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Good question. “That’s complicated.”
“Because you’re in love with Abby.”
Cade’s heart literally stopped for a fraction of a second. How could Brady assume to know these things when he himself had no idea what name to put on his newfound feelings?
“If you’re thinking of a lie, don’t bother,” Brady went on. “I’ve known for months that the two of you were going to wind up together.”
“Months? What the hell are you talking about?”
Brady shrugged. “I’ve seen the way the two of you argue in the office about petty things like an old married couple. Besides, I’ve also seen how you look at her when she’s not looking at you in the same love-struck way.”
What? Abby had been giving off vibes and the one person who should’ve picked up on them—meaning himself—hadn’t?
“You can’t possibly know what I feel,” Cade corrected, suddenly not so relaxed. “Let’s get back to this business merger with the Tremanes.”
Brady leaned back in the oversize office chair and smiled. “Business merger? That tells me, and you, right there that you shouldn’t be going through with this.”
Cade didn’t say a word. How could he argue with the truth?
“I’d already decided I couldn’t marry Mona,” Cade confessed. “I can’t hurt Abby that way.”
“Or yourself,” Brady added.
Cade remained silent.
“So what are you going to do?”
Cade shrugged. “I have no idea. When I first started with this plan, nothing was going to stop me from going global just like Dad wanted. But now…”
“Since you’re already down, I’d like to kick you some more.” Brady’s seat creaked as he leaned forward and put his elbows up on the desktop. “Why the hell didn’t you talk this over with me? We are partners, not to mention brothers, and there’s no way I would’ve let you go through with a wedding if that was the only way.”
“I honestly saw the opportunity and jumped on it. I knew you’d disagree and try to talk me out of it.” Cade swallowed and realized he’d left out the biggest part of his confession. “I asked Abby to plan the wedding.”
Brady cursed and shook his head. “Are you trying to kill the poor girl? Did you not know that her mother passed just before Dad and she’d had to leave her job as wedding coordinator to care for her?”
“How did you know all of that when I just found out in the last few days?”
“Because I listened when she talked,” Brady ground out through clenched teeth. “I knew when Abby started working that she was depressed, but she did everything not to let it show. I would just speak casually and pick up hints she didn’t know she was dropping.”
God. Cade didn’t know what was worse, the fact that his brother knew about Abby’s problems or that he knew she’d fallen for him.
“Did you tell her to stop planning this preposterous wedding?”
Cade nodded. “I told her I couldn’t marry Mona, but I haven’t talked to Mona, yet. She hasn’t returned my calls. I’m still trying to figure out a way we can sink into this amazing opportunity that will still allow me to keep Abby.”
“And if you can’t?” Brady prompted.
“Then I’ll have to decide which one is more important.”
Sixteen
“He what?”
Abby watched as Sam’s hand froze halfway to her mouth to sink into yet another bite of caramel-filled chocolate. They relaxed on lounge chairs overlooking the ocean, gossiping like teens and old gal pals.
Abby cringed, hating the words. “He asked me to plan his wedding.”
“Jerk.”
Sam bit into the chocolate, then just popped the whole thing into her mouth. Abby really felt she deserved some kind of award for sitting through the agony of not only watching Sam eat her weight in chocolate, but also for rehashing the nightmare of planning the wedding for Cade and Mona.
“Well, I can’t say too much,” Abby amended. “I kind of manipulated the situation to get closer to him.”
A smirk crossed Sam’s face. “I knew you wouldn’t let him go without a fight. I want all the details.”
Could this conversation be any more juvenile?
But, she really needed a female opinion, so Abby trudged on.
“Well, at first I refused to travel with him, but then I told him I needed to look into honeymoon destinations and he needed to accompany me.”
Sam’s face lit up. “I love it. Go on.”
“I told him this would be the perfect opportunity to look into resorts that were floundering due to the economy.”
