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No matter how much I want to take Denise in my arms now, to lay her over the counters or even the new floor tiles, and to show her with my body on hers how much I love her, I have to do this right. It’s like Bash said. She needs to know that I can put her career over my own. So, after a moment, I say, "It's a gift."
She still doesn't turn to look at me, but I see her beautiful dark lashes move as she blinks in confusion. "A gift?"
"For you. And I promise you that's all it is. I don't expect anything in return."
Finally, she meets my gaze, and I hope my expression looks honest. I hope that my words ring true.
To my surprise, the corner of her mouth twitches with the hint of a smirk. Denise points to my chest. "What's with the apron?"
I let out an airy laugh. With the intensity of sharing a room with her again, I'd forgotten I was wearing this silly thing.
"I had to look the part, didn't I?" I tease, unable to help myself, "As we know from past experience, I make these aprons work."
"Yes. You do." She snorts, and for a moment, her expression lightens. And for just that brief second, everything is okay again. But then reality crashes back down on her. Her smile drops, and she looks down at her wringing hands.
Sucking in a tense breath, she says, "Giving me a bakery is very kind of you, Brett. It's a beautiful space. But I… I don't…." She trails off, biting her lip.
"I know," I assure her, reading her mind. "The bakery isn't my apology. Like I said, it's a gift. But I do have one if you'd like to hear my full apology."
Words still lost to her, she nods, still looking down and avoiding my eyes.
I clear my throat.
"When I was a kid, my brother and I didn't have a stable home life. After our mother died, our dad was in and out of the picture so much that he stopped feeling like a dad. Bash melded well with the instability—in fact, I think he was made for it. But I just wanted things to be stable again. I turned myself into that stability, that anchor to hold my own life together when no one around me could do it.
"When I first came to Barton Beach, I was only worried about my career, to the point where it started to cloud my eyes to the world around me. I kept putting off love, thinking that it was a luxury reserved for men who already had it made. Men who had that stability to give. Not for men like what my father had been. And not for men like me. Not until I could prove I was worth something."
Taking a moment to breathe and think of my next words, I peek at her, trying to understand how she's feeling.
While she seems to be listening to what I'm saying, I can't quite read how she's taking it without her looking up to face me. I feel a little stab of nerves at the uncertainty, but I keep going in spite of them.
"The moment I met you, Denise, you took my breath away." The small part of her cheeks I can see turns immediately red. "I thought I was speaking to a woman named Sylvia since that's what you told me your name was. If I had known who you were that night, I would have told you the truth then and there. That I had been sent to claim your bakery right out from under you. But, in all honesty, I'm kind of glad that didn't happen. Because I would have left Barton Beach a very different man than the one I've become."
"Every decision I made to keep the truth hidden was made because I thought I was protecting you. But I see now that it only delayed the inevitable. You've changed me, Denise. You have opened my eyes to my own faults, my own callousness.
"And so, after our breakup, I took a good long look at my life and decided it was time for a change. Whether or not we end up together, I am a new man because of you, Denise."
At this, her head finally begins to tilt upward, her eyes searching my face. But still, she says nothing.
"I've moved to Barton Beach to be closer to my brother," I announce. "And I bought you this bakery. I have all the papers here and can sign everything over today. And, if it's what you want, you never have to see me again. I just wanted you to have this. A place of your own. Where you don't have to live every second of your life worried about whether or not you're living up to your mother's legacy."
She blinks again, mulling the words over in her mind. Finally, she asks, "You're living here now? In Barton Beach?"
"Right here, in Barton Beach," I say with a grin.
She blinks at me in confusion. "But what about Houston?"
"What about it?"
She gives me a look like it should be obvious. "Yourjob, Brett. Don't tell me they're letting a partner be completely remote now."
"Actually, I'm not partner anymore."
Her eyes widen, and she's finally fully looking at me again. "You what?"
"I quit," I say simply. "Like I said, I used to think the job would give me some stability. But honestly, it's given me anythingbutthat. I was on track to become just like my boss, and I realized that was a cruel and unlivable future for me. I can't stand to take away people's dreams like that anymore. Never again."
She's frozen in place like a statue. I start to question whether she's even breathing until she suddenly whispers, "But… what aboutyourdreams, Brett?"
