To Have and to Hold (The Wedding Belles #1)(90)

“Good Lord,” she said, running a hand over her hair. “You bought the building?”

“Well, I tried to buy just one floor, but this way was just . . . easier.”

She let out an incredulous laugh. “Of course it was. You’re Seth Tyler.”

He said nothing.

“There’s no bride coming by tonight, is there? You and Alexis set this up.”

He nodded. “Yes.”

Well, at least he wasn’t lying to her. That was something.

Seth blew out a breath, tapping the hammer lightly against his thigh in agitation. “There are five bedrooms. Three and a half baths. A study. You already saw the beginnings of the main living area, but I’m also planning to put a piano in. Did you know I play? And since I own the whole damn building, I’m thinking of installing some sort of doggy area on the rooftop so I don’t have to go as far to let him or her out when the weather sucks.”

“A dog?” Brooke interrupted his strange monologue. “What dog?”

“I don’t know. The one I’m going to get,” he said, his words tumbling over one another in his obvious excitement. “And I’m dividing one of the lower floors into apartment units, and I’m giving one to Dex to make it easier for both of us when I need to get uptown for work. And there’s no room service, but that’s not going to be a problem, because I’ve hired this crazy French dude to teach me some cooking basics. And I told Maya she could decorate, but only if she runs everything by me, because I want this place to be mine. To feel like me. I’m not exactly sure what that looks like yet, but I’m working on it. A little every day.”

His words were getting closer and closer together, coming out in a bit of a nervous rush, and Brooke’s eyes started to burn at the corners as she felt tears threaten.

“Don’t cry,” he whispered. “I die when you cry.”

“I don’t understand what’s going on here,” she said.

“Yes you do,” he said quickly. “You know exactly what’s going on here.” He tossed the hammer to the side, and she winced as it clattered to the gorgeous hardwood floor. He moved closer; his fingers wrapped around her stiff upper arms, drawing her forward.

“I know this is a risk,” he said quietly. “Setting this up like this, doing this all behind your back, tricking you into coming here. I know you’re thinking that I’m controlling everything, and I’ll admit that I am. I’ve controlled every single detail of this right down to this ugly T-shirt in hopes that it would help make me seem more approachable. Although, that was actually Grant’s idea.”

“Grant’s in on this?” she asked, trying to keep up.

“He likes to think so,” Seth said with a wry smile. “Anyway, I know I’m being controlling. I know that it’s a problem of mine, and it will probably always be a problem of mine, but I’m working on it. I swear that I am. If you want to walk away right now, I’ll let you, but I had to try. You see that, right? I had to try to be more, because you make me want to be more. More than a scared little boy who tried too desperately to direct all of the pieces and people of his life because he was terrified of losing them.”

Brooke’s eyes closed as her emotions wavered between happiness and confusion. “This is a hell of a speech, Tyler.”

“I’m sorry,” he said in a rush. “I’m so sorry about the thing with Maya, the thing with Clay. It was all badly done. So badly done, and I’d give anything to take it back, and since I can’t . . . I need to tell you why. I tried to tell you that day, but . . .”

He took a deep breath. “I did it because I love you. And that’s not an excuse, but it is the truth. I know it’s soon, I know it’s crazy, but my feelings for you are the most real thing I’ve ever known.”

Her emotions weren’t wavering anymore. They tipped firmly in the direction of ecstatic, overjoyed, elated, and she opened her eyes.

“You decided not to live in a hotel anymore.”

His mouth drooped a little in disappointment at her words, but she had to do this her way.

“I want a place of my own,” he said. “A home.”

“And you’re, like, the richest man in New York, which means you can pick literally any place,” she said slowly.

He shrugged. “Sure.”

“But you chose this place.”

“Obviously, Brooke,” he said, with just the slightest edge of impatience that made her grin, because it was so wonderfully, beautifully Seth.

“You chose it because you knew I loved it.”

“Yes,” he said quietly.

Brooke lifted her eyebrows.

“I’m not asking you to move in, if that’s what you’re thinking,” he said, releasing her arms and shoving his hands into his back pockets. “Not today, anyway.”

“Then what are you asking?” she said, taking a step closer, loving the way his cool blue eyes warmed when she got near.

“Anything,” he said, his voice slightly desperate. “I’ll take whatever you’re giving. A drink. Dinner. A walk. Maybe a movie. Joint custody of the dog. Keys to the same home—this home. A wedding. Babies. Things like that.”

Brooke laughed as she lifted her hands to his shoulders and pressed her body into his. “Easy there, big guy. I’m still trying to adjust to the fact that you’re wearing jeans and carrying a hammer around.”