His Hush-Hush Baby - Holly Rayner Page 0,41

and he clamped his jaw shut. He wasn’t going to lose his temper with her. He could be mad all he chose to be, but his cool demeanor would remain intact.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

She looked at her hand hanging around on the doorknob, as if debating whether to close the door and stay or leave.

He sighed and stuffed his hands into his pants pockets. They were shaking slightly, and he didn’t want her to see that.

“Since you’re here,” he said, “I imagine you can at least tell me why you did that.”

She licked her lips. “I was afraid.”

The words were a punch to the gut, robbing him of all air. “Afraid of what? Afraid of me?”

“Yes.”

He stared at her. She stared back.

“Kai…” She wrung her hands and started pacing back and forth in front of the door. One of Kai’s employees walked by, casting a curious glance at her.

Leaving his desk, Kai went and closed the door. Diane spun on her heel, leaving only a couple feet of space between them. He looked deep into her eyes, and he knew: if she only said the right thing, all would be forgiven.

He would draw her into his arms and kiss her until the past melted away. They would open their eyes and look toward the future, toward a brighter and better day that he would choose to believe in with everything he had.

“What’s going on, Diane? There’s something you’re not telling me, isn’t there? I suspected it from the day you broke up with me at the coffee shop, but I told myself I was being paranoid.”

She sucked in a long breath. Her eyes flicked away from his for the briefest moment, then found his gaze again.

“There is something I need to tell you. Um, I mean ask you. I need to ask you about something.”

“Okay.” He took a half step toward her. “I’m listening.”

There was a hard knock on the door.

“Mr. Weiss,” Oren called. “Ms. Guzzo asked me to remind you about the—”

“I’ll be right there,” Kai called, having to work to keep the irritation out of his voice.

He waited until Oren’s footsteps faded away.

“Listen,” he told Diane. “I have to go into this meeting, but it will be quick. Can you wait here for me? Is that okay?”

His pulse thundered in his ears. Please say yes.

A painful moment passed, and then Diane nodded. “Yes. I can do that.”

“Okay. Good.”

Without even thinking about it, he found her hand. It was warm. Familiar. Everything he’d been longing for but hadn’t allowed himself to acknowledge.

“Back soon,” he said. “Make yourself comfortable, okay? Do you know where my personal kitchenette is? There’s coffee and—”

“Yes, Kai.” She smiled in that beautiful way that would be burned into his memory forever. “I know. Thank you. I’ll be okay until you get back.”

“Okay.” He dropped her hand. “See you soon.”

He closed the door after himself and walked down the hall. He had no clue what Diane had come there to talk about, but her mere presence felt good.

It felt hopeful.

Hope. He hadn’t thought he had any left when it came to her. He really didn’t want to get his hopes up, didn’t want to automatically open himself up to Hurricane Diane again without knowing why he was doing it.

All he knew was that she was in his office, and they were finally going to have a real conversation. For the time being, that was enough.

Chapter 19

Diane

She was going to be sick.

Pacing the room, wringing her hands, Diane took a deep breath and subdued the nausea.

She still couldn’t believe she’d gotten the nerve to show up at Kai’s office. She’d half expected him to kick her out before she got a word in. Hell, maybe part of her had wanted that. At least that way she could say she had tried before continuing on her merry way and never talking to him again.

The last couple days, after hearing he was out of town, she’d let herself into his apartment and worked tirelessly on the mural. Finishing it as soon as possible was the backup plan to the conversation she had come here to have.

She wouldn’t have known Kai was back in New York and at the office if Brie hadn’t texted her. Finishing up a job ten blocks away, she’d taken that as a sign and hightailed it over to Weiss Enterprises.

Her mother’s words at the park had stuck with her. Even though Ruby didn’t remember the conversation, Diane couldn’t stop playing it on repeat.

She needed to