Like Leanna.
Swallowing hard, he forced himself to stand up.
It was harder than it should have been.
For several moments, all he could handle was focusing on his breathing. Once that was under control, he walked around and gathered his things–his phone, his laptop, his satchel. Then, taking a deep breath he walked out of his office and paused in front of Margaret’s desk. Her eyes went wide when she got a good look at him.
“Oh, my goodness. Are you okay?”
“Not yet,” he said, hearing how unsure his voice sounded. “But I will be.”
She looked at him oddly.
“Tell my father I’m unavailable and he should talk with Eric Hammel about Paris. He’s even more knowledgeable on the negotiations than I am.” He turned to walk away, but she called out to him.
“Wait! Are you leaving?” she asked incredulously, although when Brody turned and looked at her, she almost looked pleased.
“I am. There’s something I need to do. It’s more important than Paris and it can’t wait. Have a good night.”
He walked over to the elevator and felt a little unsure about what he was doing. After all, Leanna could be pissed at him, his father could be really pissed at him, and…
“Tell Leanna I said hi and please thank her again for the muffins!” Margaret called out. Maybe she was just being nice, but when he turned to her, she must have seen the indecision on his face. She stood and came over to him. “Brody King, you’re entitled to have a life outside of this company and you are entitled to be happy. Wherever it is that you’re going right now, go with a clear conscience. Everything will be fine here. It always is.”
And then he did something very unlike himself.
He hugged his assistant. “Thank you,” he whispered as the elevator doors opened. And when he stepped inside and turned to face her, there were tears in her eyes. Neither said a word, but they both knew how important that moment was and he knew he’d never forget it.
Chapter 14
Sometimes we all bake mistakes.
Work would be a great distraction.
When Leanna pulled back up to Meet Me at the Altar and saw that both Skye and Josie’s cars were gone, she was relieved. The last thing she wanted right now was to talk about all the ways her meeting with Brody was cringeworthy.
“I’m such an idiot,” she murmured as she walked inside and went right to the kitchen. Emilie and Ally were both hard at work on the Perrys’ wedding cake and certainly didn’t need her help. Two of her other helpers were icing cupcakes for a retirement party and there were two more washing dishes and doing an overall cleanup.
So there was basically nothing she needed to do.
Awesome.
“Hey, Lea!” Emilie called out. “There was a call for you while you were gone. A potential client looking for two custom cakes for her parents’ anniversary party. I left her number on your desk.”
“Thanks.” Okay, so now there was something for her to do. Walking back to her office, she sat down at her desk and read the message. “Two cakes–one his, one hers. His hobbies are golf and cigars, hers are crocheting and scrapbooking.” Groaning, she shook her head. Good thing they weren’t asking for all of that on one cake or her head just might explode right now.
Reaching down into her bottom desk drawer, she pulled out a sketch pad and toyed around with a few things first. She always like to have a little something in mind before talking with a client if possible. A cake with a golf theme was fairly common, add a couple of cigars on top and it was a no-brainer. Crocheting would be a little more challenging but she envisioned a pair of crochet hooks on the top like the cigars on the other cake, and then decorating the body of the cake in snapshots and scrapbook supplies. Of course it all was going to depend on how large the cakes were supposed to be so…
A few minutes later she had some rough sketches on the page and was about to pick up the phone when there was a knock on the office door. When she looked up, there was Brody looking a little disheveled and not at all like she had left him earlier today. Alarm instantly hit her and she went to stand but he shut the office door.
“What are you doing here?” And yes, she was wary. The only reason he’d be here and shutting the door was because he was going to break up with her and didn’t want her employees to hear.
Letting out a long sigh, she sat back in her chair and silently vowed not to cry in front of him. She’d wait until he left or possibly until she got home and was completely alone.
So she braced herself for the inevitable.
“I’m sorry it took me so long to get here,” he began.
Say what?!
“I should have gone after you. Hell, I should have run down the stairs and tried to meet you in the lobby.”
“You’re on the twelfth floor,” she reminded him. “I know you’re training for a triathlon, but I think it’s a stretch that you could beat an elevator down that many floors.”
A small smile played at his lips. “But not impossible. After all, you don’t know how many stops you might have had to make on the way down. For all you know, I could have gotten to the lobby first.”
“It only stopped once,” she said, knowing this was so not the point to whatever it was he was trying to say.
He stepped in front of her desk and braced his hands on it. “I never should have let you leave,” he said slowly. “I should have spoken up instead of practically going mute while you were talking to me.”
“Brody,” she interrupted, “it’s okay. I told you that. I’d much rather you not say anything than say something that isn’t true. We’re good. Really. I wasn’t trying to pressure you.”
“That’s just it, Leanna. You never pressure anyone. You take what people give you. You excuse their bad behavior like you deserve it, and you know what? It’s not right.”
She could only stare because she wasn’t sure how to respond.
“The day we met, you had no problem calling me out on my crappy behavior and that entire weekend you never held back. But as soon as we started dating, you stopped doing that. You rarely ask for anything.”
“That’s not true…”
Wait, was it?
“It is true. You’ve spoken up on things and when I ignore them or I hurt your feelings, you don’t put me in my place for it. Not the way you should.”
“So…wait. You’re reprimanding me because I didn’t argue with you? That I didn’t get mad because you wouldn’t say you loved me too? Is that what you’re saying?”
“No!” He paused. “Yes.” Another pause. “I don’t know. Maybe.” He straightened and raked a hand through his already messed up hair. “I’m not sure what I should have said, Leanna, but I know that I should have said something instead of clamming up!”
“Okay, fine. You’re here now. Say something,” she prompted, hoping to call his bluff.
Clearly he was up for the challenge because that cocky grin he normally wore was falling into place. Slowly, he walked around her desk until he was standing beside her.
“Fine. I think about you all the time. Whether it’s been minutes or hours or days since we’ve seen each other, I think of you,” he said, his voice unusually soft. “Everything I’ve done since you delivered those cupcakes to my office–every change to my structured life–has been because of you.”