Married to His Business (Millionaire of the Month #5)(29)
Author: Elizabeth Bevarly

"No," she admitted. "I did some work around my condo that I’d been putting off for a while."

"Well, there you go," Matthias said. "You need a vacation. I have a vacation home. At least for a few more weeks."

She crossed her arms over her midsection and dropped her weight to one foot. "And besides," she said, "you brought a lot of work with you from the office, and you could use someone to help out with it while you’re here. Right?"

He gaped at her, shocked that she could think such a thing of him. What shocked him even more was that what she’d just accused him of had never once crossed his mind. "Of course not," he denied. "Yeah, I brought work with me, but I’m getting it done just fine by myself."

Well, except for how his laptop kept eating his files and

how he couldn’t figure out how to open Excel and how every time he tried to send e-mail on the desktop in the office upstairs, a box kept popping up with all kinds of weird symbols in it that he was reasonably certain were the equivalent of digital profanity. Really bad digital profanity, too. Other than that, everything was fine.

She smiled at him in a way that made him think she knew exactly what kind of problems he was having. Then she surprised him by saying, "Okay, I’ll stay a couple more days. It is a beautiful place. And I could use some downtime."

Matthias wasn’t sure what to make of the ripple of pleasure that wound through him at her acceptance of his invitation. So he decided not to question it. In fact, he decided not to think about it at all. Because Kendall’s smile grew broader then, and she crossed her arms in a way that made her little T-shirt ride up on her torso again, giving him another delicious glimpse at that navel. The ripple of pleasure turned into a raging tsunami at that, and he was suddenly overcome by the absolute conviction that his life would never get better than it was in that moment, standing in the same room with Kendall and her navel, knowing she would be around for a few more days.

But he was wrong. Because what she said to him after that multiplied his pleasure tenfold and nearly sent his body into paroxysms of ecstasy.

Because what she said then was, "You know, I need to run into town to pick up a few things. Why don’t we look for a new BlackBerry for you while we’re there? And I’ll get it all nice and programmed for you, just the way you like it."

That was when Matthias knew, without doubt, that Kendall Scarborough was the only woman in the world who would ever be able to make him happy.

"But, Matthias," she added, more soberly this time, "you have to promise me you won’t contact that guy in Nigeria or the woman with the Web cam."

He narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Why not?"

"Just don’t. Trust me."

Strangely, he realized he already did. Implicitly. Though, thinking back on their history together, maybe that wasn’t so strange after all. What was strange was that, suddenly, for some reason, he realized he also trusted Kendall in ways that went beyond the professional. But what was strangest of all was that he found himself wanting her to trust him, too. In ways that had nothing to do with the professional.

"C’mon," she said. "You’ll have to drive. Let’s pick up some groceries, too. I’m tired of hotel food and carryout. Let’s cook tonight."

Eight

They weren’t able to find a BlackBerry for Matthias in tiny Hunter’s Landing. They did lots of other things there— shared a banana split at the ice-cream parlor, played air hockey at the arcade, selected fresh produce at the farmer’s market and enjoyed a late-afternoon beer at the pub—but the little community was fresh out of sophisticated gadgetry by the time they arrived. Interestingly, Matthias wasn’t even halfway through the banana split when he forgot all about it. And when Kendall made mention of it again halfway through the afternoon beer, he had to take a minute to remember that, oh, yeah, that was one of the reasons they’d gone into town, wasn’t it? Because by then, he was enjoying himself so much with Kendall that he couldn’t even remember why he’d wanted a BlackBerry in the first place.

Nor could he remember the last time he’d played air

hockey. Probably because he had played with Luke, and it had probably been one of those death matches the two of them never seemed able to avoid. With Kendall, they hadn’t even kept score. Matthias couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a banana split, either, and he’d certainly never shared one before, thanks to the I-got-mine mentality he’d grown up with under his father’s misguided tutelage. Even the afternoon beer was unusual for Matthias. He never took time out of his day to engage in things that had no purpose other than to make the day a little nicer.

And the thing was, the day would have been nicer even without all those things, simply because Kendall was a part of it.

Why had he never realized before how much he liked having her around? he wondered as they drove back to the lodge, chatting amiably the whole way. She’d worked for him for five years—five years—and not once had it occurred to him that the reason his life was as good as it was was due in large part to Kendall’s simple presence in it. All that time, he’d thought he valued her for her efficiency and organizational skills. It was only after she’d left that he’d realized she’d brought so much more to his life.

He liked Kendall. He liked her a lot. Not just as an employee, but as a person. As a friend. As a companion. The two of them had an easy camaraderie with each other after all these years that he hadn’t even realized had developed. A give and take, an ebb and flow, an itch and scratch that was as well orchestrated and choreographed as a Broadway show. And now he understood that that camaraderie transcended their working relationship. Today, they’d enjoyed an ease of conversation Matthias didn’t share with people he’d known twice as long as Kendall.

And last night, out on the deck with the telescope… That had been one of the most enjoyable evenings he’d ever had.

Even as they unpacked and put away their groceries, they spoke easily and moved in concert with each other as if they did this all the time. The preparation of dinner, too, was another perfectly executed team effort, as was the cleaning up afterward. As Matthias opened a second bottle of wine, Kendall reached into the cupboard for two fresh glasses. As he poured, she dimmed the lights, and, together, they retreated to the lodge’s lush living room.

The sun was setting over the mountains, leaving the lake midnight-blue and smooth as silk. Matthias watched Kendall head for a lamp, then hesitate before turning it on. He understood. The lighting outside this time of evening was just too beautiful not to appreciate it. When she moved to the massive windows to look out on the vista, he joined her. But it wasn’t the lake and mountains that drew his eye. It was Kendall’s expression as she looked at them, all soft and mellow and contented. The way he felt himself.