The articles spoke about how he could be a tough boss but was fair. He’s spent his whole life building his empire. It’s impressive and understandable. He grew up with nothing, so I’m sure he strove to never go without again.
I'm starting to see that love and family are both foreign to Kellan, and he's getting a crash course in them. I'm sure it doesn't help that he lost his brother before he got the chance to be close to him. All of that is jumbled up inside of a man who isn't known for expressing himself.
"I want to stay," I tell him. "But you have to give me more. I need to know this is what you truly want and that we can work through it together.” Knowing where I stand with him and who I am to him can make all the difference.
"I want to give you everything; I just might need some guidance." In the short time that I have known Kellan, him saying he needs guidance from anyone, let alone me, is big. "But I know when I'm near you, a warmth surrounds you, and it scares the shit out of me how badly I want it. And then it scares me how easily you could take it away. There’s nothing I could do about it, and the loss of control is what makes me want to hold on to you tighter."
Well, I'm not sure there isn't anything he could do about it. Kellan is a very determined man, and there’s nothing he can’t have when he sets his mind to it.
"I don't want to be a scary place for you," I tell him.
"Then we'll get married. That way I know you can't leave me." I let out a bark of laughter that quickly turns into full-on laughter when I see Kellan scowl. He does not find it funny, which only makes it that much funnier.
“People get d?—”
“Do not say the D-word in our home. I have never failed at anything, and I will not fail in our marriage.”
“You’re intense,” I say as I smile and reach up to touch his face. My hand cups his cheek, and he leans into it.
“Does that bother you?”
“Only if I’m an employee and nothing more.”
I’ve been struggling with all of my emotions getting confused because I don’t know where the line ends for him. Kellan is intense in how he touches me, but I want to be sure that’s not all I am to him. Everything he does turns me on, and I’ve loved every second of it. I hadn’t realized I desired those sexual experiences, and it may explain why no one ever captured my attention in college. Kellan had my full attention from the very beginning. It seems like my body is light-years ahead of my heart and brain.
"You've never been an employee." He shakes his head as if the concept is the most ridiculous thing he's ever heard. "I don't touch my employees."
"Right." I assumed there were rules about these things.
"Nova, I don't touch anyone. Not the way I touch you. Ever."
He can’t be saying what I think he’s saying. Has he never been intimately involved with a woman? I kind of love the idea that I awoke something inside of him too. The theory explains so much.
I’m about to ask him but don't get a chance. Niles rushes over to us, breaking the spell. For a moment I'd forgotten there’s a party happening all around us and we’re standing at the bottom of the stairs next to the entrance.
"We have a problem,” Niles pants as his eyes bounce from Kellan back to me. "There’s a man at the door demanding we hand over Ms. Galloway."
“A man?” I ask and see white-hot jealousy flash across Kellan’s face. There goes that intensity again. My body isn’t hating it, but now is not the time.
“Demanding?” The word rumbles from deep inside of him. "No one makes demands over Nova."
"Except you," I say because I can't help myself.
"Well, there are actually three of them."
"Oh," I say, the number three telling me all I need to know.
"I'm not sure they can hold them—" Niles is cut off by a loud commotion pushing its way through the front door. That's when I see my three brothers. When it comes to them, it’s always a scene.
Oh, this is not good. We’re not in Cheerful where everyone finds their antics amusing.
"I'll remove them myself," I say as I grab the front of Kellan's shirt to stop him.
That’s when my brothers spot me and take in the scene in front of them. I'm not dressed as a babysitter, and they know it. They might not be into fashion, but anyone with eyes knows this dress is easily a person's mortgage payment.
This is escalating way too quickly.
"What the hell is going on?" Nick, the oldest, barrels forward.
