“And I’ll be paying for it,” he said with finality. “So let’s make it five thirty on Friday.”
He pulled out his phone to schedule it in, refusing to look Brooke in the eye for the irritation he knew he’d see there. Yes, he was controlling the situation, pushing her too hard. But Seth didn’t back down. He didn’t know why, but making time for Brooke Baldwin in his life felt necessary somehow, and he didn’t much care whether she liked it or not.
“Fine,” she snapped. “Five thirty. I can come by your office, we can review whether or not your sister wants a sweetheart or halter neckline—”
“And then I’ll take you to dinner.”
Her hand was on the door handle, and she shoved the door open, likely catching Dex by surprise.
Seth leaned over and caught her arm before she could go storming out of the car. “Ms. Baldwin.”
She shot him an angry glare. “Do you realize how many times you just interrupted me? How pushy you are at trying to achieve your agenda?”
He opened his mouth, and then shut it as he realized he had been horribly high-handed with her. “I’m sorry.”
Her mouth opened to retort, but then she shut it and gave him a suspicious look as she jerked her arm free from his grasp.
His fingers itched to touch her again, but he clenched his fist instead and took a steadying breath and forced himself to make the request of her. “Ms. Baldwin. Will you have dinner with me on Friday? Please?”
“To discuss Maya’s wedding dress?” she asked warily.
Fuck no. He didn’t give a shit about his sister’s wedding dress.
But he’d set himself up for this bullshit, so he forced himself to nod. “Yeah.”
“All right,” she said slowly. “We can do dinner. But, Mr. Tyler, I really need you to understand . . . I’m not looking for anything . . . romantic. Or sexual. This thing between us—I’m not going to pretend it’s not there, but I’m also not going to act on it. My career with the Belles is too important to me to risk screwing it up over something like this.”
His fist clenched harder, and he pulled his hand back at the rejection. He wasn’t surprised. Hell, he didn’t want anything, either; it was just . . . the straight-up dismissal burned. Not only because he was turned on as hell every time he looked at her, but because he got so much damned energy just from being around her.
And the feeling, apparently, was not mutual.
“It’ll just be a business dinner,” he said, his voice low and quiet. “I have them all the time.”
Which was true. Just not with people who looked like her. Not with people who made him feel the way she made him feel.
“Perfect,” she said primly. “I’ll see you Friday at five thirty, then. Shall we meet at the restaurant?”
“At my office, just in case I’m running late,” he said. “If that’s okay.”
She nodded. “Okay, then. Have a nice night, Mr. Tyler.”
“You too,” he said gruffly as she shut the door behind her.
But he wouldn’t have a nice night.
He’d be too busy trying to get her out of his damn head.
Chapter Twelve
I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU got us an appointment at Blanche,” Maya said admiringly as they stepped out of her town car onto the sidewalk outside one of the city’s most elite bridal shops.
“This is what you get when you hire the Belles,” Brooke said with a smile. “The best.”
“I know, but I have friends—famous friends—who couldn’t even get in,” Maya said, sounding slightly awed.
Brooke wasn’t surprised. Small, tony shops like Blanche very carefully cultivated their air of exclusivity. She knew they’d rather needlessly turn someone away than give them the impression that they were overly available.
But that’s why people hired the Belles. Half of a wedding planner’s job was wooing not just the brides but the vendors.
And lucky for Brooke, Alexis Morgan had gotten her stiletto-clad foot in the door of all the most elite vendors.
Brooke smiled indulgently, proud of herself for clearly impressing her client. They’d had a great day so far, a complete one-eighty from the disastrous venue-scouting day. It turned out that spending time with Maya Tyler without the presence of her hovering fiancé or domineering big brother was actually quite fun.
Brooke had liked the woman before. It was hard not to like someone who seemed so determined to be pleasant at every turn. But after the two of them had started their wedding dress consultation day with a Starbucks run, just the two of them, she was delighted to find signs of a sharp wit hiding beneath that angelic face. There was a tartness to Maya that had Brooke realizing that in addition to being an easy-to-work-with client, Maya was also the type of woman that could become a friend.