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"Good morning, Kasey," he says, pulling out my chair for me. Having him this close makes it hard to concentrate, his warm, spicy scent making everything else fade into the background. “You look beautiful today.”
"Good morning, Kenneth," I reply, feeling a blush creep up my cheeks. “And, uh, thank you.”
The setting is beautiful. The sun is shining, and the ocean is visible in the distance. The restaurant is filled with lush greenery, and the tables are set with colorful tropical flowers. This is one breakfast date I won’t ever forget.
“How did you sleep?” he asks after he takes his own seat once more, waving one of the servers over and ordering us a pitcher of mimosas.
I dreamt of you all night and woke up uncomfortably wet, I think but keep my uncharacteristically risque thoughts to myself. Instead, I tell him, “Wonderfully. The bed is unbelievably soft. How did you sleep?”
“I’ve had better rest,” he admits, picking up the paper menu. “There was a lot on my mind, but the distraction was so pleasant that I really didn’t mind.”
There’s a clear subtext in his words—he’s letting me know he thought about me all night long, and I love the idea of it. As we look over the menu, conversation flows easily, and I notice how easy it is to talk to Kenneth. He's genuinely interested in my life and my career, and I find myself opening up to him in a way that I never did with Devin.
This man doesn’t just hear me. He actually listens.
"I actually met Devin through work," I explain quickly. I want to get everything about his son out of the way as fast as possible because it makes me so uncomfortable to talk about with his dad of all people. Devin is a harsh reminder of how strange it is that Kenneth and I are spending this time together…and how most people would consider it inappropriate. "He was having computer problems, and I helped him fix them. We started dating soon after. Eventually, I left the company to work for a competitor."
"I can’t believe you worked at my company right under my nose and I never realized," Kenneth jokes, reaching across the table to take my hand. “I never would have let you leave if I had known.”
I smile, thinking how I might not have left either had I known how much I’d be drawn to the deliciously intimidating CEO. “I just traded internship for internship since I’m still in school. I don’t really have time for a full-time job just yet. Everyone needs IT help, so it wasn’t a problem. I would have never left a position I considered a serious career for a boyfriend.” My face falls a little, and I really want to be done talking about Devin Klein. “Well, ex-boyfriend now. He made that very clear at the gala last night.”
Kenneth’s eyes flash. “I’m sorry that my idiot son did that to you–”
"I'm actually glad it happened," I confess quickly, interrupting him. "I didn't realize how unhappy I was until he was gone.”
Flipping my hand over, Kenneth traces the lines of my palm with his fingers and it makes me shiver. “If you would have let me finish, baby girl, I was going to say that I’m sorry he was so cruel to you, but I’m not sorry that you’re now free to spend time with me. I wanted to be near you from the second I saw you, so this ultimately makes things much less messy because I don’t think anything could have kept me away from you.”
“Oh,” I breathe, taken aback by his words and how they mirror the exact thoughts I had been having earlier this morning. “I…”
He lifts my hand to his lips and brushes his lips across my open palm, causing goosebumps to bloom all over me as I suck in a breath. “You don’t have to say anything, Kasey. I just wanted you to know.”
As we continue our conversation, my attraction to Kenneth only grows stronger. He's so confident and self-assured, yet also kind and attentive. And the way he looks at me with those piercing blue eyes makes me feel a ridiculous range of emotions, all of them stemming from the base feeling of need that he creates in me.
We order our food, and I opt for the tropical fruit platter while Kenneth chooses a classic Eggs Benedict. We eat and continue to talk, laughing and sharing stories like we’ve known each other for years. Is this what a real relationship…a real connection…feels like?
When we finish our meal, I feel a sense of disappointment that our time together is coming to an end. My mind flails, trying to find an excuse to spend more time with this man that makes me feel like I’m walking on air. But as Kenneth stands up to leave, he surprises me by leaning in for a kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you for a wonderful breakfast, Kasey. I know we just met, but I can't deny the way I feel when I'm around you. I know you feel it, too. I can see it in the way you look at me and the way you respond to my touch. So… How about spending the afternoon with me?”
His words throw me through a loop, and I can’t say yes fast enough. “Yes, Kenneth, I would love that.”
At my agreement, he flashes me that devastating smile and offers me his hand to help me stand. I can't believe how much I'm falling for him in such a short amount of time, but there’s some instinct telling me that I'm exactly where I'm meant to be.
Don’t overthink it! Don’t you dare overthink this!
Kenneth takes me to walk the beach with him where I take my sandals off to walk through the shallowest part of the surf, making him laugh. I’m afraid that people are going to be looking at us, somehow knowing how odd our situation really is—that Kenneth is the much-older father of a guy I was dating just last night—but I’m pleasantly surprised that no one even gives us a second glance.
Kenneth even cuffs his pants up a few times and joins me in walking in the water, taking my hand when I almost lose my balance and not letting go for the rest of the excursion.
I get another taste of the type of commanding man Kenneth is when a younger, shirtless man approaches us to offer surfing lessons, and Kenneth dismisses him with a growl and a curl of his lip that makes the other guy go pale.
My next example is when I step on a shell that is turned just the wrong way and hiss as it nicks the bottom of my bare foot.
“Ouch!” I hiss, lifting my leg to see if I’m bleeding. Before I know it, Kenneth is sweeping me up in his arms and carrying me up the beach. It takes a few seconds for me to process the quick change of pace, and when I do, I don’t know whether to laugh or throw my arms around his neck and kiss him.
“It’s just a little cut,” I protest, not really meaning it. “I don’t want to get sand all over you.”
“Hush,” he says. “I’m going to carry you back to my suite to make sure you don’t need to have that looked at, and I don’t want to hear you complain.”
