“My hero.” Nudging his shoulder, she laughed. “You’re totally spoiling me. At this rate, I won’t be able to go to events where there aren’t as many perks.”
They stepped into the elevator and Brody hit the button for the third floor. “I guess that means tomorrow we’ll have to ease up on golf carts and elevators,” he said with a dramatic sigh. “And I’ll alert the staff to only bring in a sub-par lunch.”
“Damn. And I figured I would request champagne and caviar while getting my feet massaged.” She wilted against the elevator wall, hand on her forehead. “How will I ever make it through the day?”
The doors opened and they stepped out, laughing. Leanna looked around to get her bearings and then began to walk toward her door. It would have been easy to simply wish her a good night and head in the opposite direction to his own room, but…technically this was like a date so he supposed it was normal to walk her to her room.
At her door, she stopped and turned to him. “Thanks for seeing me home safely,” she said softly with just a hint of a smile. In the dim lighting of the hallway, he could still make out the slight blush.
“Thanks for helping me out with my family tonight,” he replied, sliding his hands into his trouser pockets. “Believe it or not, if you weren’t with me, I would have gotten into at least three arguments and then I probably would have been escorted out of the party tent. And off the property.”
Her eyes went a little wide. “That seems a bit excessive.”
“Which part?” he asked with a laugh.
“All of it.” She paused. “You know, my family gives me grief, but we’re not mean about it. And for the record, it’s okay for you to disagree with your family, Brody. Just maybe…learn to pick your battles.”
He wasn’t quite sure what to say to that.
“And admit it, you had a good time tonight–circus atmosphere and all.” Again, she nudged him playfully.
“That was only because I had the loveliest date with me,” he replied, but it came out a bit gruffer than he intended.
Her blush deepened. “Brody, I…”
It really had been a good night and he didn’t want her to give him any platitudes or any reason to think otherwise.
Instead, he leaned in and cupped her cheek and gently placed his lips on hers. Leanna stiffened for a moment before she sighed and melted against him.
That was…surprising.
Stepping in closer, he wrapped one arm around her waist to hold her to him as he deepened the kiss. Maybe it was crazy to be doing this after knowing each other less than twenty-four hours, but…it didn’t feel that way.
It actually felt pretty damn spectacular and when her tongue touched his, Brody was unable to stop the low growl of appreciation. One kiss led to another and all he could think of was how all they needed to do was open the door to her bedroom and…
“Brody,” she whispered, breaking the kiss. She was a little breathless and looked up at him with dazed eyes.
Resting his forehead against hers, he gently cleared his throat. “That was…unexpected.”
Nodding, she agreed. “I had a really great time tonight, but…I need to go. My alarm is set to go off at four, so…” She stepped out of his arms and gave him a lazy smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow, I guess.”
His head was spinning and it surprised him how much he already missed the feel of her. “Um…yeah. Would it be okay if I met you here again tomorrow at five?”
Leanna bit her bottom lip as she nodded. “Goodnight.” She turned and opened the door and smiled at him again before she closed it.
And like some sort of lovesick fool, he stood there and stared at it for a solid minute before he turned and walked away.
Chapter 5
The best things in life are sweet.
“Oh, my goodness! He kissed you?”
“He kissed me.”
“Was it good? Bad? Did you slap him?” Skye asked with a hint of humor.
“It was really good and no slapping required.” Then she sighed. “If anything, it was so good that I was tempted to drag him into my suite!”
“So why didn’t you?”
“Um…because we just met, Skye! How awful would that be?”
“Lots of people hook up on the first date. You wouldn’t be the first, Lea.”
The thought was more appealing than she wanted to admit, but…the opportunity was gone. That was last night and now she was back in her room waiting for him to knock on the door to take her to tonight’s engagement event.
Where she’d have to introduce him to her family.
Giant ugh.
“What do you think will happen tonight after the party?”
“Honestly? I hope more of what we started last night, but…the timing just stinks.”
“Why?”
“Skye, I’m here to work. I wish I didn’t have to go to this days-long party at all. I’m exhausted and would kill for fourteen hours of uninterrupted sleep and an equally long foot massage. So no matter how much I may want to kiss Brody and maybe invite him into my room, nothing can happen. I have to be up at the crack of dawn again tomorrow to finish the desserts. And it will be the same tomorrow night, so…”
“So maybe you do the goodnight kiss again and again and then make plans to see him after the weekend? It’s obvious he’s interested in you, Lea.”
“Or maybe this isn’t a big deal to him. I’m just helping him out and maybe we just got caught up in the moment. Maybe all he wanted was to give me a simple kiss goodnight and I took it to mean something more. Or maybe…”
“Or maybe you need to just stop looking at all the negatives and be a little optimistic!”
“I don’t know…”
“Okay, change of subject. How are all the desserts coming? Do you need more help? Are you on track still with everything?”
“I am and I’m totally good on help,” she replied, grateful for the new topic. “Everything for tonight is done and set up, and the cake for tomorrow is about 80% done. All the fondant is on and looks perfect. Tomorrow I’ll do the rest of the decorating while the girls do the cupcakes. Sylvia came to the trailer today and ordered an additional 500 cupcakes so we are definitely scrambling.”
“And extra 500? What on earth for?”
“She wants to give each of the staff a box to take home. So we’re doing four-packs. Luckily I had a ton of that box size at the office and the girls brought them this morning.”
“That’s good.”
“And I was relieved when she didn’t expect them to be anything fancy. I was a little afraid that she was going to want something gourmet or specifically decorated, but she was very reasonable. It just means the cooler is a little crowded and the tent is really threatening to overflow.”
“You’re being extremely accommodating,” Skye said with just a hint of rebuke. “I would hope they realize that.”
“Oh, Sylvia does. She thanked me a bunch of times, paid me immediately, and included a hefty bonus. But I’m still exhausted. I really wish I could skip tonight’s festivities and soak in the tub for an hour.”