In all fairness, Kane had never been a hard ass when it came to his employees, especially those with children. He always tried to ensure that they never had to stay later than the normal closing time if at all possible. Although he had grown a bit protective of Lucie in recent months, he still tried to ensure he didn’t show her any preferential treatment.
Well, except for the fact that he wanted to ensure she made it home as well. Which was why he’d resorted to catching her on her way out, just to remind her that he expected a phone call to let him know she made it home safely.
“Call me when you get there,” he told her, locking his eyes with hers and daring her to argue with him.
Interestingly enough, she had only argued one time, and that had been the first time he insisted which he knew had taken her by surprise. She had called him heavy handed, and he had all but laughed it off. Ok, so maybe that was partly true.
At least since then, Lucie stopped being so stand-offish with him, but he definitely would not consider her warm when it came to their interactions.
“Ok,” Lucie said abruptly, then turned and made a beeline for the back doors that would lead to the parking garage. Little did Lucie know, but Kane would watch her until she was in her car and on her way out of the parking garage. He figured she certainly wouldn’t have taken too kindly to that, so he’d managed to hide it for the last few weeks.
Five minutes later, after he ensured that she was safely on her way, he pulled out his cell phone, made sure the ringer was on before sliding it back in his pocket. Fifteen minutes tops. That’s how long it would take her to get home and like clockwork, she had always called. Even though she didn’t linger on the phone, Kane still felt better knowing she was safe.
The impatient part of him wished they could gloss over all of the anger and pain that they’d caused each other in recent months, but he knew that was easier said than done. Mending what was broken between them was going to take time, even if he didn’t like it.
At least he could say that there weren’t any issues currently between him and his beautiful daughter, Haley. He’d taken baby steps with her, reaching out to a counselor from the very beginning to help them through the transition. Lucie had refused to go with them, but Kane couldn’t necessarily blame her. But, he was happy to say Haley was warming up to him much faster than he ever imagined, even if her mother was keeping her distance.
He was hoping he could change that because, despite her deceit, Kane knew Lucie, and he knew she was only trying to do what was best for everyone involved. Well, except for herself. She never had been one to put herself first. But she had tried to make the best out of a bad situation, and he truly believed she thought keeping Haley’s paternity from him was the best thing for both Haley and Kane.
He obviously didn’t agree, but that was in the past now and they had so much to work out. It was just going to take some time.
~~*~~
Lucie hurried to her car, feeling the heat of Kane’s gaze burning a hole in her back as he tracked her through the parking garage. A single woman made sure she knew her surroundings and Lucie had felt his presence since the very first time he watched her leave.
Hell, she knew every single time the man so much as glanced her way because she could feel the warmth of his gaze like a physical caress. No matter how much distance she tried to put between herself and Kane, Lucie had a damn hard time getting him off of her mind. It wasn’t like anything had changed in that regard though, even after recent events. She’d felt that way ever since that fateful night five years ago when she’d easily fallen for the man in the span of just a few hours, only to find out he didn’t remember a single minute of it.
Before she’d done the unthinkable.
Looking back on it now, Lucie knew that keeping Haley’s paternity a secret from her father wasn’t the brightest move she’d ever made, and she didn’t need a damn psychologist to confirm that either.
It also didn’t change the fact that she still stood by her belief that it was the right thing to do.
At the time.
She also knew that no one else agreed with her. Not her mother, not Cole, the one friend who had stood by her the entire time, and especially not Kane.
Had she not gone into complete and total panic over her daughter’s chronic health issues, Lucie probably would have never dropped the bomb on Kane either. Had she ever decided to tell him on her own, she knew she wouldn’t have chosen those circumstances as her reason.
He’d been understandably furious, and Lucie couldn’t blame him at all. She’d somehow managed to hold herself together after he ranted and raved and called her every vile name he could think of all while telling herself that she deserved every bit of his hatred.