She hugged him and Stacy and saw them to the door, then said goodbye to several other guests who were making their way out. She saw Brody try to ease his way to her, but she ducked out through the kitchen and went out back to pick up a few discarded bottles, then headed around the side toward the garage, adeptly avoiding him.
By the time the party closed down, it was just Brody and her and Wyatt and Calliope. Ethan had left early to be with Riley, Zoey and the baby. The crew came in to remove the tables and all the equipment, and they helped the caterers remove the rest of the food.
Calliope turned to her at the door when she and Wyatt walked out. "Call me tomorrow?"
She nodded. "You bet. You all be careful going home."
"I'll walk them out and I'll be right back," Brody said.
She nodded, but as soon as he headed out the front door, she hurried into the bedroom, grabbed her bag and her keys and threw her bag in the car. She was standing in the kitchen, keys in hand, when he came back.
He frowned. "Going somewhere?"
"Home."
"Why?"
"Because I'm nothing to you."
"What? That's not true."
"It is. I heard you say it tonight."
"Wait. Tonight? What are you talking about?"
"I walked outside when you were talking to Lee and Tim, assuring them that manwhore Brody Kent was still alive and well, that I was nothing special to you and they had nothing to worry about. You were still a free agent."
He had the decency to look away. "Oh. That. Let me explain, Tori."
"No, thanks, Brody. I fell for your lines once. I won't fall again." She turned and went into the garage, the gust of cold wind making her shiver. She needed it, needed that reality to slap her across the face.
Because she'd been living in a fantasy for far too long.
Brody followed her to her car. "Tori, if you'll just let me explain..."
She slid into the car and started it up, closed the door and locked it, not even bothering to look at him as she backed the car out of the garage, down the driveway and headed out onto the street.
He could explain all he wanted, but there would never be anything he could say again that she'd ever believe.
Her phone vibrated in the seat next to her. She didn't bother to look or to answer. It was Brody, no doubt ready with a pack of lies that she'd never believe again.
As she headed toward home, the first snowflakes started to fall.
And so did the tears sliding down her cheeks.
Hopefully she'd make it all the way home before she completely fell apart.
*
Brody listened as the tenth call he'd made to Tori went to voice mail.
He got in his truck and, despite the snow coming down harder, drove to her apartment.
He breathed out a sigh of relief to see her car parked in the lot. He went up and knocked on her door, not surprised when she didn't answer. He knocked again, harder this time. And again, when she didn't answer.
"Tori. Open the door. I know you're in there."
She didn't. He leaned against the wall, still in his suit, and watched the snow come down. It was getting colder and he hadn't grabbed a coat, hadn't thought about anything other than getting to Tori so he could explain what he'd said.
Not that there was a reasonable explanation.
He'd been a total dick, so tired of people pushing him toward something he wanted anyway.
What the hell was wrong with him?
He turned and banged on the door. "Tori. Please let me explain."
But he already knew she wasn't ready to listen. If it were him, he wouldn't listen either.
He pulled his suit coat around him and walked down the stairs, the snow coming down so heavy he was soaked by the time he got into the truck.
He climbed in, shut the door and turned on the ignition, firing up the heater. He looked up at her apartment window, waiting for her to turn on the light.
No light came on.
He finally put the truck into gear and pulled out.
Chapter Thirteen
"What the hell did you do to Tori?"
Brody ignored Wyatt's question as they drove together to inspect a jobsite.
"I'm asking you a question."
"And I'm not answering it."
"It's been two weeks since the Christmas party, and it's like someone died, Brody. She won't talk to us."
"Maybe it's you who pissed her off."
Wyatt gave him a look. "I don't fucking think so. It's like she's broken, man. You can see it on her face. It's not even anger. It's...sadness. Christ, what happened between the two of you?"
Brody pulled into the parking lot of the site and turned off the ignition. "You want to know what happened? Everybody happened. You. Ethan. Mom and Dad. Hell, even other contractors. Everybody got into my business about Tori. When are you going to get engaged? When are you going to marry her? What's going on with your relationship? What's the next step? Fuck. How was I supposed to react to that?"
Wyatt arched a brow. "What did you do?"
He shrugged. "I told Lee and Tim that Tori didn't mean anything to me, that I was still the carefree bachelor that I always was, notching my bedpost with the latest conquest. Tori overheard me say that."
Wyatt slouched in the seat. "Shit. You really fucked that one up. What were you thinking?"
"I was thinking I wanted people to leave me alone about Tori so I could make my own decisions on my own time."
"So you were afraid to pull the trigger."
Now it was Brody's turn to frown. "What?"
"You got cold feet. You couldn't admit to anyone you were in love with her, which you obviously are because you're just as miserable and unpleasant to be around as she is. So instead of coming clean and telling the world how you felt about her, you pretended not to care."
"That's bullshit."
"It's not bullshit. It's exactly what you did when you told Lee and Tim you were still cock of the block."
"Well I didn't goddamn know how to handle it." He punched the steering wheel with the palm of his hand.
Wyatt laughed. "No shit. The big question now is, what are you going to do to fix things?"
Brody stared out the windshield of the truck. "I don't know. She won't talk to me at work and she won't answer my calls. I go to her apartment and she won't answer the door."
"You already know she's one stubborn woman. I guess you'll have to keep trying. If you think she's worth it. Do you think she's worth it?"
"Hell yes I do. I'm in love with her."
"Now, was that so hard to admit?"
Brody glared at his brother. "You're an asshole, Wyatt."
"Yeah, I know," Wyatt said with a grin. "Now let's go to work."
*
No amount of cajoling from Calliope or Riley or even Brody's parents was going to force Tori to talk to Brody.
It was over, and as soon as everyone adjusted to that, things could go back to the way they used to be. Eventually--maybe--she and Brody could get back to that place where they could work together.
Or she'd just find another job. She'd hate it, but she'd do it if she had to.
The past two weeks had been awful. Seeing him at work every day had been the most painful. She thought it would be better after work and on the weekends, but it wasn't. She missed him, missed being with him, missed being able to talk to him about anything and everything. She missed touching him and kissing him and sleeping with him.
She was so tired of crying, and so tired of hating that he hadn't been the man she thought he'd been.
He'd tried to talk to her. He'd pulled up his chair next to her desk several times and had tried to launch into an explanation. Each time, she'd gotten up and left the office. She'd told Wyatt and Ethan to have Brody leave her alone or she'd keep leaving. And if that kept happening, the work they needed her to accomplish wouldn't get done.
Eventually, he stopped trying to talk to her at work. But he called her, texte
d her and came by her apartment. She told him to stop coming by or she'd call the police and tell them he was harassing her.
It hurt her to tell him that when all she really wanted was to let him in, to throw her arms around him and have him be the man she wanted him to be.
But no amount of explanation would change a person who couldn't be changed.
Brody was who he always had been, and she'd been stupid to think otherwise.
She'd never be stupid again.
Shuddering out a sigh, she blinked and tried to concentrate on the spreadsheet in front of her. It was two days before Christmas and she had to finish this report before the holiday break. It was quiet in the office--for a change. The guys were all out on jobs, so at least today she'd have some peace and quiet to get caught up.
She heard the sirens outside and her head shot up. A lot of sirens. First from a distance, then growing closer. She hoped nothing was on fire. There was nothing worse than a fire right before Christmas.
The sirens were getting closer. And closer. But it wasn't fast-moving like they were rushing to a location. It was slow. And growing ever louder, heading in the direction of the office. And she heard a voice, like on a loudspeaker.
What the hell was going on out there?
Grabbing her coat, she put it on and headed out the front door, her eyes widening as she saw the sheriff's car, the two town fire engines and a parade of people marching behind them.
And Brody's voice on the sheriff's loudspeaker.
"Tori Lewis. Please come outside and hear me out."
Oh. My. God. What was he doing?
She shook her head and started to back away.
"Can't run this time, honey. Might as well hear him out and get this over with."
It was Wyatt. He'd come around from the back.
"I don't want to hear him."
Wyatt laughed. "I don't think you have much choice, considering the commotion he's causing."
She watched as the parade of sheriff's cars and fire engines, horns blowing and sirens blaring, stopped in front of the gate to the construction offices. Brody got out and climbed on the roof of the sheriff's car.
"Is he insane?" she asked.
"Probably," Ethan said, coming around the other side of her. He laid his hand on the small of her back and propelled her forward. "Go on and hear him out, Tori."
She took a tentative step forward.
Brody wasn't smiling. He stood there looking as gorgeous as ever, the biting wind blowing his dark hair, his boots firmly planted on the sheriff's roof as he held the mic in his hand.
"Tori. I hurt you because I was afraid to tell you--hell, to admit to anyone and everyone how I felt about you. So instead, I downplayed it. I told people that you meant nothing to me, when in fact, you mean everything to me and you always have.
"From the first moment you stepped foot in our offices, you caught my eye. We sparred and traded barbs and it was fun, but I wasn't ready yet.
"But then at the Christmas party last year we kissed--"
The crowd went aww and Tori heated as she blushed.
"And it all came so fast for me I didn't know what to do about it, or how I felt about this feisty redhead who called me on all my--bs."
The crowd laughed.
"I've always shied away from commitment. Everyone in this town knows my reputation. I liked my freedom and I figured someday I'd settle down, but I never knew when that would be. I always figured when the right woman came along.
"Well, the right woman came along, only I didn't know it, until you came into my life. That was you, and I knew it for certain that night a year ago at the Christmas party. There's been no one but you since that night, and there will never be anyone but you."
Tori's heart squeezed, and the dark part of her that had given up hope began to let a tiny sliver of light shine in.
He met her gaze straight on, and she saw the truth in his eyes.
"Tori, you've always been the best part of me, and the best thing that's ever happened to me. You asked me once who I confided in when I needed someone to talk to about the bad things. I realized that person has always been you. Those months when you weren't talking to me were pure hell, because I realize you've always been my confidant, the one I go to when I have a bad day.
"You soothe me, make me feel better. You're my best friend, my lover, and the woman I want in my life, always and forever.
"I love you, Tori."
She gasped out a sob and ran to him. He hopped off the car and grabbed her in his arms, his mouth coming down on hers in a searing kiss that told her so much more than words ever could, because she tasted his tears in that kiss, too.
"I love you, Brody," she said. "I love you."
"Forgive me," he said, his words barely audible amidst the horns hooking and the sirens and the clapping of the crowd.
She laughed at the sounds. "You're forgiven."
He turned to the crowd and grinned. "Go away. I need some privacy with my woman."
They all cheered again, then Brody embraced Tori in his arms and sealed the deal with one hell of a public display of affection.
Chapter Fourteen
At Brody's insistence, Tori moved out of her horrible apartment and into his house the day after his very public announcement of his love for her, something she would likely remember until her dying day.
They spent Christmas at his family's house, something she'd missed last year. This year, she wasn't alone. She had his family--her family--at her side. And she had Brody. She was Brody's girlfriend, and as the gifts were handed out, the very last gift was Brody, on bended knee, very publicly in front of his entire family proposing marriage to her.
She hadn't expected it. Brody did things on his own terms, and on his own timeline. He'd explained to her his issues with his family pushing and prodding him about his relationship with her, which had caused him to act like a dumbass. She'd understood his issues, and she'd forgiven him--again.
She'd expected they'd live together for a while. Possibly a long while, knowing Brody's issues with commitment. And God, she'd have been so content to do just that, to just be with him.
So his proposal had been very unexpected, causing tears to flow down her cheeks. But she'd very enthusiastically nodded and accepted on the spot, because she loved him with all her heart, and not once would she ever doubt his love and commitment to her.
Because he was the best thing in her life, and always would be.
"Surprised?" he asked her sometime later Christmas night after all the gifts had been opened and all the food had been consumed. They sat in his parents' kitchen, having a quiet moment of alone time together after a day of madness and family.
She laced her fingers with his. "Understatement. I didn't think you were ready for this."
"For what? This?" he asked, tracing her ring. "I'm more than ready for it. I've been ready for it. It took almost losing you to realize it." He pulled her off the kitchen bar stool and onto his lap.
"I don't want to be without you anymore, Tori. You belong with me. In my house--in our house--our lives entwined, forever. I've wasted enough time not making the commitment I should have made to you a long time ago."
Her heart squeezed, so filled with love for him. "This doesn't seem real."
He brushed his lips across hers. "It's real. For both of us."
She kissed him back. "I'm sorry I wasted so much time with my insecurities. A whole year."
"So it's your fault."
She laughed and pressed into him. "I needed you to really want me."
"Babe. I've really wanted you for a long time."
"But you weren't ready until now."
"You might be right about that. I think the timing was perfect. You needed to get past your trust issues, and I needed to grow up a bit. Now, we're right where we need to be."
She batted back the tears that overwhelming happiness brought. He swiped one away that drifted down her cheek.
"Happy ones, I hope?"
<
br /> She smiled and nodded. "The happiest ones."
"You're not going to go all sweet and nice on me now, are you? My brothers will kill me if you undergo some personality change. They won't know how to deal with you."
She laughed. "No fear of that. I'm still the same old me, Brody. Bossy, opinionated, and sometimes downright mean, especially at the office, where I'll run roughshod on you three like I always have."
"Good, because that's the you I fell in love with." He stood, placed her on her feet and kissed her soundly. "Let's go watch Christmas movies with our family."
Our family. She had a true family now. Beginning with this man she loved. And it would only grow from there.
The best was yet to come.
*
Spark some romance this holiday season with another story from New York Times bestselling author Jaci Burton.
Country singer Riley Jensen would never have returned to her small Missouri hometown if her publicist hadn't come up with the scheme to tape a Christmas special there. So she never would have known that the man who broke her heart at eighteen--causing her to flee to Nashville--was now a widower with a seven-year-old daughter. Riley has ten years of angst-filled hit songs and Grammy awards to prove she doesn't need Ethan Kent. But suddenly, she can't help thinking of all she gave up by running away...
With so much separating them, can Riley and Ethan find their way back together one magical country Christmas?
All She Wants for Christmas
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About the Author
New York Times bestselling author Jaci Burton lives in Oklahoma and spends a fair amount of time on the back of her husband's Harley, where she often gets lost plotting her next story as the warm (and sometimes cold) breeze whips her face. She loves reality television, is a sucker for romantic comedies, and completely loses track of time when reading a great book. She's a total romantic and longs for the happily ever after in every story, which you'll find in all her books.
Jaci has won the RT Book Reviews Reviewer's Choice Award and has been a finalist in the National Readers' Choice Awards and Bookseller's Best Awards. She writes contemporary romance, erotic romance and romantic suspense, writing in the genres she loves to read.