If he’d passed Kaya on the street, in a restaurant, or pulled up beside her at a traffic light, Bryce knew he would have given her a second look, maybe a third. He most certainly would have asked for her number.
And to think he could have had it months ago when Lauren had been telling him that she wanted him to meet her sister. He’d shut Lauren down because he hadn’t wanted to jeopardize their friendship. What if he’d met Kaya and didn’t like her? Well, that wasn’t an issue anymore. He’d met her and he liked her, too much, he realized at the stirring in his loins. But the outcome would have been the same, because when he’d had his fill of little Kaya, he would have walked away like he always did. His friendship with Lauren had meant too much to him. It still did, even though she was gone. So there was no messing with her little sister. Stand down, boy.
“So, here we are,” she said, raising her head to offer him a heart-stopping smile.
“Yes, here we are.” Dear God, he was dumbstruck. Only once in his life had Bryce ever felt this powerless to a woman.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked, crossing her arms about her.
Bryce shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he said to cover his enthrallment. “It’s just that you look nothing like Lauren. You’re so petite, and Lauren was—well, Lauren.” He formed a generous figure in the air with his hands. “I expected some small hint of resemblance, at least.”
“Maybe it’s because we were half-sisters,” she said, a smile lighting the soft features of her face.
“Half-sisters?” He tilted his head to one side. “Lauren told me she had a younger sister, but she never elaborated. I just assumed you had the same parents.” He frowned as he studied her. “I didn’t think you’d be this young, either.” He hadn’t thought anything of her at all, since he never expected to ever meet her. She couldn’t be much older than twenty-two or three. Lauren had to be at least ten years her senior.
His eyes appraised her petite form, dressed in a cream sweater and a knee-length skirt. Even in her black high-heel boots, the top of her head hardly made it to his chest. She looked very soft, very warm, very female—his ideal type. Lauren knew him well. A fond smile touched his lips at the memories of his friend, his sister, whom he missed so much already.
“Let’s just say Eli Brehna would never have been nominated Father of the Year,” Kaya said as her fingers closed around a fist-shaped locket resting against her chest. “Neither Lauren nor I ever spoke about it.”
He wanted to ask her about the “it” she and Lauren never spoke about, but knew it was not the right time. He and Lauren had been very close, yet she’d never mentioned “it”.
Whatever secret they’d shared, Lauren had taken it to the grave with her. He wondered how much she’d told Kaya about him, about...
“I was also surprised when I saw your pictures, Mr. Fontaine.”
“Please, call me Bryce. There’s no need for formality between us.”
“Okay, then I’m Kaya.” Her lips spread on a warm smile. “As I was saying, Michael was a lot older than Lauren, so when she wrote that you were best friends, I assumed you were his age. Besides, there aren’t many thirty-something-year-old men out there who’ve built billion-dollar empires from the ground up.”
“When I want something, I just go out and get it.”
“I’m just the same way. I believe in fighting for what I want. I let nothing stand between me and my heart’s desires.”
Bryce smiled. “We have something in common already, I see.”