From Neighbors...to Newlyweds?

by Brenda Harlen

  “I’m just curious as to why you’re dateless on a Friday night,” Matt hedged.

  “Things were getting a little intense with Angela, so I decided to take a break from the dating scene for a while.”

  “I thought you really liked Angela.”

  “I did,” he agreed. “And then I noticed that she was starting to stockpile bridal magazines.”

  “Someday you’ll find the right woman and take the plunge again,” Matt assured him.

  Jack shook his head and reached for his beer. “I like to think I learned from my mistakes. One failed marriage is enough for me.”

  “Did you hear that Kelly Cooper’s moving back home?”

  “Yeah, I heard.”

  “I just wondered if that might be the real reason you decided to end things with Angela.”

  “Our youngest brother was the one who was always tight with the girl next door.”

  Matt couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Because they were best friends—not because there was any kind of romantic connection.”

  Jack shrugged, but Matt knew that his brother’s efforts to appear unconcerned only proved that he cared more than he wanted anyone to know.

  “I always wondered why she never came home,” Matt mused now. “We all knew she was excited about going to school in Chicago, but no one expected that she would go from Chicago to Dallas to Seattle, or that she would stay away for so long.”

  “I’m sure she had her reasons.”

  “Would you be one of those reasons?”

  Before Jack could respond, a knock sounded at the back door.

  “I guess that’s my cue,” he said, picking up his almost-empty bottle to finish it off.

  Matt didn’t protest. The last thing he wanted was his brother hanging around all night. But he refused to let Jack off the hook so easily. “We’ll get back to this,” he promised.

  But apparently Jack wasn’t letting him off the hook, either, because instead of heading out the front—the same way he’d come in—he went to the back door as Matt was opening it to his guest.

  “Hello, Georgia,” Jack said.

  “Oh, hi.” She seemed taken aback by the other man’s presence. “Jack, right?”

  He smiled, pleased that she’d remembered his name. “It’s nice to see you again.”

  “Jack was just on his way out,” Matt said pointedly.

  His brother shook his head. “I’m not in any huge rush,” he denied.

  Georgia’s gaze shifted from Matt to Jack and back again. “Am I interrupting?”

  “No, you were invited,” Matt reminded her. “He’s interrupting.”

  “He’s right,” Jack acknowledged. “And I promise I won’t stay for long. I just wanted to meet my brother’s mystery date.”

  “I didn’t know that I was a mystery—or that this was a date,” Georgia admitted.

  “It’s just a friendly dinner,” Matt affirmed, shooting a warning glance at his brother. “Did you want something to drink? I’ve got sparkling water or juice or—”

  “Water would be great,” Georgia said. “Thanks.”

  But before he even had a chance to pour her drink, Matt’s pager went off.

  He swore silently, but he couldn’t ignore it. Not wanting the night to be a complete write-off for Georgia, he reluctantly left Jack in charge.

  Then Matt headed toward the hospital, already devising a plan to secure a second date—and hopefully a first kiss.

  Chapter Five

  Georgia was disappointed that Matt had to cancel their plans to go to the hospital, but she understood. She didn’t understand why he’d insisted that she stay to enjoy the dinner he’d promised her, and she didn’t know how to decline Jack’s offer to barbecue without sounding rude. Her only hope was that Pippa would wake up and pitch such a fit next door that Brittney would call and demand that Georgia return home.

  Of course, her cell phone remained stubbornly silent.

  “Looks like Matt’s taken care of everything,” Jack told her, returning with the plate of steaks from the grill. “There’s a green salad, baked potatoes and dinner rolls.”

  “He didn’t have to go to so much trouble,” Georgia said, feeling more than a little guilty that he wouldn’t get to enjoy the meal himself. “I would have been thrilled with a burger.”

  “Obviously my brother thinks you’re worth the trouble,” he said.

  Despite the compliment implicit in the words, something in Jack’s voice warned Georgia that he wasn’t so sure.

  He set a steak on her plate. “Well done.”

  “I like my steak medium.”

  “Matt told me to cook it all the way through to ensure there’s no risk of any bacteria.”

  Her smile was wry. “Does he try to take care of everyone?”

  Jack dropped a spoonful of sour cream onto his baked potato. “He and Luke both—it’s the nurturing-doctor thing.”

  “What’s your thing?” Georgia wondered.

  He grinned. “I’m the heartless lawyer.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t believe that.”

  “I have a law degree to prove it.”

  “It’s not the educational qualifications that I doubt—it’s the claim of heartlessness.”

  “There are more than a few women in town, including my ex-wife, who would assure you it’s true.”

  “You’re close to, and protective of, your brothers,” she noted.

  He didn’t deny it.

  “And for some reason, you disapprove of Matt and I being friends.”

  “I don’t disapprove of your friendship,” he assured her.

  “But?” she prompted.

  “But—and I know Matt would kill me for saying this—he’s vulnerable.”

  “And you think I’m going to take advantage of him in some way?”

  “I don’t know what to think,” Jack admitted. “Because I don’t know you.”

  “That’s fair,” she acknowledged. “Would it reassure you if I said that I’m not in the market for a husband or a father for my children?”

  “Not really.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I know my brother and he doesn’t give up on anything he wants.”

  “And you think he wants me?”

  “I know he does,” Jack told her. “Because he called dibs.”

  She set down her water glass. “Excuse me?”

  “The day he moved in—the first time he saw you on the porch—he warned the rest of us to back off.”

  She wasn’t sure whether to be amused or insulted. “I would think the three kids would be warning enough.”

  He shrugged. “It’s all about balancing pros and cons. We’re guys and you’re hot—for most of our species, those factors outweigh everything else.”

  “I’m not sure how to respond to that,” she admitted, blushing. “Thank you?”

  “It was a compliment,” he said, and grinned again. “And you’re welcome.”

  “But I do think you’re misreading the situation between your brother and me.”

  “I doubt it.”

  “Even if he might have been interested when we first met, I’m sure the brief interactions he’s had with my kids since then have cured him of any romantic notions.”

  “If you really believe that, you don’t know Matt at all.”

  “I’d be the first person to admit that I don’t,” she told him.

  “Which is probably why he invited you for dinner tonight,” Jack noted.

  “He’s been incredibly helpful and generous.”

  “Don’t kid yourself into thinking that he doesn’t want to see you naked.”

  “You are blunt, aren’t you?”

  He shrugged easily. “I believe in telling it the way it is. But as much as he does want to get you naked, I know he could easily grow to care for you, too, and that makes the situation even more complicated.”

  “I’m not looking for a relationship,” Georgia said.

  “Sometim
es we don’t know what we want until it’s right in front of us.”

  “That’s quite the philosophical statement from a man who claims to value a woman on the basis of her ‘hotness.’”

  He flashed that quick grin again. “I can’t be philosophical and shallow?”

  She sliced off a piece of steak. “I think you’re not nearly as shallow as you want people to believe.”

  Jack just shrugged, but Georgia suspected there were a lot more layers to each of the Garrett brothers than they let anyone see. Which was just one more reason for her to steer clear of all of them.

  Her life was complicated enough right now without adding a man to the mix, especially one who had the potential to send her life—and her heart—into a tailspin, as she suspected Matt Garrett had already started to do.

  * * *

  Matt had just finished pouring his first cup of coffee Saturday morning when his youngest brother walked in.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked Luke.

  “Jack told me about your date last night.”

  “It wasn’t much of a date,” Matt admitted, pouring a second cup of coffee for his brother and adding a generous splash of cream.

  “Yes, he said that you were saved by the bell—or at least your pager.” Luke accepted the proffered cup.

  “What is it, exactly, that I was supposedly saved from?” Matt asked. “A few hours in the company of a beautiful woman?”

  “Let’s put aside the fact that she’s a beautiful woman—and your neighbor—for just a minute,” Luke suggested, “and focus on the fact that she has three kids.”

  “I like kids.”

  “I know—and I saw the look on your face when those two little boys scampered across your backyard.”

  “What look was that?” Matt lifted his cup to his lips again.

  “Pain. Regret. Longing.”

  He snorted. “Really? You got all that from one look?”

  Luke shrugged. “I know you, and I know what you’ve been through.”

  “Ancient history,” he said dismissively. Because while the scars from his failed marriage and the loss of his son had not completely healed, they had started to fade—and even more quickly since he’d met Georgia and her kids.

  “Your marriage is history and Liam is gone,” his brother agreed. “But I doubt you’ve given up on wanting a family.”

  “If we’re going to start talking about our feelings, I’m going to need something a little stronger than coffee,” Matt told him.

  “I get that you’re lonely,” Luke continued as if his brother hadn’t spoken. “But zeroing in on the first woman who crosses your path—”

  “Georgia’s hardly the first woman to cross my path in the past three years,” Matt chided.

  “But she’s the first one you’ve invited over for a home-cooked dinner.”

  “It was a couple of steaks on the grill, not a six-course meal.”

  Luke just stared at him over the rim of his mug.

  “Okay,” he finally acknowledged. “So I like her. What’s the big deal?”

  “The big deal is that you’re setting yourself up for heartbreak all over again. She was married to another man—presumably because she was in love with that other man—and her kids are that other man’s kids.”

  “The situation is not the same,” Matt denied, though he could understand why his brother might worry about the similarities. “Georgia is a widow.”

  “Which doesn’t mean she’s not still in love with her husband.”

  He knew it was true, but he also knew that there was a definite crackle in the air whenever he was near Georgia, and he didn’t believe he was the only one who felt it.

  “I’m only suggesting that you expand your horizons,” Luke said now.

  Matt eyed him warily. “Expand my horizons—how?”

  “Come out to Maxie’s with us tonight.”

  “Maxie’s? Are you kidding?” While he and his brothers had frequented the popular dance club when they were younger, the loud music and louder women didn’t appeal to him anymore.

  “It might be just what you need,” Luke said.

  “I doubt it.”

  “Come anyway,” his brother cajoled. “If you don’t have a good time, I’ll back off and not say another word about your infatuation with your neighbor.”

  Matt snorted his disbelief.

  “And I’ll buy the beer.”

  “Well, in that case...”

  * * *

  Matt spent the afternoon framing the unfinished basement to divide the space into individual rooms. Although the house already had a lot of space, he thought it would be convenient to have a home gym so that he didn’t have to head out whenever he wanted some exercise. And until the room was ready, he figured the construction itself was a pretty good workout.

  The physical labor occupied his hands but not his mind, and he found himself wondering what Georgia was doing, if the twins were behaving, if Pippa was napping. He remembered those first few months with Liam, how he and Lindsay had struggled to meet the baby’s needs and establish some routines. His life had never been quite as chaotic as it had been back then, and he was surprised to realize that he missed it. Of course, spending time with his neighbors had given him brief glimpses of that pandemonium again, and spending time in close proximity to Georgia had stirred his hormones into a frenzy. He hammered the final nail into a board and tried to push those thoughts from his mind.

  He was covered in sweat and sawdust and heading for the shower—prompted by the text message Luke had sent to remind him of their plans (because his brother knew Matt would forget, or at least claim he’d forgotten, without such a reminder)—when the bell rang.

  Since his brothers had already proven that they had no qualms about walking right in, he let himself hope that it might be Georgia at the door. And while a quick glance through the sidelight revealed a pair of shapely, tanned legs, the hem of a short skirt and a pair of slender arms wrapped around an enormous ceramic pot from which towered a plant with lots of glossy, green leaves, his hopes were dashed.

  He opened the door, made a show of looking around the greenery. “I really need to find a landscaper who can deal with these weeds. They’re out of control.”

  “It’s not a weed, it’s a schefflera.”

  “Kelsey?” He parted some branches, peeked between them. Maybe she wasn’t the woman who had preoccupied so many of his thoughts over the past few weeks, but she was one of his best friends, and he was genuinely happy to see her. “Are you in there?”

  His former sister-in-law shoved the pot at his midsection, causing the air to whoosh out of his lungs. “Happy housewarming.”

  He maneuvered back through the door and carefully set the pot on the floor. “It’s a killer plant,” he said, after he’d managed to catch his breath again. “Although chances are, I’ll kill it first.”

  “It’s low maintenance,” she assured him. “But don’t leave it by the door in the winter. And it needs lots of light, but not direct sunlight.”

  “Low maintenance like most women are low maintenance,” he grumbled.

  She just smiled as she kissed his cheek, then moved past him and into the foyer. “This is a great house.”

  “Why do you sound so surprised?”

  “Because it’s a house—and nothing at all like your condo. Even the furniture’s different.”

  “I was ready for a fresh start.”

  She nodded, understanding, and continued toward the kitchen. “I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to stop by sooner,” she said. “One of the cruise lines is having a summer sale and things have been crazy at the office.”

  “You know, a ticket for a cruise would have been a better housewarming gift than a plant.”

  “Except that you don’t take vacations,” she reminded him. “In fact, I don’t think you’ve gone on a holiday since...”

  “Since my honeymoon?” he guessed, when her words trailed off.

  She winced. “
I’m sorry.”

  “The divorce has been final for three years,” he pointed out.

  “I know,” she admitted.

  The sympathy and worry in her deep brown eyes made him realize that he’d given her cause for concern in those three years because he hadn’t taken any concrete steps to prove that he was moving on with his life. Hopefully seeing him in his new home would prove to her that he was doing so now.

  He opened the refrigerator, peered inside. “Beer, wine, soda, juice?”

  “Juice sounds good.”

  He pulled out the jug of orange juice, filled a tall glass, grateful that she’d dropped the topic of his ex-wife—her sister.

  “Am I going to get the grand tour?” she asked.

  “Actually, you caught me just as I was about to hit the shower,” he told her. “So you can wait fifteen minutes or poke around on your own.”

  “I’ll wait,” she said. “Unless this is a bad time, in which case I can just go. I should have called first, anyway.”

  He waved off her apology. “You’re always welcome. But I really need to clean up.”

  “Another hot date tonight?” she teased.

  “Yeah,” he said dryly. “With my brothers at Maxie’s.”

  “Maxie’s?” She wrinkled her nose. “Aren’t you guys getting a little old for that scene?”

  “We’re guys,” he reminded her, though he didn’t disagree with her statement. “Our maturity level always lags behind our physical age.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know.”

  He didn’t have to think long to fulfill her request. “Luke has eight puppies he’s trying to place in good homes.”

  Kelsey groaned. “Remind your brother that, in the past five years, he’s already conned me into taking two cats, a parrot and an iguana.”

  “And you love the whole menagerie.”

  “That doesn’t mean I’m taking any more,” she said firmly.

  “Brittney’s always wanted a puppy,” he pointed out.

  “Unfortunately, the residences at Northeastern have a strictly enforced ‘no pets’ policy, so she’ll have to be satisfied with visiting yours when she comes home.”

  He shook his head. “I’m not taking one of Luke’s puppies.” He tried to sound firm—to ignore the voice in the back of his head that promised the twins would be absolutely overjoyed if he did. And when the twins were happy, Georgia was happy, and her smile did all kinds of crazy things to his insides.