Page 24 of Brooke
“I wish the others were here,” she said wistfully, a rare admission. “But we’ll party like there’s no tomorrow, right? Oh, I need to go tell Sawyer. By the way. Our new interior designer sent you flowers. Holler if you need my cleaver.”
Kyle almost shivered at the menace in her voice as she rushed out of the room while Pierre flew to his perch.
Brooke seemed frozen in place as she found the bouquet of flowers and card resting on the counter. Kyle was kinda grateful the unexpected gift had distracted her from asking him questions better left unanswered.
Then she went over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. Again, he could feel her gathering herself. And not meeting his eyes. So, he’d start circling around the issue.
Kyle rolled his shoulders to shake off his own insane roller-coaster ride. “How was yoga?” he asked, forcing himself to sit down.
“Great. You’re obviously on a winning streak. Maybe you can look over my ideas for the house, the ones I plan to share with Axel. I was up late last night working on them since I couldn’t sleep.”
He studied her face. Her cat-shaped green eyes didn’t look tired. They practically glittered. “I’d be happy to. You ran upstairs before you could tell me how your dinner went.Obviously, Axel thought it went well. That’s an impressive bouquet.”
A guarded expression overtook her face, and she pivoted on her ballet-slippered feet and walked over to the espresso machine. “Itdidgo well. We’re getting to understand one another. You know how new projects are.”
He did. But they didn’t make someone’s hands bobble the coffee grounds as she made herself a crème. “I know how important this project is to you. I just want to assure you that I will do everything in my power to make sure you and Axel have the kind of professional understanding needed to make this venture a success. For both of you.”
The milk she was pouring slid past the metal frother when her hand jerked.
He chose his words carefully when all she did was wipe the spill. “I wouldn’t want there to be any misunderstandings up front that might hurt the project. So I’m asking straight out. You’re sure you can work professionally with him?”
Because there was no way he was going to start accusing Axel of anything straight off…
She looked like she held her breath before glancing over. “Of course I can work professionally with him!”
“I know you can.” He took another step on the ice before him. “Guys sometimes don’t always understand the vibes they’re putting out. Like the flowers. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable around him. He should know how important professionalism is to us. I was clear about that when I talked about hiring him. I told him it was my top priority.”
Did she gulp before turning on the milk frother?
“You might say I even drove it home. None of us want personal complications to flare up on a project like this. You should have heard Madison talking earlier about her experiences. Suffice it to say those entanglements can shipwreck a project faster than you can sayTitanic.”
“When did you ever see that movie?” she asked, finally facing him and locking her arms across her front.
There. A flash of bravado. “Itwasa huge Oscar-winner. Anyway. We all know how important this redesign is to you. The exposure will give you the chance to kick-start the career you’ve always wanted. And the press will be good for all of PRG’s new business ventures.”
Her brow knit together before she gave him her back again, fiddling with the coffee machine, one she was usually proficient using. “Kyle, Axel and I are on the same page professionally. The flowers came with fabric. Didn’t you notice? Axel is famous for pairing textures. It’s a play on that.”
He wanted to believe that. So badly he bit the inside of his cheek. But while the tenor of her voice was sound, her back muscles were lined with tense knots—when she’d just returned from yoga. And she hadn’t opened the card yet. In fact, he felt like she was ignoring it. “I’m glad to hear you guys are in sync already. Brooke, I know you have a lot on your plate. This project. Thea’s wedding and bakery. Your dad moving to Paris. Your current job. Dean is probably going to ask you for some help soon too. Think of me as a resource. I’ll put you in a trance if you need—like I did with Madison.”
He meant it as a joke, but she didn’t laugh. Only cast him another puzzled glance before pouring her frothed milk into the espresso.
“In fact, my schedule is completely open to you and Axel.” He tugged at his T-shirt before he realized he wasn’t wearing a suit, the attire he’d usually be wearing when having this sort of conversation. “I can move anything around. When you want to get together to kick around ideas, consider me another sounding board. I’ve done a bit of decorating with professionals before. I’m happy to participate so we can all reach our goals.”
God, he hoped he didn’t sound patronizing.
“That’s really great of you, Kyle.”
When she said no more, he picked up his coffee…and frowned when he realized it was stone-cold. “I’ll mention it to Axel when he comes for his official meeting on Tuesday. You aren’t meeting before then, are you?”
“No, he’s out of town for a long weekend.” She crossed to the card and tore it open, scanning it before opening a folded piece of paper. “He included his notes about the restaurant last night. We both had some observations for Madison, and he saved me from writing them during dinner. He doesn’t like phones at the table.”
So he’d already set limits with her? His back went up. “You love taking notes. Maybe you should have him over to the house for all future meetings.”
Her two fingernails tapped together. “Okay, if you think it’s best.”
Suddenly the air stank of weirdness. He knew Brooke. Something here was not computing. “You’re still sure you want to do interior design, right?”
She went rigid. “Yes! Why would you even ask that?”
