Page 61 of Hers to Marry
Chapter 18
When he stepped into the bakery, Drew caught Susie’s eye and smiled. He loved coming into this place, mainly because of the chef in the kitchen. But Susie’s bakery felt so homey, and he knew when Kat had her own bakery, it would be just the same.
He’d spent nearly all day yesterday ironing out a deal with Kat’s ex, Marcus. The man was not only the most selfish person Drew had ever met, he was also difficult to deal with in a business-like fashion. It was a wonder Kat went into business with him in the first place.
He wanted a lot of money.
A lot.
More than Drew had wanted to give, but not outside what he had expected from a guy like Marcus. Fortunately, Drew never went over his limit, and he was able to snag the real estate Marcus had bought to spite Kat.
At triple the market value. Simultaneously the best and worst deal he’d ever made.
It meant putting his personal home project on hold, but that didn’t matter since the likelihood of him living there grew ever more slim the more Parker talked about her position.
She had Skyped with him yesterday and gushed about all she was going to do as the new president of the international division. A lot of travel, a lot of meetings, a lot of bossing other people around—which admittedly was one of her most favorite things to do in the world. If all went well, she would be able to extend for another year or two, if the CEO decided he wasn’t going to step down. His decision was still up in the air and likely would be until the merger was officially complete about a year from now.
That meant in a year he could be looking at another year or two in London.
He mentioned being based in the US for some of that time, and Parker seemed only too eager to allow him that flexibility. In fact, she had said he didn’t have to come out to London right away. If he wanted, he could go on their honeymoon, and she’d take her own vacation after things settled down, in about three or four months. The merger was happening so quickly that she didn’t have time to take a vacation now.
Who goes on their honeymoon while their spouse is away at work?
Drew had stared at his wedding band for the rest of the night. Was he being selfish in keeping Parker in the relationship? They had different dreams, different life goals. She was on the move, and he was slowing down. She was at the precipice of her career shooting through the stratosphere, and he was creating strategic partnerships in a city he wanted to be home forever. He believed she loved him or at least loved being with him. But she loved her work so much that she had to be married to it for her to be satisfied—at least for the time being. And the present time might not include him. He would mention that to her this evening.
His grandmother was right. Break up when the person was overseas. It would make things easier. Except it made his stomach sick to think about it ending this way. Getting up the nerve was the hard part.
“Is Kat in the back?”
Susie looked at him in a strange way. “She is. Go on back.”
“Thanks. And don’t worry, I’ll have another order for you soon,” he said over his shoulder. Susie only responded with a small smile and a nod.Strange.
He looked inside the kitchen and saw Kat bent over a cake with a tube of icing in her hand, carefully applying the icing to the cake. He smiled as he watched her work. She was so different from Parker. Really the opposite. Parker preferred being around people and in command of a hundred details at a time, where Kat always intently focused on getting that one thing right. She was incredibly artistic. Two equally important qualities, but vastly different. It was no wonder he was in love with both of them.
His heart hitched.
He was in love with both women. There were qualities he admired in both of them, but they had each captured his heart in a different way. The whole reason why he had sought out Marcus is because he didn’t want Kat’s ex to win. He wanted to provide for Kat.
He had wanted to provide for Parker too, but she seemed less and less willing to accept his provision. Both women were doing well on their own. Neither of them needed him.
That made him feel worse than ending things with Parker. How could he possibly make either of them happy if neither of them needed him in any way? And he couldn’t be certain if either of them actuallywantedhim anymore.
“If you think I don’t know you’re standing there”—Kat looked up with a smile—“then you’d be wrong.”
Drew fully entered the room. “How did you know?”
“Susie has been watching me for years now. I always feel like eyes are on me.”
“Creepy.”
Kat chuckled. “Not really. I know she’s eager to try what I have. It’s the hands I have to watch out for.” She launched and slapped his before he was able to grab a mini dessert.
“Ow!” He rubbed the top of his hand, feigning pain.
“I need those.”
“Well, I need them too.”
