Page 84 of The Irresistible Distraction

“Fine.” He grabs the cookies and steals another kiss. “Not to intrude on your time today, but if you looked into shipping these, I’m certain you could give L.A. Burdick a run for their money.”

“Sure, I’ll get right on it.”

“Only half joking,” Brody tells me.

“Okay.” I swallow. “I’ll look into shipping cookies, but it would potentially mean renting a commercial kitchen.”

“Use Cally. She’s incredibly good at her job.”

“Which seems to be . . . everything?”

Brody gives me his signature lopsided grin, one dimple popping. “She’s well compensated.”

Two hours and three Zoom calls later, I’m convinced there’s no way Brody pays Cally enough. Apparently, she’s not employed by Brody’s parents’ firm (where, Cally informs me, he maintains a second secretary I’d never even heard of) but works directly for Brody. She was an undergraduate at Case Western and interned at the law firm before Brody poached her.

“I have to thank you. A three-week vacation is such a rarity, given how busy Brody is.”

I’ve got Cally’s face on the screen of the iPad as she walks me through the various commercial kitchen spaces. I don’t know what or who I was expecting as Brody’s all-knowing assistant, but it definitely wasn’t this striking, auburn-haired beauty with a stacked lobe of earrings, a throaty laugh, and a no-nonsense attitude.

“Brody doesn’t let you take vacations?”

“Sweetie, no. Brody’s the prototypical all bark no bite. He’d let me—probably help me and any of his other friends, really—get away with murder. No, he’d plan it and send us each a bill for the time. He’d for sure approve whatever vacation I asked for. But I don’t know if that man can survive without me. He doesn’t fill out forms, he doesn’t shop for his own groceries, and he once forgot his social security number, as well as where to find his card. Since I don’t usually travel, I try to never be gone more than a week at a time. I took ten days when my little sister got married, but only because it took me three days to fly in and out of Belfast. I spent the whole time worrying about whether Cynthia was going to let Brody starve.”

“Wait, how?”

“You haven’t met her yet, and Cynthia’s lovely, but she’s getting old and never checks to see if Brody eats any of the food. She just cleans up after him and leaves the food out. When he’s not dating someone, he’ll get so involved with a new project or idea he definitely forgets to eat.”

We get to talking about majors, and she tells me she triple-majored in business, neurobiology, and history, which seem completely unrelated. “I’m also a very unsuccessful author, but Brody pays me well enough that I’m too well-off to wallow.”

By that afternoon, Cally’s already provided me with sample sell sheets and price comparisons. She apparently loves the idea of selling cookies online and shows me that Burdick Cookies is actually nationwide and sells five cookies for thirty dollars.

“Oh. My. God. Do you know how many of those I’ve eaten over the years? Brody sends Vera a few boxes every birthday and for Christmas, and she always shares.”

“Yup. I’m actually the one ordering them. But considering Brody’s restaurant bills and Michelin-palate, if he says your cookies are sellable, I’d trust him. Actually, he thinks your cookies will dominate the market. He also thinks you’re a great photographer.” I blush, and Cally, not missing a thing, waves away my concern. “It’s not because you’re sleeping with him. He always invests in the people he cares about, though I’ve never seen him go this far for anyone, even Vi.”

Cally must see the curiosity on my face because she grimaces before continuing. “The NDA Vi Shindler’s team had me sign prevents me from telling you any of the details surrounding the disagreements Brody and Vi might or might not have had in my hearing. But trust that if I weren’t bound by an NDA, I’m sure I’d have stories to tell about that woman and her twin, which I may or may not fictionalize for the book I might or might not be writing.”

I laugh. “Not a fan?”

“Wasn’t a fan before they dated, couldn’t stomach any of her movies afterward. That’s not bound by NDA, by the way, which means I can tell you, freely, openly, and honestly that I think her acting sucks, I have no idea how she tricked Brody into proposing, and that even if it’s not nice to women as a whole to say it, Vi’s basically a nice voice propped up by a much nicer rack. Now, whether or not that rack is natural is something I also cannot, officially, comment on.”

“God, remind me never to get on your bad side.”

“Shoe’s on the other foot, Sophie. Brody has never, ever, lent me out. None of his other girlfriends have ever made him put in the work. He’s used to women falling over themselves to get into bed with him, especially since he and Vi broke up and it became a thing. But you? Ms. Sophie Masters? I don’t think he knows what to do with you. He can’t use any of his normal tricks because you’re so ensconced in Lake Arrowhead, meaning no private jets or weekends in Cabo. If I had to guess, that’s one of the reasons he likes you so much.”

“Because I’m harder to get?”

“No, I mean, Vi should have been hard to get, not to mention there was a pop star I also can’t mention, because you know, NDAs continue to suck all the joy out of my life. Also, this thing you have him doing at the diner? Ah-ma-zing.”

“It was his idea.”

Cally’s mouth hangs open for just a half second before she collects herself and lets out a large snort of laughter. “Oh, that man is gone. So yeah, it’s actually me who needs to stay on your good side, Ms. Masters.”

She gives me a mock salute, and we’re about to sign off when she tells me, “Oh, and we can meet in person next week when I come up to do the paperwork.”

“What paperwork?”

“Fuck my life. Forget I said anything. I’m his notary, and it’d be more cost effective to find someone local, but Brody likes his things, his people, his way.”