As much as he wanted to push her to delegate her work tomorrow so she could spend her time with him, he knew how much he would resent someone telling him to do the same.
Her smile was sweet as she reached up and caressed his jaw. “Thank you for coming to my rescue tonight. I don’t know what I would have done if I had to spend the entire time listening to my parents critique me.”
His hand captured hers before he brought it to his lips and kissed it. “It was my pleasure. I’m just sorry they cause you so much stress.”
“I feel the same for you. Now you’re stuck being my fake date just so they’ll leave you alone.”
The thought made him smile. “What a pair we make, huh?” And before she could comment, he leaned in to kiss her.
Just as she had the night before, Leanna melted against him as his arms slowly banded around her. He wanted to seduce her–to make her want to invite him into her room–but instead, it was more of a sweet and languid kiss. He raised his head and placed one light kiss on the tip of her nose. “Go get some sleep and I’ll see you tomorrow night. Will five o’clock work for you?”
She nodded and then immediately yawned. “Sorry. Yes, that will be perfect. Goodnight, Brody.”
He waited until her door was shut before turning and going to his own room.
Inside, he walked around as he unbuttoned his shirt and did his best to tell himself that he wasn’t disappointed.
As crazy as it was, this little round of make-believe with Leanna was the closest thing he’d had to a relationship in years and having her practically glued to his side all night had been more arousing than it should have been.
If only she didn’t have to work so damn early in the morning…
Or work at all for that matter.
It wasn’t entirely unrealistic for her to take the day off. After all, it was her cousin’s engagement party and she had more than enough staff available to help her.
But as soon as he finished that thought he knew he was out of line because she was no different than he was. There were more than enough junior executives working for him that could handle more than half of the stuff Brody insisted on handling himself.
Just another thing they had in common.
He was tired, but not overly so, and opted to change into a pair of pajama pants and pull out his laptop. All this party hoopla had kept him away from reading reports and answering emails but now that he had some time, he could do it.
The next time he looked at the time, it was almost two in the morning. Putting the laptop aside, he stood and stretched and cursed the fact that he was going to bed alone.
Yeah, all the work hadn’t taken the edge off of that one.
Still, he walked into his bedroom and crawled beneath the sheets. Turning his head, he stared at the empty spot beside him and found himself reaching for it–almost as if he were going to find Leanna there. His eyes drifted closed and a small smile crossed his lips as he imagined her being there.
And was asleep faster than he thought he would.
The next evening, Brody stood outside Leanna’s door and straightened his tie before knocking. This was the formal part of the weekend’s festivities and he was simply counting down the minutes until it was all over.
Then Leanna opened the door and he felt his heart kick hard in his chest.
Her honey blonde hair was half up and there were loose curls framing her face.
And her face was positively stunning.
This was the first night she had on more makeup–her lips were painted a deep crimson; her eyes were done up in that smokey way and she looked beyond beautiful.
Then there was the dress.
Navy blue with a hint of silver beading and it hit at her knees but had a slit that came up mid-thigh. She had a silver shawl draped over her arm and a pearl choker around the slender column of her neck and he wanted to walk her back into her room and say to hell with this damn party and finally have her alone.
“You look very handsome tonight,” she said, interrupting his thoughts.
Smiling, he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “And you look gorgeous.” Holding out his arm to her, he added, “Shall we?”
Lea hooked her arm through his after closing her door. They walked toward the elevator. “Is it wrong that I am looking forward to this the least?” she asked, shaking her head.
Moving his hand to the small of her back, he guided her into the elevator before hitting the down button. “Not at all. If it were up to me, I’d sweep you off your feet and take off just the two of us.”
Her eyes went a little wide. “Really?”
Brody moved in and backed her up against the wall and kissed her until they were both breathless. When he lifted his head, he said, “Yeah. Really.”
“Oh, my…” Her voice was a little shaky and he loved knowing he did that to her.
It was beyond tempting to hit the up button and take them back up to the third floor and do exactly what he just suggested, but…it was the last night of engagement festivities and he knew there’d be hell to pay if he didn’t show up.
One glance at Leanna, however, and he thought it would be worth it.
Still, when the doors slid open, he took a step back and took her by the hand and led her out.
It was a little like being stuck in the movie Groundhog Day–every night felt almost exactly the same. They mingled, they ate, they danced, and smiled for pictures. Brody glanced at his watch and knew they had at least another hour or two before they were going to leave and he resigned himself to it as he watched the dessert table get wheeled in with Leanna’s cake being the centerpiece. Beside him, he saw her tense up as everything was set up and she didn’t relax until the table was secured.
Leaning over, he whispered, “I guess it’s hard watching someone else handle your creation.”
She nodded. “I’m never the one to carry the cakes in and I should be used to it by now, but normally I’m back in the kitchen and not watching like this. It’s a little unnerving.”
“Well, for what it’s worth, it looks fantastic. Not that I expected anything less.”
She turned her head and smiled. “Thank you.”
Tonight’s dessert was an all-out buffet with different stations set up and honestly, he wasn’t the least bit interested in any of it. Their dinner was filling enough and he was simply ready to be done socializing.
All around them, people stood up and began helping themselves to cake and cookies and ice cream and Leanna smiled when she saw the bulk of the guests were surrounding her cake.
“What would you like?” he asked.
Before she could respond, her phone dinged with an incoming text and she slid it out of her purse and took her time scrolling and reading. He didn’t dare read over her shoulder so he opted to wait. It wasn’t until she put her phone away that he prompted her about dessert.
“Um…Lea?”
It took her a moment to answer, but when she did, she leaned in close and whispered, “I’d like to fake a headache and leave. My feet are killing me and I’d love to just be anywhere but here.” Pulling back, she gave him a shy smile. “Think we can do that?”
He couldn’t remember the last time he sprung into action so quickly.
Within minutes, they said their goodbyes and were in a golf cart heading back to the house. Brody’s hand never left her body–it was either on the small of her back, holding her hand, or wrapped around her shoulders. Once he had her in the elevator again, he mimicked his earlier move and gently pressed her against the wall and kissed her.