had been hoping for by making the introduction, but now he just wanted to step in front of her and stomp his foot like a petulant child. Mine!
Ridiculous. What the fuck right did he have to do anything of the sort? Sure, she was his right now, on loan for a few days. But after their time was up, she could date any guy she wanted to. Hell, he wasn’t close with Kade Vandergriff, but he knew enough to know that he was probably a settle down and have a family kind of a guy. And he sure as shit had enough money to take care of a woman and make sure she never wanted for anything. Kade could give Kelsey everything she needed and what she deserved.
Wyatt knew he was reading too much into it, fast-forwarding Kade and Kelsey’s life like some epilogue in a romantic comedy, but he couldn’t help it. Oh, remember how me met, sweetie? We were at that island party and I was with . . . what was his name? That guy with the glasses who paid me to pose as his girlfriend? I wonder what ever happened to him.
Wyatt moved closer to Kelsey and grasped her hand, while she and Kade talked about how impressive the appetizer spread was tonight. But he barely heard the conversation, his heart thumping loud enough to drown out the words and the steel drums in the background. Wyatt had no idea what was going on with him. Never before had he ever had an issue keeping things business-like and casual with a woman. Jealousy wasn’t an emotion he entertained. Not since Mia. And even with her, it’d been a fleeting state. He hadn’t fought for her when she’d used those other men to get his attention. He’d simply cut her off, removed the unproductive emotion. She’d wanted him to fight and challenge, and instead, he’d walked away and left a vulnerable woman feeling worthless.
Regardless, right now he had an overwhelming urge to stake his claim on Kelsey, to be the kind of guy who was offering her so much that no other man could possibly compete. But he had no idea if he was even capable of being that guy. Sure, in fantasyland he could picture coming home to find her humming to herself in his kitchen while she created some new dish for them to eat. He could imagine her curled up on the couch in the media room while he introduced her to movies she’d never seen. Waking up next to her in the mornings. The images dug deep, cavernous holes in his chest.
But he hadn’t been lying to her when he’d told her he didn’t have room in his life for a relationship. The business took so many hours, so much energy. Kelsey would wither from neglect. And that would kill him . . .
Kelsey nudged him, cutting off her conversation with Kade mid-sentence. “Hey, is that the guy throwing this whole clambake?”
“Huh?” Wyatt asked, taking a second to shake off the morose reel of thoughts in his head, then looked in the direction Kelsey was nodding toward. A man had entered the party and already had a cluster of people gathering around him. Ah, fucking perfect. Just what he needed right now. “Yeah, that’s Carmichael.”
“You know him?” Kade asked.
“Yeah, don’t you?”