She swallowed. She knew that perfectly well. It was the reason he had never said I love you. Not because he didn’t. That thought pushed her forward.
“I know. I know you did. And I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything. For leaving, for being with him, for telling him, for ruining things, for hurting you.”
“Liz, I really don’t want to hear it,” he said.
“Well, I’m going to tell you anyway,” she cried desperately. “I fucked up. I didn’t mean for things to happen like this. And I have so much that I need to tell you. Just please, please . . . meet me in person. If you didn’t care about me, then you wouldn’t have broken up with Erin. I know I don’t deserve another chance, but give me one anyway. Please.”
Brady sighed heavily into the phone. “Who told you about Erin? I’ve kept it out of the news entirely.”
“Um . . . Clay,” she whispered. She had so much to explain to Brady. She just desperately wanted to do it in person.
“Why do I have the sinking suspicion that I don’t want to know how you are suddenly this well acquainted with my brother.”
“Clay is . . . whatever. He doesn’t matter. Actually he probably wants to kill me right about now, because I stole his phone,” she mumbled.
“You did what?” Brady cried. “You stole Clay’s phone?”
“I said it’s a long story!”
“You didn’t tell me the story involved theft!” he snapped back.
“Brady Maxwell losing his cool,” she said softly. “How often does that happen?” He remained silent. She could practically see him pacing and trying to calm down after her retort. “It’s because it’s me. It’s me, Brady. I’m the one who makes you lose your cool.”
“You say that as if it’s a good thing.”
“It means there’s fucking passion, and it means you fucking care. If you wanted to end this conversation then you would have done it as soon as you heard my voice. But you didn’t. And I know why you didn’t. It’s the same reason that I haven’t been able to get you out of my head since the day I walked out of the conference room. I tried! Lord knows I tried to forget you, but I didn’t. And I can’t. And I don’t think you can forget me either.”
“What’s the point of all this, Liz?” he asked with a heavy sigh. “We’re not going back to last year.”
“I don’t want to. But I can’t sit here knowing what hand I had in this getting revealed to the public, knowing how you feel, knowing how I feel, and not try to see you. You deserve an explanation. Hell, you deserve so much more, Brady,” she whispered. “Can’t we just start with that?”
“Not tonight,” he said resignedly.
Liz jumped off of her bed. She couldn’t believe it. He was actually going to see her.
“Tonight would be best,” she managed to get out.
“Am I supposed to just get away from everyone?” he asked. It was a rhetorical question, but she sure as hell wasn’t leaving it that way.
“Yes. You’re a fucking congressman. Tell them to fuck off.”
Brady laughed and it was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard. God, how she had missed that.
“I’ll phrase it exactly like that.”
“That’s smart.”
“Heather is going to have a fit when she finds out I left.”
“She’s not your mother,” Liz said, rolling her eyes. She’d had enough of Heather for one night. “Wait, you’re really going to leave?”
The pause made her uneasy. She wished that she knew what he was thinking in that moment. She wanted so desperately to get him to understand, to have a shot at making amends. She wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
“I think it’s better that I come to you,” Brady finally said in answer.
“I’m slightly intoxicated, so that might be a good idea.”
“Why does this not surprise me?”
“Hey, I broke up with my boyfriend today. Alcohol is allowed,” she said, trying to make light of the situation.
“I bet that was a fun conversation,” Brady said tersely.
“When you come pick me up, I’ll tell you all about it.”
“You do realize you are the most infuriating woman I have ever met, right?”
“That means I’m unforgettable,” Liz said with coy smile.
“Now, that is spin from a reporter, if I’ve ever heard it.”
“I didn’t get a job at the New York Times for nothing.”
“The New York Times?” Brady asked with a low whistle afterward.
Liz preened a little at the recognition. It was a good job, a really, really good job. She was proud of it, and she hadn’t even gotten to celebrate.
“I’ll tell you all about it when you come to get me.”
“Just don’t go to sleep,” he said firmly. “I’ll get there when I get there.”
Brady was coming. He was actually coming to see her. This wasn’t like the last time, when he had picked her up outside of school. While she had the same emotions swirling through her about Hayden, she was no longer denying how she felt about Brady.
It made her body hum with anticipation. She couldn’t sit still and she ended up changing her outfit half-a-dozen times. She finally decided to go casual in a pair of dark jeans, a red V-neck sweater, and black riding boots with gold buckles. Her hair and makeup were still done up from going out with Victoria earlier that night. That already felt like forever ago. It was hard to believe it had only been a few hours since her world had shifted. The job offer, Hayden’s byline in the newspaper, Clay revealing that Brady was no longer with Erin, and then finally she was going to get to see Brady. Her body could hardly keep up with the highs and lows.
Every time a car drove down her street, she jumped up and looked to see if it was the familiar Lexus pulling up to get her. But after a couple hours, she was starting to wonder if Brady had lied to her. That wasn’t like him at all. He would have just told her that he wasn’t coming if he actually wasn’t going to come see her. But still . . . she couldn’t keep from getting frustrated as the hours ticked by.
Headlights flashed in her window and Liz jumped up, hoping, praying that he was finally here. She glanced down at her phone to check the time. Three twenty-seven in the morning. Christ! If it were anyone but Brady, she would have probably already passed out.
The car turned into her driveway. Liz’s heart leaped. Brady! He was actually here. She grabbed her purse, threw it over her shoulder, and then dashed out of the house. Before Brady could even kill the engine or get out of the car, she was already sprinting around the front and pulling the door open. Liz ungracefully plopped down in the passenger seat and slammed the door.
“Hey,” she said breathlessly. She needed to play more tennis if a short sprint knocked the wind out of her. Or maybe it was Brady’s gorgeous face staring back at her.
His hair had grown out a bit since she had last seen him. He was probably due for a haircut, but it couldn’t look bad on him. His brown eyes were shadowed in the night. His full lips as tempting as ever. Liz was surprised to find him in casual clothes as well. It was after three in the morning, but still, this was Brady. He had on jeans, a dark fit T-shirt, and the Arc’teryx jacket he had worn that day at the diner when they had agreed to pursue this relationship. She just wanted to reach across the car and kiss the life out of him.
He shook his head at her breathless entrance. “Hey.”
“It’s good to see you,” she whispered, biting her lip.
Brady’s eyes roamed her face, down her body, and then back to the windshield. He shifted the car into reverse before backing out of her driveway. “I’m going to have a lot of people angry with me in the morning,” he said in response.
Liz didn’t know what she had been expecting. Here she was putting herself out there again, and she was dealing with the same cold Brady. She hoped that once they got wherever they were going, his ice would thaw.