Page 7 of Kandi's Crush: A BWWM Sweet Billionaire Romance

“There’s a blast from the past. You guys still hang out, eh?”

“We’re still close.”

“Aww. I’m happy that you guys are still friends.”

Kandace rested her chin against her knuckles and leaned against the island countertop. I got a closer look at her eyes—dark brown with bronze flecks throughout. Her eyes were truly the windows to her soul. When she was happy, the bronze highlights glowed like embers. When she was sad, they were dark and less lively. When she was excited, like now, the colors seemed to dance in her eyes.

“You’re back in New Orleans full-time, huh?” she grinned.

“Yes, I am. There’s no place like home.” I smiled back at her, relieved that my overnight guest hadn’t affected her. I didn’t want her to request another assignment. I needed her to stick around because in all honesty, I could have used a friend.

The last time I’d seen her was the summer she’d been preparing for her first semester at college. Celeste usually kept a tight rein on Kandace, and I’d been surprised she’d allowed her beautiful, most prized possession to attend a college seven hours away.

At age eighteen, Kandace had grown to be a beautiful young woman. Gone was the annoying brat with the gigantic poufs attached to the sides of her head. She’d secured her shiny, black coils with a tortoiseshell barrette and cascaded past her shoulder blades.

Her small, almond-shaped eyes were no longer framed in thick eyeglasses. Instead of avoiding eye contact like she had in prior times I’d seen her, she had looked me directly in the eye. Her voice had sounded melodic and evenly pitched. I’d hugged her tightly upon recognizing her, noticing the way her boyishly lanky frame had filled out.

Kandace had been stunning and barely legal, and I’d fought the urge to forbid her from leaving. I’d wanted to lock her away in my parents’ garage and throw away the key. So long as I could have locked myself in with her.

We had spent hours and hours talking about life. Her interpretations of events and people had been opinionated and lively, and I couldn’t help getting caught in her spell. Knowing she was inside the large house had made it difficult to concentrate on my studies. As the days progressed, I’d roamed the hallways and rooms until I found her. I’d leisurely leaned against the doorjamb and talked with her about anything and everything—school, life, goals, my exam . . . Anything to remain the object of her attention.

Under the dark cloak of night, I’d fantasized about taking her into my bed while my hands drifted past the waistband of my pajamas and fisted my cock.

But I’d known I couldn’t go any further than fantasizing, and I’d tried to tamp down any rising emotions by acting cool around her.

I’d been in deep when I’d braved the Apple store for her graduation present. I hated shopping in general, but I’d truly despised the hot and crowded Apple store. Not to mention the store had reeked of corn chips and raw onions, but I’d endured the worst because Kandace had confided that she was saving to pay for a new laptop.

The following day, I’d eagerly awaited her arrival. I’d paced the hallways, running through the script in my head. I’d planned to congratulate her and wish her well on her upcoming academic pursuits. Yet, when I’d looked into her eyes, I froze. Being too cool to express my true feelings, I’d shoved the elegantly wrapped boxes into her hands.

“Um. Er. Happy graduation. If this isn’t what you wanted, we can return it.”

I had shifted from foot-to-foot as she’d walked to the kitchen island. She’d carefully unwrapped the boxes, her jaw had dropped at the top of the line gold MacBook along with the matching iPad.

“This is more than I could’ve ever imagined. Thank you so much.”

“No worries. I thought you could use it.”

She’d walked over to me and stood frozen in hesitation before sinking against me. I had instinctively leaned down and pressed an innocent kiss to the top of her head.

I hadn’t expected that she’d sigh with content and snuggle her face against my chest. I’d closed my eyes, my arms wrapped tight around her, breathing in her sweet scent.

We’d stood entwined in a bear hug. For a fleeting moment, I’d forgotten that she was completely off-limits. I’d wanted to slip a finger underneath her chin and tilt her face upwards until we gazed into each other’s eyes. tilt her chin until our lips met. I wanted to feel her warm sweet breath on my mouth and taste the perfectly shaped flesh. I knew better. I couldn’t take this any further than an innocent hug. Celeste Alexander knew my reputation with the fairer sex, she would never approve me dating her kind and innocent daughter.

This time I’d been the one that sighed before I’d reluctantly broke our embrace. Pushing all of my attraction to her to the furthest recesses of my mind, I let her go.

Kandace

This is a professional relationship. I’m here to do a job.

I repeated the words like a chant as I arrived at the penthouse the next day with a napkin-lined basket filled with freshly baked goods and a jar of my grandmother’s blackberry preserves. Energized by my first day of work, I’d stayed awake until two o’clock in the morning baking banana nut muffins, apple bread, and butter pecan cookies.

I gripped the handrails in the brightly lit stairwell and hesitated before climbing the six flights. I shuddered as I thought about any woman in Chadwick’s bed. Should I give him a courtesy call or enter as planned? I preferred not to repeat yesterday’s snafu. If he was with the Kim Kardashian clone, then I would have to deal with that. But if he was with a different woman, I would surely grow to hate him. I needed to prepare myself for the possibility that he might even be engaged in a threesome.

Steeling my nerves, I tiptoed through the rear door. Chadwick must have been asleep because the house was quiet, so I put in my AirPods and cranked my Rihanna playlist. I quietly opened the kitchen cabinets and the refrigerator. Thankfully, grocery delivery service put everything away. I brewed a pot of coffee with chicory while I used a duster to rid the cabinets and dark wood furniture of the day’s construction dust. I didn’t understand why Chadwick thought this was a part-time job. The loft was large, but there wasn’t a lot to do.

I dust mopped the kitchen while quietly humming one of Rihanna’s soulful ballads. A massive hand squeezed my forearm, and I backed into a wall of muscle. Startled, I gasped until I realized it was Chadwick. I quickly removed an earbud.

“I didn’t realize you were awake.”

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