He was sure the whole office could hear her raging through the door. “I don’t,” he agreed. “Explain it to me. I really was trying to make it better, not trying to upset you, at all.”
Kayla sat on the edge of the leather sofa in his office, one knee bouncing as he waited for her to say something. He wanted so badly to go to her, but he held back, uncertain what to do.
“I needed to do this without you,” she finally said.
Evan crouched next to her, putting a hand on her bouncing knee to still it. “Why?”
She blew out a breath but didn’t pull away. “It’s my problem, Evan.”
“It’s our problem, Kayla. I’m a partner in the business.”
Kayla rolled her eyes. “A silent one.”
“Okay. I don’t understand your reservations here. Neither you nor the restaurant owes me any money from this.”
“I need to be able to do this without you.”
“Why?” he asked again.
“Because I need to be able to buy you out one day and own this. It’s important, Evan. I told you that when I asked for help.”
He remembered. It was one of the main reasons he’d agreed to help her. She had been so adamant that it was temporary, just to get the restaurant off the ground and have that backing.
“You still can.” His gut clenched. Her wanting him out of the restaurant only showed where her thoughts were headed regarding him, and it wasn’t good.
“I can’t if the first time I come up to a real challenge you have to step in to help me,” she told him.
He took a chance and sat next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders. “Kayla, going to your friends for advice, or help, or anything else doesn’t mean you can’t do it. It’s a smart decision.”
She shrugged. She didn’t pull away, and he let that thought comfort him.
“Look at me.” He waited for her to look up. “When things happen and one of us can help, we are always there for each other. Always. It doesn’t mean we can’t do it alone.”
“I don’t have anything to bring to help anyone,” she mumbled.
“You’re doing the date things with us. That was a whim, and you were ready to help. You stood up for Lauren the last time her mom and Cade’s dad went crazy. You only need to be you,” he told her.
“It’s too much. Cade has security guards at my doors,” she groaned. “And I don’t even know who to thank for getting those doors boarded up. Then someone cleaned up most of the glass that was everywhere. I don’t know who, so how do I pay any of that back?”
“You don’t. No one expects it. I can tell you who helped with what if you really want to know, but they aren’t expecting anything in return.”
“That’s how it works, Evan. People expect something in return.”
“These people don’t.” He was learning a lot about Kayla. “I did not step in to help because I thought you couldn’t do it. I did it because I’m your friend. It has nothing to do with profits or anything else. I just wanted to help.”
“You feel bad about the other night,” she accused him.
“What?” Shock wasn’t strong enough for what he felt by that statement. He was completely blindsided. “Kayla, no. Do I wish things had turned out differently after that? Hell, yes. But I think you have more thinking to do to consider who you think I am if you think I’m trying to buy you into my bed.”
He let go of her and stood, walking to the other side of his office, needing to put some distance between them.
“That’s not what I meant,” she tried.
“Then tell me what you meant because that hurt,” he told her honestly. “Do I want to sleep with you again? Yes. But can you seriously tell me that you believe I wouldn’t have done this a month ago? If you think that I’m the kind of person that is only helping you to sleep with you, then I don’t know what to say.”
Kayla bit her lip watching him before turning away. “I’m so screwed up.”
“I think I’ve done well at respecting your space after having mind-blowing sex with you and then you telling me never again. I’ve done my best to still be your friend, and that’s all I’m trying to do here.”