Page 44 of His Secret Gift

“Just a girl I met in Fort Lauderdale.” I hope Kayla talked to Callie and convinced her not to say anything about what she saw the other night. I don’t think either one of us need the headache and trouble that could come with the spread of that gossip.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yes. I just happened to run into her, and I don’t know. She’s just been on my mind ever since.”

He reaches his cup out, and I fill it. “The sex was that good, huh?”

I’m immediately insulted for Kayla’s sake. “Things didn’t go that far. In fact, we didn’t even kiss.”Well, not that night.

Bryant almost spits out the liquid in his mouth. “You’re kidding me.”

I shake my head. “Nope.”

“Wow. Jack Shelley, as I live and breathe. Being heartbroken over a girl he hasn’t even touched.”

My forehead wrinkles. “What is that supposed to mean?”

One of his shoulders shrugs up and down before he shuffles in the wooden seat. “Was it, or was it not, you who told me that you only know the quality of the woman after you’ve seen what she’s capable of in the bedroom?”

Ugh.That gives me the “ick” about myself. “I was a child when I said that.”

“No, you weren’t.”

I’ve moved on to cracking eggs. “Maybe not in age. But certainly, in mentality and stupidity.”

“Okay.”

“I’m serious, Wesley.” Whatever happens with Kayla, if anything, I want to go about it from a more chivalrous and respectful way. I may have loved Harper, but I didn’t always treat her the best. In fact, I often wonder if my immaturity was one of the things that caused her to look elsewhere. “The childish, grumpy billionaire persona has played itself out, don’t you think?”

“But that’s just who you are, man.”

My eyes narrow. “Not anymore.” Or at least, I don’t want it to be.

“Alright. If all of that is true, then I applaud you.”

“Thank you.”

We don’t talk the rest of the time that I cook. But he does help me bring all the dishes out.

After both changing into more professional attire, I inform Denver that breakfast is ready.

“I’ll tell everyone, sir.”

“Thank you.”

As he walks away, I notice he has a particular pep in his step, and I figure things must’ve gone well with the woman Kayla mentioned he met and hooked up with.

I imagine myself holding my mug up and saying, “Good on you, lad.”

But that only proves my point that all this messing around is a young man’s game. From here on out, I want to be more serious and focused—no more of this playboy attitude. Harper had done a number on me, but it was time to move on.

Then, when I reach for the tongs to get a piece of toast, my hand collides with someone else’s.

When I look up, I see Kayla’s sparkling face looking at me.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

Once again, her hair is up in a ponytail and accentuated with a white bow.

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