Contract Marriage with My CEO Boss

Chapter 105

Chapter 105

One year later

Katrina never slept well when Kylan had to go out of town. She didn't like being alone at night. She didn't like worrying about if he was sleeping well, or if he was having a nightmare. Even though his nightmares only happened now when he was overly stressed, she still worried. She still wanted him to be okay, especially when he wasn't with her.

She missed his arms, his smell, and the quiet reassurance that she was safe. If she allowed herself to think about it too hard, it was probably a little ally that she couldn't get comfortable without her husband's strong arms around her, or his chest pressed to her back in that way she liked.

But she was so combined with Kylan, so wrapped up in everything that was him, in what doing life with him meant to her.. So, when he was p she didn't sleep well.

Lately, he was gone a lot. Too much, if she had anything to say about it.

Ross Corporation had fully integrated into the military side of business, and she was happy for Kylan, really happy for him, but it meant he had to go on several trips and listen in on extra phone calls. Which was fine. It was.

He was a CEO, and his company was growing, thriving in ways that made her smile. But she missed her husband. And while she knew he missed her too, it didn't make those nights where the bed was too big and too empty, any easier for her to handle.

When she woke up to her alarm, it took her a moment to remember she was by herself. Kylan was in Boston for a conference, and he wouldn't be back until tomorrow night. And it was fine. It was. She was fine.

But tomorrow was her first wedding anniversary, and she was possibly a little sad he hadn't been able to turn has CEO persona off a day early

This was one of those times where she missed being his assistant. She never regretted taking the PR job. She knew she made the right decision. She knew her relationship, her marriage with Kylan was healthier because of it. She knew it was a smart move, and Vincent had proven to be Instrumental for Kylan.

But were she still his assistant, she would be with him. She would be able to slip beneath the sheets of his hotel bed and she would be able to feel safe the way she would never tire of

But it was fine. She was fine.

Katrina was taking a half day an work so she could go cake tasting with Aaron and Maine. Their wedding was in three months, and they were ironing out the last of the details. Cake just so happened to be one of them, and she wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to distract herself and indulge in something sweet.

nd she

She was the maid of honor for both of them. And it was an honor. They were right for each other in every way that mattered, and she wanted their day to be as meaningful as her wedding had been.

She turned on her side, huffing a bit as she looked at the empty space in the bed next to her. She stretched out a hand, running her fingers over the pillow that should occupy her husband's head.

One more day. He would be home tomorrow, and she would celebrate her anniversary, and he would hug her and this would be another conference behind her

She forced herself to sit up, rubbing the remnants of sleep from her eyes. She grabbed her phone from off its charger at the exact moment it began to ring. She smiled at the picture of herself and Kylan on her wedding day that she set as his contact photo. The sun was shining her foreheads were pressed together, and he was staring at her with warmth. With love. With that safety.

Katrina pressed the "accept" icon and stood from her bed, balancing her phone on her shoulder so she could move her covers back in place while

she talked.

"Good morning, my darling" She were the first to speak, her voice a little hoarse from disuse.

"Good morning, love. How's your sleep?"

She fluffed the last of the her throw pillows, smoothing down the lines in the duvet and then huffing. "You know how I slept," She replied just a bit coolly

She could hear Kylan sigh on the other end of the line while she walked to her closet and began to pick out a skirt and shirt that wouldn't suffocane her too much in the mid July brat

"When are Aaron and Maine subjecting you to an obscene amount of sugar?"

attice for a few

She peeled off her nightgown and underwear, taking hold of her clothes and then heading to the bathroom. 1 have to go into the office hours because Anna called in sick and wasn't able to finish the quarterly PR reports. So, they'll pick me up around lunch time" She brushed through the tangles in her hair, bating back a yawn. She sank onto the toilet seat, wincing against the cold porcelain that greeted her bare skin. "Remind me when your flight gets in tonsorrow, please"

Just after seven. I wish it were earlier. This whole conference has been a damn headache. Vincent also steeped my tea for a minute too long this morning, so that doesn't help a thing."

She couldn't fight the snort of laughter that left her throat. "Not the tea. What are you while

"Yeah, yeah. Tease at my expense. See if I do that thing you li

like tomorrow"

meant to do, Kylan?" She frigned horror, smiling all the

That sobered her immediately. "You better do that thing I like. You've been gone long enough this time. She allowed her disappointment to saturate her words, standing and discarding her pajamas into the black hamper near the shower.

don't like leaving any more than you like missing me, Kate. The home tomorrow, and I suppose I'll do the

"Thank you, darling. I'll give you a call this evening. She moved to turn the handle inside the shower, adjusting in until the

to it. I love

you

please be nice to Vincent." She set her phone down on the bathroom vanity, smiling when Kylan huffed a laugh before ending

work. It just Didn't feel right, not having him drive her anymore. She was happy he retired, happy he was healthy, but it made her

excessive, to begin with. So, now it was her that navigated the New York City traffic in

monetary success. It took some getting used to, allowing herself to believe that everything Kylan owned was also hers. It was never about the money for her,

of caffeine, phone calls, emails and reports.

her that he and Maine would be at the office in a few

still closed out of the Word document she was working

Aaron's familiar sedan waiting near the curb for her. She watched him clamber out of the car and practically run over to her enveloping her in his arms and spinning her around like he hadn't seen her in weeks. When really, she saw him at least once a week outside of work

her cheek, and she groaned, wiping the moisture off her face with the back of her palm. But she still smiled

her, and she clambered inside. Maine was sitting in the back seat, and she turned to give her a more reasonable greeting than her hancé

like only someone could that had lived and breathed the busy concrete jungle life for years. Conversation flowed easily, like it always did with her best friends. With the occasional road rage thrown out when a fellow driver did something that Aaron deemed particularly heinaus, she traveled to a quaint bakery located

with parallel parking, and she found herself walking out of the stifling heat and into the cool of

a day like this. Sad, because she missed her husband. Happy, because she got

cake each were expertly placed all in a line, a small slip of paper detailing what was what in front

Aaron rubbed his hands together, packing up the sampling

found her spoon,

This strawberry buttercream looks phenomenal. We might need to choose a few flavors, one for each layer of the cake, Maine, his spoon in hand, grinned at

Chapter 105

kind worker indeed returned with champagne a few minutes later, and she

delicious, and she didn't envy the choice that Aaron and Maine would be left with. Until they told her to decide and she wasn't smiling

Ther

spoon and

I won't be held responsible for if the cake is a hit or miss. That's too much pressure." She licked some icing off set it on an empty plate, pushing

d then

over his chest. "You're the maid of honor, Kate. So. Honor" He shrugged his shoulders like he

"Let's just go with a classic lemon cake and then spice it up with a meringue icing" She looked at her fiance for approval

his hair, smiling her biggest smile

-0-0-0-

woke up far too early the next

positive, she channeled the restless energy into cleaning the penthouse from top

focused her efforts on the line things that

would put him in

worked, her mind

A whole year she had been married

also that an eternity had, all wrapped into three hundred

come so far, and they had done it together. For each

but it was more than enough. More than

clean enough for even her husband's ridiculous standards, and so she lit a candle on the kitchen countertop and then

of her body, scrubbed, and washed her face and hair twice, and then the put on a new black dress that was little more than strips of fine fabric. She took extra care with styling her hair and

werk was too

marble surface, and wondering when exactly she became so damn lovesick for another

rang, pulling her out of her daydreaming. She picked it up, grinning at Kylan's contact picture

back at her.

me you picked up my favorite bottle of wine from that place in the Upper West Side," she teased into her phone Kylan was quiet for a second too long and the smile

until tomorrow. I tried to charter a private jet, but

the day, too. I won't be able to get on a plane until were

taking a deep breath to

threatened to swallow

not your fault." Her voice sounded too quiet, too

shouldn't have waited until our anniversary to fly home. That was foolish of me. I should have prioritized you. Ross Corporation can want. You're what's important

the candle on

She blew

penthouse and turning off every light along the way: She reached her bedroom and flopped onto

just an anniversary, she murmured into her

airlines, and with every pretentious shit that reserved a private jet out of this airport today." He paused, but she didn't say anything to

Chapter 105

I swear I will

thing I like?"

as you