Done Being Friends (36 page)

When dinner was over and everyone moved around to chat with their colleagues, taking part in the various lucky draws and competition, Kate remained seated at the table with Tyler. Though no one was around them, Tyler knew the ongoing conversations in the room revolved around the two of them.
 

Out of habit, Kate reached for her necklace, only to let go of it immediately, when she remembered it wasn’t her locket.
 

“The stares making you uncomfortable? We can leave.” Tyler told her when she saw her reaching for the necklace.
 

“Just feel a little awkward,” Kate gave him a small smile. “I’m fine.”

The moment Kate finished speaking, she noticed a man moving toward their table. When Tyler saw him, he bent close to Kate, “Give me a minute. I’ll be right back.” However, as he stood, he hesitated for a minute, “You all right alone? Should I get Adrianna to accompany you?”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Kate assured, “Go.”

Kate watched as Tyler and the man moved over to speak in a corner. She was skeptical that the man was Tyler’s friend and when she saw how intense their conversation appeared to be, she figured it was work related. She glanced around the room and finally saw the wide berth that everyone gave to the table she was at. She smiled to herself, wondering how Tyler ran a company when his staff seemed to shun him whenever possible.

Several women across the room smiled at Kate and when Kate returned their smiles with one of her own and a nod, the women gained confidence and moved toward her table. They introduced themselves and Kate entertained them with small talk, again answering the never-ending questions they had until Tyler returned and all of them excused themselves.

“How do you work with them when they’re all so frightened of you?” Kate asked.

“I work better alone. My assistant coordinates the department and passes down my instructions.”
 

Kate nodded and changed the topic as she saw the same man who spoke to Tyler earlier, walking by. “Is everything all right? The conversation you had, seemed serious.” She saw him frown and he appeared to be struggling internally. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I shouldn’t be so nosy.”

Tyler ran his finger along her jaw as he gazed into her eyes, “I don’t mind you asking, I’m just worried that my answer may upset you.”

Her head tilted along with his touch and she was so aware of his touch that she almost missed what he had said. “What is it?”

“The favor you asked, do you still want an answer?”
 

Understanding flooded her face, “You found the retired cop?”
 

“Do you still want to find him?”
 

Kate thought about it for a moment before nodding, “Yes.”

Tyler sat, looking into her eyes, “Then I want a promise in return. Unless you make me this promise, I won’t give you the answer.”

“I promise, whatever it is, I promise,” Kate replied without any hesitation.

“You haven’t even heard what I want.”

Pulling the coat closer around her, she smiled, “It’ll be something that will keep me safe.”

He grinned; pleased with the confidence she had in him. “When you go and look for him, you have to take me along.”

“I probably would have asked you along anyway.”

“Good.”

Reaching into his pocket, he took out a piece of paper with a name and address written on it. He slid it across the table to Kate, but instead of picking it up, she slipped it into her purse without even looking at it. “I’ll look at it tomorrow. Tonight, there seemed to be some activities going on, let’s go see.” She stood up and waited for Tyler to get to her side, “Do you know what they have organized?”

“Not a clue,” Tyler answered, slightly guilty that he couldn’t play a better host for her.
 

“It’s all right, we can find out together.” She returned him his coat before strolling around the various booths, looking at all the lucky draws. “You’re rather generous Ty, even if you didn’t know it.” Kate commented as she perused the list of items to be won for the lucky draws.
 

“Excuse me, Mr. Hayes, sorry to disturb but do you want to take a photo with your girlfriend?” A young lad with a professional camera hung over his neck asked nervously.

“Sure, she loves taking photo,” Tyler said, all the while looking at Kate.

“Great!” The young lad exclaimed with much exuberance.
 

Tyler took a step closer and wrapped his arm around Kate’s back. She looked up at him and smiled as their gaze met. A bright flash went off, turning both their heads toward the young lad. He grinned proudly when he checked the picture he had just taken.
 

“Send me the photo through email,” Tyler said before leading Kate away.

“No a problem, Mr. Hayes.”

Moving along, Kate noticed a crowd of people gathered at a particular section. “Look, they’re playing, A Minute To Win It games.” When Tyler didn’t reply, she explained, “It’s a game show where contestants have to complete tasks in a minute to win. Let’s go see.”

The moment the woman in charge of the games saw Tyler and Kate moving nearer, she announced their arrival and pleaded for them to play one of the games while pulling Kate toward the booth. “There are six thimbles and six marbles, you need to bounce the marbles off the table and it has to land on top of the thimble.” When the woman let go, she was standing on one end of the table, while Tyler was at the other end.

“I’m horrible at games,” Kate said, hoping to get out the situation.

“Oh, it’s easy. Someone already won a hundred dollars from this game,” the same woman announced with her arm holding onto Kate.

Kate sighed in resignation, the woman wasn’t going to let her go anywhere without a try. “all right, one try.”

“Fantastic! You have one minute, starting now!”
 

Loud music blared from behind her and she took a deep breath before taking up the first marble. She never functioned well under pressure and she couldn’t help laughing at how horrible she was at the game. She chuckled when two of the marbles miraculously landed and stayed in the thimble, but that was all she managed. When the one-minute alarm rang, Kate shrugged, “I tried.”
 

Tyler walked over to her with a big smile on his face. “You really are horrible at games,” he said as Kate buried her face in his chest. Kate’s mouth opened in shocked, “Well, Mr. Hayes, if you are so good, you give it a try.” Everyone cheered when Kate said that and she smiled mischievously at him.
 

Again, he looked only at Kate when he spoke, “Since I’m ultimately paying for the hundred dollars, let’s bet on something else.”
 

“What do you want?” Kate asked with her brows raised, wondering what he wanted.

“If I win, you keep the set of jewelry you’re wearing now.”

By then, more people had gathered around the booth, but everyone fell silent as he spoke his request. Kate wiped off the smile on her face and stared at him sternly. “Ty…”

“If I win, in one try, you’ll keep them.”

Kate considered the situation for a moment. She didn’t want to turn him down in front of everyone and thinking that it was an impossible feat, she agreed. “Only one try.”

Tyler beamed; he took off his coat and handed it to Kate’s outstretched hands. Folding up his sleeves, he nodded at the same woman and the same cycle repeated itself. He spent the first twenty seconds experimenting with the strength and bounce of the marble, but once he got the first one in, the rest followed so smoothly at Kate could only stare in disbelief.
 

Another round of cheers and applause sounded when he completed his task. He looked at Kate and winked, “We had a deal.”

“You’re good,” Kate said, still in a state of disbelief.
 

Tyler steered Kate out of the cheering crowd and headed back to their table, thinking they had enough excitement for the day. “Ty,” Kate began, but Tyler immediately interjected. “We had a deal, are you backing out of your word?”

Kate waited till they were seated before she continued, “I know we had a deal, but these are your mother’s. Are you sure, you want to give them to me, and not keep them for someone else? Someone more important in the future.”

“I’m sure.”
 

Sighing, Kate nodded. “all right, but if you ever change your mind, just tell me and I’ll give them back to you.”

He scoffed at her words, “They are yours Kate, yours to keep, forever. I don’t take back things I give.”
 

Since she ran out of arguments, she pursed her lips before saying, “Thank you. They’re exquisite.”

That night was the first time since taking over the company that Tyler stayed throughout the dinner and the lucky draw winning announcements. It was the first time he sat through an entire dinner without once feeling bored or checking his watch.
 

When they got home, Tyler got out of his seat and jogged over Kate’s side of the door, helping her out of the car. She took his hand and once he closed the door, she turned and made her way toward the mansion. Tyler tightened his hand and stood on the spot, stopping her from moving further. “Do your feet hurt?”

“Slightly,” she answered. “Why? We going hiking?”
 

He slipped his free hand into his pocket and took out his phone. Kate watched curiously as his fingers got to work along the screen. She stepped forward to peer at what he was doing, but before she could see the screen, he shifted his arm away just as music began playing. He pulled her closer against his chest and placed his arm on her back. “You look gorgeous tonight. Tonight was the only time in my life I actually wished there would be dancing at the dinner.”

“This is rather nice, too,” she said as she lean her head against his chest. “What song is it?”

“Remember, Dan was playing it in his car some time ago.”

“So you kept it in your phone waiting for a chance to whip it out for a dance?”

Tyler chuckled, “No, I just thought it was nice song.”

“It is,” Kate said softly as she swayed along with Tyler.
 

“Did you have fun tonight?” Tyler asked, his deep voice resonating in his chest.
 

“I did. And you?”

“Yes, I did.”

Kate smiled, “That’s good.”

Tyler held her and moved slowly along with the song, hoping that it would never end. He took in a deep breath and her rose and vanilla scent wafted into his nose. “You smell like ice-cream, rose flavored ice-cream.”

“Is that good or bad?”

Everything about her was good to Tyler, but he didn’t reply her.