Chapter 10 - Confrontations from all sides

Keegan’s POV

We hadn’t discussed public displays of affection yet. We probably should have, no we most definitely should have talked about it, sometime before his lips pressed against mine with no warning. It’s not like I had never been kissed before, it has been a while with everything that was going on, but I had been kissed before. I dated a lot during my college years. Part of me yearned for those years, the freedom and fun of dating. My work schedule didn’t really allow for dating, so it had been a long time, a very long time. Which is why I think I was stunned at first when I first felt Ryder’s warm lips against mine. At first, I didn’t react, but before I knew it, my arms tightened around his neck, and I was kissing him back. His teeth grazed my bottom lip, and I parted them slightly. Apparently, that was the only encouragement he needed because his tongue snaked between them and into my mouth. My own tongue eagerly sought out his as we continued to kiss on the dance floor.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but my mind finally caught up with my mouth, and I pulled away, breathless, staring up at Ryder, who was just as breathless at me. He was looking smugly at me, my lipstick smudged on his lips.

I glanced around and suddenly was painfully aware that almost everyone's eyes were on us. We didn’t say anything as the song ended. Ryder just grabbed my hand and let us both back to the table. His teammate Archer had returned to his own table, and dessert was being served.

As we both slid into our seats, his teammates and their partners were all staring at us, smiling. Whilst his teammates had all been nice to me throughout the dinner, the wives and girlfriends were pretty much giving me the cold shoulder apart from April. She was really sweet. Did that public display of affection finally show them that this was something?

April gave me a wink as she passed Ryder a spare napkin, “You got a little something on your mouth Ryder.”

The whole table erupted in laughter as he wiped my lipstick off of his mouth, and all I wanted to do was sink down in my chair and hide out of embarrassment. Why the hell did I kiss him back like that? I didn’t even like him in that way, and more to the point, why did I enjoy it so much? He was a really good kisser. But that was beside the point. It could never happen again.

We got through dessert, and then finally, it was time to get out of there. I stayed silent the entire ride home, unable to find the words to express how I was feeling. Ryder had no problems with his words. He and Roger were chatting the entire way home about the upcoming basketball season.

When we got into the house, I started to head straight towards the stairs to head up to my room and as far away from Ryder as possible.

“Hey.” Ryder called out, forcing me to stop and turn back around, “are you mad at me or something?”

I crossed my arms protectively over my chest, “You could say that.”

“Why?” He queried, “I don’t understand. I thought everything went well.”

“You kissed me!” I told him, “We never talked about that.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, “look, I’m sorry, okay, I got caught up in the moment. But we are going to have to kiss sometimes. There is no way we will pass as a couple if we don’t at least kiss in public. And you seemed okay. You kissed me back.”

“Y…e.s…” I stammered, “I did kiss you back. It was instinct, besides what was I supposed to do, push you away and slap you or something. Because that would have been really great for a supposed relationship.”

He threw his hands up, “So what do you want me to ask you every time I kiss you?”

“No.” I exclaimed in frustration, “but it would have been nice to talk expectations before it happened. Look, it’s late, and I have work in the morning, so can we table this discussion for now?”

“Fine, see you tomorrow I guess.” He growled, storming off in the direction of the kitchen.

I didn’t sleep very well that night, and not even a date with Walker in the morning or any amount of scented bath bombs were enough to get me out of my funky mood. I really shouldn’t have blown up at Ryder like that. It wasn’t like he meant anything by it, but when I went downstairs, he was nowhere in sight, so I had no other choice but to pour some coffee into my travel mug and head to work.

Thankfully the news hadn’t broken yet about Ryder and my relationship, so the day was as boring as normal. I sweet-talked my boss into allowing me to skip my lunch break and leave an hour earlier instead so I could try to catch my Dale at his office as he was still avoiding calls.
Dale was an Investment Banker with one of the largest firms in the country. Before my mom died, he used to take me into the office with him on occasion. I would stare out of the windows of his office in wonder about how high up we were, pretending I could fly, and Dale would put me in his big office chair and pretend it was a thrown. At one stage in my life, he made me feel safe and loved. Nowadays, I couldn’t understand how someone who was smart enough to pull in a high six-figure salary was stupid enough to blow it all gambling.

Luckily his office didn’t have too much turnover, and the old receptionist didn’t blink when I strolled past her towards the elevators. She had been operating that desk for as long as I could remember. Once I was upstairs, it was another story. I made a beeline for his office, noticing the receptionist there was new.
She stood up as I approached, but I put my hand up to stop her, “I’m his daughter, no he’s not expecting me, but I need to see him. It’s important.”

Calling myself his daughter actually made me want to vomit, but I figured that it was the best way to get past her without her calling security.
I had seen him throw the frosted glass, so I threw the door open, preparing for war, “Hard to ignore me when I come to the office, isn’t it…….”

I stopped midsentence when I realised that Dale wasn’t alone in his office, a tall, dark-haired man in an expensive suit lounging on a couch on the other side of the office.”

Dale had a slightly panicked look on his face as his eyes darted between myself and his companion, “Viktor, this is my daughter Keegan, Keegan, sweetheart this one of my clients Viktor Komarov. My apologies, Viktor. I forgot my daughter was coming to meet me this afternoon. Are you okay if we pick this up another time?”

The man looked me up and down, smirking as he stood up and fastened his jacket, “No apologies required, Dale.” He responded in an accent I didn’t recognise. “You’ll have to forgive me, but you look very different from the pictures in your father’s office.”

My eyes darted around the room. I hadn’t stepped into this office since my eleventh birthday, where he promised me that we were going to go out for dinner after he finished work for the day but left me alone in his office for over three hours while he went to a meeting. I found out later that that meeting they were having was him and his pals playing poker in the conference room. He forgot I was there until he returned to his office at nine o’clock after my grandmother called him because I wasn’t home yet and found me asleep on the couch. I finally saw the pictures he was referring to. I was no more than ten in any of them.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Mr Komarov, my apologies for storming in and disturbing your meeting,” I replied diplomatically. It wasn’t his fault Dale was a douche.

Viktor walked over until he was right in front of me, “Never apologise. Family time is important. I myself am just about to head back to Russia for some family time.”
So that was the reason for the accent, “Wow, Russia, that has always been on my list of places to visit when I get the time.”
He smiled broadly, “It’s an amazing place to see. I haven’t been back in many years. When I am not here in the States, I spend most of my time in Dubai. If you do ever get there, ask your father to give me a call, and I will give you a list of must-see places and not just all the touristy stuff. The real Russia.”

“That sounds great, thank you,” I answered nervously. The way he was looking at me made me uncomfortable, but my Grams didn’t raise me to be rude. Well, to strangers, that is. Dale was a completely different story.

I watched as Dale escorted his client to the door and then closed it once the man was outside. He hung his head, taking a deep breath before turning to face me, “Keegan Leanne Marshall, you could have just lost me, my biggest client.”

I rolled my eyes at the fact he used my full name like he was a parent, “funny you talk about losing big things, you lost Grams’ house and let us find out when they came to collect.”

He shifted in place, “I….ummm….look I’m sorry, okay. I didn’t think there was any way I would lose that night, and when I did, I was too embarrassed to face you and your grandmother.”

“HOW WAS THAT NIGHT DIFFERENT TO ANY OTHER NIGHT WHEN YOU LOSE.” I screamed, not caring that his receptionist would be able to hear me, “You didn’t think, you never do, Dale, and once again, you have left me to clean up another one of your messes.”

“You mean, they aren’t selling?” He asked carefully.

“No.” I replied, unsure why I was bothering to let him off the hook so easily, “As usual, I have fixed it, but I’m here to tell you this is the last time. Someone will be contacting you to sign transfer paperwork, so this can not happen again. I am begging you not to fight and sign it, for once in your life, do the right thing, Dale.”

“It wouldn’t hurt you to call me Dad, Keegan,” He advised me gruffly as he went back towards his desk.
I stormed towards the door, pausing with my hand hovering over the door handle. “You may have been a dad to the girl in those photos, Dale, but you weren’t to me, so you’ll excuse me if I refrain from lying. My grandmother, the woman who actually raised me, taught me not to lie.”

Before he could get another word, I opened the door and stormed out, hoping to god that that was the last time I was ever going to have to deal with that man ever again. After the emotional upheaval of the afternoon, I was looking forward to a hot dinner, searching Ryder’s excessively large pantry for any food that was extremely bad for me and curling up in bed to watch a movie on Netflix. Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed when I pulled up to the house, and at least thirty cars were lining the driveway. When I got out of the car, I could feel the vibrations bass line of the music pumping from here. What the hell was going on?