Page 35 of The Bride's Billionaire

“Of course.”

It was three in the morning, but she didn’t want to wait another second. “I moved rooms.”

“I noticed.”

“Do you want to come down here?”

“Yes.” His immediate response made her smile.

“Just to talk.”

“Even so.”

“Okay, I’m in room one hundred four.” She hung up and crossed her fingers there was something of value in her company to Tyler.

In a few minutes, a knock on her door made her smile. Too bad they were not in a position to still enjoy their time together, to be spontaneous and watch a movie or something.

When she opened the door, she had to fight hard to remember why she couldn’t step into his arms. Tyler stood before her in sweats and a tight t-shirt, his chin scruffy and his eyes tired. His hair was mussed, his curls sticking out at odd angles.

He had never looked more appealing. She smiled before she could stop herself. “Tyler.”

He eyed her hesitantly and then his mouth lifted in an answering grin. “Kayla.” He cleared his throat. “Does this mean you’re speaking to me?”

She reached for his hand and tugged gently until he stepped into her room. Then she shut the door.

Chapter 15

Tyler wasn’t sure how to breathe for fear of chasing Kayla away. But that was ridiculous. They were standing together in her hotel room. She paused so close to him, the air between them magnetic. “Thank you for coming.”

“Of course. I’m happy to discover where you went.” He didn’t say he was hurt. But he didn’t try to hide it either.

“It’s a complicated situation.”

He dipped his head, not sure what to say.

She led him into her room. “Tyler. Let’s sit. I need your help.”

He rested his arm along the back of the couch, remembering their first afternoon when he’d fallen asleep just like that.

But she wasn’t near enough to cuddle closer. She sat as stiff and straight as he’d ever seen her, hands folded in her lap. So he waited.

“We’ve had a fire at our largest facility in Texas. Brazil is not panning out, and even if it was, we don’t have enough liquidated assets to start a new venture right now. I don’t know if we can even come up with the money to rebuild. And I can give you the financials,willgive them to you if you want, but if we don’t have that main plant up and running, I’ll have to close down…or sell out.” She raised her eyebrows.

He felt sick at the news. “I’m so sorry.” Then he switched into business mode. There were lots of options here besides closing down. He mentioned several. She nodded and with each suggestion told him why she had considered that and then discarded it. About to give up, he threw his hands up. “How else can I help?”

“Well, I was hoping, perhaps you’d be interested in buying us out?”

He watched her, not expecting this offer. “You’d lose it all? Give up?”

She stood and waved her hands around. “Stop. This is hard enough. I am not giving up. I’ve spent the whole night mulling this over. I don’t have another option.”

“I’ll have my guys look at your financials and see if we can make a suitable offer. But it’s business. I’ll only pay what it’s worth.”

Her eyebrows lowered. “Naturally, I’m not looking for that kind of charity, just that you consider it. You’re the first person I’ve asked.”

“Antar hasn’t gotten back with you?”

“No. But that’s yours. Don’t worry about that.” Her tone sounded a bit exasperated.

---