Sweeter Temptation (Kimani Hotties) (10 page)

Chapter 14

“H
ow could a son of mine be such a screwup?”

Kyle stretched out on the leather sofa in his office and watched his uncle pace back and forth. He couldn’t agree more with the rant, but was too damned tired to join in.

He’d left Candy, Ohio, four days ago and still hadn’t slept in his own bed.

The Ellison jet had touched down in Nashville en route from Candy only to take off again an hour later.

He and his uncle had decided the best way to undo the mess Logan had created was for Kyle to do in-person damage control. That had meant two days of smoothing ruffled feathers at the skin care company’s headquarters in Puerto Rico.

From there he’d flown to New Hampshire to try to placate the angry owners of the natural toothpaste company. The family who owned the company had verbally agreed to Ellison purchasing it with them retaining creative control.

But Logan had contacted them and contradicted the terms. He’d told them Ellison Industries’ honchos would take over creative control, and then blindsided the family with talk of moving the company’s Portsmouth manufacturing plant overseas after the sale.

“Nothing we can do to get the toothpaste deal back on track?” Uncle Jon asked.

“They barely agreed to see me. Even then, the family was irate. Bottom line is they no longer trust us,” Kyle said. “What was Logan thinking?”

Uncle Jon stopped midpace. “Logan thought our agreeing to keep their U.S. manufacturing plants was short-sighted. He also thought Ellison should retain creative control.”

“Didn’t he realize the current owners’ creativity was part of what we were buying? That’s why they were to remain in their current positions as our employees.”

His uncle threw up his hands. “Logan was only supposed to familiarize himself with the deals, not blow them up.”

Kyle had been so occupied trying to undo his cousin’s mess it occurred to him he’d hadn’t seen him since his return. “So where is Logan?

“He left early to take his wife to the hospital,” his uncle said. “They thought she’d went into labor early, but it turned out to be a false alarm. I told him to take the rest of the day off.”

“Just the day?” Kyle raised a brow.

They both knew what needed to be done. Logan’s actions were more than enough reason for dismissal, and Kyle was surprised Uncle Jon hadn’t already shown him the door.

His uncle slumped into the executive chair behind Kyle’s desk. The elder Ellison’s shoulders drooped as he exhaled a weary sigh and rested his face in his palms.

When he looked up again, he looked ten years older than his sixty-four years.

“This fiasco is my fault,” he said. “Seeing my son after all these years, I lost my head and forgot everything your father taught me about separating emotions and business.” Uncle Jon shrugged. “And it cost us a company we worked long and hard trying to acquire.”

Kyle pulled his tired body into a sitting position on the sofa. He took no pleasure in being right. He also didn’t like seeing his uncle look so defeated.

“There’ll be other companies,” he said.

“Yeah, I know, but that’s not the real problem, is it?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Can’t you see the irony?”

Kyle shook his head. “You’re talking in riddles, Uncle Jon. It’s been a long couple of days, and I’m too tired to try to figure them out.”

“Your father left me in charge as a stopgap to make sure his sons were ready to run Ellison Industries,” his uncle said. “Now it appears David prepared you two even better than he’d thought, because this is the second time I’ve screwed up because I ignored his sons’ advice.”

Kyle listened as his uncle explained. “First, I tried to force your brother into an arranged business deal of a marriage to the Brook’s Brands heiress. If he hadn’t refused, he would have been tied to a woman he didn’t love and Ellison Industries would have merged with her family’s bankrupt business,” he said. “Then, despite your repeated warnings, I hired Logan anyway, and we see how that turned out.”

His uncle had messed up both times, but Kyle didn’t have it in him to gloat or say I told you so. Not tonight. He stifled a yawn with his fist. “It’s late, Uncle Jon,” he said. “Time we both headed home.”

“Kyle, what I’m trying to tell you is it’s time.”

“For what?”

Kyle lifted himself off the couch and walked over to the closet. He pulled his suit jacket off a hanger.

“It’s time for me to finally step aside. I should have done it the moment Adam turned down the job, instead of making you jump through hoops for months,” he said.

Kyle, who had been shrugging on his suit jacket, froze with his arms midair. His uncle was upset, he thought, pushing his arms through the sleeves of the jacket. “That’s just exhaustion talking, Uncle Jon. You’ll feel better after a good night’s sleep.”

“No, son. I’m serious,” Jonathan Ellison said. “You’ve handled everything I’ve thrown at you and demonstrated yourself more than ready to sit in your father’s chair. It’s time Ellison Industries had a real CEO, not an interim babysitter, who’s done more harm than good.”

Kyle had imagined this moment at least a hundred times. Now that it had arrived, the victory felt hollow and
lonely.

Another irony was at play here, Kyle thought, but it had nothing to do with his uncle.

All these years, he’d been considered second best at work and relegated to his older brother’s shadow. However, his love life was flush with the most beautiful women in town.

Now the reins of the top job at Ellison Industries had finally been handed over to him, and he couldn’t get the woman he wanted to as much as go on a date with him.

Kyle thought briefly about calling Nia or going back to the farmhouse to try and talk to her, but what would he say?

Her last words to him echoed in his head.

Every time I look at you, I’ll think of my hometown sliding into financial ruin.

Essentially, nothing had changed as far as Nia was concerned. Even when his new job became official, Kyle wouldn’t reverse his decision about the candy factory. Not even for her.

Nia’s proposal was impressive. Peppermint Lane’s product was not.

And Nia wanted nothing to do with him.

“Of course, it’ll have to go before the Ellison board first, but we both know they’ll rubberstamp my recommendation.” His uncle paused. “Are you listening to me?”

Kyle nodded. “Your decision caught me off guard, that’s all,” he said. “Just taking it all in.”

“Are you sure there isn’t more to it? I have to admit, I’m surprised at your reaction. I thought you’d be thrilled.”

“I am, but I guess I’m beat from all the traveling,” he said. “Right now, I just want to sleep in my own bed.”

There was another bed back in Ohio he wished he could slip into tonight, and hold a certain woman in his arms. But that was all over now, he reminded himself, and they had only been passing the time during a snowstorm.

Uncle Jon rose from the desk. “I’m headed back to my office to wrap up a few things.”

“How long do you think you’ll be?” Kyle asked. “I need a ride. My Ferrari’s still in Atlanta being repaired, and my other cars are at the estate.”

His uncle reached into his pants pocket and tossed Kyle a set of keys. “Take mine,” he said. “Have someone from the house staff come back for me in two hours.”

Ten minutes later, Kyle steered his uncle’s car down the interstate toward the Ellison estate, south of Nashville. He wondered what Nia was doing right now.

Damn.

Every time he’d thought he’d managed to banish her from his head, his mind drifted right back to her.

“What’s the matter with you?” he muttered.

He’d finally gotten the job of his dreams. He should be celebrating. Not obsessing over a woman he should have forgotten the moment he left Candy.

Suddenly, his phone rang and the name Ariel flashed across the screen.

Disappointed, Kyle started to let the leggy model’s call go to voice mail, but changed his mind and answered.

After all, the best way to get a woman who didn’t want you out of your system was with another one who did.

* * *

Nia stared at the clock, which seemed to be frozen at 4:50 p.m.

A few days back at work had felt more like a decade. Just a few more minutes and she could grab her purse from the bottom drawer of her desk and make a break for it—as the other two secretaries in the office had done almost an hour ago.

Being related to the boss had its perks; unfortunately Nia wasn’t kin to Gerald Randall.

She glanced at the clock again and back at the pile of work on her desk. Who was she fooling? She’d answered phones, typed, scheduled and problem-solved snafus all day long, and she’d barely made a dent in her boss’s to-do list.

She wouldn’t be getting home to her apartment anytime soon.

The director, Nia and two other secretaries staffed the suburban city’s office of economic development. The picturesque suburb was rapidly becoming a favorite setting for feature films, and city officials had funded a new assistant-director position—a job her boss, Mr. Randall, had all but promised to her.

Hearing a knock on the open door, Nia looked up from her desk to see, Janice, who worked in the city clerk’s office, leaning on the doorframe.

Janice frowned at the two vacant desks across from Nia’s. “So where are Cinderella’s lazy stepsisters?” she asked, referring to Nia’s coworkers.

Nia suppressed a giggle, knowing her boss was still in his office and wouldn’t appreciate her laughing at jokes about his wife’s nieces. “Gone.”

“Then why are
you
still here?”

“Because I’ve been away nearly three months, and I have tons to catch up on.”

Janice pushed aside a stack of file folders on Nia’s desk and plopped her behind on the freshly cleared corner.

“I’m presuming since their desks are free of everything but nail polish and gossip magazines, you’re back to doing the work of three people,” Janice said.

“Plus all the work that piled up since I’ve been gone.” Nia thought about her to-do list and shook her head. “It’s going to take me forever.”

Janice lowered her voice to a whisper. “Then why not shovel some of this shit onto their desks so at least it’s evenly distributed?”

“Because I’m on the short list for the assistant-director position, and I don’t want to screw it up whining about being overworked.”

Nia pushed away from her desk to retrieve the memos she’d typed from the printer. Most were sent out in email blasts, but a few were still handled the old-fashioned way.

“Any word on your impending promotion?”

Nia shook her head. “Not yet,” she said. “And I don’t feel quite right asking after being on leave for months.”

“Humph,” Janice grunted, and glared at Mr. Randall’s closed office door.

Honestly, Nia was nearly as exasperated as her friend. She was trying to be patient, but the months of working with the mayor and city council in Candy had spoiled her. They’d sought out and valued her opinion.

Here she was sought out to make coffee and take up the slack of her coworkers. However, she still had a job, which made her fortunate in the current economic environment. More than she could say of the people in her hometown.

Janice snapped her fingers. “Oh, I nearly forgot. I came up here to ask you something.”

Nia groaned inwardly, knowing what was coming next. Her friend was going to ask her to accompany a group from work to a Chicago nightspot to scope out single men.

“Not interested,” she said.

“How do you know?” Janice asked. “I haven’t even asked yet.”

“What is it this time? A club? New bar?”

Janice sighed. “It’s a sports bar Kim went to a few nights ago and met the hottest lawyer. So a few of us are going tonight during some big game. You should come along.”

“Thanks for thinking of me, but...”

“Yeah, I know. Some other time,” Janice said. “You always say that.”

“How about we all go out to lunch tomorrow?” Nia offered.

Catching up on the office gossip with her work friends would be a fun diversion. However, sitting at a bar fishing for men held little appeal.

Janice shook her head. “Nia, honey. Let me give you a heads-up. A sexy, available hunk isn’t going to materialize out of thin air. You’re going to have to find him,” she said. “He isn’t going to find you.”

If her friend only knew, Nia thought. Mother Nature had sent one to her special delivery, and no matter how hard she tried, she hadn’t been able to get him or their night together out of her head.

“Nia, I need to see you in my office.”

Fortunately, Nia’s boss stuck his head out of his office door, ending her rumination over Kyle and the debate with Janice over spending the evening perched on a barstool.

“If you change your mind, call me on my cell,” Janice whispered, making a hasty exit.

Nia walked into her boss’s office, hoping he wanted to talk to her about the assistant-director position.

“I have a few more things I need you to take care of this week.” Gerald Randall grabbed his suit jacket from the hook. “First, the website needs to be updated. It hasn’t been done since your leave of absence.”

Nia pressed her lips together to keep from pointing out one of his nieces was responsible for keeping the website up-to-date. In fact, most of the tasks she’d performed today were duties of the other secretaries.

Instead, she nodded her head and hoped her patience would soon pay off.

Chapter 15

A
riel ran a crimson fingernail around the rim of her wineglass.

“When I asked you out, I didn’t think it would be over a week before you finally had time for me.”

Kyle’s eyes flicked briefly across the candlelit table to his date before returning to the menu. He’d skipped lunch to take back-to-back conference calls this afternoon, and now he was starved.

“I’ve been swamped with my transition to CEO,” he said. “I’ve barely had time to breathe.”

It was true.

If it hadn’t been for Margie keeping him on top of his new schedule, he’d be lost. Kyle sighed inwardly. He’d been thinking a lot about Margie lately and debating whether to keep her on as his administrative assistant.

The selfish part of him didn’t know how he’d manage without her, while the side that ran Ellison Industries knew she deserved to have her own office—not continue to run someone else’s.

Another side effect of his trip to Candy. And meeting Nia.

Kyle continued to scan the entrées silently debating on whether he should order two. The steak sounded good. Then again, so did the grilled veal chops.

Truth be told, he could chuck the entire menu and head to his favorite barbeque place for platters of pulled pork with all of the fixings, but he knew Ariel would never go for it. He couldn’t even imagine her in the roadside restaurant where the menu was posted on the wall underneath a smiling pink pig.

The idea almost made him laugh out loud.

“Care to share the joke? Because I don’t think you’ve listened to a word I’ve said since you picked me up,” Ariel said.

She sounded annoyed and Kyle didn’t blame her. He had been preoccupied all evening, first with work and then by food. It didn’t help that he kept subconsciously comparing his date to Nia—the woman he’d mistakenly thought spending time with Ariel would help him forget.

Kyle closed the menu. His date merited the courtesy of his undivided attention.

“I apologize,” he said, in hopes of putting the evening on the right footing. “You look nice tonight.”

Ariel’s frown morphed into a smile. She indeed looked lovely, perfect as always, he thought. Her hair looked as if she’d just stepped out of the salon, and her face was expertly painted in colors that accentuated her classic beauty. Tonight, she wore a red satin dress that bared her back while the thigh-grazing hemline showcased endless legs.

Ariel’s statuesque presence had captivated every man in the room.
Except him.

“Anyway, I was trying to tell you...”

The waiter came for their orders. Ariel attempted to wave him off, but Kyle was too hungry to delay getting their order in. Not wanting to tease his hunger with bread and appetizers he immediately ordered his entrée. He decided to go with the steak, while Ariel ordered her usual salad.

The waiter scuttled off, and Kyle gestured for her to continue.

“I’ve been offered a job in Italy,” she said.

“That’s great,” he said. “Congratulations. How long will you be gone?”

Although, Ariel’s mainstay was catalog work, regional magazine and country music videos, she occasionally got calls for more prominent jobs in Los Angeles and New York.

“If I take it,” she said. “I’ll have to move to Milan.”

“So tell me about the job.”

“An Italian designer saw me in a music video a few weeks ago and flew me in for an interview. He wants me to be the new face of his fashion house. So I would be his lead runway model as well as appear in international print and television ads for his cosmetic and fashion lines.”

Kyle’s eyes widened. “That’s wonderful, Ariel,” he said, genuinely happy for her. “We should have ordered champagne instead of wine to celebrate.”

He started to summon the sommelier, but Ariel stopped him with a sharp shake of her head.

“I haven’t accepted the job yet.”

“Why not?” Kyle asked, surprised. “It sounds perfect for you.”

“It’s a big move, and well, I...” Ariel hemmed.

The waiter once again interrupted her as he returned with their meals. Kyle’s mind went blank when the steak, accompanied by a heap of extra thin pommes frites, was slid in front of him. His hunger abated any thoughts of conversation.

Kyle dug into his food, his mind focused solely on the rib eye. He was halfway done when he heard Ariel clear her throat.

“Well, I had wanted to ask you a question, but I guess your lack of attentiveness gave me my answer.”

Kyle reluctantly put down his knife and fork.

“Take pity on me, Ariel,” he said. “This was my first mouthful of food today. I’ve barely had time for more than a swallow of coffee.”

She crossed her arms, frowning at him over her untouched house salad. “This is my first meal today, too, and I didn’t pounce on it and act as if I were eating alone.”

Kyle sighed, thinking about his low-key, uncomplicated and all-too-brief time with Nia. He wondered what she was doing right now. Was she still at the farmhouse or had she returned to suburban Chicago?

He gave himself a mental kick. He reminded himself to focus on the woman in front of him, not the one who made it clear she only wanted him for one thing and only for one night.

Kyle straightened in his chair.

“I’m all ears, Ariel,” he said. “Talk to me.”

“I know we were only supposed to be dating casually,” she said.

“It’s what we both wanted,” Kyle reiterated. “In fact, you were busy the last few times I called to ask you out.”

Her gaze fell to her plate, before she looked up again. “When I turned you down, I didn’t expect you to stop asking.”

“Oh,” Kyle said, not knowing what else to say. He’d simply taken no for an answer with Ariel. He moved on and never looked back.

Unlike with Nia, where he’d accepted her no, but it was proving a hell of a lot harder to move on.

Kyle hadn’t thought of Ariel until she’d called last week. Even then he hadn’t missed her.

“I thought there might be a reason for me not to go to Milan, and perhaps, you were ready to take our relationship to another level,” she said.

“Ariel,” Kyle began. “You’re a beautiful woman, but...”

“
But,
sounds like the prelude to a brush-off speech.”

Now that he’d been on the receiving end of that speech, Kyle wasn’t so cavalier in giving it to someone else. He never wanted to make anyone feel the way he did these days.

“It’s more like a setting-you-free speech,” he said, diplomatically. “I don’t want to hold you back. Italy is a fabulous opportunity for you. Go.”

The rest of the meal was cordial, and afterward he drove her back to her downtown condo.

“Come up for a nightcap?” Ariel asked, after he shifted his BMW sedan into Park in the circular driveway at the entrance to her building.

“Not tonight,” he said. “I have an early meeting in the morning.”

“You can always leave from here,” she offered. “The Ellison building is within walking distance.”

She traced a fingertip down his thigh, a move that usually left him rock hard in anticipation, however tonight there was zero response from his nether regions.

Kyle gently removed her hand from his leg. “Goodbye, Ariel,” he said, firmly. “And best of luck in Italy.”

* * *

Early Friday morning found Kyle already at his desk.Since he arrived before Margie these days, his new routine was to drive through Starbucks for a black coffee and
The Wall Street Journal.

A knock sounded at his door, and he looked up from an article he was reading on Ellison’s chief rival to see his brother standing in the doorway. He hadn’t seen much of Adam since they’d all returned from his Hawaiian wedding months ago, and the sight of him elevated Kyle’s mood.

“Too busy for your big brother, Mr. CEO,” Adam said. “I tried to catch you at home, but you’d already left.”

Although they had different mothers—Adam’s the love of their late father’s life who died when Adam was young, and Kyle’s the woman a mourning David Ellison had married on the rebound—they’d always been close.

Never half brothers, simply brothers.

“Well, don’t just stand there,” Kyle said. “What did you bring me?”

“The pleasure of my company,” Adam Ellison said.

Kyle frowned at his brother’s empty hands. “It would be a lot more pleasurable accompanied by a fresh batch of your chocolate croissants.”

“Next time, man.” Adam plopped down in the leather club chair across from Kyle’s desk. “Too much construction chaos going on preparing for the grand openings of the patisserie and Brandi’s handbag shop,”

“How’s my new sister-in-law?” Kyle asked.

Kyle watched a grin spread over his brother’s face at the mention of his wife’s name.

“Lovely as ever, and looking forward to seeing you tonight.”

“Tonight?” Kyle hadn’t checked his schedule, but he didn’t remember making plans with his brother and sister-in-law.

“The Coach Ball is tonight,” Adam said. “You couldn’t have forgotten.”

Damn, Kyle thought, he had forgotten. Even after Margie reminding him last week.

“I’ve been up to my neck in this transition, and it completely slipped my mind.”

Adam looked around Kyle’s office. “Speaking of offices, what are you still doing down here? I would have thought you would have already moved upstairs.”

Kyle shook his head. “I’m having Dad’s office redone. It won’t be ready until next week.”

“Good for you. It’s about time. The entire floor is as depressing as a funeral parlor.”

Kyle snorted. “Man, I’m having those dark drapes ripped down, carpeting pulled up and getting rid of all that heavy furniture,” he said. “It’s being replaced with glass and chrome, lots of plants and plenty of light.”

“I don’t think Dad bought one stick of new furniture since he purchased this building decades ago,” Adam said. “The only thing he ever splurged on was the company’s private plane.”

“And that’s only because he got it cheap.” Kyle remembered his father’s delight in purchasing the custom Boeing 757 for a fraction of its worth after the original owner lost his fortune in the real-estate slump.

“I’ll bet the old man is probably spinning in his grave at you spending on redecorating,” Adam said.

“Dad always did what he thought was best for the company, but he’s gone,” Kyle said. “I won’t run Ellison Industries the way he did. I’m going to run it my way.”

Adam smiled and nodded. “I’m impressed already. Want to share some of your plans?”

Kyle leaned back in his chair. He’d hoped Adam would be interested. After all, the only person who knew Ellison Industries as well as he did was his brother.

“As you know, Ellison is sitting on a huge pile of cash. Meanwhile, we have companies with manufacturing plants and factories sorely in need of updates. In some cases, we’d be better off razing them and building new facilities.”

Adam steepled his fingers and rested his chin against them. “Dad was always gun-shy about spending unless it was a guaranteed moneymaker. Back when I was with the company, we both agreed with him but even more so after the economy tanked.”

That was before he got out of his ivory tower in the Ellison Building and traveled to Ohio, Kyle thought. Sitting outside the Peppermint Lane Factory showed him what happened when a share of the profits weren’t reinvested in manufacturing facilities. They became outdated and dilapidated.

As usual, when the Peppermint Lane Factory and the town he was snowbound in came to mind—Kyle’s thoughts turned to Nia.

For a man she’d accused of easily compartmentalizing his feelings, he was finding it hard to put away his longing for her.

Kyle cleared his throat before continuing. “I intend to use some of our cash stockpile to reinvest in our plants and factories that support our core business as well as get the new personal care unit up and running,” he said. “I consider the current economy more of a reason to do it now. It’ll create new jobs, and people with paychecks fill their shopping carts with our products.”

Kyle went on to outline more of his strategy including key personnel shifts.

“So what do you think?”

Although Kyle was well aware he was the Ellison brother in charge, Adam held a seat on the board and Kyle respected his opinion. He waited as his brother contemplated all he’d told him.

Adam exhaled. “I think it’s great,” he said. “Honestly, as head of Ellison, I likely would have run the company by rote and did everything the same as Dad. But you have your own vision. It makes me believe you were the man for the job all along.”

“Thanks, man.”

“Since we’re on the subject of Dad. I was talking to Chief this morning, and he offered to clear out Dad’s bedroom suite and dispose of his personal effects,” Adam said. “I told him to hold off, because I think we should be the ones to do it. We’ve put it off long enough.”

Kyle nodded. Chief supervised the Ellison estate’s household staff and handled most tasks. However, Kyle agreed with his brother, this particular job was theirs.

“How’s Sunday afternoon for you?” Kyle asked.

“Sounds good, I’ll be around the house about noon.”

“See you then,” Kyle said.

“No, we’ll see each other tonight at the ball, remember?”

“Damn. I keep forgetting.”

“What’s the big deal? Throw on a tux, call Kim, Greta, Ariel or whoever you’re seeing these days, and you’re set to go.”

Kyle frowned as Nia’s face flashed through his mind. She was the only woman he was interested in these days. His evening of trying to forget her with Ariel had proved it.

“What’s wrong?” Adam asked. “Woman problems?”

Kyle nodded once.

“Not you, player.” His brother threw his head back and laughed. “Who is she?”

“Her name’s Nia. I met her when I went to close down the peppermint bark factory Dad bought in Ohio.” Kyle filled his brother in on her taking him in during the freak spring snowstorm.

Adam shook his head. “I’m not sure which one is the bigger mystery, dad buying that factory or the fact a woman’s got your nose wide-open.”

“There’s nothing wrong with my nose.” Kyle’s protest sounded weak to his own ears.

Adam leaned back in the club chair. “So tell me about this Nia.”