“Whatever,” she said with a small laugh as she tried to roll off of him. “And there’s no such costume as a sexy baker.”
One strong hand reached up and anchored into her hair. “Sweetheart, if you stood in the kitchen wearing anything at all, you’re a sexy baker.”
“Brody…”
“But I wouldn’t say no to you maybe baking something while wearing an apron and nothing else.” Then he tugged her down for a rough kiss before he finally allowed her to move away.
“You’re ridiculous. That would be a serious health code violation.” Snuggling up beside him, she rested her head on his chest.
“Maybe, but…how about we test it out this weekend.”
She raised her head again. “What do you mean?”
Rolling onto his side to face her, he almost looked…nervous.
Interesting…
“I know we said we were going to talk about what we wanted to do this weekend since you’re off, but I thought that…maybe…you might want to spend it with me at my place.”
She felt her eyes go wide and thought it was a silly reaction, but couldn’t seem to stop herself. “Your place? Like…your house?”
He nodded. “It’s not nearly as big as my parents’ home, but I like it.”
Over the course of the last month, he had told her a lot about his house and all of the work he’d put into it over the last several years. She’d never seen it, but in her mind it sounded fantastic.
“Are you sure that’s what you want to do?” she asked. “I mean…I know your home is your refuge–the place you go to so you can be alone and escape from everything. I certainly don’t want to go and mess that up for you.”
“Leanna?”
“Hmm?”
“If I didn’t want you there, I wouldn’t have invited you. I just thought it might be nice for you to get away for a few days–even if it’s just fifteen minutes away in the same city. Sometimes a change of scenery is nice and I happen to have some amazing scenery on my property. It’s very private.”
Curiosity had been gnawing at her for weeks because she wanted to see his home but didn’t dare ask because he had mentioned–more than once–how much his privacy meant to him. But since he was issuing an invitation, perhaps she should take advantage of it.
Play it cool, Lea. Don’t seem too anxious…
“Well,” she said after a moment, “if you’re sure. I suppose a change of scenery would be nice…”
He looked shocked by her response and it almost made her laugh. “Was there someplace else you wanted to go?”
“I guess I never really thought about it. I just figured we’d hang out like usual–maybe hit the farmers market or take a drive to the coast or something–and then come back here and chill.”
“And here I was considering whisking you off on a private jet to New Orleans for the weekend,” he said with a dramatic sigh. “Then I thought staying at my place would be way more romantic and you seem bored at the prospect.”
“Romantic? A minute ago you wanted me baking in the kitchen without panties. That’s hardly romantic.”
“Says you,” he teased, pulling her close. “In my mind, it’s very romantic. There would be wine, and a fire in the fireplace, soft music…”
“And no panties.”
“That’s the best part.”
“Such a guy…”
“It is part of my charm.” He kissed her before their banter could continue and she was more than happy to give in. Brody was definitely a skilled kisser and she could spend hours like this and be perfectly content.
When they broke apart a few minutes later, he kept her close beside him with her head on his shoulder. “I meant what I said, Lea. If you’d rather do something else…”
“I just want to be with you,” she softly replied. “It’s not very often that I get an almost three-day weekend and knowing we can spend it together makes it even better.”
He kissed the top of her head. “For me too.”
A month ago, she never would have dreamed of hearing him say things like this, and now that he had, it sealed the deal for her.
She was in love.
The words were ready to burst out of her mouth, but she knew it was too soon and Brody certainly wasn’t in the same place yet. So for now she would keep it to herself and just do everything she could to show him how she felt.
Snuggling closer and tangling her legs with his, she rested her hand on his chest. “So what’s the plan? What should I bring?”
“Bring whatever you want,” he said, his voice soft and a little sleepy. “We can still go out and do whatever you’d like so it’s not as if you have to think of everything you’ll need because you can’t leave.”
“I don’t know…there’s something wildly appealing about walking through the doors and locking the rest of the world out. I’m planning on turning off my phone and not checking email all weekend.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”
She was beginning to feel like one of those Whac-A-Mole games because her head popped up again. “We? That’s what we’ll do?”
Nodding, Brody gave her a relaxed smile. “Yeah. Why?”
“I guess I’m just a little surprised that you’re willing to disconnect for the whole weekend too. You certainly don’t have to. I understand that you always have a lot going on at work and I don’t want to be the reason you’re not doing something that might need to be done.”
Once again, he guided her head back down to his shoulder. “Let me explain something to you,” he began quietly. “On average, I used to work sixty to seventy hours a week. I love negotiating and making deals and I’m very good at what I do. Right now, I’m one of the vice presidents of King Hospitality. My goal is to become one of the senior VPs.”
“Seriously? There’s more than one level to the vice presidency?”
His laugh was soft as he placed another kiss on the top of her head. “Every level of management has sub-levels. It’s exhausting.”
“And so you want to move up to the next level.”
“Exactly.”
“What’s stopping you from getting the promotion?”
Brody let out a long breath as his hand reached up and played with Leanna’s hair. “Mostly myself,” he admitted. “Remember how everyone was mad at me about Travis and Charlene’s engagement party?”
She nodded.
“That was pretty much just another example of how things normally are. I’m confident and opinionated and most of the time I have no filter.” He paused and yawned. “My father constantly reminds me how I need to learn to tone things down if I want to take the next step up the corporate ladder.”
There wasn’t anything she could say to that because she was mildly offended for him. Was he a little rough around the edges? Sometimes. Was he good at what he did? Apparently. Why didn’t parents realize how hurtful their words can be even when they think they’re helping?
“It doesn’t seem to matter how much money I make for the company or how many hours I put in; my father is looking for me to be the mirror image of him and…that’s just not who I am.”