Checking his watch, he realized the dinner was about to start. Dylan Lassiter hurried into the room, straightening his tie with one hand and smoothing his hair with the other. He looked like a man who’d been...busy. Well, at least someone was.
Matt knew it the moment she entered the room. He felt the nearly magnetic charge in the air. His gaze locked on her and when she smiled, everything inside him tightened. She wore blue. A dress with a scooped neck, a tight, short skirt and skinny straps that snaked across her shoulders. The black pumps she wore had three-inch heels and made her legs look even more amazing than usual.
She took his breath away. And judging by the knowing smile lighting her eyes, she knew exactly what she was doing to him. He made his way to her, and going against his own damn plan, he pulled her in for a quick, hard kiss. “You look amazing.”
“Thank you,” she said, lifting one hand to her lips as if feeling the kiss he’d left there.
Oh, yeah. He couldn’t imagine now how he had kept from touching her for so long. Couldn’t think why he’d had the idiotic idea to go slowly when all he wanted to do was snatch her up and never let her go.
But he would have to let go soon, wouldn’t he? Unless, Matt told himself, he could find a way to keep them together. His heart filled and his mind raced and he knew suddenly what he had to have. What he needed, wanted more than anything else in the world. All he had to do was convince Kayla.
“Matt!” Evan hurried up to them. “Sorry Kayla, I just need a second with Matt.”
A little irritated at being interrupted, especially now that he knew just what he wanted to do, Matt asked, “What’s up?”
“I just wanted to let you know I’m going to need you to head back to L.A. right after the wedding.”
Beside him, Matt felt Kayla stiffen. Great. Perfect timing.
“That new account you signed on? He wants to double down on his advertising budget and I need you to handle it personally.”
“Sure,” Matt said tightly. “Fine. I’ll take care of it.”
“I know you will,” Evan agreed with a wide smile. “Okay, and that’s all the shop talk allowed tonight, I swear.” He scanned the crowd, spotted Angelica and said, “See you two later, huh?”
When he was gone, Matt stared down at Kayla.
“You’re leaving soon.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yeah,” he said, shoving one hand through his hair. If he could have, he would have kicked Evan for ruining tonight. For putting Kayla and him at odds before he’d even had a chance to smooth her into bed where he could romance her into the future he suddenly could see so clearly.
“Right after the wedding?”
“Apparently,” he said. “Look, I didn’t want to do this right now, but since it’s in the open—Cheyenne will always be home to me, but I’ve got a life in California, too.”
“Yes, I know.” Her eyes were shadowed.
“Kayla...” Damn it, this wasn’t going at all as he wanted it to.
She shook her head. “You don’t owe me an explanation this time, Matt.” Lifting her chin, she gave him a small but determined smile. “You’re leaving. I’m staying. It’s not like I’m surprised. We all knew you would be going back to L.A. eventually.”
Yeah, they had known that all along. But until now, he hadn’t really let himself acknowledge that leaving without her was completely unacceptable. How could he go back to a life without her in it? Impossible. Now all he had to do was make her see things his way. “Let me get you some wine.” He took her arm and steered her through the crowd toward the bar.
“Matt, wine isn’t going to solve anything.”
Stubborn until the end. “Sometimes a glass of wine is just a glass of wine.”
As they crossed the room, J.D. Lassiter picked up his bottle of water, frowned at it and instead reached for a nearby glass of champagne. Tapping a spoon against the delicate crystal until he had everyone’s attention, the older man let his gaze sweep the crowd before saying, “Dinner’s about to be served, so I wanted to say a few words before we get started.”
His nurse was close at hand and she looked worried, Matt thought as he handed Kayla a glass of white wine. Frowning himself, he studied J.D. and realized that the man’s skin had a gray cast to it.
“Is he okay?” Kayla whispered, their differences set aside for the moment.
“I don’t know,” Matt answered, but knew that there was no way to stop J.D. Lassiter once the man had decided on a course of action.
“We’re all here to celebrate my girl Angelica’s upcoming marriage.”
Smatterings of applause broke out, before J.D. shushed them all with a wave of his hand. “I’m a big believer in family,” he continued, his voice going softer. “A man makes mistakes in his life, can’t avoid them. But the one thing you should be able to count on is family.”
Kayla glanced around the room, wondering if anyone else but she was noticing that J.D. didn’t look too well. But the others were clearly just listening to the words.
“All of us gathered here tonight are family. By blood or by choice. Doesn’t matter. The only thing that does matter is that we’re here for each other come what may. So I’ll ask you to lift your glasses—”
He stopped. Eyes going wide briefly, his expression vaguely surprised, J.D. dropped the champagne flute and the fine crystal shattered on the tile floor. He didn’t seem to notice. He took a single step, then slumped to the floor and lay still.
The next few minutes felt as if they’d been pulled out of time. Kayla knew only moments went by but everything took place in such slow motion it was as if hours were crawling past. She watched as if from a distance even though she was right in the middle of it all.
Chaos erupted. Angie screamed. Colleen dropped beside J.D., loosening his tie and collar. She checked his pulse and as Dylan and Sage dropped to the other side of their father, she began CPR.
Horrified whispers ran just beneath the shouts and choked, muffled sobbing from the people gathering in a tight circle around the fallen giant.
Kayla moved to Angie, wrapped one arm around her and held on as Evan dialed 911. Holding on to her friend, feeling the other woman’s tremors wracking through her own body, Kayla watched helplessly as Colleen continued CPR.
Matt herded the crowd back, giving those trying to help J.D. the room they needed. Matt’s gaze locked with Kayla’s and she knew exactly what he was thinking. It didn’t look good. There’d been no change in J.D.’s condition. He lay still and quiet, the only island of calm in a churning storm of emotion.