My hand flies to my chest, and I audibly gasp. “Kalin, you’re crazy.”
“I was hoping for a shorter, three-letter answer.”
“Let me guess. After I say the answer, you want me to sign the contract.”
“No. After you marry me, I want you to sign the contract.”
“Again, very romantic, Kalin.”
“Timing is not always suspicious, Annabelle. It could be serendipitous. There were greater forces at work when we met.” He smiles at me.
“Yeah, your team of lawyers.”
“Admit that you’re in love with me, Annabelle.”
“No.”
“No, you don’t love me, or no you won’t admit it?”
“I don’t like the contract. I don’t like this setup. And I don’t like people trying to intimidate us. This is way more complex than I envisioned for my wedding. Instead of bridesmaids and flowers, I see legal contracts and thugs in black vans stalking us.” I pinch my lips together as conflicting thoughts race through my mind. “And I don’t even understand what I’m going to be doing on this job. I mean, you’re going to marry me, and then we work together? Isn’t that the opposite of what you just described?”
Kalin pulls his shoulders back and gazes down at me. “Not when it’s our company. That’s the whole point. I want you to know enough to delegate. The rest of your time is yours. And if anything ever happens to me, the company will still be in good hands. It won’t fall into the hands of these vultures.”
I grimace at him. “So you chose me for that reason?”
“Yes. I told you, Annabelle. I never thought I would meet someone like you. I was ready to give this company up.”
Kalin walks along the shore so the water laps over his feet. He stares out into the ocean. “I’ll still have all of this, Annabelle. I can sell all my shares and never think about it again. It wasn’t the dream for the company. But some dreams die. I’m willing to accept that. I would live the rest of my days wealthy and be perfectly fine.”
I suddenly feel the weight that Kalin carries around in his heart every day. “You wanted a family. With Rebecca. That’s why this company is so important to you. You wanted them to be taken care of. You wanted it to continue for them.”
Kalin stares at his feet under the foamy water, and scrapes his toes into the sand. “That was the dream. When Rebecca died, the dream died.”
My heart sinks at his words. Kalin lifts his eyes toward me. “I’m not trying to resurrect the dream through you, Annabelle. I’m not trying to pretend that you’re going to fill her shoes. I just want to start my life over again. It took a long time to get to this point. So maybe I came on a little too strong. But it wasn’t just her dying. It was that when I was down, the vultures swooped in. I could give this company up. I was ready to give it up. But I don’t know if I’m ready to leave the company in their hands now after what I saw. If you want me to, I will.”
“Kalin, this whole thing sounds way over my head. These guys would eat me alive. You have to be a shark to swim with the sharks, and I’m more of a guppy.” I quirk my mouth and fold my hands in front of me at the admission.
“What you are is a breath of fresh air. You’re not a predator that hurts people for no reason. I may be a shark in the business waters, Annabelle, but I have boundaries. I’m surrounded by greed, and deceit, and treachery. I understand that it’s part of the business world and competition, but I don’t want that in my own company against my own employees, and certainly not against me. It would be just as easy for me to walk away. Maybe the business has changed. Maybe I’m old fashioned.” He shrugs. “But I knew you were different when I met you.”
“How?”
Kalin rubs his hand over the nape of his neck. “Jesus, Annabelle, when you fell into my office, I could barely keep my eyes off you. But aside from that, you convinced me more and more who you really are.”
“We haven’t known each other that long, Kalin.” I wander down the beach, allowing the salty breeze to caress my senses.
“I see you. And as I’ve gotten to know you, I see how much more beautiful you really are. The way you would do anything for Lia, the way you don’t care about the money, the way you would turn it down in a heartbeat to keep people safe. I knew it when I met you.”
Kalin and I walk along the shore, looking at a distant ship in the ocean. I’m trying to understand his motives and his heart, but my own heart is suspicious and guarded. Maybe I’m the one who isn’t ready for love? His large hands grip my shoulders, and he pulls me toward him, breaking me from my thoughts. “Tell me you’re not in love with me, and I will walk away from you, this company, and you will never see me again.”