Just like the woman in my book.
CHAPTER 9
KEVIN
It looked like a storm was brewing on the horizon and I gathered the kids to go inside. Island storms were always my favorite. The ocean would kick up and the wind would howl against the windows. There was a beautiful fury to the entire thing, and it was something I never tired of watching. My first trip to the Caribbean had been in celebration after Owen and I had made our first massive client score. We had come to celebrate and outline a business plan, but a storm had barricaded us in the hotel suite we had rented for the entire week we were there. Owen was pissed, but I was fascinated by it.
And it looked like another one was headed our way, and fast.
A knock at my door surprised me, and I furrowed my brow. Whoever it was, they needed to seek shelter quickly. I walked down the hallway and saw Sydney opening the door and, the moment I saw Brooke was standing there with her suitcase at her side, my chest filled with warmth.
Though I was happy to see her there, I needed to have a serious talk with Sydney about not answering the door by herself.
The kids rushed Brooke, and she gathered them in her arms. She walked them into the house as I pushed by her to get her things. The rain was beginning to trickle from the sky as I closed the door behind me, and I moved her bags to the side and set them by the door that led to the private part of the house.
I had originally planned to use it for myself, but immediately realized it put me too far away from the kids.
“Miss Brooke! Miss Brooke! Are you staying?” Sydney asked.
“Daddy said you could stay,” Daniel said.
“Oh, he did, did he?” Brooke asked. “Well, you’ll be happy to know that I am staying!”
“Glad to hear it,” I said with a grin, as the kids cheered.
I was ecstatic that she had taken me up on my offer, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. I had another lunch meeting with Gianni, and I was going to be late if I didn’t start getting ready. I had been on the verge of cancelling when Brooke showed up. I pulled my wallet out of my back pocket and slid my emergency credit card out of it. I handed it to her and she looked down at it, seemingly hesitant to take it.
“I told you I would provide you with a credit card, so here it is,” I said. “As far as payment goes, I can either pay you in bulk at the end of the week or I can pay you daily. Which would you prefer?”
“One check might be simpler,” she said. “I don’t have access to my bank while I’m here, anyway.”
I nodded my head. “Okay, if that’s how you want it, that’s how we’ll do it. Thank you so much for doing this, you are really helping me out. We can iron out the rest of the details when I get back, but right now, I need to get to a meeting.”
“In this storm?” she asked. “It looks nasty.”
“Business stops for nothing. And thank you again. I mean it.”
I hated to run so quickly but being late for an important meeting didn’t leave a good taste in the customer’s mouth. I took a quick shower and picked out my best suit, then rummaged around for my umbrella. I called for a cab and waited by the door for it to show. The rain was coming down pretty hard and the lightning in the distance was impressive. The thunder cracked above our heads, causing my kids to cling to Brooke.
“What do you say we watch a movie?” she asked. “We’ll find one with music and we’ll turn it up really, really loud. And we can sing at the top of our lungs.”
“I love to sing,” Sydney said.
“Me too,” said Daniel. “Can we watch Trolls?”
“I haven’t seen that one yet, is it good?” Brooke asked them.
“Yes, it’s the best!” Sydney said.
“Then Trolls it is,” Brooke said as the kids danced around her belting out a song from the movie.
A warmth spread through my chest at the sight and sounds around me. I had definitely made the right decision asking Brooke to watch the kids, and I was doubly grateful that I’d run into her on this island after all these years.
I slipped out during the moment, not wanting to ruin the momentum Brooke had going with my twins. I ran with my umbrella to the taxi and went to meet with Gianni. He had all sorts of questions about our equipment that I could answer on the spot, and he even had a few things circled in the contract that he was unsure of. I explained things to him and we ate a decent lunch at yet another overpriced restaurant, and it seemed as if things were going well.
Even if the storm was still raging outside.
After almost three hours of Gianni prodding me with questions, we shook hands and set up a formal meeting to go over offic