me?” Kyle suggested. “My assistant left for another position and I could use someone to take her place. The schedule is pretty flexible, except during Fashion Week, obviously.”
Nelson broke into a grin. “Kyle, I really appreciate all you’re doing for me. Man, this is great.”
“I have to warn you that it’s not all glitz and glamour, Nelson.”
“I know,” he replied. “I’ve seen enough of what goes on. I think it’s why Mother never wanted any of us to get involved in the fashion industry.”
“Then she’s probably not going to be pleased that you’re my assistant,” Kyle said.
Nelson shrugged. “She no longer has any say about the choices I make for my life. Right now my mother needs to try to fix this mess she’s created with the family. Family should always stick together.”
Kyle couldn’t agree more.
His cell phone rang, cutting into their conversation.
“Your phone’s been blowing up for the past fifteen minutes,” Nelson commented as they ate. “That honey must really want to talk to you.”
Kyle broke into a grin. “It’s this girl I used to date. She’s in town for Fashion Week and she wants to get together.” He picked up his glass of water and took a long sip.
Nelson leaned back in his chair. “Let me guess...she’s a model, right?”
“Actually, she’s a painter,” Kyle said. “I stopped dating models a year ago.”
His cousin laughed. “You were always a ladies’ man.”
“Hey, I can’t help that the women love me.” Kyle wiped his mouth on the edge of his napkin.
“Still humble, I see,” Nelson said with a chuckle.
Kyle leaned back in his chair. “You’re just mad because Lena Swan picked me that summer you spent with us before we went off to college.”
Grinning, Nelson shook his head. “I’m glad she chose you, Kyle. She was a strange female.” He stuck a forkful of salmon into his mouth.
“I have to agree,” Kyle said. “I didn’t know what to do when she showed up one weekend with a wedding dress and rings.”
Nelson howled with laughter. “That’s what you get for lying to that girl, telling her that you were in love with her.”
Kyle gave a slight shrug. “Lena cured me of declaring my love to anyone unless I really mean it.”
Kyle had been through a number of relationships, but his brief romance with Lena had almost caused him physical harm—she had pulled a knife on him when he had broken up with her. His parents had finally been able to calm her down enough to take the knife. Lena’s parents were called to come get her and were warned to keep her away from Kyle or the police would be contacted. Lena wisely kept her distance.
“I actually ran into Lena last year during Christmas,” he told Nelson. “She proudly displayed her wedding ring and pregnant belly. She looked happy.”
“Lucky for you,” Nelson said. “Hey, whatever happened to that ballet dancer you were dating?”
“She joined Dance Theatre of Harlem and ended up falling in love with one of the dancers. She married him less than three months after we broke up.” Kyle picked up a French fry and stuck it into his mouth.
“Ouch, that must have hurt.”
Kyle shrugged in nonchalance. “It hurt my pride most of all. I cared a great deal for her, but I wasn’t ready to be tied down. That was the problem with all of the women in my life—they all wanted to get married and have babies. I’m too much of a free spirit for that. It would stifle my creativity.”
“You just haven’t met the right woman yet,” Nelson stated.
“I have to stay focused. RHD is going to be mine one day and I fully intend to take the company to the next level. In order to do that, I have to devote my life to it.”
“So you plan to remain a bachelor for the rest of your life?”
“I don’t know what the future holds, but right now my focus is on RHD. You know that when it’s a family-owned business, people would rather believe that I was just handed my position. They don’t want to consider how hard I’ve worked, but I don’t care,” Kyle said. “The naysayers in this industry only motivate me to work that much harder.”
Even as Kyle declared his devotion to his work, he couldn’t stop himself from thinking of the one woman who hadn’t tried to force or manipulate him into a serious relationship.
Zoe Sinclair.
They had developed feelings toward each other shortly after she came to RHD as an intern, although Kyle never let those emotions bloom into anything more. From the first moment he’d set eyes on her, Kyle knew he had to do his best to put Zoe out of his mind. Deep down, there were times when he really missed working with her, but Kyle wholeheartedly believed it was for the best that she had chosen to leave RHD.
Because if she hadn’t, there was no telling what might have happened between them.
And Zoe Sinclair was most definitely a distraction that Kyle did not need.
Chapter 2
Zoe settled onto the plush sofa in the living room and reached for the remote, desperate for something to distract her from the image of Kyle Hamilton in his signature black turtleneck and black jeans that had been at the forefront of her mind all day.
“Why can’t I get you out of my head?” she whispered.
She counted every moment she had spent away from Kyle a blessing in disguise, but lately he seemed to consume her thoughts. It was probably because of all the media hype for Fashion Week. Plus, she was exhausted from all the long hours she was working, and her defenses were down. Her thoughts kept going in circles whenever it came to Kyle. Zoe needed to bottle up her feelings for him. She needed to be in control.
Zoe had left RHD five years ago and had not had any real contact with Kyle in almost a year outside of professional events. She and Kyle had not been on the best of terms when she’d left to work for Guava International. Although she would never admit it out loud, Zoe had loved her time with the Hamiltons. However, toward the end, she had decided it was best to leave and vowed to never look back.
It still irked her that Kyle had actually seemed relieved at the news of her leaving RHD. In fact, it downright angered Zoe. She had hoped he would plead with her to stay with the company, but he had said nothing. It was apparent that he didn’t care if he ever saw her again.
She tried to shake the thought out of her mind, refusing to allow such memories to dampen her mood. Things were going well for her professionally. Several of her designs were being featured in Guava’s show. She had worked hard to get to this point in her career.
If only I had someone special to share it with.
Zoe stopped surfing channels
