A date who looked vaguely familiar but whom I couldn’t quite place.
Whisky-colored eyes. Auburn hair. I tried to place her but I was too busy being hurt to retrieve the memory.
“Of course, I didn’t believe him when he said he was just friends with his female roomie,” she said, breaking my train of thought. “But now that I’ve met you . . . it all makes sense.”
Whoa. What?
She laughed. “Oh, Jesus, that sounded awful. I didn’t mean it like that.”
Yeah, she did.
“Well, it was really lovely to meet you, Brenda,” I said.
“Brandi.” She corrected me.
But I ignored her and looked at Caleb, surprised I could even open my mouth to speak because my face was so stiff. “Enjoy your date.”
Caleb frowned at my comment and his eyes darkened. But I didn’t give him a chance to respond. I took my mushroom margherita pizza and my angry little heart, and I left.
CALEB
Honey was chopping up salad vegetables when I walked in, and the way she was executing them with the knife confirmed my earlier suspicions that she was upset about Brandi.
“You want to talk about it?” I asked, leaning a hip against the counter.
“About what?” she asked angrily, guillotining a bell pepper with three whacks of the sharp blade.
“Brandi.”
At the mention of Brandi’s name, the poor pepper copped it with another whack of the knife.
“You’re pissed,” I said calmly.
“I’m not pissed,” she replied. She put a carrot on the chopping board and began to wail down on it. “I’m super pissed.”
“At me?”
“Why didn’t you tell her about the baby? Why everyone else and not her?” she asked suddenly, sending a second carrot to the same fate as the first. But she didn’t give me a chance to answer. “And why was she in my store a few months ago giving me a hard time?”
That threw me. “What do you mean?”
“Just after we started living together she came into the shop and was a prized bitch about me not having gluten-free cupcakes before basically implying I was either pregnant or too fat eating too many cupcakes.”
“You’re saying Brandi came into the shop and gave you a hard time?”
“Yes. And she was a real pain in the ass!”
“Are you sure it was her?”
“Yes, I’m sure it was her. Obviously, she was dressed differently today. Dressed down even. But it was her. I’m sure.” She frowned and bit her bottom lip. “I mean, maybe.”
I stood behind her and placed my hand over hers, calmly guiding the knife down onto the chopping board. I turned her around. The urge to kiss her beautiful mouth swelled in my chest but I ignored it, just like I did every other damn day.
“Brandi and I broke up almost six months ago. She’s been out of town for months.”
Surprise registered on her face. “She’s your ex-girlfriend?”
I nodded. “And she didn’t take the break up very well. She went to a real bad place in her head afterwards. Said some crazy shit, did some crazy stuff. She doesn’t handle disappointment very well and it really fucked with her.”
She pulled away and walked over to the couch, slowly sitting down. “How long were you with her?”
“About six months.”
She nodded, processing what I was saying.
“Can I ask why you broke up?”
I pushed off the counter and walked over to where she sat on the couch. “She wanted something I just couldn’t give her. I thought what we had was something simple and easy, but she thought it was something else. When I realized what she wanted, I knew I didn’t want the same, so I broke it off with her.” I sat down next to her and took her hand in mine. “She and I—we’re done. But today was the first time I’d seen her since she had a big meltdown and went away to get some help. When she showed up this afternoon she seemed better. Calmer. Happier. I wanted to make sure she was really doing okay. When she suggested lunch as an apology for her meltdown, it seemed like a good idea.”
“Of course, I understand.” She pulled her hand free to wipe her hair from her face. “Oh, crap, I’m such a douche.”
Which wasn’t what I was expecting her to say.
“What do you mean?”
“Of course you should’ve gone to lunch with her. Made sure she was okay. I’m just being ridiculous.”
“No, you’re not. If the roles were reversed, I’d feel the same way.”
“You mean you’d act like a jealous loon if you were fat because you were pregnant with my baby and saw me all cozy with a guy in a dark restaurant?”
“For starters, you and I both know that I’d be a hot pregnant man. Secondly, I wasn’t cozy with her at all. And thirdly, you’re not a jealous loon. A little wacko, but not a complete loony tune.” I grinned at her, because even when she pouted she was adorable. I took her hand back and I wasn’t going to let it go. “I want you to know that nothing is happening between her and me. And I’m not going to be with anyone else while you’re pregnant.”