“Then what’s going on? And don’t shrug, because you know I can’t hear that.” They both shrugged when they were on the phone and it drove their siblings crazy.
She laughed again. “I’ve been working on this film night and day and just realized that I haven’t gotten them a gift, and I need to get them something.”
“Well, I suck too, because I haven’t gotten them anything either. Call Gage. He always gets shit like this done. He can hook us both up.”
“Oh, great idea. He’ll figure something out for sure.”
If only his problems were so easily solved.
“Duke told me that you’re dating someone. Are you bringing her to the wedding?” She sounded more like herself now.
His chest tightened with the memory of asking Lizzie to go with him to the wedding. She had to have known how he would react once she revealed her secret. Why would she agree to go?
“I’m not sure.”
As much as he enjoyed chatting with his sister, he wasn’t in the mood for talking right now. Hell, he wasn’t in the mood for anything right now, except maybe beating the shit out of something. But he had a commitment to fulfill, and he wasn’t about to be the guy who blew off his commitments. He ended the call with Trish, took a cold shower to wake himself up after not sleeping all night, and drove over to Lizzie’s. Maybe they could talk through this so he could better understand why she’d done it.
He arrived to an empty driveway again, and he was disappointed and relieved in equal measure. Walking into her house was unsettling. He realized, as he stood in her kitchen, that from the very first day he’d begun working on her renovations, he’d hoped they’d come together. How could everything feel so right between two people when one of them was hiding something so big?
How could they ever move past this? He wanted to. God, how he wanted to. He loved her so damn much, but he was hurt. Stunned and hurt that she had waited to tell him.
He set his tools down and caught sight of the picture they’d painted together hanging on the wall in the living room. He crossed the room in a daze and stood in front of the painting. Though he was staring at the image they’d painted, he saw Lizzie’s face, the light in her eyes when they’d gone to the festival, the way her smile radiated straight to his heart when they were dancing, and the raw sensuality she exuded when they were making out behind the stage. And then the image of her crying as she told him about her webcast and the devastation he’d heard in her voice. His heart shattered in his chest, but that wasn’t the worst of it, as his thoughts turned to her sexy lists.
Did they stem from the same place as the Naked Baker? Had she shared those with the world, too?
Chapter Sixteen
LIZZIE CHECKED HER cell phone for the millionth time. She hadn’t heard from Blue all day. He hadn’t responded to the text she’d sent in the morning apologizing for hurting him, and she was left to think the worst. Not that she thought he would reach out to her, but that didn’t stop her from jumping every time her cell phone rang or vibrated with a text—and it didn’t stop her heart from shattering with every disappointment. She closed her shop at seven to prepare for the string garden class that she wished she could cancel, but she wasn’t about to let down the three people who had signed up for it. It wasn’t their fault she’d messed up her life.
She fired up her computer to check the email she hadn’t taken the time to check last night. If she didn’t check the Naked Baker emails often, they became too overwhelming to face. Not that she wanted to face them now. Even thinking about the program made her want to quit doing it. And that was a thought Maddy couldn’t afford for her to have. Her eyes trailed down the list of senders. She froze when Sky knocked on the front door. She’d been avoiding Sky all day, knowing that her friend would see right through the mask of pleasantries she’d gotten away with in front of customers.
Hoping she’d go away, she returned her attention to the computer screen, as if she hadn’t heard Sky knocking.
Sky knocked again. “Lizzie! Open the door!”
She reluctantly headed for the door, contemplating ways to get her friend to go away without being rude. She was afraid to talk with Sky for too long, knowing she’d likely break down and tell her the whole sordid mess. She had a class to run, and the last thing she needed was to do it with tears in her eyes. Plus, she knew how close Sky and Blue were, and if he’d already told Sky what had happened, then she’d have to deal with that, too.
She unlocked the door and immediately averted her gaze from Sky’s to keep Sky from reading the emotions in her eyes.