With This Cake: A Meet Me At The Altar Novel Read online

  And he was completely on board.

  This one was hot and needy and full of promise.

  Slowly, he backed her up against the door and was rewarded when Leanna’s arms wrapped around him to keep him close. His own arms banded around her and his control was barely holding on by a thread.

  His mouth left hers as he left a trail of kisses along her jaw and throat. He gently bit her shoulder. “Invite me in, Lea,” he growled, his mouth never leaving her soft skin.

  There was a part of him that expected her to tell him no; after all, Leanna did not seem like the kind of woman who indulged in casual sex. But when she opened her door and pulled him in, Brody was thoroughly relieved to be wrong.

  The room was dimly lit and yet it was perfect. His eyes never left hers as he closed the door and locked it.

  Her smile was mildly shy, but when he reached for her, she went willingly back into his arms.

  Brody swore that if he had the chance to get her alone–to be in this exact situation where they were in her room at the end of the night–that he would gently seduce her.

  He had no idea that she’d be the one seducing him.

  And as much as he was completely on board with it–was even looking forward to it–there were some things he needed to say to make sure they were on the same page so there were no regrets or misunderstandings.

  With her lips on his jaw nipping and kissing him, it was hard to remember what exactly it was that he wanted to say. When she pressed even closer and raked her hands through his hair, he swore they could talk later.

  His lips claimed hers with a fierceness he couldn’t control and rather than scaring Leanna or even causing her to pause, it seemed to fuel her on. Wrapping his arms around her, he loved the feel of her–every inch of those lush curves–and knew he couldn’t wait to get her naked and underneath him.

  Together, they moved across the room. Her suite wasn’t quite as large as his, but there was still a living room area they needed to navigate before they got to the bed.

  Leanna pushed his jacket off his shoulders and he was quick to finish the job, tossing it on the floor. They paused briefly so he could loosen his tie, but she was the one to yank it off and fling it on top of his discarded jacket.

  Together they worked on the buttons of his shirt and he cursed the cuff links that kept his hands from her body for an additional minute. The entire time he dealt with them, Leanna’s hands roamed over his chest and her mouth followed their path.

  She was killing him.

  But what a way to go.

  Shirtless–finally–his arms banded around her again so he could kiss her properly. There was no finesse. It was wet and messy and neither of them seemed to mind.

  They were slowly on the move again and he jumped slightly when her hands rested on his belt buckle and she began to work on removing it. And just as she had with his tie, she somehow managed to whip it free and toss it to the floor.

  Brody reached up and cupped her face, deepening the kiss briefly before lifting his head and staring down at her in amazement. He was breathless–practically panting–and she was doing the same.

  Who was this woman? He wondered. And how was it possible that the shy and mild-mannered woman he’d spent the entire weekend with was this much of a seductress? It was like dealing with two different women and yet…there was only her.

  Only Leanna.

  His eyes scanned her face and a million thoughts raced through his mind, but he couldn’t voice even one of them. Instead, he could only watch as she took one step back and then another before reaching behind her and slowly pulling the zipper down her dress. He saw the fabric begin to loosen on her body and that’s when he stepped in, gently bringing her arms back to her sides.

  He wanted to be the one to peel the fabric from her body and watch it pool at her feet.

  He wanted it more than he wanted his next breath.

  Without words–with nothing more than sharing a heated glance–Brody reached out and slowly slid the straps off her shoulders and down her arms. Then he watched as the dress moved down her body in slow motion, revealing her magnificent body to him.

  No sooner had it hit the floor than she was stepping out of it and back in his arms. He wanted to tell her how beautiful she was, how sexy she was, and how much he wanted her, but he never got the chance. She was kissing him again–destroying him–and before he knew it, they were on the bed, rolling for dominance.

  He won the first round and couldn’t wait to see what she had in store for him next.

  Chapter 6

  You can’t buy happiness. But you can buy cake and that’s kind of the same thing.

  When Lea opened her eyes the next morning, the sun was shining and she was alone.

  It had been a long time since she’d slept past sunrise so that part was a pleasant surprise. Waking up alone after a night of the most amazing sex she’d ever had wasn’t.

  Sitting up, she clutched the sheet to her body with one hand and pushed her hair out of her face with the other. Glancing around, she saw it was only a little after eight. Last night she had gotten a text from her assistant telling her that everything was done for the goody boxes they were giving out today so there was no need to come in early, but she still felt like it was important to go and double-check it all.

  She had just hoped that Brody would be interested in some morning sex before she did.

  “Clearly I misread this entire situation,” she murmured as she forced herself from the bed.

  It felt weird to walk across the room naked, but in order to get to her robe, that’s what she had to do. Once she grabbed it from the closet and slipped it on, she padded around the room and looked for some sign of when Brody left or why.

  A note would have been nice.

  Although, as soon as that thought registered, she pushed it aside. What if the sex was only amazing to her and he skipped out once she was asleep because of it?

  Groaning, she walked over to the bathroom and shut the door with enough force to shake the walls before turning on the shower. Normally she enjoyed standing under the hot water, but right now she was too riled up to get any pleasure from it.

  She wanted to scream with frustration and then cry from embarrassment. Her first time playing the seductress and the guy sneaks out before she wakes up.

  “Ugh…I want to die,” she mumbled into her hands.

  After a minute of allowing herself to feel awful, Leanna straightened and made herself get washed up because now she had to pack up her room, load her luggage back in the van, and go check on how things were over in the trailer so she could begin breaking everything down there as well.

  It was the first time she was truly thankful to have so much to do. With any luck, she’d stay so busy that she wouldn’t even have time to think about Brody and his sexy body and mouth-watering kisses and…and…

  “That is not helping, you ninny,” she chided herself as she rinsed her hair. “Focus on him leaving without saying goodbye and remember how the only reason you got stuck with him is because his family doesn’t like him.” Then she let out a snort of disgust. “And I can’t say I blame them.”

  Feeling slightly better, she turned off the water and grabbed a couple of towels to dry herself off. After that, she simply stomped around her suite throwing clothes into her luggage and putting on a minimal amount of makeup. Staring at herself in the mirror, she fought the urge to cry.

  “You can cry when you get home. For now, just get yourself in gear so you can leave and put this whole weekend behind you.”

  As far as pep talks went, it was fairly lame, but it was all she had in her.

  Thirty minutes later, she was riding down in the elevator while making a mental list of everything she needed to do so she could leave sooner rather than later.

  Dragging her stuff out the back door and refusing assistance from some of the King family’s staff, Leanna finally got to her van and tossed everything inside. Once that was done, she marched over to th
e trailer and plastered a smile on her face so her staff wouldn’t notice that anything was wrong.

  “Good morning!” she called out and was surprised to see everyone was busy packing up all the supplies. “Wow! It looks like you’ve all been very productive this morning!”

  Her assistant Emilie walked over and handed her a cup of coffee with a smile. “All the boxes are assembled and we drove them over to the tent already,” she explained. “Our tent is empty and we’re just wiping everything down and already have all the pans and trays clean and ready to load into the van!”

  “That is amazing,” she said with a smile of her own. “You have no idea how much I appreciate it.”

  “It’s all good, Lea. I figured you’d be anxious to go since you’ve been here for four days.”

  “Well, to be fair, we all have. And I couldn’t have done it without all of you.”

  “Still, we all got to leave at the end of the day. You had to stay.”

  Taking a sip of her coffee, she shrugged. “Luckily, I really didn’t have to do much of anything except be a guest after five each day, so…”

  Shaking her head, Emilie laughed softly. “Come on, you’re seriously not going to tell me that you aren’t dying to go home and sleep in your own bed and just be away from this whole party atmosphere?”

  “Well, maybe I am a little anxious to get home…”

  “So let us make that happen for you.” Emilie turned to face the rest of the staff. “Okay, everyone, our goal is to get Lea out of here as soon as possible! Let’s start loading trays and pans into the van as well as any leftover ingredients!”

  All around them, people were in motion and Lea stepped aside as two of her staff walked out the door with their arms loaded with baking pans. If everything went well, she could realistically be on the road in an hour.

  “Did we get all of the four-packs of cupcakes over to the main house for Mrs. King?” she asked Emilie.

  “Adrienne and Ally took care of that first thing this morning. Mrs. King has already seen them and said to thank you.”

  “Awesome.” She took another sip of her coffee and considered her options. Her parents weren’t going to be here for the brunch today so she didn’t have to worry about saying goodbye to them. The only other person she had to worry about was Charlene, but she could simply text her that something came up and she had to leave.

  Done!

  As soon as she finished her coffee, she walked around and went over some last-minute instructions for the girls so she could leave with a clear conscience. The entire trailer was already on its way to looking as pristine as the day it was delivered, her van was loaded, and all the cakes and cupcakes and goody boxes were delivered. She asked Emilie, Adrienne, and Ally to stay until the brunch was over just in case they were needed for anything and told the rest of the crew they could go.

  “Seriously, I want you all to go and enjoy the rest of your day. It’s a Sunday and it’s beautiful out and I hope you take advantage of it!” Then she walked around and hugged them all and promised to treat them to breakfast on Thursday when they were all scheduled to be together back at the Meet Me at the Altar offices.

  Emilie walked her over to the van and Lea hesitated to climb in. “I really can’t thank you enough for all that you did this weekend. I know it was a lot of commuting and working in cramped spaces, but…”

  “Lea, please. It’s my job and it really wasn’t that bad. We had a good system coming into this so I think it all went very smoothly. Now go home and get some sleep. I’m sure you’re exhausted.”

  More than you know…

  It was beyond tempting to just get in the van and drive away, but…her manners wouldn’t allow it. With a sigh, she walked back toward the house and went looking for Sylvia. The polite thing to do was to say goodbye and thank her for the business before she left.

  Sometimes she hated having good manners and a conscience.

  In the main house, there was a flurry of activity in the kitchen and dining room with what seemed like dozens of people coming and going. Lea looked around for Sylvia but didn’t want to stop anyone to ask where she was. She made her way across the foyer and walked through the living room when she heard a familiar voice.

  Slowly, she crept closer to what she realized was a study and stayed as close as she could to the doorway without being seen.

  “I don’t give a damn about what you think,” Brody was saying. “I’m your boss and this is what I’m telling you to do!” He paused. “What difference does it make that it’s a Sunday?” Another pause.

  Okay, clearly he’s on the phone…

  “I’m not paying you to coach Little League, Greg,” he snapped. “I pay you a damn good salary to do your job when it needs to be done and if that happens to be on a Sunday, then so be it! Now get those numbers to me by noon or you can start looking for another job!”

  A soft gasp was out before she could stop it. Her hands instantly flew to her mouth and she decided not to wait around to listen to any more of his tirade.

  Walking quickly back across the living room, the foyer, the dining room, and the kitchen, she didn’t let out a relaxing breath until her hand was on the handle of the van and she was pulling the door open.

  Climbing inside, she started it up and let out a long sigh.

  What a weekend.

  It just sucked that it had to end like this.

  Not that she expected anything more to happen between her and Brody. This was a little fling, nothing more. It was just beyond disappointing that she chose to have said fling with a man she had seriously misjudged.

  Well, at least part of the time.

  For a brief part of the weekend, she thought she saw some good in him–something redeemable and different from what his family saw in him and what she had originally seen.

  “Boy was I wrong,” she murmured.

  But it was over and it was time to return to her regularly scheduled life.

  She was going to swing by the shop and drop off the van and bring in anything perishable before hopping into her own little sedan and going home. Tomorrow morning she’d go in for the weekly meeting with Josie and Skye, but after that, she was going to go home and relax for a few days. Maybe she’d book a massage or go for a pedicure or something to pamper herself as a reward for a job well done.

  And maybe–just maybe–it would be enough to make her forget about the fling that never should have flung.

  “What do you mean she left?” Brody demanded.

  “Um…”

  “When did she leave?” he snapped and when the poor girl flinched, he knew he needed to calm down. After getting up and going for his morning run, he had gotten waylaid by his father and Travis regarding a deal with a contractor for their new facility going up in Tennessee. That had led to multiple emergency phone calls and by the time he showered and went back downstairs, he couldn’t find Leanna anywhere.

  Which was how he ended up yelling at one of her staff.

  Doing his best to calm down, he forced a smile. “I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name,” he said gently.

  “Emilie, Sir. I’m Leanna’s assistant.”

  With a nod, he asked, “And you’re sure she left?”

  “Yes, Sir. We helped her load up the van an hour ago. Half of us stayed behind to make sure nothing was needed during brunch and then we’re going to do a final cleaning here before we go. I hope that’s okay.”

  She was nervous and he felt a little bit bad about it, but he was beyond frustrated that Lea would leave without saying goodbye.

  Especially after last night.

  “Thank you, Emilie,” he said before walking out of the trailer. If he had stayed there and let his mind wander for even a second to what he and Leanna did last night, he would have embarrassed himself for sure because…wow. She had rocked his world in a way he hadn’t expected and it killed him that he had been stupid enough to leave her bed this morning because he didn’t want to mess up his stupid triathlon training.


  He’d gladly skip the whole damn thing if he could be back in bed with her right now.

  “Obviously that’s not going to happen,” he muttered as he stalked back into the house.

  There was no way he was going to sit through brunch by himself–or rather, without Leanna–and since that was the only reason for him to still be here, he knew he could leave.

  And he’d deal with any fallout from his family later.

  If anyone asked, he’d say there was a crisis on the job–which there was–and he needed to get to the office to deal with it.

  Jogging up the stairs to the third floor, Brody did a quick sweep of his rooms and packed up what he needed, then jogged right back down. The only people in the house were the staff so he was able to go out and go right to his car without having to stop. It wasn’t until he was behind the wheel that he pulled out his phone and contemplated calling Leanna.

  But he didn’t have her number.

  Muttering a curse, he slammed his fist on the steering wheel and wondered how he could have missed that one important detail.

  Probably because you didn’t see this as anything beyond a weekend hookup.

  Maybe that was how it started, but it sure as hell didn’t stay that way.

  Last night he had been hell-bent on letting her know that he wasn’t looking for any kind of relationship or entanglement, but now he wasn’t quite so sure.

  Without the annoyance of the never-ending engagement party, he was curious about what it would be like to go out with Leanna on a real date–to take her to dinner and back to his home where he could be the one to seduce her this time.

  “Going to be hard to do without a phone number,” he reminded himself. With another curse, he started the car and quickly sped down the massive driveway. It wasn’t until he was on the highway that an idea hit him.

  He might not be able to do anything about talking to her today, but tomorrow she’d be back at work and he could definitely call her there. As much as it annoyed him to have to wait, there really was a crisis with King Hospitality that he needed to wrap up.