Then Brady was right there. His hand beneath my chin, tipping my head back. That too handsome face too close to mine. “Lennox, baby, why are you as white as a sheet?”
Because the thought of meeting your mother—who the employees secretly refer to as the “Vicious Valkyrie”—scares the life out of me. She’ll never accept me—the girl with the unwed mother and the roadie for a father, who ran away from home at age sixteen and spent years running wild.
Yeah. I could just imagine the look on her face if I showed up on Brady’s arm as his date at one of those fancy charity functions that the Lund family sponsors.
When he said, “Talk to me,” I realized I hadn’t responded to his question.
“I’m a little freaked out, okay? And just because you’re used to moving in the upper echelon of Twin Cities society, that doesn’t mean I’d be comfortable with it. In the Lund family private skybox I’d be rubbing elbows with the Lund Industries CEO; your cousin Nolan, who’s being groomed as the next CEO; your cousin Ash, the COO; as well as your siblings—Annika the PR whiz and Jensen, a football phenomenon. Oh, and there’s your cousin Jaxson, the hockey star; your mom, who was a former model; your dad, who heads up corporate relations; your other uncle, who is president of the board of directors. And your aunts, who are responsible for several of the biggest charities and charity events in the city.” I paused to take a breath.
“You done?” Brady asked in a frosty tone.
“No. I don’t even know what your brother Walker does, but I’m sure it’s equally amazing.”
“He’s a carpenter.”
“I bet he’s more than a carpenter. He probably owns a construction business.”
“Yes, but that’s beside the point.”
“It’s not! You don’t—”
He closed his mouth over mine and I lost all coherent thought as he kissed me mindless. When he’d erased my will to protest, he eased back only far enough to look into my eyes when he murmured, “That’s what matters to me, Lennox. What anyone else thinks of you is immaterial, because I like you. Say you’ll meet my family.”
Stupid, sweet man. “Okay.”
He grinned and kissed me again.
Two knocks sounded and the door opened behind us. I jumped.
Brady put his hand on my shoulder as if to keep me in place and pushed himself upright. “Yes, Jenna?”
“I’m leaving for the day, sir. Answering service is on and the doors will be locked behind me.”
“Thank you. Have a good evening and I’ll see you tomorrow.” The door closed with a soft click.
I covered my face with my hands and groaned.
“What’s wrong?”
“Seriously?” I looked at him. “You aren’t the least bit bothered that she caught us making out?”
“She’ll likely give me props tomorrow, since that’s the first time I’ve been in this situation.”
I wanted to believe him. But honestly, he was too good looking to me for it to be true. Wasn’t he aware that most of the women who worked for Lund Industries swooned over him and were scared of him in equal measure?
Brady tugged me to my feet. “Besides, I told her that we’re involved.”
“You did?”
“Yes. I needed her to know that if you came up here or called she was to let you in and put you through immediately.” He brushed his mouth across mine. “Which didn’t happen the past two days, much to my disappointment, forcing me to demand a meeting with you.”
“That’s probably the only way you’ll get me up here, Mr. Lund.”
“I’ll remember that,” he murmured, and gave me another barely-there kiss.
“So I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Count on it. Oh, and I expect we’ll have dinner tomorrow night. After.”
My brain immediately added we have sex to the word after. I ignored my body chiming in with a loud Hooray! and asked, “After what?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“Have I mentioned I hate surprises?”
“No.” He feathered his lips down my jaw. “Remember when you said I had to meet you halfway? That I had to come up with some wild things I wanted to try on my own?”
“Yes.”
“I came up with one.” He sounded so proud of himself.
It made me happy that, even though his family had pushed this change thing on him, he’d started to embrace it on his own terms. “I can’t wait to see what it is.”
He kissed my forehead. “I still have work to catch up on. So I’ll walk you to the door.”
*
The next day after work I had a sense of déjà vu. Jenna greeted me, and I waited until she okayed me to enter the inner sanctum of the CFO’s domain. I walked into Brady’s office. “Okay, spill it, Lund. What’s your secret wild adventure tonight?”