Page 78 of Token

“It’s in bed that you give it to me.”

Kennedy laughingly shooed him away. “Out. I can’t concentrate when you’re this close.” Although, it was less a lack of concentration than it was he couldn’t seem to be within touching distance without needing to have his hands all over her. She didn’t exactly have a problem with it, but there were times when she had to get something done that didn’t require her hands being on him in return.

When he refused to budge, Kennedy threw up her hands. “If you insist on hovering, do it over there.” She pointed to a row of stools on the other side of the large granite island.

“Okay, I’ll be good,” he promised and then squeezed her left butt cheek, eliciting a surprised yelp from her and a light whack on his arm. Chuckling, Nate reluctantly did as instructed and moved his fine self out of arm’s reach.

“So whatcha feeding me?” he asked, watching as she began seasoning the chicken.

“Chicken curry and roti.”

Nate licked his lips. “I like curry with chicken, but you’re going to have to tell me what roti is.”

“Think of it as a fluffier, flaky version of a flour tortilla.” Kennedy had been getting this question almost her entire life and had learned that comparison was easiest to understand and came closest to the truth.

Nate was a world traveler. She figured he’d be up for trying something new, even though she considered roti fairly run-of-the-mill when it came to West Indian cuisine. It was the spicy chicken curry that made the meal.

“Sounds good. Which one are you making first?”

“I’m only making the curry. The roti is pretty time-consuming, so I buy it at a Guyanese restaurant in Brooklyn that makes it even better than my mom. And if you ever tell her I said that, you’ll never see me naked again,” she warned, pausing to point the shaker of salt at him.

Her lover’s gaze became hooded as he slowly perused every part of her body visible to him, leaving a trail of heat in its wake. “Then I didn’t hear a word you just said.”

While they shared a conspiratorial smile that promised tangled sheets and entwined naked bodies in the not-so-distant future, the temperature in the room started to climb. But if they left the kitchen to get out of the heat, they’d be heading straight to the bedroom where it would be even hotter.

The ringing of the doorbell brought Kennedy back to earth with a start. Tearing his gaze from her, Nate reached for his phone. The doorman called or sent a message via the building app to let him know when someone was on their way up.

“Is it Ror?” she asked.

“I didn’t get a message, but it has to be someone I know.” Placing the phone back on the counter, he slid off the stool and made his way to the front door.

Kennedy kept her ears perked as she grabbed several spoons from the drawer. If not Aurora, then who? Not that he didn’t have friends here; she knew he did. But in all the time they’d been spending together, he rarely mentioned anyone outside of work. No one visited when she was here, and as far as she could tell, no one did when she wasn’t.

Curiosity and not nosiness had her edging closer to the front entrance—as close as she could get without leaving the kitchen. She heard the door open and nothing else. Were they whispering? Did Nate not want his visitor to know she was here?

Soon she heard the murmur of male voices, alleviating a bit of her apprehension. It wasn’t a woman. Not an old girlfriend who heard he was back in town. But even if it were, it shouldn’t be a big deal. Because of course Nate had women in his past, just as she had men in her past. As quietly as possible, Kennedy scampered back to finish seasoning the chicken.

“Yeah, but it’s time I got an official introduction,” was the only thing she heard right before Nate and his male visitor came into view.

She instantly recognized Constellation’sCTO. His hair was shorter, and in blue jeans and a dark green Henley, he looked younger than when she’d met him at the press conference two months ago. But that usually happened when you took people out of their workplace setting—five years of stress instantly melted away.

“Look who stopped by,” Nate announced upon his return, his friend a step behind him. “Kennedy, you remember Jack, don’t you?”

Kennedy hastily wiped her hands on a dish towel before offering it to Jack with a teasing smile. “How could I forget the person who egged me on at your press conference, and urged me to defend you?” One thing had become clear over the last few months: the men weren’t as close as they had been growing up and in college. Nate never talked about him—at least, not to her.

“It’s lovely seeing you again,” Jack said, studying her, his handshake perhaps a beat or two on the long side.

“What do you mean he egged you on to defend me?” Nate may have posed the question to her, but he was looking at his friend.

“When the reporter said that stuff about the lack of diversity in your personal relationships, Jack encouraged me to defend your honor, in a manner of speaking.” She didn’t include that Jack had hightailed it out of there soon after.

Nate arched a brow. “Really? I don’t remember you telling me that.”

“Somebody needed to defend you, and since Kennedy was already on a roll...” Jack shrugged, unabashed. “Besides, how would it have looked if I’d added my two cents? As far as the reporter was concerned, I was part of the problem.”

Kennedy preferred not to think back on the event that resulted in theirarrangement. Although, as silver linings went, as it was a big part of the reason she and Nate were now together, they’d achieved a pretty good one. And now with settlement rumors being bandied about, Kennedy was convinced the company’s reputation would soon be on the rehabilitation fast track, and six months from now, Nate’s halo would be fully restored above his saintly head.

“For all intents and purposes,” Jack continued, looking directly at her, “I think things worked out well. The lawsuit brought Nate back home, so you can’t say it’s all been bad. And now that the two of you are a couple, even that has faded from the news. The stock has fully rebounded from its five percent drop, and from what I can see, the company’s reputation is on the mend.”

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