Page 50 of Take My Heart
‘Yeah, if you could. I could bring the laptop out here and we could sit at the counter and do it together.’
‘Sure! It shouldn’t take long. After breakfast, just give me a few minutes to clean up and then we can work on it.’ I pause. ‘Oh, wait. I don’t have clothes.’ I look at Brody. ‘Would you mind if I borrowed something?’ I point to the shirt I’m wearing, the one I put on last night. ‘Or if you want me to keep wearing this—’
‘You should probably wear something else,’ he says, cutting me off as his gaze drops to my body. ‘I’ll give you another one of my sweatshirts.’ He looks up at my face. ‘And pants. Sweatpants.’
‘Um, okay.’
He’s acting strange. Does he not want me wearing his shirt? He said I could pick whatever I wanted. I really love his shirt. It’s so soft, and not like he bought it that way, but like lived-in soft.
His gaze lowers to my body again. Maybe I’m imagining it, but I feel like he’s checking me out. I thought the same thing last night when he saw me wearing his shirt.
It’s probably wrong to think this so soon after breaking up with Cam, but I kind of like having another guy look at me like this, like he wants me, assuming that’s what Brody’s doing. I could be making the whole thing up in my head, but I don’t think I am, and it’s not just because of how he’s looking at me. It’s because of what I feel when we’re together. There’s this energy between us, like an electric current coursing through the air whenever I’m near him. At first I thought it was nerves. But it’s not nerves. It’s something else. A feeling I can’t quite figure out.
I felt it last night when I fell on him in the snow. Then I felt it again when I came into the kitchen wearing his shirt, and thenlater, when I was in his room, sitting next to him on the bed. I’m feeling it again now as Brody looks at me .?.?. like a man hungry for more than just pancakes. Cam never looked at me this way. It’s just not him.
‘Be right back,’ Brody says, taking off. He goes to his room and shuts the door.
I finish making the pancakes, then take a seat at the counter just as Brody returns.
‘I can make more if that’s not enough,’ I say as he sits beside me.
‘This is plenty,’ he says, grabbing the syrup bottle.
We eat our breakfast looking out the kitchen window at the falling snow. It’s so quiet here, and calm. There’s no schedule to follow, no list of things to be done. I can’t remember when I’ve felt this relaxed.
‘Don’t worry about the dishes,’ Brody says as I take my plate to the sink. ‘I’ll take care of them.’
‘Thanks.’ I turn and smile at him.
‘Thanks for breakfast,’ he says, smiling back. He has a really nice smile. It’s one of those laid back smiles that’s more of a half smile than a full-on toothy grin, which is what I’m used to with Cam.
When I’m in the shower, my mind goes back to the mess I have to deal with at home. Cam and his parents. Our friends. My mom and dad. Jill and her husband. They’re all going to try to convince me to get married and live the life I’d planned.
I don’t want to think about it. I wish I could just erase yesterday and pretend it never happened. Except for the part where I met Brody. I’d keep that part.
I really like him. I’m going to be sad when I have to go.
Chapter 10
Brody
‘You already started?’ I ask, coming out of the bathroom. Looking down the hall, I see Kate sitting at the kitchen counter with my laptop.
She looks over at me, at my chest. I just took a shower and am only wearing a towel. I smile a little, knowing she’s checking me out. She did it last night too when she came in my room to bring me my phone. I caught her looking at me and she got all embarrassed, her cheeks turning red. I don’t care if she looks. I was looking at her, too. There’s nothing wrong with being attracted to someone, and it’s not like she has a boyfriend. She may have been engaged yesterday morning, but she’s single now.
‘I started a new spreadsheet,’ she says, looking back at the laptop. ‘I hope that’s okay. I thought it’d be better if we start from scratch.’
‘Yeah, that’s fine,’ I tell her. ‘I’m gonna get dressed. I’ll be out in a minute.’
I go in my room and put on jeans and a henley and top it with my warmest flannel shirt. I have to layer up if I’m going to be shoveling snow all day.
‘Let me see what you got,’ I say, going up to Kate and sitting beside her.
She turns the laptop screen so I can see it. ‘I’ve laid it out like this.’ She points to the screen. ‘Customer names go here, then what services they signed up for, how long their contract is, how much they owe you, when their bill is due, if they’ve paid you, and then all their contact information. I can add more fields, but I wanted to talk to you before I finish it.’
‘What you’ve got is good. I just don’t have all that information. And some people don’t have contracts. They just call when they need me.’
Kate turns to me. ‘You might want to consider making everyone sign a contract, just to make sure you get paid. I know you said your customers are friends, but sometimes friends forget to pay you.’
