It’d taken him over an hour to get Morgan to give up on devising a way to see her.
Afraid he’d only get his assistant talking again, he kept his mouth shut and didn’t ask if she knew what Olivia wanted. Maybe it didn’t have anything to do with the article. Maybe Brandon hadn’t mentioned that he’d already told Kyle about the pregnancy and she’d come to tell him herself.
Or maybe she’d come to apologize. He still couldn’t believe she’d bought into Noelle’s claims that he was demanding sex as payment for the favors he did her. Yes, he’d allowed Noelle to seduce him the weekend that’d started everything, but that was years ago. He would’ve thought he’d managed to rebuild some of his credibility by now.
“Your life is getting interesting,” Morgan said.
He didn’t respond. He was too busy wondering when news of that article would reach Derrick—and what Derrick might do when he learned that Lourdes wasn’t alone in some remote farmhouse, crying over their breakup. Would he try to contact her again? Attempt another reconciliation?
Kyle hoped not. It’d been only a few days, but already Lourdes seemed to be getting over him. At times, Kyle got the feeling she was as relieved about being out of that relationship as she was about being out of the spotlight. She’d told him that leaving Nashville had been necessary for her to feel human and real again. He believed separating from Derrick was part of that. One less burden to carry. He felt she’d been trying to make something work that’d been doomed from the outset. What she and Derrick had in common was a love of music and similar professional goals, and that was it.
Last night, he’d convinced her they should sneak into a hot tub. After thirty minutes or so, they got caught and had to run for it. They were laughing so hard by the time they reached his truck, which he’d parked well down the street, they could hardly climb in. He didn’t tell her that the people who owned the hot tub were some of his best friends and wouldn’t mind in the least. He didn’t want to make her feel she had to be polite and meet them. Besides, the daring nature of slipping in and out of Ted Dixon’s backyard was half the fun.
“There you are,” Olivia said.
Kyle waited until Morgan started back to her own desk. The way his assistant was dragging her feet, he knew she was hoping to catch part of their conversation. He motioned to suggest she should move a little faster. Then, when she was far enough away not to hear, he closed the door. “What can I do for you?” he asked.
Obviously realizing that his smile wasn’t entirely sincere, Olivia stiffened. “You can get over our tiff at Sunday dinner, for one,” she said.
“I am over it.” He shrugged. “In case Mom didn’t tell you, I apologized to her. And now I’m apologizing to you. I’m sorry for causing a scene.”
She stared at him as if she wasn’t sure whether his apology was any more sincere than his greeting.
“Now it’s your turn,” he said.
“My turn?”
“To apologize.”
“For...”
“Believing that shit your sister told you.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time exes have...remained intimate.”
“The sex in exchange for money or favors element—that’s what really bothered me, and you know it. For one thing, I’m not so desperate that I need some sort of leverage to get a woman in my bed. For another, she’s the last person I’m interested in.”
“I admit it didn’t sound like you,” she said. “But she’s my sister. And sometimes she’s so insistent.” She shook her head. “Anyway, what’s gotten into you lately?”