Kaylee’s First Crush (9 page)

My darling Kaylee, I have one more gift for you. I
hope you like it. I’ll see you at the gala.

Love, Hugo

It wasn’t
romantic at all, but Kaylee sensed something deeper than what he’d said beneath
the simple words. And he’d used the word “Love” to sign it!

“What’s that?”
Darla asked, stepping up beside her. She was wearing a midnight blue gown that
made her skin look amazing. Her blue eyes gleamed as she nodded at the piece of
paper in Kaylee’s hand.

Kaylee debated
whether she should show her, but her friend’s unwavering support had been a
wonderful surprise from the beginning. She’d expected moving to the city to be
overwhelming, difficult, and frightening, but she’d also never expected it to
be so… she struggled to find the right word and settled on
empowering
,
but she hadn’t done it alone. She smiled, and held the note out.

Darla slid it
gently from her fingers and read it, lips moving. “Wow, Kaylee. That’s—wow.”
She grinned at her friend. “I see he signed it this time. No more secrets?”

Kaylee nodded,
chewing on her lip. The butterflies in her stomach were holding a rally.

“He’s going to
show up at the party, you know.
Even though he’s not invited.
I wonder how he’s going to get
in?
” Darla pointed to
the ceiling. The gala was being held in the Starlight Roof ballroom on the
nineteenth floor of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel.
Very
exclusive, very posh digs for this particular fundraiser.

“If they see
him coming, they’ll open the doors for him, invitation or not,” Kaylee
remarked. “Don’t forget, we’re trying to raise money and he’s loaded.”

“Hmm, you’re
probably right,” Darla replied. “Ha! This is awesome. He’s going to crash the
party.”

“I’m
know
I’m right,” Kaylee said, taking a deep breath. She put
her shoulders back and willed herself to calm down. He would be there; she just
needed to be patient. “We should go, or we’re going to be late.”

Darla handed
the note back. “I can’t wait to see what happens next.”

‘What happened next’ is the party turned out to be
kind of a bummer
, Kaylee mused darkly.
Here I am, holding up the wall again. Ugh.
She
slumped in a corner of the ballroom, out of the way of most of the guests. The
euphoria she’d felt earlier had entirely dissipated, and now she was just
tired.
Sad.
Hugo hadn’t shown up. Everyone had eaten
dinner, sat through the presentations of the larger donors, and the whole time,
Kaylee kept looking toward the door like an idiot. She never found what she
most wanted to see: Hugo Valtree, striding through the ballroom.

After they’d
eaten, she’d stood on the sidelines throughout most of the dancing. The band
was excellent, but she really didn’t care. She sighed, leaning back against the
wallpaper. She wanted to go home, take off her heels, and drown herself in her
bathtub. Damn Hugo, anyway, for getting her hopes up.

“This sucks,”
Darla said, walking over.

Kaylee
shrugged, but didn’t say anything. If she tried to speak, she’d probably start
crying.

“What the hell?
I thought he was a nice guy? You said he was a nice guy,” Darla said, anger
coloring her tone. “Where is he?”

“He’s a busy
man, Darla,” Kaylee said.

“Bah. That’s no
excuse.”

Kaylee shrugged
again. What was there to say? Darla opened her mouth, probably to explain, in
great detail, why Hugo was an ass, but a sudden commotion across the room
caught their attention before she could speak. Kaylee craned her neck. She
couldn’t see anything except a whole lot of wealthy people suddenly crowding
around the entrance to the room like hard-core fans at a rock concert. Her
heart leaped, still hopeful, but she refused to move. He would’ve come before
now if he’d really meant everything he’d said in those notes, right? She
fingered the diamond drop nestled between her breasts and tried not to get
excited.

“Wait a second.
I think it’s him!” Darla suddenly said, her tone going from disgust to glee.
She was standing on her tiptoes, and since she was several inches taller than
Kaylee, she could probably see better… Abruptly, she grabbed Kaylee by the
shoulders and pulled her into a swift hug. “He’s crashing the gala! Oh, yes,
this is gonna be awesome.” She let go of Kaylee and picked up a drink from a
nearby tray, downing it in one go.

Kaylee wobbled
in her heels, back to the entrance. He was here?
For real?
Her palms prickled and she wished Darla had given her the drink—she needed it,
bad. She wasn’t sure whether she should laugh, cry, or run for the door. When a
warm male voice spoke behind her, she froze. All her options had suddenly
narrowed to just one: face him.

“Hello, Kaylee.
You look beautiful,” Hugo said.

She picked up
the shreds of her courage and turned around slowly. “Hello, Hugo.” She blushed
as her voice cracked on his name. “Fancy meeting you here,” she said a little
more clearly. He was wearing an elegant black tuxedo and had never looked more
dashing. His dark hair fell across his forehead in a thick wave. She remembered
what that hair felt like against her naked breasts and blushed harder.

He grinned.
“You knew I would come.”

She raised her
eyebrows and made a show of looking at her wrist as though she were wearing a
watch. “Hmm, no, no I didn’t. In fact, it looks like the party is just about
over.”

He laughed and
moved closer. “You didn’t think I forgot about you, did you?”

She caught her
breath as the warmth of his tone penetrated her body. “I already ate.” She
looked around pointedly. “So did everyone else.” She was excruciatingly aware
of just how many people were staring at them right now.
Yeah, basically the
entire guest list
, she thought, half-mortified, half-proud. She caught
sight of Lisa, her and Darla’s most-hated co-worker and smiled to herself. The
brittle blonde looked like she’d swallowed a lemon.
Whole.

Hugo cocked his
head. “I’m not really hungry.” He lifted a hand. “I have another gift for you.”

Kaylee shook
her head and backed away. “I tried to call you, but I couldn’t get through. You
don’t owe me anything. You know that. I don’t need gifts.”

He smiled
stepped close enough to run a finger down her cheek, stilling her lips. “I
know. It has nothing to do with you or me owing each other anything. I just
like giving you pretty things.”

She blinked.
When he went down on one knee, she almost passed out, but he put his hands on
her hips, looking up at her with twinkling eyes. The crowd around them seemed
to hold their breath, but Kaylee caught Darla’s delighted gasp just behind her.
Hugo grinned outright at Kaylee’s shock. He knew exactly what he was doing to
her, the crazy man! He was insane. Was he really going to propose? She hadn’t
had an actual conversation with him since Chicago. She gripped his arms
tightly, trying not to hyperventilate, but pulled away to extract a small box
from the pocket of his tuxedo.

Kaylee caught
her breath.
Holy crap.
She tugged at him, trying to
get him to stand up, but he just quirked up an eyebrow, pretending to be
confused.
Which he most definitely is not!
Kaylee thought, struggling to
wrap her brain around what was happening. His warm brown eyes danced with
mirth. She glanced around, not surprised to see everyone avidly watching them.
Oh God
, she thought.
I’m going to end up on page one of all the
gossip rags in the city.
She wasn’t sure if that thought horrified or amused
her.
Possibly both at
the same time.

“Kaylee, I’ve
never been so happy to have a flight cancelled in my entire life. Chicago was
the best thing that ever happened to me.”

As soon as he
spoke, Kaylee went still. She forgot about the people watching. She forgot
about Darla holding her breath behind her. He was really going to do it.
Suddenly, everything in her life narrowed down to the man on his knees before
her. “It was the best thing that ever happened to me, too,” she confessed.

His eyes warmed
more, which she didn’t think was possible. He took a quick breath and Kaylee
held hers, knowing in her heart what was coming next, even if her mind didn’t
believe it.

“Will you marry
me, Kaylee?” he asked, simple and sincere. He opened the box. Sitting on plush
velvet was a simple diamond ring, stunning in its elegance.

Kaylee stared
down at it,
then
reached out a trembling hand. She
touched the diamond and looked into his eyes. She saw the man he hid behind a
slick facade of money, experience, and control, saw past all that to the guy
who’d spent hours lecturing a bunch of indifferent high school students on
Shakespeare’s love sonnets. The man who’d volunteered his time after school to
tutor the ones who needed help. The man who’d taken over the reins of his father’s
company and changed it from an old-school investment company into a visionary
enterprise. She saw the man who’d been unfailingly patient with her when they’d
made love all those months ago.

“Yes.” Kaylee
made sure her voice was clear.
Unwavering.
She didn’t
want him to think she was uncertain, when suddenly, she’d never been surer of
anything in her life. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Hugo.” She eased the ring out of
its box and slid it onto her finger. It fit perfectly.

He let out the
breath he’d been holding and stood up, grinning like a madman. Kaylee wasn’t
feeling too sane herself.

“I knew if you
said yes that you’d put it on yourself,” he said through his smile.

Kaylee laughed
as he drew her into his arms. “Well, you know me. I make my own decisions.
Even if they land me in the middle of a snowstorm with nowhere to
go.”

He kissed her
forehead, her cheek, then her lips, softly.
Reverently.
“I know. That’s why I love you.”

Epilogue

“This is a bad
idea,” Kaylee said to her husband.

“No, it’s not,”
Hugo replied, kissing down her neck.

She shivered,
trying to summon the willpower to push him away. “Someone’s going to see us,”
she hissed even she sank her fingers into his hair.

He ignored her
and moved lower, mouthing over her right breast. He breathed through the fabric
until heat penetrated enough to make her nipple pebble against the silky
material of her bra. She glanced down, blushing. She looked indecent: blouse
askew, skin flushed pink, nipples pushing out.

“This is
crazy,” she whispered.

Hugo moved to her
other breast, unbuttoning her blouse more. “Mmm-hmm,” he murmured, and then
latched on, sucking hard through the silk.

Kaylee moaned
,
writhing as her pussy began to ache in a way that was
growing increasingly familiar. Had it really only been a year since they’d
married? “Hugo—” she protested, trying to draw his head back up.

“Shhh,” he
whispered, moving her bra down so that her breast popped out. He kissed her
nipple. “I locked the door. No one will see.”

“We’re in my
office! Half of it is windows,” she said acerbically.
“Including
my door.”

He chuckled and
moved lower, kissing over the gentle mound of her belly. Her bra slid back up
over her nipple, but Kaylee didn’t care. She was too consumed with Hugo and
where exactly that mouth of his was going.

“I know. But
it’s snowing hard outside. There’s hardly anyone here.” His fingers smoothed
over the elastic of her maternity skirt. “God, you’re even more gorgeous now.”

“You’re a crazy
man. I’m huge,” she muttered. “Like a whale.
Or a porpoise.”

He chuckled.
“No you’re not, you’re perfect, like always.” Hugo kissed her navel. “I love
that you’re carrying our
child.” He moved his mouth
lower.

She didn’t know
whether to protest more or just give in. His fingers were busy beneath her
skirt, stroking her clit though the thin silk of her panties. “This is insane,”
she muttered, running her fingers through his hair.

“You said that
already. And I own the building. Hell, I own the company. No one will bother
us,” he said, pulling down her underwear. “If they do, they’re fired.”

She shuddered
when his fingers found her clit. She was so wet
now,
she wouldn’t be surprised if her skirt had a spot from where she’d been sitting
on it. She couldn’t believe he could still arouse her this much, even though
she was five months pregnant. He teased her a little more,
then
pushed her skirt up higher.

“What are you
doing?” she asked, panting as she tried to keep from falling out of her chair.
It squeaked as she moved.

“Kissing you, my darling.
Now hold
still,” he replied, tilting his head up between her legs. At the first touch of
his lips, she moaned softly, letting her head fall back. Every time he did this
it drove her out of her mind. He did it to torment her. He knew she couldn’t
resist having his mouth on her.