I watched Kellie as she finished packing up her bag. “Yes. It was wonderful, Christian. Thank you so much.”
“Perhaps you won’t wait to show your lovely new wife some romance again. All work and no play and all that.”
I swallowed down the knot in my throat that I wouldn’t be able to show her any romance from now on. “Yes, of course.”
“Good, good. Well, when you return to the office, your paperwork for our deal will be there. Your brother assures me all is well. Safe travels my friend.”
The long flight from Paris to New York, and now New York to San Diego felt like purgatory. A world between worlds. One in which she was mine and another in which I didn’t dare have her.
Kellie sat next to me, her head resting on my shoulder as she slept. The plane shifted downward and I knew that meant we were only thirty minutes or so from landing in San Diego. I inhaled the sweet scent of her hair and pressed a kiss to her head.
How the fuck was I going to let her go? I had to. That was the deal. Except, the thought of it nearly brought me to my knees.
22
Kellie
I wished I hadn’t slept so much on the plane. Now that I was home, trudging up the stairs to my apartment alone, I regretted not soaking up every last minute with Ryan. But there was no sense in ruminating over it. This little charade was over. The trip was finished. I was home and now it was time to go back to my old life. The one where I kept Ryan organized and efficient. The one where I had no emotional attachment to him. I wasn’t sure how I was going to pull that off when I returned to work on Monday.
It was mid-afternoon when I opened the door to my apartment. I’d texted Natalie to let her know the approximate time I’d be home, but I wasn’t sure she’d be here. I stepped inside and instantly she appeared rushing to me.
“Welcome home. You have to tell me everything.” She wrapped her arms around me, and I hugged her back. “Tell me you have more pictures than what you sent me. I need to see them all. Oh my God, Kel, was it all as beautiful as I think it is?”
I smiled, entertained by my sister’s enthusiasm and then sad that she might never get the opportunity that I had. “It’s ever more beautiful than the pictures give them credit for.”
She sighed. “I knew it. Tell me all about it.”
“I will give you a complete rundown, but first, I want to unpack and shower. And maybe sleep. My inner clock is all messed up.”
“Poor Kellie, suffering jet lag after flying back from Paris.” She smirked at me.
“It’s a thing,” I said, carrying my bag into my room.
She followed me and plopped down on the bed as I opened my suitcase and started unpacking.
“Wow. That’s gorgeous,” she said, running her fingers over the filmy fabric of the yellow dress Ryan got me in Rome.
“It is,” I said, finding a hanger and putting it in the closet. As I brought my hand down, the charms on my wrist jangled.
“What’s that?” She took my arm as I came back to the suitcase. “Oh, how pretty.” She studied the charms.
“They represent the trip. Wine. Canals.”
“What’s the sun? Tuscany?”
I smiled, not wanting to tell her that Ryan compared me to the sun. That might give away that I was more than his assistant. At least for a week.
“A heart?” she looked up at me.
“I loved the trip.” I pulled my arm back and grabbed my soiled clothes to toss into my hamper.
“Kel?”
There was something in her tone that suggested she was going to ask me something I didn’t want to answer.
“Did you fall for your boss?”
I did my best eye roll. “We were pretending to be married, remember?”