Page 21 of The Billionaire's Kiss
Chapter Nine
Warner
“Heard you were late coming in today,” Baldwyn said as he walked into my office, catching me with my feet up on my desk, hands behind my head, gazing at the ceiling, lost in a daydream starring Orla. “And you’re not exactly acting like yourself either. What gives?”
Moving my feet off the desk, I sat up straight in my chair then blinked a few times to adjust my vision back to reality instead where it had been—in bed with a beautiful fiery-haired lass. “I had a date last night, that’s why I was late today. And I was thinking about it when you came barging into my office uninvited.”
“Check your phone,” he said as he took the seat across from me. “I’ve called you like six times.”
Pulling my cell out of my pocket, I saw that it had run out of battery. “Well, shit.” I plugged it into the charger. “I hope I didn’t miss a call from Orla.”
“Is that the name of the date?”
“Yeah. Orla Quinn. She’s part of the group from Ireland. She’s something, bro.” My eyes were on the phone, waiting for the moment when it would have enough charge so I could turn it on and see if I had missed her call or text. “Maybe this is why she hasn’t come to see me yet.” It was a little after noon, and I’d been wondering if she was sleeping in. But now I knew she might think I was ignoring her, and that wasn’t going to work for me.
“You went out with one of our guests?” Baldwyn asked with shock in his voice. “You’ve never done that before.”
“There’s something about her—I couldn’t pass up the chance to ask her out. And we had the best time, too. She’s got this way about her that makes it easy for me to be with her—whether we’re deep in conversation or not.” I couldn’t explain it, but she had drawn me in from the start, and I didn’t want to find my way out. “From the moment I saw her, I just couldn’t take my eyes off her.”
“I’m glad you followed your gut and asked her out. It’s been a long time since you’ve shown an interest in anyone.” One brow cocked as he looked at me with the oddest expression. “But you said she’s from Ireland. And that’s not so good, is it?”
“There’re other ways to look at that.” I’d wrestled with that from the get-go. “There won’t be an ugly breakup. And that’s always a good thing.”
“There also won’t be a lasting relationship,” he said. “And that’s a bad thing. Do you think you’ve subconsciously chosen her because she’s not attainable for the long haul?”
“Who knows?” I certainly had no idea why I was so drawn to her. “She’s gorgeous. Probably that’s why I singled her out of the crowd.”
“Lots and lots of gorgeous ladies come through our doors, Warner. I don’t think that’s the only reason.” Tapping his chin with his forefinger, he seemed set on figuring out the inner workings of my mind. “This is a step in the right direction though. At least you’re going out with someone, and you seem to be enjoying it. You did say that you feel like you can talk to her. So, have you told her about our parents?”
“I have.”
His jaw hit the floor. “You don’t tell people about that.”
“I know.”
“This is really bad, Warner.”
“I can’t think of it that way.” There was no point. “I have to think that even though our time together will be short, I will enjoy it and her. And I’ll let myself experience that for a week. Who knows? I might come out of this thing with some healed wounds. Wounds I’ve been carrying around for too long.”
“Warner, what if all this does is deeper than those wounds? It might just make you even more convinced you’ll always lose the people you love. I don’t want this to backfire and give you an even harder with falling in love,” he sounded so sure that I was doomed.
But he wasn’t in my head, and he couldn’t see the future, so he couldn’t possibly be sure about anything. “Look, I know this sounds far from ideal. But I’ve never been into self-sabotage before.”
That dark brow of his cocked at me again. “Oh yeah? Then what do you think it is when you start seeing a woman then abruptly end the relationship for no good reason?”
I thought that I’d been doing a favor to the women I’d let go. “At least I never let them invest too much time in me before letting them go. At least I don’t tell lies and make promises that I can’t keep. And the great thing about seeing Orla is that both of us know this will have to end. We even know what day it will end. We’re adults. We can make our own decisions. If she’s not worried about this, then why should I be?”
“Maybe sheisworried about getting hurt and hurting you. Maybe that’s why you haven’t heard from her yet.”
I didn’t like to think that way. “I’m sure she’s just sleeping in. She told me that she had slept all day yesterday. Maybe the travel left its toll on her. I’m sure that’s what it is.” I held out my phone to show him that I had no missed calls or messages from her. “See, she hasn’t tried to contact me yet. She’s asleep, is all.”
“And if she’s not?” he asked with narrowed eyes. “Then will you leave her alone and stop doing this to yourself and her? I mean, you came on to her, right? It wasn’t the other way around, I’m sure.”
“How are you so damn sure that she wasn’t the one who came on to me?” I thought that was a pretty rude assumption—I wasn’t that bad of a catch.
“You said that from the momentyousaw her,youcouldn’t take your eyes off her.”
“And what’s so wrong about that? People do that all the time. People have flings—especially while on vacation.” I knew what I said was true, but a part of me wondered if I was trying to convince myself of it as much as I was trying to convince my brother.
