Page 24 of The Bride's Billionaire

She entered the elevator ahead of him. She wore pink today. Where yesterday she was understated in blacks and greys, today, she was bright and cheerful and feminine. He couldn’t decide which look he preferred. She had on the same spiky heels though, and he couldn’t imagine how much of an ordeal it was to move around in those.

Rogerio hustled them all into the limousine. “And now we will see the beauty of Guanabara Bay, Sugarloaf, and the stunning vistas of Rio.”

Did he imagine it,? or did Kayla stiffen? She sat across from him, to the left of Mr. de Santos. She shifted in her seat and wrung her hands together. Something was definitely bothering her.

They arrived and walked immediately to the front of the line. “We have arranged for our own private car.” Rogerio puffed his chest.

“That’s remarkable. Thank you.” Tyler had known Rogerio for many years, from when he had worked for the other soft drink company. He liked him, his work ethic, his commitment to excellence, and his success. “This is the regular VIP treatment.”

They all stepped inside, and the doors closed. The car wobbled as it began its ascent. And so did Kayla. Tyler instinctively reached for her. “Easy,” he murmured.

She gripped his arms in an irrationally tight squeeze, but she didn’t look up into his face. Her voice sounded shaky, and she cleared her throat. “These cars have such interesting patterns on the ceiling.” She turned her focus upward. Tyler did too, wondering at her nonsense.

She cleared her throat again and addressed the Antar men. “I’ve been looking at numbers. Antar did phenomenally well the last three years. Your growth has been unprecedented.” She pulled out her phone and directed Rogerio’s attention to it.

“See here, that spike in sales, it hasn’t quit.” She swiped. “And I’ve been studying the market. “Others haven’t been as successful but there’s been a spike all over Brazil. Your people are drinking more soft drinks. More Antar soft drinks.”

“Yes, we have seen a remarkable continuous growth. It’s a great time to be in the soft drink industry.”

Tyler knew Rogerio was drinking up Kayla’s speech. And if he didn’t know better, he’d assume Kayla was just trying to flatter her way closer to a bottler bid, but something was different in the almost frantic way she was drawing their attention.

She swiped her phone a few more times and typed something. “I was checking charts and I saw even an area we could do better, cut costs, be more profitable…”

Rogerio waved his hands around. “We are in a cable car, flying out over the bay. We can talk about this later, surely. Look around. Enjoy.” He waved his arm, waiting for her to follow his direction.

She froze, staring only at her phone, and Tyler at once understood. The poor woman was petrified.

Windows on every side of the car showed their incredible height. The car swayed in the wind, dangling by a pair of cables above. If he thought about it too much, he would be petrified too. They’d left one hill to move out across the bay to the top of Sugarloaf, a slice of granite rock sticking straight out of the ocean. Stunning, but precarious looking. He could only imagine what it would be like if he were afraid of heights.

How could he help her? He stood in front of her, blocking her view and pointed over her shoulder, behind her. “I’ve never seen such a beautiful cloud formation. Look, it rings Corcovado.”

The men turned and moved to the windows together to get a better view. They started pointing out things below. Kayla faced him. Her whole frame was trembling. She lifted her eyes to his, fear pooling in hers. “I can’t.” Her whisper cut through him.

“So, swimming in the dark?”

“It’s got nothing on this.”

“We’re almost there. This whole thing is, like, three minutes. Just stare at me. If they make you turn and look, don’t. I mean, turn, but do the glazed eyes thing: look but don’t see.”

She swallowed. The car swayed again and she gripped his arm.

“That’s right. Pretend you’re somewhere else. Where’s your happy place?”

She closed her eyes and started humming.

He grinned. He couldn’t be sure but he thought she might be humming a song fromThe Sound of Music. “Maybe I could sing some karaoke to distract us.”

She laughed and shook her head but kept humming.

He kept up conversation with the other two, pointing out industries or neighborhoods or boats on the water below. It was a stunning trip, one he was glad to experience, but he could safely assume Kayla would never want to do again. A surge of protective warmth rose inside him at the feel of her small hands on his arm.

He couldn’t understand the strength of his emotion, but everything he saw and learned about Kayla made him want to know more, filling him with an intriguing curiosity about everything to do with her. He decided he didn’t mind that one bit.

Chapter 10

After an hour of enjoying the views on the observation deck, eating ice cream and agua de coco from the vendor at the top, and trying to delay as long as possible, Kayla stepped with shaky legs back into the cable car.

Why, oh why could she not conquer this fear?

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