Chapter Thirty-Nine
Trenton entered his penthouse to the mouthwatering aroma of spices wafting in the air, instantly awakening his hollow stomach.
A sultry beat poured out of the surround sound. He smiled. His entire time away, and the twenty-plus-hour flight home, he’d been looking forward to this night with Kennedi. She had his heart tied up tight, reviving emotions he’d thought had been lost to him.
Pulling from his suit coat’s inner pocket the small black box, he flipped it open to view the earrings he’d purchased on impulse while in Dubai. The five-carat pink diamond studs sparkled brilliantly atop crushed black velvet. Tabling the delightful dilemma of whether to give them to her before or after they made love, he stuck the box back into his pocket, set his luggage in the entryway, then headed to the kitchen.
He watched Kennedi in her white apron over hip-hugging, ripped medium-blue denims, a gray fitted T-shirt and gray Chucks. She pulled a golden-glazed piece of meat from the top oven and set it on the cooktop. Then she took from the bottom oven buns with perfectly browned tops and rested the muffin tin on the cooling rack situated on the counter. Standing back, observing, he waited until her hands were free, then approached from behind and enveloped her in his arms, the feel of her intoxicatingly wonderful.
A flinch was her only reaction. He’d texted her a good twenty hours ago but received no reply, concluding she had her hands full with the office, her store, her father, and now lovingly preparing dinner for them. The woman did so much and asked for so little.
Sinking his face into the side of her neck, he soaked up her scent like a starved addict. How easily he could get used to coming home to this—to her. He didn’t want the moment to pass.
“Hey, beautiful. I’ve missed you,” he murmured into her hair that she wore in thick curls loose about her shoulders. “You have no idea.” It’d surprised even him just how much he’d craved her while away.
She slipped out of his arms and killed the music before turning to face him. Her harsh expression punched him hard between the ribs.
A foreboding chill streaked through him. “Baby, what is it?”
She looked around the kitchen. “I never break a promise. Good or bad. I prepared dinner. It’s hoisin-glazed pork tenderloin, an Asian rice pilaf tossed with a pond and lime sauce, and broiled herb asparagus. A bottle of Vouvray is chilling in the dining room. Enjoy…or not. I don’t really care.”
Her tone about as dry as high-grade sandpaper, she removed her apron, neatly folded it and left the kitchen on a casual stride toward the entryway.
Stunned, Trenton followed her. “Where are you going?” He caught her wrist, the only way to stall her progress. She turned. The coldness of her eyes made the hairs on the back of his neck stand stiff. “Baby, what’s going on? Talk to me.”
“Baby.” She laughed, yet the humor didn’t reach those amber-brown eyes that congealed with raw fury. “I think you should reserve the sentiment for your expectant wife.” Her tone whipped sharply.
Trenton tensed tight as a trapeze wire beneath his suit. “Ex-wife. We divorced over a year ago.”
“But she’s pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“Are you the father?”
“I don’t know. I was going to tell you.”
She shook her head slowly, eyes shuttering briefly. “So you two are still involved. Then what’s there to tell?” With a severe look of pain flooding across her features, she rushed off.
He raced after her as guilt battling with anguish flowed through him. But mostly he feared that she’d walk out of his life—that inevitable fact squeezed his chest with a viselike tension. “Kennedi, let me explain.”
“Don’t bother. Alan told me what you conveniently chose not to.”
“Alan Lange. Why the hell were you with him? Answer me, Kennedi,” he barked.
Without a word, she snatched her purse from the entrance table and swung open the door. “We have to work together, but this—” She flung a hand between them. “We’re done.”
The door slammed shut.
Trenton raked both hands through his hair, his heart plummeting as if life had stalled for him in that moment. It’d been a fool’s wish, thinking he could have her.
The pain stabbing his heart was so stunningly harsh, it had him nearly doubling over as he grabbed his luggage and headed for the stairs.