On her way to the door, Mia paused to lean over and whisper, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
Before Abby could formulate an appropriate response, Mia was out the door.And now it was time for her and Brad to follow suit.Because she wasn’t going to give Brad a second chance to kiss her.Once was…not enough.But she wasn’t going there again.
Chapter Thirteen
Heyawned.
Again.
Brad wanted to blame his lack of sleep on the fact that the mattress in his room at the B&B was too soft, but it wasn’t that.And he couldn’t blame it on the place having thin walls and noisy guests because it wasn’t that either.
No, the fact of the matter was that he couldn’t stop thinking about spontaneously kissing Abby.He had been wondering if her rosy lips were as soft as he imagined, and the next thing he knew, he was holding her in his arms.And then he’d acted on impulse.He could testify that her lips were softer and sweeter than the mini marshmallows she kept under the counter.
If only they hadn’t been interrupted by Mia...
Then again, maybe that was a good thing.After all, what sort of relationship would they have with him in Chicago and her in Bayberry?And the chance of him moving to Bayberry was the same as her moving to Chicago—zero, zip, zilch, and nil.
Neither one of them had mentioned the kiss after Mia left.But he did notice how Abby’s gaze never met his.And honestly, he didn’t know what to say about the kiss, except that it shouldn’t have happened, even if there was a part of him that was happy it did.
Just the memory of her being in his arms and her glossy lips beneath his made his heart beat faster.The thing was, the more time he spent with her, the more she consumed his thoughts when they were apart.
While working in his room at the B&B that morning, he was continually losing his train of thought.One moment, he was typing on his laptop and the next moment, Abby’s beautiful image would come to mind.
So, when his phone rang, and it was Reed, he welcomed the distraction.When Reed offered a lunch invitation, Brad jumped on it.It had been a long time since it was just the two of them.
They met up at Mel’s Grille.It seemed like it was the place to eat in town.There were a couple of other places, but this was the main place for good food.
After they’d finished eating burgers and fries, Brad knew this was his chance to convince Reed to move back to Chicago after the wedding.But he knew he had to tread lightly.
Brad took a drink of his cola and then casually leaned back in his seat.“I was thinking if you wanted to come back to Chicago, we could get a bigger suite of offices.In fact, I saw there are some offices available next to our building, which looked perfect for what we need.”
Reed shook his head as he pushed away his empty plate.“I told you before that my future is here in Bayberry.”
Brad sighed.“I just don’t get it.You’re basically in the middle of nowhere.They don’t even have an airport close by.”
“You’re right.It’s the exact opposite of Chicago, and that’s what makes it great.You have to stop judging all small towns by the same yardstick you used for Barch.”Reed leaned forward as he made direct eye contact.“I know you didn’t have it easy in that town, but not every place is like that.”
Brad remembered how the busybodies used to talk about the way his father died and left Brad’s mother in a heap of debt.They said his father liked to gamble.His mother refused to discuss it.
As Brad grew older, the same busybodies said he was just like his father—trouble.He was young and impressionable, so he believed them.He figured if he was trouble, then he might as well get into some.So, he spray-painted the high school and partied until all hours.His mother tried to keep him out of trouble, but he had a chip on his shoulder that she couldn’t remove.
Not wanting to think about his unhappy past, Brad pushed away the thoughts.“So, you think that you can work remotely from here?”
Reed nodded.“I’ll set up offices here, and I’ll still be able to travel to find more small town papers to roll into the Rumor Quill.But now that the paper is established, I don’t plan to travel nearly as much.And if we close the deal on purchasing the magazine, we’ll be able to reach a lot more readers.”
Brad couldn’t help but wonder if Reed would come to regret sacrificing his home in Chicago, settling for their current business model and all of the other things that Reed was giving up on just for love.Just like his mother had sacrificed her dreams for a man who was no longer alive.
Brad wasn’t going to end up like either of them.He was determined to walk through this life alone.Then he briefly thought of Abby and how much he’d wanted to kiss her again.
“You know with you seeing Abby, you’ll be spending a lot more time in Bayberry.”Reed smiled at him, as though they’d been playing some sort of mental chess, and he’d made a move: check.
Brad wasn’t out of moves.He could still move his queen to safety.“Once the wedding is over, I’ll rarely see her.”
“That’s what you say now, but you’ll be back.There will be birthdays, births, and a whole host of other things.Don’t forget football games to watch.”
Brad shook his head.“You won’t have time for hanging out once you have a family.And we won’t be able to fly back and forth that often.”
Reed let out a laugh.“We’ll see about all of that.”
