Georgie on His Mind (18 page)

Georgie hesitated, feeling the color drain from her face.
"Oh, well, no. Walt and I are ... we're just friends." Yeah. That
was a perfectly good description for her and Walt. Friends.
Although she found it a little disconcerting that the word
almost got stuck on her tongue.

Vivian's mouth curved into a slow seductive smile. "That's
very fortunate for me then. Kenny and I broke up a few
weeks ago."

"You did?" Georgie could hear the disappointment in her
own voice and winced. She hoped Walt and Vivian didn't
have as acute hearing.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Vivian said with a fake sigh. "I guess
you can say I'm on the market again." Gazing longingly at
Walt, she added, "I bet you haven't gotten out much since
you've been in town. I could show you around to all the great
hot spots"

"That's very kind of you to offer," Walt said.

Georgie took one look at the charming smile Walt was
shooting at Vivian and had the sudden desire to kick Vivian's
three-inch heels out from under her. "Well, that's all very interesting to hear, Vivian," she said hastily, grabbing Walt's
arm and pulling her with him. "But Walt and I have to discuss something else, er, business. We have to discuss pharmacy business. Top secret stuff. Walt will look you up, I'm
sure, though. See ya around"

Georgie continued to pull Walt across the crowded room
and out the front door-stopping only briefly to make sure
Dee was not witnessing any of this-until they ended up
outside on the porch. The evening air was breezy and chilly
and thankfully just what she needed to cool herself down in
a hurry.

"Just what were you doing back there?" she accused.

Walt blinked, then let out a laugh. "I was going to ask you
the same thing. `Oh, did you hear about our sale on foot odor
products?'" He held his stomach and started laughing again.
"Oh, come on. That was just plain cruel. Hilarious, but cruel."

Georgie reluctantly gave in to a smile. "Okay. So maybe that was a teensy weensy bit mean, but she deserved it. Vivian
is too much, and I didn't like the way she was looking at you."

"Oh, yeah?" Walt angled his head, still smiling. "You
didn't like how she was looking at me?"

"No, I didn't." She swallowed hard, realizing she had
just stupidly backed herself into a corner. "But ... only
because ... well, I didn't want you being selfish and taking
any potential dates away from Brad. That's all. I could have
added her to my list, you know," she pointedly informed
him, waving her notebook in front of his face.

Walt snatched the book out of her hand and tossed it on
the ground. "Why, Georgie?" He raised both hands, his fingers raking the air in frustration. "You're so focused on your
brother's love life that you're ignoring your own. And mine,
by the way. So, tell me. Why are you so intent on finding
a woman for Brad?"

"I told you," she said, thrusting her chin up. "I don't want
him to worry about me. I can't concentrate on my own love
life if he's too busy worrying about mine. He needs a life.
I feel like a huge burden to him right now."

"You're not. Brad-"

She held up a hand. "I know. He loves me." She let out a
heavy sigh. Frustrated with Brad, with Walt, with Vivian,
but mostly with herself. Brad had so much love to give.
Someday he was going to make a woman extremely happyif he ever got out of the slump he was in and found one,
that is.

Georgie lowered her eyes and stared at her notebook of
names, lying haphazardly on the grass. Maybe her method
of finding Brad a woman was a little unconventional, but her
brother deserved a little happiness.

Was that so wrong to want that for at least one of them?

She released another breath and a little bit of tension
drained from her shoulders. "Look, I don't want to fight with
you, Walt."

"All right. Let's get out of here then"

Her eyes widened. "You want to leave? But you haven't
even been here an hour yet"

"Ah-ha!" he said triumphantly, pointing his finger at her.
"I knew you were avoiding me. So you did see me come in."

Her face heated. Thank goodness half the firefighters in
town were just a few short yards away, because she had a
feeling her cheeks would ignite off her face at any second.

"Well, of course I saw you come in," she said in a huff.
"Anyone with an ounce of estrogen in her body saw you walk
into the party tonight. I'm sure Vivian had you in her radar
as soon as she heard your truck pull up"

Walt grinned, looking like he'd just won Man of the Year.
"Come on," he said, taking hold of her hand and leading her
down the porch steps.

Georgie followed, too tired to fight with him anymore, but
when he opened the door of his truck for her, her heart chickened out and she dug in her heels. "Where are we going?"
she demanded.

"You'll see," he said, reaching out and gently running a
finger along her cheekbone. "I want to show you something."

She backed away from his truck-and more importantly,
from his touch. "Oh, no. I don't think so. I've heard that line
before"

Walt cocked his head, letting a sexy little grin slip out.
"Georgie, if you're worried that I want to take you somewhere so I can take advantage of you, well, then you'd probably be smart to worry. But as it turns out, I would really like
to show you something. It won't take long. In fact, I doubt
we'll even be missed."

Georgie bit her lip as she stared at the mischievous glint in
Walt's eyes. Don't go! Don't go! her mind screamed. He
looked far too good tonight in his faded blue jeans. The way
his navy V-neck polo dipped just south enough for her to get
an eyeful of that sexy little patch of chest hair made a wicked
part of her want to reach out and run her finger all along the
exposed area of his skin. She swallowed hard. The more time
she spent with him, the more he was getting to her.

Going somewhere-anywhere-with Walt Somers had
bad idea tattooed all over it. If she were a smart woman,
she'd say no thank you, and turn away. What was she doing
encouraging a man who had been engaged before and therefore probably still looking for some woman to settle down
with?

Walt deserved better than her.

If she were smart, she'd pick up her notebook off the
ground, march right back to the party, and have herself a cold
drink. Maybe two. That's what a smart woman would do. A
smart woman with no interest in getting involved in any type
of relationship with a man as dangerous and sexy as Walt.
The only thing was ...

She wasn't very smart.

It wasn't smart picking up and leaving the engagement
party with Georgie like that. In fact, Walt was darn positive
gossip was already spreading about the two of them at that
very moment. But he didn't care. If he didn't steal a moment
alone with Georgie now, he wasn't sure when he'd be given
another chance-or if he would even have the nerve again.

Walt put his turn signal on and made a left. The destination he had in mind was just a mile ahead now. Georgie
stared out the window in silence as he continued to drive.
She didn't know it, but every once in a while he would glance
over at her, taking in the lovely shape of her profile bathed in
the moonlight and stars.

He waited for some reaction or question from her. He
knew her well enough to know that her curiosity about where
they were going had to be killing her. But she hadn't said
much since he'd started the truck, and if Georgie had an
inkling of where they were headed she hadn't made it known.

He slowed down and pulled into a long dirt driveway at
the corner of the street. When he reached the end, he shut off the engine and turned to her expectantly. "Well, what do you
think?" he asked.

Georgie's brows furrowed as she gazed out the windshield. "Um, what do I think about what?"

"This," he said, raising his hand and indicating the yellow
rancher in a sweeping gesture. "I close on it Monday."

"You bought a house?" Her interest perked up with each
blink of her eye. "This house? Already?"

Walt chuckled at the shocked look on her face and dangled a pair of keys in front of her eyes. "Technically, it's
not mine just yet, but my Uncle Al is good friends with the
owner so they gave me the keys early. Come on, I want to
show you the inside." He opened his car door and felt a
sense of pride as he looked at his soon-to-be investment for
the future.

"Oh, so this is it? You're really moving out then?" she
asked, following him up the sidewalk.

Hearing the disappointment in her voice, Walt tried not to
smile. He knew it. Georgie was going to miss having him
around. Good, because he had plans that would put her exactly where he wanted her-living with him. Without her
brother.

"Well, that's what one does when one buys his own house,"
he remarked casually. "I'll start packing up this weekend, so
I'm ready to move out by Monday night." He stuck the key
in the lock and opened the front door. Weaving her arm
through his, he then nudged her stiff body forward. "Hey,
don't tell me you're actually going to miss me"

"Miss you?" She laughed, but he could tell it was forced.
"This is a dream come true to finally be rid of you. It'll be
fantastic not to have your luggage in my room anymore, and
now I won't have you drinking up all the coffee on me in
the .. " Her words trailed off as she gazed around the living room space. The stone gas fireplace that had just been put
in made an eye-catching focal point to the room, and the
bleached hardwood floor shined in the dimmed recess lightning. "Oh, my gosh," she gasped, dropping her arms to her
sides. "This is lovely, Walt."

"I thought you'd like it."

She slowly circled the room, stopping at the small bar area
to run her fingers along the smooth granite counter. "I would
have never guessed all this was in this tiny little rancher."

"It's not that tiny. Plenty big to start a family once I'm
married."

Her face fell and her milky white complexion grew even
paler. "A family? Aren't you jumping the gun a little thinking about raising a family when you're not even engaged?"

Not engaged yet, he thought.

"Never hurts to think ahead," he said with a shrug. "Did
you know this place has three bedrooms and two-and-a-half
baths?"

"Hmm ... I guess that is pretty roomy."

"It is. Perfect if you ever want to spend the night with
me" He coughed and cleared his throat. "What I mean is
that if you and your brother ever have a fight or anything,
there's always room for you here"

Amusement danced in her clear blue eyes. "Uh-huh.
Thanks. I'll keep that in mind, considering the number of
fights Brad and I seem to have on a weekly basis. But I'm
sure you wouldn't want me to interfere with your newfound
bachelor pad."

"Hey, you wouldn't interfere at all. Being single isn't all
that great anyway. In fact, being a bachelor can be quite ...
lonely." Although having a fiancee had been just as lonely.
Even before he'd found out Kiera had been cheating on
him, something obviously had been missing from their rela tionship. Walt had been blinded by her beauty and was satisfied enough with having someone to warm his bed. He had
been hurt badly by his parents' divorce, so at the time that
was all he'd wanted-to keep her and others at a distance.
Like Georgie had wanted to keep him at a distance. Maybe
that was why he felt such a kindred spirit toward her. He was
fortunate to have broken off his engagement to Kiera before
it was too late. Before he'd realized he hadn't had any real
feelings for her. The kind of feelings he should have had for
the woman he was about to marry.

The kind of feelings he had for Georgie.

He had finally found the something that had been missing
from his life. Surely, her brother couldn't hate him for that.
Walt supposed he'd always loved Georgie-her impetuousness, her sense of humor, her clumsiness, her loyalty to her
brother and to Al. But now he was in love with her. And he
wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

Starting right now.

"I don't know," she said wistfully. "Loneliness has its advantages"

Her words jolted him back to reality, and he did a doubletake. He wanted to grow closer and Georgie suddenly
wanted to talk about how great being alone was. Why had he
expected anything different? Leave it to her to make things
ten times more difficult for him.

"Wha-what do you mean by that?" he stammered. "What
kind of advantages are there to being alone?"

She stared at the hardwood floor for a few seconds, fingering her mother's locket, then she lifted her gaze and shrugged
a shoulder. "For one thing you never feel smothered"

"You never feel loved either."

"Same thing." She started to turn away, but he seized her
wrist, stopping her. She was lucky her wrist was all he had hold of, because he really wanted to take hold of her shoulders with both hands and shake some sense into her head as
well.