Page 62 of Hers to Marry
She eyed him suspiciously. “Okay, you can have one.”
“I’m wearing you down. I’ll get more out of you.” He grinned and popped one in his mouth. “Uhh, Kat…” His head tilted back, and he moaned. “You have to marry me. I can’t let you…” His head jerked back forward. What had just come out of his mouth?
Kat looked away quickly. “That good?”
“Mmm-hmm.”Crap.Why couldn’t he have kept his mouth shut? Or better yet, why did he keep eating her sweets? He wasn’t going to fit into his tux…if he was still going to wear it.
He cleared his throat. “I, uh, actually wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Good.” She picked the tube up and continued icing. “I wanted to talk to you, too. I’ve just been really busy trying to finish up a few orders here.”
“Yeah, I know this wedding has put you guys in a bind.”
Her smile was small. “Nothing we can’t handle. What’s up?”
He didn’t like the atmosphere of the room. It felt…off somehow. Warm from the ovens, and it smelled amazing, but Kat… He scratched his stubble and pushed through. “You know the bakery your ex bought?”
“Uh-huh.” She didn’t look up.
“Well, he no longer owns it.”
Her eyes met his. “What? How do you know?”
“He sold it. Got a deal he really couldn’t say no to.” Drew reached behind him and pulled out a stack of folded papers from his back pocket. “He sold it to me.”
Kat dropped the icing tube. “He sold it to…”
Drew grinned sheepishly and offered her the documents. “I told him I had to have it. Wasn’t going to leave the table until he accepted my offer.”
“You didn’t let him—”
“Take me to the cleaners? Not exactly. But I won’t be working on my home for a little while, that’s for sure.”
Kat covered her face with her hands and shook her head. “No! Why did you do that?” Her eyes welled with tears when she finally met his gaze. “Your home! You and…”
He shook his head. “Yeah. Parker and I are…” He swallowed the thickness in his throat. “Moving to London. The way things look, she might be there for a while. Not sure when I’ll be able to move back.”
A tear slipped down her cheek. If there was a chance her heart was breaking over the news, then he knew exactly how she felt. He didn’t want to leave either. Didn’t want this image to be one of the last he would see of Kat. The first one almost broke him. To see her standing on the sidewalk again would devastate him. Who knew when he’d ever be back? As beautiful and talented as she was? She’d be married in no time.
“Andrew…” She took the papers from him and slowly unfolded them.
“I’m putting it in your name. You just have to sign. I…I know we haven’t been friends in a long time and probably won’t be for many years to come. But I wanted you to have your own bakery since we won’t be working on it together.”
She smiled as more tears traced paths down her cheeks. “I don’t know if anyone has ever done something so…” She frowned then and looked up. “I can’t be your wedding planner anymore,” she said quickly. “The cake will still be done, don’t worry. Susie is going to handle that.”
“Wait…” He struggled to comprehend her last few statements. He was still thinking about her bakery. “What did you say?”
“I… This has been too difficult for me.”
He took her elbows in his hands. “Look, it’s all my fault. I’ve been pushing in because I’ve missed you and…and I don’t know how I’m feeling—everything is so confused. Please don’t back out now. Parker is counting on you.”
“Everything will be perfect for your day, don’t worry. I have a friend at the hotel who owes me a favor. She’ll contact you. They will make sure everything gets delivered and set up just the way you want it. Parker won’t have to lift a finger, I promise.”
No.This was all wrong. She was supposed to fling herself into his arms and let him hold her like he did the other day. She was going to say how much she loved him for buying her the bakery and that she’d hate it if he left.
She said and did none of that.
“I still don’t understand…”
