“Think about it,” Kade told her, obviously frustrated. “Are you coming back here tonight?”
Brodie slung her bag over her shoulder and walked toward the front door feeling hemmed in. “Maybe.”
That one word was, right now, all she could commit to.
* * *
Brodie looked up when Colin tapped on the frame of her door and ambled into her office.
“Hey, Col.” Brodie rested her forearms on her desk and sent him a fond smile.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m well. The morning sickness has passed, as has the tiredness.” Brodie bit her bottom lip. “Did you tell Kayla?”
A shadow passed through Colin’s eyes as he nodded. Colin and Kayla had been trying to get pregnant for more than five years and were now trying IVF. Hearing Brodie had become pregnant via a one-night stand had probably rocked Kayla.
“She took it rather well, considering. She said to tell you she wants to meet the baby’s daddy.”
Yeah, about that. Brodie still hadn’t told Colin, or anyone else, about Kade.
“Maybe,” Brodie hedged.
Colin sighed. “You’re going to keep us guessing, aren’t you?”
Brodie rubbed her forehead with her fingertips. “It’s complicated. We’re trying to work through it and until we have a plan, I’d rather just keep his identity quiet.” She wrinkled her nose. “I might end up parenting on my own and he won’t be a factor.”
Not that there was a snowball’s chance in hell of that happening. This was, after all, Kade she was talking about.
“Understood,” Colin said, before straightening. “So, business...”
Business talk she could do. Mostly because it stopped her thinking about Kade and their future. Business wasn’t complicated or demanding and it didn’t mess with her head. Or her libido. “What’s up?”
“I don’t know about you but I am overwhelmed. My schedule is crazy.”
Brodie looked at her screen and the thirty unopened emails from prospective clients. Ironically, the publicity generated from being Kade’s matchmaker had generated almost too much business. “It’s crazy.”
“I was approached by a couple out of Los Angeles who want to relocate to Vancouver. They have a matchmaking business in the city.” Colin passed her a black-and-pink business card.
“I know the Hendersons,” Brodie said, flicking her nail against the card. “I investigated their business model when I was starting this business. They are reputable, smart and sensitive.”
“Well, they have just sold their business and they are moving here.”
Brodie immediately connected the dots. “Are they going to start up here?”
“They want to semi-retire. They want to work but they don’t want the responsibility of running an office or staff.”
“Are you thinking about bringing them on board...with you?”
Colin picked up her pen and tapped it against his knee, leaving tiny blue dots on his khaki pants. “And with you, if you are as overwhelmed as I am. It’s a win-win situation. We feed them clients, take a commission and we manage how big a bite they take.”
Brodie looked at the pile of folders on her desk and realized it might be the answer to her crazy workload. And she’d find it easier to juggle her career and being a new mother if she had some help. “Are they keen?”
“They are keen to talk,” Colin replied. “They’ll fly out here if we ask them to.”
Her phone chirped and Brodie looked down at the screen.
Will be home late. Will you be okay?
God, she’d been okay for the past three months and for nine years before that. She’d managed to feed herself, dress herself, get herself to work, establish a career. Why did Kade and Poppy think she had dropped sixty IQ points just because she was now pregnant?
Arrrgh.
Brodie ignored Kade’s message, pushed back her chair and stood up. She gripped the back of the chair.
“Or we could go to them.” God, a trip out of the city would be an unexpected blessing, Brodie thought. She could get some distance from Kade, have some time alone to think.
You just don’t want to deal with the emotions Kade pulls to the surface.
I just want some time to think! Is that too much to ask?
You’ve got to stop lying to yourself...
Oh, shut up.
Brodie looked at Colin. “What do you think? You up for a trip?”
“Sure. Are you allowed to fly?”
Brodie tamped down her irritation. “I am only a few months pregnant. The baby is the size of pea so yes, I can fly. Jeez!”
Her phone beeped again. I can cancel dinner if you want me to.
Kade! Really? She tipped her head at Colin and sent him an I-dare-you look. “Let’s fly out tonight, see the Hendersons in the morning? I might stay in Cali for the weekend, do some sightseeing, some shopping.”