"They'll make it up if we don't give them more. Or they'll dig and dig until they find more," Kade warned.
She couldn't control their actions, Brodie thought. She could only control her own. And right now she had to get to work or else she'd be late for her breakfast appointment. Besides, she really didn't want to talk about this anymore. With Kade or the world. "I'm not ready to say anything yet. And I've got to go."
"Dammit, Brodie! We have to deal with this at some point."
Yeah, but not now.
"Think about it," Kade told her, obviously frustrated. "Are you coming back here tonight?"
Brodie slung her bag over her shoulder and walked toward the front door feeling hemmed in. "Maybe."
That one word was, right now, all she could commit to.
* * *
Brodie looked up when Colin tapped on the frame of her door and ambled into her office.
"Hey, Col." Brodie rested her forearms on her desk and sent him a fond smile.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm well. The morning sickness has passed, as has the tiredness." Brodie bit her bottom lip. "Did you tell Kayla?"
A shadow passed through Colin's eyes as he nodded. Colin and Kayla had been trying to get pregnant for more than five years and were now trying IVF. Hearing Brodie had become pregnant via a one-night stand had probably rocked Kayla.
"She took it rather well, considering. She said to tell you she wants to meet the baby's daddy."
Yeah, about that. Brodie still hadn't told Colin, or anyone else, about Kade.
"Maybe," Brodie hedged.
Colin sighed. "You're going to keep us guessing, aren't you?"
Brodie rubbed her forehead with her fingertips. "It's complicated. We're trying to work through it and until we have a plan, I'd rather just keep his identity quiet." She wrinkled her nose. "I might end up parenting on my own and he won't be a factor."
Not that there was a snowball's chance in hell of that happening. This was, after all, Kade she was talking about.
"Understood," Colin said, before straightening. "So, business..."
Business talk she could do. Mostly because it stopped her thinking about Kade and their future. Business wasn't complicated or demanding and it didn't mess with her head. Or her libido. "What's up?"
"I don't know about you but I am overwhelmed. My schedule is crazy."
Brodie looked at her screen and the thirty unopened emails from prospective clients. Ironically, the publicity generated from being Kade's matchmaker had generated almost too much business. "It's crazy."
"I was approached by a couple out of Los Angeles who want to relocate to Vancouver. They have a matchmaking business in the city." Colin passed her a black-and-pink business card.
"I know the Hendersons," Brodie said, flicking her nail against the card. "I investigated their business model when I was starting this business. They are reputable, smart and sensitive."
"Well, they have just sold their business and they are moving here."
Brodie immediately connected the dots. "Are they going to start up here?"
"They want to semi-retire. They want to work but they don't want the responsibility of running an office or staff."
"Are you thinking about bringing them on board...with you?"
Colin picked up her pen and tapped it against his knee, leaving tiny blue dots on his khaki pants. "And with you, if you are as overwhelmed as I am. It's a win-win situation. We feed them clients, take a commission and we manage how big a bite they take."
Brodie looked at the pile of folders on her desk and realized it might be the answer to her crazy workload. And she'd find it easier to juggle her career and being a new mother if she had some help. "Are they keen?"
"They are keen to talk," Colin replied. "They'll fly out here if we ask them to."
Her phone chirped and Brodie looked down at the screen.
Will be home late. Will you be okay?
God, she'd been okay for the past three months and for nine years before that. She'd managed to feed herself, dress herself, get herself to work, establish a career. Why did Kade and Poppy think she had dropped sixty IQ points just because she was now pregnant?
Arrrgh.
Brodie ignored Kade's message, pushed back her chair and stood up. She gripped the back of the chair.
"Or we could go to them." God, a trip out of the city would be an unexpected blessing, Brodie thought. She could get some distance from Kade, have some time alone to think.
You just don't want to deal with the emotions Kade pulls to the surface.
I just want some time to think! Is that too much to ask?
You've got to stop lying to yourself...
Oh, shut up.
Brodie looked at Colin. "What do you think? You up for a trip?"
"Sure. Are you allowed to fly?"
Brodie tamped down her irritation. "I am only a few months pregnant. The baby is the size of pea so yes, I can fly. Jeez!"
Her phone beeped again. I can cancel dinner if you want me to.
Kade! Really? She tipped her head at Colin and sent him an I-dare-you look. "Let's fly out tonight, see the Hendersons in the morning? I might stay in Cali for the weekend, do some sightseeing, some shopping."
Colin jumped to his feet, nodding enthusiastically. He was always up for an adventure and was, thank goodness, impulsive. "That sounds like an excellent idea. I'll call the Hendersons. Can you book flights?"
She could and she would, she thought, glancing down at the screen of her phone. Because she definitely needed to put a border and a couple of cities between her and Kade Webb.
Ten
Kade couldn't remember when he'd been this angry. Angry, disappointed...hurt, dammit. And the fact he was hurt pissed him off even more.
Gone away. Will be back in a few days.
A few days had turned into a week and he still didn't know where the hell Brodie was and, crucially, whether she was all right. She was ducking his calls and not returning his increasingly irate text messages. His...whatever the hell she was...was AWOL and he was not amused. Not amused as in ready to slam his fist into the wall. He'd do it but he recalled, from previous experience, it hurt like a bitch.
Kade stood on the balcony off his master suite and gripped the edge of the balustrade, peering past the trees to the street below, hoping to see Brodie's car. He wanted to make sure she was okay, to make love to her, to put her over his knee and spank her silly for driving him out of his mind with worry.
What if she never came back? What if she'd just packed up and left town, heading for...wherever? What would he do? How would he find her? Would he make the effort to track her down?
Of course he would. Apart from the fact she drove him insane, she was the mother of his child. For that reason alone he'd follow her to the ends of the earth...
Jesus, Brodie, where the hell are you?
Kade heard the subdued chime signaling someone had accessed his private elevator and since Quinn was out of town and Mac was home with Rory, it had to be Brodie. Thank God. She was the only other person who had the code.
Kade waited for the elevator doors to open and his heart both stumbled and settled when she stepped into his loft. He did a quick scan, confirmed she was physically in one piece and told himself not to lose his temper.
Yeah, that wasn't going to happen.
* * *
Brodie only needed one look to see Kade was pissed and exceptionally so. His eyes were the color of bittersweet chocolate and flat with anger and residual worry. She'd needed time away but she'd been wrong to avoid his calls, to avoid talking to him.
She'd done him a disservice; Kade was a fully functioning adult and he would've understood her need for some time alone to think. But she'd been unable to pick up the phone and tell him that-due to embarrassment and pride. Instead she'd let him worry and, judging by the increasingly irate messages he'd left her, stew. She deserved the verbal slap she was about to get and she braced herself to take it.
She'd created this situation and she wasn't going to whine about the consequences. She'd acted like a child because she'd felt smothered, and she deserved to be treated like a child now that she'd returned. He'd yell and she'd apologize and hopefully it would all be over soon.
"Hey."
Kade frowned and started to walk in her direction. Ah, hell, he was even angrier than she realized. Brodie lifted up her hands in apology. "I'm so-"
Her words were cut off by his hot mouth on hers and she could taste his frustration. His fingers dug into her hips and he yanked her into him, slamming her against his hard frame and his even harder erection. She couldn't help it; she encircled her arms around his neck and poured her own frustrations into the kiss...