Goldie couldn’t think about anything he was saying. She cleaned off her hands and swiped against her screen. Her heart banged at the sight of the little red one over her email icon. She tapped on it and gaped at the name she’d been waiting to see for over a week now.
Bethany Harold.
She held the phone to her chest. This was everything. This meant she wasn’t crazy, and this trip hadn’t been for nothing.
“I’m sorry, Adrian, I have to go. I’ll help you clean this up, but she finally contacted me, and I’m—” She hesitated. “I’m sorry to cut our evening short.
“Go ahead, Gabby. I’ve got this.” He was already untying his apron.
“What did you call me?”
His lip quirked. Flecks of sugar dusted his cheek. “Your name, isn’t it?”
Her name. Her real name.
She wanted to go to him. To ignore the nagging call of her email, to pick up where they’d left off, but this was why she’d come all this way. She’d tried so many times to contact Aunt Bethany, and now that she’d replied, Goldie had to respond.
Still, she couldn’t just leave him. “Where’s your broom?”
Adrian snared her by the elbow. Taking a moment, he pressed a tender kiss first to her temple and then her mouth. “I mean it. I’ve got this. Go do what you need to do.”
“Thank you,” she said, turning and heading back outside.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
ADRIAN SWEPT SUGAR INTO AN increasing pile in the center of the kitchen. The magic of the evening hadn’t lasted long, and yet it was still long enough to let him know he was falling for her. He couldn’t erase the expression on her face when she realized he’d called her by her name.
He wished he could be there with her when she met her aunt. When she found out the truth. Part of him wished he’d spoken up sooner and confessed what he’d learned, but then again, wouldn’t it be better for her to hear it from its source?
The door opened, and his mom and Jordan entered. Jordan tromped straight to his room without a word of greeting, but Mrs. Bear sauntered in and rested her hands on the back of a barstool.
“What’s this mess?”
Adrian decided the truth was best. “Goldie wanted to bake something for you, but she got some news and needed to leave unexpectedly.”
“Leave? As in…?”
“As in she’ll be back to her room later, I’m sure.” He hoped so. Part of him worried he’d never see her again, but she wouldn’t take off and head home without saying goodbye, would she?
His mom removed her jacket and draped it on the stool, her mouth in its usual downturned position.
“You’re getting in over your head with her, Adrian. For some reason, I don’t believe you’ve known her very long.”
Gabby would be leaving. He realized he didn’t want her to be his girlfriend for the week. He wanted this—whatever this was between them—to last longer than that. Which meant he had to come clean. It was time he told the truth.
“We’re not really dating. I told you that because you wouldn’t believe she was actually with me, and then Goldie agreed to be my girlfriend when I asked her to.”
“I knew it,” his mom said. “I knew you couldn’t possibly have known her that long. You two are unbelievable. Be careful about women like her, women who want you to tell lies and expect free hotel rooms.”
“She’s a school teacher, Mom. She came out here to find her aunt. She’s not a gold-digger.” He’d had plenty of those. Those women were drawn to him for his money, begged him to buy them things, dragged him to events and were beyond eager to be seen in the public eye. Gabby did exactly none of those things. From the start, she’d made it clear she had no interest in his fortune. He had to remind himself she probably had no idea exactly how rich he actually was.
Maybe it was better that way, though. Maybe it would be better to let this spring fling be nothing more than a fling. To him, however, it wasn’t just a casual rendezvous. He hoped it wasn’t for her, either.
“She needs to go. She’s a distraction.”
He stopped sweeping and gripped the broom. “From what, exactly? She’s the reason I stayed, Mom. I like her. I know you want something to happen with Danica. I know she’s been your favorite, and I sometimes feel you like her more than you like me,” he said with a laugh. “But that’s not going to happen. Danica and I had our shot. We tried. We weren’t a good fit.”
“Danica seems to think otherwise.”
“So that means I should just give up my reservations about her? That’s not how it works.”
“What exactly is it that bothers you so much about her?” his mom asked. She tossed the empty, curling biscuit can in the garbage and dusted her hands as if it’d been riddled with disease.
“I was ready to move forward with her. I was ready to marry her when I was presented with a business opportunity. An opportunity that required me to move to Chicago to get things running.”
“You could have done that from here.”
He inclined his head. “I could have, but not as easily. I needed to be where my associates were. It was the chance of a lifetime, and Danica wouldn’t support me in that. I would have for her. When I realized she wouldn’t do the same for me, I started to get the feeling she’d be that way more and more as our relationship deepened, so I ended it before it could get there.”
His mom was silent for a moment. “You felt she didn’t support you.”
“She didn’t. I need a woman who’s on my team.”
His mom didn’t argue, and that was a first for her. Instead, she settled herself on a barstool. Her demeanor was accepting rather than defensive. “And this Goldie person? You think she can be your
