Sweet Harmony

by LuAnn McLane

  Mattie nodded. “Something like that.”

  “Pity. I was curious.”

  “Well, I do make sausage gravy that will make you sigh with delight.”

  “As it so happens I adore sighing with delight,” Garret informed her with a slow grin that caused the butterflies in Mattie’s stomach to take flight once again. “I’m sold.” It looked as if he was about to say more when his phone started playing “Hard Day’s Night.” Standing up, he pulled his cell from his pocket and frowned at the screen. “Excuse me.” He smiled, and then answered the call. “Hello, love,” he said, making Mattie wonder whether he was speaking to his girlfriend. “Ah, yes, darling, I can be there by noon.”

  Mattie felt an expected pang of disappointment, which took her by surprise. Feeling silly, she quickly turned away and started fussing with rolling silverware in napkins. The breakfast crowd would be arriving soon, and she’d best be thinking about getting ready rather than mooning over her sexy new neighbor. Besides, let’s get real, Mattie thought to herself. Now that she knew who he was, she remembered that Garret Ruleman’s bad-boy reputation followed him like his shadow. Along with Addison Monroe, Garret had been linked to various famous actresses and models. If she remembered correctly, his mother was also some kind of celebrity. Garret might have been goofing on her, as he’d said, but Mattie was quite certain that she was as far from being his type as a girl could possibly get. With a sigh, Mattie sternly reminded herself that she was already an expert in the not-his-type field, having been ass over teacups in love with Colby Campbell since, well, ever since she could remember.

  Unfortunately, there were several problems with loving Colby, starting with his being Mason’s best friend, which made Mattie off-limits because of some sort of hard-and-fast guy-code rule. In addition, the four-year age difference between them had thrown Mattie into the annoying kid-sister category as they grew up. But at twenty-six, she figured that gap surely shouldn’t matter! And, let’s face it—she was no longer a kid but a grown woman, not that Colby seemed to notice. And if Mattie wanted to be honest—and she didn’t—that’s also where the not-his-type part came into play. Colby always had some sort of prissy, leggy girly thing hanging on his arm, and Mattie was anything but a girly girl. Still, in spite of having the deck stacked against her, every time he walked in the door Mattie’s heart beat like a big bass drum.

  Unrequited love truly sucked.

  Complicating Mattie’s love life—or rather the lack thereof—was the fact that her brother Danny, two years her junior, also adhered to the ridiculous don’t-date-my-sister rule, leaving Mattie friend-zoned by most of the eligible bachelors close to her age. Perhaps if her brothers would get married, they would get busy raising families and back off on watching her love life like doggone hawks. In fact, their parents had become so frustrated by their lack of grandchildren that they’d up and moved to Florida, vowing not to return to Cricket Creek until they had at least one grandbaby.

  Mattie stood on her tiptoes and fumbled around in the cabinet for a coffee filter. Her brothers had been blessed with the tall genes, while she stood barely over five feet two. She was also left-handed and the only blonde in the bunch, but she had the same hazel eyes as her father. Her mother claimed that Mattie’s eyes were like mood rings, changing color depending upon her disposition.

  Mattie measured the coffee grounds as she tried to listen to Garret’s conversation. Eavesdropping was one of her favorite ways to pass the time while serving breakfast. From the old-timers’ breakfast club’s corny jokes to the really tall fish tales to the gossip from the ladies who came in to browse through the selection of romance novels, Mattie was thoroughly entertained every single morning. While Mattie wasn’t one to repeat gossip, she sure did get a kick out of listening to it.

  After the coffee started hissing and dripping into the carafe, Mattie decided she needed to refill the saltshakers that were running low. Although she had recently added healthy options such as egg-white omelets and oatmeal to the menu, those selections had remained mostly untouched. She rose on tiptoe once again, but this time her fingers refused to coax the salt container to slide her way.

  “Hey, love, do you need some help?” Garret asked in that sweet-ass accent of his.

  Love? Wait. Had he just called her love? Before Mattie could process the whole love thing, he was standing behind her reaching up for the elusive canister of salt. She could feel the heat from his body standing so close to hers, and wow, did he smell heavenly … something spicy and, well, delicious. She had the urge to lean back against him, and when he stepped to the side to hand her the salt, she wanted to grab him by the shirt and bury her nose into his chest just to soak up the smell.

  Instead, Mattie had a saucy I didn’t need your help on the rip of her tongue, but then her fingers brushed against his and she felt a zing all the way to her doggone toes. Still, she lifted her chin, searching her befuddled brain for a retort of some sort, but he tilted his head and said, “You have the most amazing eyes. What color are they?”

  “C-Color?”

  “Yes. I thought brown at first, but now they look green with a hint of blue. Quite lovely, actually.”

  Mattie was used to hearing teasing instead of compliments, and she stood there feeling rather perplexed. She licked her bottom lip, something she did when confused, and damn if his gaze didn’t seem to drop to her mouth. Mattie swallowed, and although warning bells chimed in her head about bad boy Garret Ruleman, she tipped her head back and leaned closer … suddenly prepared to risk it for the biscuit.

  But just as her eyes started to flutter shut in anticipation of their mouths meeting, Mattie spotted none other than Colby Campbell walk through the front door. Startled, she took a quick step away from Garret and then frowned at him as if he’d done something wrong rather than offer his help. What in the hell had just gotten into her, anyway? Kissing a total stranger wasn’t like her at all! She shot Garret a frown so he’d get the message.

  “Everything okay, Mattie?” Colby asked in that big-brother tone that never failed to set her teeth on edge.

  “Yeah, um, Garret was just helping me reach a canister of salt. Weren’t you, Garret?” she asked but kept her focus on Colby. When Garret remained silent, she gave him a little nudge with her elbow and then looked up at him.

  “Well, actually …”

  The mischief in Garret’s blue eyes made Mattie’s heart start to hammer. She looked at him and held her breath.