Professional Boundaries (27 page)

He took me up into his arms and pressed me against the car. “Kelli, I love you,” he began. His eyes finally had a little light in them as he looked into my own. “Can you please just trust me and let me deal with this?”

I rolled my eyes. “If the roles were reversed, would you stay out of it?”

His lips turned up slightly and he released an over-exaggerated breath. He knew I was right.

“I’m not some pretty little airhead or nineteen-year-old kid anymore …”

His laughter stopped me from finishing my thought. I narrowed my eyes at him in frustration.

He brought his hands up and cupped my face in them. His eyes danced with amusement. “Kelli, you’re the most capable woman I’ve ever known, so you can get that thought out of your pretty little head.”

I rolled my eyes again.

“You’re so sexy when you’re irritated,” he said before he leaned in and kissed me ever so lightly.

I had no choice but to reciprocate. Ok, I had a choice, but why would I choose not to?

He smiled at me as soon as our lips unlocked. “Please, just let me fix my mistakes. Enjoy today with my parents, and I’ll be back to you as soon as I can,” he said with love, but also with finality. He was done arguing. He kissed me once more and left without another word.

I stood and watched him drive off and smiled to myself. He was crazy if he thought I was going to stand by and just be an observer. Unbeknownst to him, I had already taken action. I was just hoping he would agree on the front end to let me be involved. I guess I was going in from the back end, but in the meantime, I did as he asked. I walked back in and joined his parents for a wonderful day of sightseeing and catching up.

I don’t know how many times his parents expressed how thrilled they were to see us back together and to see me again. They had thought of me often through the years and wondered many times about the “what ifs.” Me too, but there was no going back. I wasn’t quite sure what the future held yet. All I knew was, I wanted Ian to be in it, and I knew that’s what he wanted. He was patiently waiting on me to decide when we should move forward. It really was odd to hear him say that he loved me on a daily basis, and it was weird for me not to reciprocate the sentiment. It’s not that I didn’t love him. I think I always have, but I wasn’t ready to admit that to him. I still needed time, and he was more than willing to give it to me. He didn’t seem bothered in the least that I wasn’t saying those three little words.

His parents left after dinner; they had more than a three hour drive back to Glenwood Springs. Before they left, they extended an invitation to Ian and me to come and spend the weekend with them. I said yes immediately, without consulting with my absentee boyfriend. I hoped he didn’t mind. I knew we had planned on going back home on Friday, but there was no way I was turning down the opportunity of spending the weekend with Ian in one of my most favorite places. And I had a feeling that after this week, we were both going to want the getaway. His parents were beyond delighted.

I spent the rest of my evening in my hotel room going over my notes for my presentation. Ian would text me intermittently and say he was missing me or he would apologize for being delayed. At nine, though, I got a text asking me to meet him in the parking lot. I took no time slipping on my shoes and hurrying to meet him. He was waiting for me by the car with the passenger door open.

He grinned as I approached, but he looked tired and worn. “Hello, Beautiful,” he said as I was almost to him. Even his words sounded tired.

I smiled warmly and touched his cheek. “Hi, Handsome.”

He caught my hand and kissed my palm before helping me into the car. He jogged over to the driver’s side, got in, and took no time in taking off.

“Where are we going?” I asked as we exited the hotel parking lot.

He smiled over to me briefly. “I believe there are still some swings with our names on them.”

I could feel my own face erupt with delight. This was why he was perfect for me. Even though he had more money than most and could afford to take me anywhere in the city, he still chose the one place I adored more than any other. It cost not a thing, but it was priceless to me.

Not much was said on the drive over. Ian held my hand the whole way over to “our” park, and I just looked out the window at all the changes that had occurred in the last ten years. Denver had definitely grown. I didn’t remember the traffic being this bad, this late at night, when I lived here. It reminded me why I loved Nashville so much. Nashville was the perfect-sized city in my mind. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Denver, but I don’t know if I could stand to live here again.

As the park came into view, I felt eighteen again. My motto was, “You are never too old for the park.” I was glad Ian still agreed with me, or at least just went with it. I hoped my butt still fit in the swing; I was barely back to belly dancing after the accident. I expressed my concern to Ian.

“You have nothing to worry about, I check your backside out plenty, and it looks great,” he said in response. 

We laughed about the first time I saw him at Chandler, when I was telling Delfia to check out my butt. I couldn’t believe that was only three months ago; it seemed like a lifetime away, so much had happened since then. But we didn’t come to the park to talk about Chandler or lawsuits. We agreed we would only talk about us, or even better, we would occupy our lips and there would be no need for words.

As soon as we hit the cool grass, we both removed our shoes and rolled up our pants. There was nothing like cool grass beneath your feet and holding hands with your special someone. As we walked toward the swings, I looked around. The trees had grown taller, and it looked like the playground equipment had been painted, but it was still our park. And thankfully we were the only ones there. Not like we would have noticed anyone anyway; we only had eyes for each other as we walked hand-in-hand with a slight swing in our arms and a spring in our step.

When we were several paces from the swings, I dropped his hand to race him. He must have anticipated my move as he was quick to grab me and pull me back. Kissing was way better than racing or swinging any day. As he kissed me, I could feel a release of tension. I don’t think he could have pulled me any closer. He kissed every inch of my face and neck. He was driving me crazy, in the best sort of way.

“Ian, are you ok?”

He kissed my neck once more, and then he leaned his forehead against mine and just breathed deeply for several seconds.

“I’m here for you,” I whispered quietly.

“I don’t deserve you.”

“Yes, but regardless. I’m still here.”

He chuckled. “I do love you.”

“I know. Let’s swing.”

We spent the next hour swinging and laughing and talking. It was there I divulged our new plans for the weekend. He seemed genuinely pleased with the idea; we just needed to make it there.

Chapter 22

Glenwood Springs was the word of the week. Whenever Ian was tense, I would just whisper the beloved place and remind him what was waiting for us in just a few short days. Tuesday morning we spent going over our presentation for Norwest Bank, and then we spent the afternoon meeting with their big wigs in downtown Denver in their oddly shaped skyscraper that I swore looked like a cash register on the top. The meeting went mostly well, but they were super uptight about security issues, and they wanted us to change our contract and terms and conditions for them. Ian took it all in stride and didn’t promise them a thing.

“I never thought I would meet anyone more anal than you,” I remarked to him on our way out through their lobby.

He laughed, and just for a moment, he forgot I was Ms. Bryant and reached down and took my hand.

“Mr. Greyson, I’m not sure how to take that,” I teased.

He quickly dropped my hand, but at least he smiled. I really did miss being just Kelli.

That night I was left alone as Ian met with his attorney again. They were going to court the next afternoon. He didn’t know, but I was too. I was also working on this ridiculous case. Ms. Manselle was about to be very sorry.

I dressed extra carefully in my finest business suit the next morning before I met Ian for breakfast. He didn’t get in until almost midnight the night before. He came up and lightly rapped on my door. “I just needed to see your face,” he said before he kissed me.

I happily obliged. He looked so worn, and this morning he still did. It made me more determined to go with him. He had been so adamant about me staying out of it that he didn’t even discuss what was going on with me, but like he said, he had never known anyone more stubborn than me.

As soon as our breakfast was cleared away, I reached into my satchel and pulled out a large manila envelope and slid it across the table to him.

He looked at me curiously. “What’s this?”

“Your insurance policy.”

He still looked confused.

I grinned mischievously. “Just open it.”

He immediately complied. I watched him as he looked through the small stack of papers. I could see his chocolate eyes brighten as he read through the lawsuit Chandler was filing against Ms. Manselle for breach of contract, corporate espionage, and violating her NDA. He looked up from the papers with a happy smirk on his handsome face.

I took that as my opportunity to hand him a DVD. “This video shows Ms. Manselle taking pictures with her phone of your laptop screen showing the framework of our software. It also shows her talking to who I assume is your ex-wife discussing their ‘plan.’ I’ve asked Ms. Ayers, Chandler’s attorney, to subpoena her and Marissa’s cell phone records. I also have Delfia’s handwritten statement that she overheard her conversation and her plans to take you down, for lack of a better term.”

He just shook his head at me in amazement; he was speechless.

“So, can I go with you to the courthouse now?”

His face erupted in a smile. “I love you.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Ian called his attorney and basically insisted on meeting immediately, if not sooner. His attorney agreed, and we were on our way. I watched him as we drove over, and I could visibly see that his stress level had diminished. He looked so relieved. I even teased him that I would be willing to get up and swear, under oath, I was still a virgin.

He laughed and briefly looked my way as we sat stopped at a red light. “You say the most absurd things sometimes,” he said as he looked me over from head to toe and grinned devilishly, “and unfortunately, no one would believe you.”

I raised my eyebrow at him.

“Except for me, of course,” he added. “Besides, I had no intention of letting anyone come near you. I would have given it all up to protect you if needed.”

I reached up and touched his cleanly shaven face as he drove. “Ian, you don’t have to protect me, but thank you.”

“Maybe I don’t have to, but I want to, for the rest of my life.”

My eyes began to water, and I quickly flipped down the visor mirror and tried to keep my makeup in place. It wasn’t that I was embarrassed to cry in front of him, especially not a happy cry, but I just wanted to make sure I gave my best impression today.

“You’re beautiful,” Ian said as I dabbed at my eyes.

“Stop being so sweet, you’re going to make me cry some more.”

He just laughed at me. I was happy to hear him really laugh.

Ian’s attorney’s office wasn’t far from our hotel, so it didn’t take us long to get there, even with Denver’s insane traffic. On our walk in, he even held my hand.

“So, I get to be Kelli today?”

He gave me a wry smile and applied gentle pressure to my hand. I squeezed back. I hoped someday he would get over all of this separation nonsense. I mean, I get why he did it, but this was me. I wasn’t Marissa or Alexa. I fell in love with Ian long before he was ever wealthy or successful, at least in the worldly way. He could trust me, and it wasn’t like I wanted to make-out in the office or anything. I just wanted to be us. Ok and, if he felt the urge and it was behind closed doors, I wouldn’t mind at all if he kissed me in the office.

Ian’s attorney, Mr. Nathaniel Clark, saw us immediately. By the looks of his office, he did very well for himself. I expected no less, considering who had elicited his services. He was probably around Ian’s age, maybe a tad older, and was handsome. He had a commanding presence to him; I could see instantly why Ian had chosen him.

Ian introduced me and then took no time getting down to business. He handed over the packet to Mr. Clark and explained the contents.

Mr. Clark grinned at me. “Are you sure you’re in the right profession, Ms. Bryant? I could use someone like you.”

I didn’t get the chance to reply.

“She’s taken,” Ian replied for me.

Mr. Clark smiled at the two of us before he continued to look through the documents. “This is amazing leverage,” he commented. “And why we didn’t think of it, Ian, I don’t know.”

Ian looked at me proudly. I just winked in return.

Mr. Clark made a couple of phone calls to the opposing lawyers, and then the fun began. After an hour, we all headed over to the courthouse that was conveniently across the street from Mr. Clark’s firm. Again, Ian held my hand as we made our way over. I couldn’t wait to see the looks on the faces of the boob twins.

As this wasn’t a jury trial, we met in a conference-style room. Apparently, the opposing side wanted to meet without the judge first. Shocker. They knew they were in trouble. We got there first and took seats on the hard wooden chairs at one end of the table. Ian looked more relaxed than I had seen him in days. That was until the boob twins made their appearance. His demeanor changed in a split second. I wasn’t sure if I had ever seen such a look of disdain on anyone’s face.

The twins didn’t look happy either, especially when they saw me. I couldn’t help but wickedly grin at them. Oh, yes … they were going to be very sorry. They quickly turned away from me, and I smiled lovingly at the man by my side. He grabbed my hand under the table and held it firmly. I so badly wanted to get out my phone and take a picture of the painted ladies for my sister. They both overdid it today, with the hair and makeup, and for some odd reason, they looked like they color coordinated. They were each wearing navy blue and red, and of course, they each showed way too much cleavage. I didn’t think that was going to help them today.