Chapter 4 Child

• Chase.
• Kiara was here!
• I couldn't believe it. There she was, after all this time. The rumors of her being gone or even dead turned out to be wrong. I'd tried hard to move on, to forget about her, but seeing her in that dress brought back a flood of memories.
• She didn't seem to have it easy, her family disowning her and all. Despite her struggling appearance, she still had that beauty that got to me. It irritated me how she could still stir up these emotions in me. She didn't even have to try.
• Now, looking down at her, I realized she was smaller than I remembered. It was something I liked – holding her close, feeling her fit perfectly in my arms. But now, in this awkward moment of measuring, it just made things complicated. I could see she felt the same way.
• She fingered the edges of the measuring tape while her eyes roved around my body. "Could I help you out of the jacket, sir?" She asked.
• I noted her choice of words before my mind registered her tone. She was pretending not to know me or our history together which was good because I could not deal with the memories of finding her in that room and rejecting her in the end. If she was going to act professional, I didn't mind doing that too.
• Yet when I spoke, it sounded so out of tune, like a robot. "You're awfully slow." Then turning to Erica, I said, "Couldn't you find someone a bit faster? I don't imagine this one knows anything about my style."
• "Don't ruin this for me," Erica yelled at Kiara and I smiled. From the little time I'd spent in here, I knew how flawed their working relationship was. If Kiara had come here to pretend that nothing had happened between us in the past, I was going to make sure I wrecked this day for her as well.
• Kiara bowed her head slightly and I couldn't tell what was going on in her head. All I knew was that my words had made a mark.
• "I'm sorry," Erica said to me. "She's good with the measurements, that much I can say."
• I nodded. "I suppose I could put up with someone like her touching me for just this."
• Erica gave a tight lipped smile, the kind that I knew was practiced before turning to glare at Kiara one more time.
• Kiara stepped away from the overly bright lights and stretched out both her hands to get my jacket. I slipped the jacket off and readjusted my wristwatch before running my tongue against the top of my teeth. She watched me, her eyes cold. She squared her shoulders as she turned around to look at me. Her eyes held no memory. Looking at her, it felt strangely vague, like she was someone I didn't know. Maybe I never knew her.
• "What's your kind of style?" She asked. She placed the measuring tape from one end of my shoulders to the other and paused to catch my answer. "Is this going to be casual or…?"
• I shrugged. "I should know your name though. Don't you think so?"
• She glanced toward the door and shuffled her feet. She swallowed the moment she turned back and caught me watching her through the mirror. "Kiara, sir."
• "This is for an important meeting," I answered. This was no time for games and frankly, the thought of what she'd done to me in the past made me angry all over again. I'd blamed and hated her for so long that seeing her here again made me want to hurt her just as much. "It should be perfect. Perhaps a tuxedo."
• She nodded. "I do see how that would fit you properly." Then, a pause and her voice lowered. "Please turn around, sir."
• I turned and our eyes locked again and I could feel it: electricity running through my veins. This was real but I couldn't let it. I'd done so much to fight the feelings for her and six years had passed. There was no way I felt anything other than hate for this she-wolf and yet the moment she stared right at me, I felt the pulsating need rushing through me.
• "I…will begin the measurements now," she said.
• She held my hand and brought it out to stretch before her. Then she measured the length of my arm and wrote the numbers down on a notepad. Next, my chest. She stepped closer until I could hear her heartbeat. I could smell her, could breathe in her skin and I gnashed my teeth instinctively. It had been so long since I felt her so close.
• "Subtle doesn't look good on you," I said to her.
• She paused and I felt the tremble of her fingers. "I don't understand what you mean, sir."
• I nodded. There was no use anyway.
• She bent and placed the tape on my hips, going down my legs. I hated her touch and how it made me feel like taking her right there and then. I hated the closeness of her body to mine and the way the I liked it.
• "You seem off balance," I said. I didn't want to give her the satisfaction of seeing how much her touch still affected me even after all these years. "Afraid of going down between my thighs?"
• Her eyes shot up awkwardly at me and I saw her mouth twitch. Good! I was affecting her too.
• "I'm trying to be as professional as I can be," she snapped. "And please stop making this about you."
• "I thought I was the client here," I said with a smirk. Watching her scamper for words was enough thrill to keep me going. "This is about me, right?"
• She sighed. "Stop being an ass and then maybe this might be about you."
• "Ouch," I stepped back away from her and began turning toward the door. "Then I guess you wouldn't mind me telling your boss about—"
• "Look, I'm sorry," she said. She held the tape closer.
• I came around to meet her and tried to hide the smile from the gratification of seeing her submissive.
• "Spread your legs apart for me, sir," she said, hesitating in her tone. Only after she'd said it did she realize it could mean something else. That by telling me to spread my legs with her beneath me, there was a sexual curve to it.
• I licked my lips. And did as she said. She shook and I heard her breath hitch as she tried to adjust her hold on my legs. Her hands slipped between my thighs in the most sensual way that I closed my eyes to drown out white noise. It was utterly delicious to be touched by her and yet, in some way, it felt so wrong to still be attracted to someone who betrayed me like that.
• The moment her fingers mistakenly grazed my crotch, she paused and bit down hard against her lower lips. I looked down at her with an unfocused glare and saw her swallow. It was taking every ounce of my strength to not pull her into my arms and kiss her with the same anger I had harbored in my head for so long.
• "I'm sorry," was all she said. "I…I…"
• "Don't tell me you don't remember," I said. I knew I shouldn't have brought it up but the anger and resentment and attraction had risen to the surface and with the same ache with which I wanted her back, I hated her as much. My parents were troubling me to get married to her sister and while we were engaged, I did not feel a connection so why the hell did this feel so good and bad at the same time?
• She stood up and placed the measuring tape on the desk by the corner. "I don't know what you mean, sir."
• "Oh please don't give me that crap," I growled. "You're still just as…"
• The door swung open and Erica breezed in. "I hope we met your expectations!"
• It was crazy to think that anything had changed. From our conversations I could easily tell that she was a terrible person that didn't deserve a shred of love. I wasn't going to let her go so easily.
• I took my jacket from the hook and wore it. Then I walked up to Erica and I wriggled my hands at Kiara. "Next time I'm here, don't let her come in or it will be the last time I ever come back."
• It stunned Erica. "Did something happen?"
• "Everything is wrong," I told her, staring hard at Kiara who seemed equally surprised and sad. I couldn't care for the tears shimmering at the corners of her eyes. I hated her, right?
• I turned toward the door. "I'll send my secretary in to get the details," I said. "I wouldn't…"
• "Mummy!" A young boy's shriek pulled me out of my words and turning, I saw the subject of the excited call. I hadn't known Erica had such a young son but perhaps the boy was her grandson. That was possible.
• "I told you before not to let your child come in here!" Erica grumbled. It seemed like she was trying to restrain herself from yelling simply because I was still around. I'd heard the way she talked to Kiara and I shouldn't care but I do.
• I turned around, stunned by this discovery. Kiara had a child?
• I watched her stoop to the height of the child and flattened his hair atop his head. The boy giggled and wriggled himself out of her reach. Kiara stood and gave a slight bow to Erica and then to me.
• "I'm sorry for the disturbance," she whispered. "I'll get him out of here."
• "Just stop bringing him around and there would be no need to keep apologizing for being a disturbance," Erica said, disgust in her voice.
• Kiara apologized again and held the arm of the child. I watched them leave together.
• "Always bringing in that child," Erica grumbled as she closed the door behind her.
• I couldn't believe it. I'd lived my life angry at her for betraying me while she'd gone ahead to live her life by giving birth to a child. A child meant she'd moved on. I'd moved on too so why did hearing about a child break my heart all over again?