The sound of the doorbell made her jump.
“I guess we’re sticking with the smokey eye and praying I’m not giving off all the wrong vibes here,” she murmured. With one last glance at herself, Leanna turned off the light, let out a long breath and went to answer the door.
And found she wasn’t the only one to put in some serious effort.
Brody stood there looking as mouthwateringly sexy as any James Bond actor. Butterflies took flight in her belly and even though she’d seen him in a suit the night they’d slept together, he still took her breath away.
“Hi,” she finally forced herself to say.
“Hey,” he replied softly, leaning in and kissing her cheek. “You look beautiful.”
Her cheeks warmed as she smiled. “Thank you. So do you.” Inwardly, she groaned. “I mean you look very handsome.” Taking a step back, she motioned for him to come in. “I just need to grab a sweater and my purse and I’ll be good to go.”
“Take your time.” Following her in, he looked around and Leanna had to wonder what he was thinking. Her apartment was small–definitely smaller than the suite she had at his parents’ place–and even though it never bothered her before, right now it did.
It was an open floor plan with her living room, dining room, and kitchen all in one space, then her bedroom was off the living room. Other than being small, she loved it. It was close to work and she had gone with a coastal décor because she found the color palette to be very soothing.
“Do you ever do any baking here?” Brody asked as she slid a black cashmere cardigan on.
“Some, but not too often. If inspiration hits or I have to experiment with something, sometimes I’ll work on it here. Like when I was trying to work on the design for Charlene’s Tiffany & Co. cakes, I did a lot of that here.”
He looked around and she could almost hear him questioning where she had the space to do it, so she explained.
“It helps that I am meticulous about cleaning up as I go, so once the cupcakes were in the oven, all the ingredients and equipment goes away. Then I work on the icing while they’re baking, and so on.” She shrugged. “My workspace at Meet Me at the Altar is twice the size of this entire apartment so most of the time I just do what I need to there. But if I ever move out of this place, my next one has to have a big kitchen with one of those massive islands.”
Brody just nodded and she figured she was boring him to death so she grabbed her purse and smiled at him.
“Ready!”
Stepping outside, Leanna locked the door and followed Brody to the parking lot. She had no idea what kind of car he drove, but she certainly wasn’t expecting the sleek sports car that he stopped at.
“Um…”
He opened the door for her and helped her in before walking around to the driver’s side and joining her.
The thing was, she knew he was rich.
Like mega rich.
But sitting in this car suddenly felt like the final straw for her and really drove the point home on just how out of her league he was.
“Can I ask you something?” she said before he backed out of the parking spot.
“Of course.”
“Why are you here?”
His dark brows furrowed. “Because we made plans earlier?”
She fought the urge to roll her eyes. “That’s not what I meant.”
Twisting in his seat, he faced her. “Then maybe you need to explain.”
Ugh…
“Look at where I live, Brody. Your car probably cost more than this entire building. I guess I don’t understand why you want to go out with me when it’s blazingly obvious that it doesn’t make sense.”
Rather than respond, he straightened, faced forward, and pulled out of the parking spot. For a moment, Leanna wasn’t sure what to do or say. Was he seriously not going to say anything and just ignore her question?
“Um…Brody?”
Nothing.
Great.
What in the world have I gotten myself into?
There was a part of Brody that knew he was coming off like a total jerk right now, but what did she expect? Why would she even ask such a thing after their conversation earlier today? And on top of that, did she really think he was that shallow that he wouldn’t want to go out with her because she lived in a tiny apartment?
Hell, she had already explained to him about why she was living in the tiny apartment, so why make a big deal out of it now?
And why wasn’t he answering? Well, that part was really for Leanna’s benefit. He knew he tended to come off as sounding a little harsh when he felt like he was being asked a ridiculous question, and hers was definitely that.
So he waited until they were out on the highway and heading toward downtown before he answered.
“Do you remember when you were telling me about your parents and how you wished they wouldn’t compare you to your sister?”
“Yes…”
Turning his head slightly, he smiled at her. “You are more than where you live, Leanna. It’s as simple as that.”
She ducked her head and even though it was dark in the car, he was fairly certain she was blushing.
“Tell me about the events you have this weekend,” he prompted, so they could get back to some normal conversation.
“This weekend is fairly routine. We have an engagement party on Saturday night and a bridal shower on Sunday afternoon. I’m making the cake for the engagement party and cupcakes for the shower. Everything will basically be done by the end of the day on Friday.”
“So it’s not like you have weddings every weekend.”
“Not right now. During the summer months, however, it’s pretty much every weekend and most weekends there are two.”
“I didn’t realize weddings were a summer thing.” Just the thought of it made him shudder a little. Hot weather, standing around outside for pictures while wearing a tuxedo? No thank you.
“Oh, weddings are huge in the summer. Personally, I don’t see the appeal. Fall or winter would be preferable. Although…you’ll get nicer pictures on a sunny summer day.”
“Not necessarily. With the leaves changing colors, if you time it right, an autumn wedding could produce beautiful pictures. As for the winter…that’s trickier. And winter here in the South is really just an extension of the fall–minus the leaves.”
“That is very true. We did a wedding last fall at a venue where there were these massive floor to ceiling windows and the grounds were full of trees with all the leaves changing colors. The golds and reds were breathtaking and the color scheme for the entire thing correlated with it. It was as if Mother Nature were part of the wedding party and made sure the leaves were at their peak that day.” She let out a small sigh. “My cake was a six-tiered monstrosity and I created a hundred leaves out of spun sugar. It was tedious and exhausting, but the effect was positively gorgeous.”
“I have no idea what spun sugar is, but I’d love to see pictures of the cake sometime.”
They pulled up to the valet at Winston’s and within minutes they were inside and seated. Brody knew the owners and they made sure he had one of their best tables and had a bottle of wine waiting for them.
“Wow,” Leanna whispered as she looked around. “I’ve never been here for dinner. It’s beautiful.”