He wanted only one woman in his bed. And within the next few days, that’s exactly where he was going to have her. He hoped like hell his hormones would then simmer down to more manageable levels and he would stop acting like a damn teenager. Why did the term blue balls keep occurring to him?
It was a short elevator ride to the eighth floor, and then Byron went around the corner to Bill’s office. He would honestly love to know what Bill did all day — maybe the old man just played solitaire on his computer. Whatever made him happy was all that mattered, and if sitting in a downtown office was what he wanted to do, then Byron would continue letting Bill think the rent hadn’t gone up in four years and that he was paying fair market value on the space. He would never know that the brothers had made a deal with the manager of the building and that they were the ones ensuring that the old fellow stayed where he wanted to be.
When Bill looked up, Byron could have no doubt he was on the man’s naughty list — the old man was positively glowering at him. Okay, he probably deserved it for the many things he did do wrong on a daily basis. So he would take the verbal abuse and hopefully act humble enough to leave on Bill’s good side.
He decided to wait and see what Bill would say before he spoke. He didn’t have to wait long.
“What in the hell are you doing playing games with a fine woman like McKenzie Beaumont?” Bill asked gruffly, glaring at Byron from behind his desk.
“It’s good to see you as well, Bill,” Byron said as he moved forward and took a seat in the chair facing Bill.
“Don’t you patronize me, boy. I helped to raise you, in case you don’t remember,” Bill grumbled, and the words Byron had heard for his entire adult life made him smile.
He’d never said he loved anyone out loud — that brand of silence ran in the Knight family — but without a doubt, he had love for this man — this gruff, grumpy man who was probably the only reason Byron had any humanity left in him at all.
“I’d never think of doing such a thing, Bill,” he said. He was trying not to smile too wide, or Bill would think he was laughing at him, and that was not the case at all.
Bill looked at him suspiciously for several moments before he spoke again. “I asked you a question, Byron. Don’t think you can smile up at me and make me forget why I called you here.”
“What have you heard?” Byron certainly wasn’t going to spill his guts if the man didn’t know anything more than a rumor or two.
“Your brother told me how you went after this nice young woman who is the reason he met Jewell, and that he’s worried you’re going to hurt her. I’ve met McKenzie, and I agree with Blake. She’s a beautiful young woman and she doesn’t deserve to be harassed by the likes of you,” Bill said, his glare not flickering.
“I’m not harassing her,” Byron said. There was no one else he would actually defend himself to. Usually, if someone spoke to him this way — and it didn’t happen often — he would simply get up and walk away. He would never treat Bill with disrespect like that, though. He’d take whatever the man had to dish out.
Besides, he was in a little shock at wondering how in the world McKenzie had managed to bedazzle someone as savvy as Bill. The woman had run a flipping bordello for damns sake. She certainly wasn’t a saint, and he wouldn’t describe her as a nice young lady. She must be even craftier than he had given her credit for.
“You certainly won’t be anymore,” Bill said, enunciating each word.
Byron was silent for several heartbeats, and then he sighed. He didn’t want to give anything of himself away — he never did — but he suddenly felt as if he had zero choice. If he didn’t give Bill something to chew on, this could get really ugly.
“Look, Bill, it might have started out with me…harassing her, but it’s different now. I…I can’t get this woman off my mind. I can’t sleep, eat right, or even think on most days. I just…I don’t know.” Byron rubbed his hand across his hair. Even knowing everything he knew, he was infatuated to a certain extent.
“But you’re making her unhappy, so maybe you should back off. Maybe she just doesn’t want to be with you,” Bill said, but his voice was quieter as he observed Byron. That was the last thing Byron wanted, and his defenses popped right up, but with a lot of willpower he pushed them down again.
“She does,” Byron told him. “Believe me, if I felt she had no interest, I would back off, but there’s something between us, something that can’t be denied. She’s scared — and I don’t know what she’s scared of, but she’s running, and it’s not from me.”
“How are you so sure it isn’t you she’s trying to run from? You Knight youngsters have always had big egos.”
“I know when a woman has the hots…ummm…is interested in me,” Byron said. He could be confident about that, above anything else.
“Is sex worth torturing this woman over?” Bill asked.
“It’s not just sex…” Byron stopped himself before he said too much. This was going into a territory he refused to go into. “Sex is always worth anything,” he said instead, but it was too late. The only thing that would make this any better for him was if he told Bill he just wanted to screw her brains out until she was washed from him mind and he certainly couldn’t say that.
The words were too vile to let escape from his mouth, so instead he chose to be silent as Bill sat there and analyzed him. Byron felt as if he were under a microscope and he didn’t like the feeling one little bit.
“Look, Byron, you got the worst possible example of what love should be like by watching your very messed-up parents. In the end your father was weak, and your mother — well, your mother wasn’t…I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, but your mother was a cold-stone bitch,” he said, sending Byron into shock. “It’s just that you don’t want to repeat those patterns. If you open up your heart, allow other people in, you can have a good life. Mistreating women isn’t the way to do that.”
Byron let out a bitter laugh as he looked at the only father…grandfather…uncle –—whatever he wanted to call him, he was the only male figure he’d had worth modeling himself after. “I’m screwed then, because I have no desire to ever feel love. Not after what I witnessed.”
“I’ve had my own demons a time or two in my life. But while married to my beautiful Vivian, those demons were kept at bay. Every single day since I lost her, I’ve been fighting depression or whatever the shrinks call it. You need to open yourself up before it’s too late, or you’ll find yourself alone and filled with emptiness.”