Unwanted Heat

“Before you ask,” I decide to put everything on the table before he can even bring it up. “Yes, Kenzie has already signed a prenup. She is aware that she is not entitled to half of my company if our marriage were to end.”

“While I’m glad to hear that, and appreciate you thought this through, I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were getting into,” he takes another drink before continuing. “Marriage isn’t easy; it’s not something you do one day and never think about again. Marriage takes work-you have to be committed to spending the rest of your life with that beautiful woman out there. You need to make the time in your busy schedule to ensure she knows every day how much you love her. You need to make sure that you spend time together, and I don’t mean at all these business dinners that you go to. Once in a while, you need to spend time just with her. Even if that’s just curling up on the couch and watching a movie; it’s important that you take those couple of hours out of your busy schedule to let her know that she is important to you. Marriage is not another client that PFS takes on: one that you pay attention to in the beginning and then let it do its own thing and monitor it through financial reports every month-”

“Dad, I wouldn’t-”

“I’m not saying you are planning to do any of this. I am just sharing my experience with you. It’s easy to let life take over and for your marriage to take a back seat to everything else going on, especially with PFS as successful as it is. I don’t want you to lose what you have right now; anyone can tell by the way you two look at each other how in love you are. Don’t ever stop looking her like that, Nicholas.”

“I won’t, Dad.”

His words startle me; that’s the second time that someone has said that they can tell how in love Kenzie and I are by the way we look at each other. When my mom first said it, I chalked it up to us being good at acting but my father seeing it is surprising. He’s not the romantic type, so for him to say what he said confuses me. What is it they are seeing between me and Kenzie? How are we looking at each other that make people think we are in love? Of course, it’s great for publicity and supports our arrangement further, yet I can’t help but wonder what it is people are seeing. Could they just be seeing two friends who care about each other? That must be it-they must be confusing that with love…

“I’m very happy for you, Son. It’s obvious how much Kenzie loves you, and it’s good to see you happy again. I haven’t seen you smile this much in a very long time.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

We make our way back to the great room where Kenzie is chatting with my mom and Cara about our wedding plans. They’re talking about flowers and decorations: all things I could care less about.

“We do not want the media to learn of our engagement as a security measure; we need to ask that for now you each keep this news to yourself. We will be using a wedding planner who will have everything brought to

Accord Towers rather than us going into stores to make decisions.”

“That makes sense. I’ll give you the name of the event planner I use; you don’t have to use her Kenzie-”

“Thank you, Vivienne, that would be very helpful,” Kenzie says.

“I know you said this was going to be a small wedding, but how small are we talking?” my mom asks.

“I’m not sure,” I look at Kenzie but she shrugs. “We want it very small; just immediate family and probably Alex and Ella from work.”

“Kenzie, how many people from your family will you be expecting?”

“Umm… my family will not be able to attend our wedding,” Kenzie says.

“Oh,” my mom is obviously surprised by this. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s fine.”

“We will probably end up with a dozen or so people at the wedding,” I quickly bring everyone back to the original topic to take the focus off of Kenzie. She looks incredibly uncomfortable right now; I doubt she expected anyone to ask about her family and why they wouldn’t be in attendance at our wedding. I wrap my arm around her lower back, trying to keep her from thinking about her past.

“That sounds lovely: small and intimate,” my mom says.

“That’s what we’re going for,” Kenzie smiles and I can almost see the tension leaving her body. “I couldn’t see having a huge wedding surrounded by people you barely know. It seems too formal for me.”

“I assume your PR department will make some sort of announcement about the marriage afterwards?” my dad asks.

“Yes, while we’re on our honeymoon, my PR department will release a statement and a chosen picture from the ceremony announcing our marriage,” I explain.

“Where are you going for a honeymoon?” Cara asks.

“That’s a surprise,” I smile at Kenzie, who is looking at me unsure. “Not even Kenzie knows where we are going.”

“How is she going to know what to pack? A girl needs to know these things, Nicholas; you can’t just spring-” Cara tries to argue.

“I will arrange to have a personal shopper put together everything she will need for the honeymoon, Cara, don’t worry,” I assure her. “And if there is something that is forgotten, we will pick it up there.”

“Well, I’m sure it will be wonderful wherever you go,” Mom says.

Before we leave to head home, my mom and Cara have planned to come to Accord Towers as soon as it can be arranged to help Kenzie chose a wedding gown. I almost interrupted, to let them know it wasn’t necessary because I didn’t want Kenzie to feel pressured, but after seeing her eyes light up I realized that she was looking forward to having them there with her. I hadn’t thought that planning a wedding might be hard for her without having any family of her own to help her. I’m grateful that my mom and sister stepped in and offered their support.

“Everything moved in, Carter?” I ask as we drive back.

“Yes, sir. Ms. Rose’s boxes have been placed in the spare bedroom next to her room.”

“Thank you, Carter,” Kenzie says.

“Of course, Ms. Rose.”

“You know you can call me Kenzie, right?” she smirks.

“Yes, Ms. Rose,” I can almost hear the snicker in his voice. She’s been after him for months to call her Kenzie, but he sticks with Ms. Rose for the most part.

When we get back, I take Kenzie on a quick tour of the apartment, having learned that Carter only showed her a few main areas when she stayed the weekend here. She absolutely falls in love with the library the moment I open the door. I make a mental note to have Carter arrange for a large, comfortable chair to be moved into the room so she can have a place to read. I can see her eyes trying to focus on the titles of the books, trying to figure out what to read first.

“I need to get some work done tonight, but I needed to talk to you for a moment,” we head back into what is now her bedroom.

“I know I told you that I have nightmares, but I need you to know that they can get loud and sometimes very rough at times. It’s very likely you will be able to hear them from your room-”

“Nicholas-”

“I just need you to know that you cannot wake me up when I have a nightmare. Carter tried once and it resulted in him having a black eye and a split lip. I can’t… I’m not myself when I have a nightmare. I can’t have you in there. I can’t… I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Nothing helps keep the nightmares away?”

“No. I saw therapists for years when I was younger, but nothing ever changed. I would never forgive myself if I accidently hurt you,

Kenzie.”

“I understand. Thank you for letting me know.”

“I… I need to get some work done. Your boxes are next door, but you should find a fully stocked closet behind that door-”

“Wait! What?”Content held by NôvelDrama.Org.

I chuckle and close the door behind me as I hear her walk across the room towards the closet. I knew she would try to tell me she didn’t need all the clothes in the closet the moment she opened the door, so I figured it would be best if I left before she had the chance to say anything. I had arranged for the personal shopper that my mother and Cara use to have a complete wardrobe delivered while we were out this morning.