To Have and to Hold (The Wedding Belles #1)(60)

His eyebrows lifted. “For?”

“You brought me breakfast and I . . . freaked out. Unnecessarily so. And I said some nasty things when I left your place that morning. Things I didn’t mean and that aren’t even true.”

He looked away, and Brooke’s chest squeezed. She reached out a hand, her fingers touching his forearm. “They aren’t true, Seth. I was feeling uncomfortable after the intimacy between us. I was embarrassed I stayed over when I didn’t mean to, and the whole thing—it felt like too much.”

“Can I ask you something?”

She nodded.

“Are you mad because I offered you breakfast? Or because you wanted to stay?”

She opened her mouth to deliver a safe, diverting quip about not being a morning person.

Then she saw the bleak look of vulnerability on his face, and she realized that she wanted to be a little bit brave. For him.

“I freaked out because I realized I wanted more than the breakfast,” she said. “I went in thinking I wanted only the sex, thinking I could be okay with that, but I ended up getting cuddling and breakfast, and then I wanted more. I wanted . . .”

“Lunch?” He supplied when she broke off.

Brooke let out her breath on a little laugh. “Yeah, maybe. But then what if I’d wanted lunch to become dinner, and then dinner had turned into more sex, and then more sleeping over, and then, you know, repeat.”

“Would that be so bad?” he asked, taking a step closer to her. “Us spending more time together?”

Her heart knew exactly how it felt about that question. It jumped a little in excitement at the very suggestion of it. Her brain, however . . .

“Give me a chance, Brooke. I may be a bit ruthless, too ambitious for my own good, and cold as ice, but what you see is what you get. I can offer that much, at least.”

“You’re not cold,” she whispered, moving closer to him, her eyes locked on the knot of his tie, which was just slightly less tidy than before, courtesy of their groping.

“No?” he asked huskily.

She shook her head. “I shouldn’t have said that. And I definitely shouldn’t have said that thing about you being soulless. It was cruel, and I’m not . . . that’s not usually me. Know that. Please tell me you know that.”

His blue eyes searched her face, and though she tried desperately to read through the mask, she had zero idea what he was thinking just then.

And then he pulled away. Slowly. Gently. But a rejection all the same.

“Show me the rest of the place,” he said quietly, turning back to the large, empty space behind them.

“Right.” Brooke blew out a breath. This was why they were here, after all.

So he hadn’t accepted her apology, but he hadn’t outright rejected it, either. She supposed that was something.

“You’ll have to use your imagination,” she said, putting her shoulders back and chin up and trying to get back into a professional headspace. “But as you can see, it’s plenty big should Maya and Neil opt for the larger wedding, but if they decide to go more intimate, it’ll be easy to partition off some of the space, give it a more intimate feel.”

“How is Neil these days?” Seth asked as he clasped his hands behind his back and began walking around the perimeter of the room.

Brooke gave a little smile as she followed after him, the click of her heels echoing softly. “You mean has he tried to stuff your sister in the trunk of the car, or stolen money from her wallet, or shown up to a tux fitting with three other wives in tow?”

Seth gave her a look. “Your email reports have barely mentioned him, which, as you’ll remember, is the entire reason I wanted the reports in the first place.”

“Honestly,” Brooke said, “I’ve barely seen the guy. Maya said he’s been busy with work, and other than when we toured this particular facility for the first time, he’s more or less left it up to us women.”

“What did he think of this?” Seth asked, his eyes looking around, taking in every detail.

“He liked it, but then, as far as I can tell, Neil tends to like everything Maya likes. She could say she wanted to get married on a rowboat in the Hudson, and he’d think it was the best idea ever.”

“Or at least he’d say he thought it was the best idea ever.”

“Right,” Brooke said patiently. “Because that’s what fiancés do. I know you’ve still got your big brother cape on, but Neil’s behavior is pretty standard for grooms. They walk a fine line. Even the sweetest, easiest of brides can get a bit touchy with the groom and his level of involvement in the planning. If he doesn’t have any opinions, he’s disinterested. If he has too many, he’s difficult.”

Seth stopped and turned toward one of the windows. “It still doesn’t feel right.”

“It may never feel right to see your sister get married,” Brooke said quietly.

“You’re probably right,” he muttered.

“What I wouldn’t give to have recorded that,” she said lightly. “Is there anything else you want to see? I can show you the bathrooms. They’re gorgeously remodeled, and there’s this marble that’s just, well, you’ll have to see it.”

He turned back toward her, and the gentle look on his face caught her off guard. “I’ll take your word for it on the bathrooms.”