Destined To Fall (2 page)

“What was that all about?” Quinn asks between sips.

I mutter, “Nothing,” and keep my head down while inhaling the sweet caffeinated aroma coming from my cup.
“Does it have anything to do with you screaming like a banshee this morning?” I almost choke on the hot liquid in my mouth and barely manage to stop
it from shooting out my nose. When Quinn sees my shocked expression, my
eyes wide, she giggles.
“You heard me?” I whisper. Quinn laughs harder and I wish the sidewalk
would swallow me whole. Great. Nothing like your best friend hearing your
screams in the middle of a wet dream.
“I’m pretty sure the whole building heard you, Cass,” she chuckles.
“Can you imagine what I would’ve sounded like if I fi-” I slap my hand over
my mouth and watch as Quinn almost doubles over with laughter. Now I’ve
really done it. Foot, meet mouth.
Quinn finally catches her breath and pats my shoulder sympathetically. “We
need to get you laid,” she proclaims, not giving a rats ass who overhears our
conversation. We walk past a little old lady who gasps and then scowls when I
look at her sheepishly.
“Says the diva who was out until God knows what time this morning, getting
freaky with Jarred,” I retort quickly. Her porcelain cheeks flush. “Ha,” I shout.
“I knew it! You just can’t stop yourself, can you?”

Quinn lifts her dainty shoulders in a shrug but I see the smile tugging at her
red lips. She can’t lie to me. I heard her come in at about two a.m. “Why don’t
you put the poor guy out of his misery and go on a date with him?” I ask.

She purses her lips, pulling the bottom one between her teeth. “Because I
don’t do commitment,” she replies. “Jarred and I are just friends.”

I snort. “Friends who happen to fuck like rabbits for three weeks out of the
month.”
“What can I say,” she grins. “When I have an itch, nobody can scratch it quite
like Jarred does.”
A sigh breaks free from her mouth. “God, he’s fantastic in bed. If I didn’t go
to gym four days a week he would’ve broken my va-jay-jay by now.”

“Lucky bitch,” I mutter under my breath.

“I’ve told you before, Jarred has plenty of hot lawyer friends who I’m sure will
be happy to help you get rid of some of your frustration. Just say the word and
I’ll have him hook you up,” Quinn says.

I shake my head. “We’ve spoken about this before. I don’t want a ‘hump and
dump’.” She shrugs nonchalantly as we enter the double doors to our office
building.

“Suit yourself.”

I look around the lobby of Knight Media and smile. I’ve been the publishing
assistant for almost two years now, since I graduated from college, and wouldn’t
give it up for anything. I worked my ass off to get here. Knight Media is the
second largest media company in the city. It is an umbrella company of sorts,
housing a complementary group of multinational companies specializing in
publishing, digital advertising and film and television production. Quinn is
the editorial assistant for the newspaper division while I work in the book
publishing division. Our CEO, Robert Knight, recently decided to branch out
into digital publishing and gave me the task of putting together a proposal for
the executives. That’s why I can’t be late for any meeting.

“Holy shit,” I hear Quinn whisper next to me. I look up and follow her gaze
until my eyes land on him.
His black suit fits him flawlessly, his navy blue shirt tucked in just enough to
show a broad chest.
His mop of dark brown hair hangs just above his eyebrows but is styled in
that just-fucked way. “Who’s that?” I ask in a hushed tone, as if the Adonis
over there may hear me.

“That, my sexually frustrated friend,”Quinn sighs, putting her toned arm over
my shoulders. “Is none other than the infamous Kyler Knight.”

My lips form an ‘Oh’as we watch Kyler being mauled by a drop dead gorgeous
redhead who kisses him unabashedly, giving no mind to the small audience
gathering to watch their embrace. “Who’s the redhead?”

Quinn frowns and her face contorts into the expression she gets when she’s
about to be a total bitch. “Jessa fucking Price.” My eyebrows shoot up at the
tone of her voice.

“You know her?” I ask.

“Everybody does. She’s slept with half the people in this city. Our fathers are
friends and our mothers both champion the same charities. I practically grew
up with the bitch.”

Quinn pulls me towards the elevator, dragging my attention away from the
beautiful couple and back to reality. I check my watch and see that I have exactly ten minutes before my meeting starts. We step into the empty elevator
just as a hand stops the two doors from closing. He steps into the elevator and
the air in my lungs somehow escapes without ever leaving my mouth.

“Quinn,” he greets with a smile. She knows him?

 

“Kyler,” she replies, not returning his friendliness.

His eyes travel the length of my body, the tiny hairs on the back my neck
standing up, until they lock with mine. I suck in a breath. I know those blue
eyes. He brushes a piece of hair out if his face and I notice that it’s darker than
what I thought. A dark, rich chocolate brown.

“Who’s your friend?” he asks. The question is directed at Quinn but our eyes
never break contact.

“Cassey Emerson. Cassey, this is Kyler Knight. His father owns Knight Media.”Kyler sticks out his hand and I gingerly mimic his action. His hand is easily three times bigger than mine. It wraps around mine effortlessly, his slightly
calloused fingers brushing up against my soft skin.

“Nice to meet you, Cassey.” His smile widens into a wolfish grin.
“You too,” I squeak. He holds my hand a moment longer than what would be
considered appropriate when meeting someone for the first time.

The elevator chimes and I drop his hand like it’s burned me. Quinn grasps my
elbow and leads me out onto our floor. Kyler’s eyes stay fixed on me until the
elevator doors close.

“Wipe your mouth, Cass,” she whispers harshly. “You’re drooling and I’m
pretty sure Kyler noticed.”

 

Kyler
. Why does that name sound so familiar?
Then it hits me like a freight train.

 

“Oh, God,” I breathe. My eyes go wide and I look at Quinn.

 

“What?” she asks. I swallow hard and fight the blush I can feel creeping up
my neck into my cheeks.

 

“Quinn,” I sputter. “It’s him.”

 

Her eyebrows dip into a confused scowl, “It’s him who?” We step into my
office and I shut the door quickly.

 

“It’s him, Quinn.”

 

“What are you talking about, Cass?”

“Kyler. He’s the one I dreamt about this morning.”I bury my face in my hands
to hide my mortification. I risk a peek through my fingers and see Quinn’s
shoulders shaking with her quiet laughter. “Quinn,” I whine. “It’s not funny.” I
slap her on the arm.

“You’re right,” she replies between laughs. “It’s not funny. It’s hilarious.” I
throw my hands up in defeat and grab my little make up bag to start applying
my make-up.

Quinn comes to stand next to me. “Are you sure it was him?” she asks seriously. All the laughter is gone from her face.

“Yes. I said his name and told him to-” my mouth snaps shut before I divulge
any more humiliating information about my naughty dream. Quinn smirks
and I bite my lip to stifle the giggle I feel crawling up my throat.

“I don’t blame you. He’s a catch and I hear he’s certainly not lacking down
south,” Quinn concedes. She grabs the eye shadow from my hands and spins
me so that I’m facing her.

“I didn’t know you knew him,” I say quietly while she applies some color to
my eyelids.

“Not very well. I just know our parents are acquaintances. Kyler has a bit of a
reputation and he’s a few years older than us so we never really hung out,” she
states. My thoughts drift back to the redhead we saw pawing him earlier and
my face twists into a scowl involuntarily.
“Was that his girlfriend down in the lobby?” I ask, trying to sound indifferent.

I fail miserably. I open my eyes to find Quinn studying me.

“No,”she replies.“But they attend most of the social events together throughout the year. It’s no secret that they’re using each other for sex.” I don’t know
why, but a sudden heaviness settles in my belly. Quinn checks her watch. “You
better skedaddle. You’re going to be late,” she tells me.

“See you at lunch?” I ask on my way out. She nods and we head in opposite
directions.

I walk into the boardroom a minute before our meeting starts and almost fall
out of my chair when Kyler walks in behind his father. Robert Knight is one
of the nicest men I have ever met. He is a tall man, although not as tall as his
son, and has a slight belly. His face is warm and inviting and even on a bad
day, he is always smiling. Mia, our overly enthusiastic publishing intern who’s
sitting next to me, battles to suppress her excitement when she spots Kyler and
giggles in her seat. That’s when I notice that most of the women, married or
not, are staring open mouthed. The room goes quiet.

“Good morning everyone,”Robert greets.There’s an incoherent mumble from
the men in the room while the women continue to eye fuck Kyler. “This is my
son, Kyler.” Robert continues, oblivious to those of us who look like panting
dogs in heat. “From today, he will be working for Knight Media.”

He grins proudly at his son, who acknowledges us with a simple nod.
“Right, then,” he pats Kyler on the back. “We’ll leave you kids to it.” He walks
out and Kyler lingers a moment longer, locking his eyes with mine. His glare
makes me shiver and I see his lip curl up in amusement. Shmuck. When he
leaves, the women all sigh, chatting excitedly amongst themselves before our
immediate boss, Kevin, takes charge.

I don’t hear a thing he says. Only when we’re dismissed, do I stop thinking
about him. I spend the rest of my day locked up in my office, buried beneath
piles of unsolicited manuscripts, in hopes of forgetting about Kyler.

No.Such.Luck.
~ Kyler ~

When my father asked me to start working for him I was hesitant, for no
other reason than I like my current lifestyle. Work of any kind hasn’t been a
priority, unless it’s the physical kind. With a woman. But something about my
father’s request has me feeling uneasy. I can’t fight the nagging in my gut that
something is wrong, that what my father is really doing is preparing me to
take over from him. Funny thing is, he’s about ten years away from retirement
and wouldn’t be leaving unless he has to. I push the concerns aside and start
organizing my office. For whatever reason, my father needs me and I’m not
about to let him down. Jessa can always join me for a ‘quick lunch’ in my office,
once my chaise lounge set arrives. Oddly enough, it’s not her I picture being
bent over my desk. No. It’s that brunette I met in the elevator, Quinn’s friend.
What was her name again? Great, asshole. You can picture bending her over
your desk but you can’t remember her name? It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve
wanted to do ungodly things to a woman whose name I don’t remember.
I have a shameless history of one night stands to prove that.
Jessa is the only woman I’ve had a semi-consistent relationship with, if you

consider attending social events together and having meaningless but hot sex
afterward, a relationship. My mother has it in her head that Jessa Price and I
will someday get married, start a family and live happily ever after. I’m fairly
certain Jessa has the same idea in her head. They’re both delusional. If I ever
settle down, and that’s a very small possibility, it won’t be with someone like
Jessa.

She’s all about status and social climbing and I have no doubt that she’ll cheat
on me the minute she gets bored.
No, thanks. I would rather stick to my nameless one night stands than subject
myself to a lifetime of misery. It would take a special woman to tame the animal in me and she is yet to be discovered. My mind unwillingly drifts back to
Quinn’s friend. Why the fuck can’t I remember her name? Dammit. Maybe I
should try and see her again? Shouldn’t be too difficult now that I’ll be working with her. It could just be two colleagues getting to know each other. Have
you lost your damn mind? You’ve met the woman once and now you’re conjuring up excuses to see her again? Ridiculous. It makes me grin.

“What has you smiling like a fool?”

 

My head snaps up and my father walks into my office. “Nothing,” I shrug my
shoulders. It’s obvious he doesn’t believe me but he doesn’t push it either.

“You settling in okay?” he asks, looking around the large open space. The hardwood floors glisten as the morning sun shines through the floor-to-ceiling
windows, overlooking the city with Lake Michigan on the horizon.
“Yeah. The new furniture should be here by Wednesday,” I reply.
I watch my father rub his face and for the first time I notice how tired he looks.
“Is everything okay, Dad?”
He doesn’t answer me. Instead, he stares at the city skyline, getting lost in his
thoughts.

“Dad?” His head whips up and he looks startled. What is going on with him
lately? It’s as if he isn’t even here.

 

“What, son?”

“I asked if everything’s okay.”He stares blankly at me, and it’s almost like looking in a mirror. Except the reflection staring back at me is an older version of
myself.

He shakes his head as if to bring himself back to the present.

“Yes, yes,” he replies over enthusiastically. “Everything’s fine. I just wanted to
make sure you’re ready for all this.” The double meaning of his words doesn’t
escape me. He’s telling me something without actually saying the words. It
bothers me.

“I’m ready, Dad,” I assure him, even if I’m not entirely sure of myself. My father has left a legacy, treating his employees like family and always doing what
is right for the company, never at the detriment of someone else. I’m not even
half the man he is and until this very moment, looking at his tired, drawn face,
I have never questioned my life.
Sure, I may have a bit of a reputation as a philandering man whore, but at
twenty-six years old and the world at my feet, I don’t see anything wrong with
having fun. I guess now it’s time to grow up.