Georgie on His Mind

by Jennifer Shirk

  He leaned in closer, and the scent of his pine tree aftershave sent her heart rattling around in her chest like a lottery Pick Six power ball. Gosh, she was pathetic. She was supposed to be taking a bite out of crime, but what she really wanted to do was take a bite out of this man. She snapped herself back to attention and reminded herself why she was talking to him in the first place. Career first, love life second.

  She cleared her throat and wiped the stupid grin she felt radiating off her lips. "Urn, no. I wanted you to know I know what you're up to," she informed him, trying for a more businesslike tone.

  "Well, yeah, I guess I was pretty obvious."

  So the man was a shoplifter!

  She felt a trickle of disappointment at that realization. What a waste of such a charming specimen of a man. At least he was an honest shoplifter. Maybe there was hope for him yet.

  "Well, are you going to show me what's in your pocket?" she asked him.

  Mr. Charming-Smells Incredible-Condom Thief blinked, then carefully looked around. "Excuse me?"

  She looked around too, hoping he didn't have any accomplices lurking behind. "Look, if you cooperate, I won't call the police."

  His cell phone dropped from his hand. "C-call the police? Whoa-ho-hey, honey. If this is your idea of a pick-up line, I think it needs some retooling."

  Pick-up line? Huh. Apparently he was already trying to make plans for the stolen condoms. The man's so-called charm was slipping.

  "I am not flirting with you," she stressed. "Didn't you hear me? I'm only interested in what you have on you"

  He bent down and picked up his phone, looking one part confused and two parts amused. "What I have on me? You mean like money?"

  "No, I mean like condoms"

  "Wait a minute," he said raising a finger. "Are you still flirting with me?"

  She heaved a frustrated sigh. "No. Now just answer the question. Do you or do you not have condoms on you?"

  He hesitated, the color in his cheeks flushing a deep pink. "Well ...I-"

  "Ah-ha!" she announced, poking him in his chest. "I knew it. You did steal them" She thrust out her palm. "Hand them over right now."

  His already pink face suddenly turned a funny reddishpurple color. "Are you out of your mind? Look, Miss, do you know who you're accusing?"

  "I didn't accuse anyone," she shot. "You just admitted it."

  "Hey, I didn't admit anything," he shot back. "Not that it's any of your business but I don't have condoms on me" He emptied his pockets before her, pulling out his keys and a wallet, which seemed to contain only a few credit cards and a couple of twenty dollar bills.

  She blinked, and her heart began to pound in a frantic rhythm that told her Nice-Smelling Condom Man had just made a very good point. Uh-oh. The fierceness of his assertion-not to mention not a single condom in sightbrought the reality of the situation into focus. More accurately, the significance of what she'd done into focus.

  She'd just made a whopper of a boo-boo.

  Stunned by her own obtuseness, she looked back at Dee, who-from the tears of laughter running down her faceappeared to have heard and seen the whole exchange. Okay, she may have jumped the gun on this. She'd always been a tad on the impetuous side, a character trait she obviously still had to work on. Worse yet, not only did she fail to catch a thief, but she didn't think this guy would be asking her out on a date any time soon.

  Hoping to avoid a store complaint, she tried one more time. "But you were standing here and ... well, what was I suppose to think?"

  "Think? How about what any normal person would think?" he asked, his voice rising with every syllable that followed. "You should have thought, hmm, now there's an intelligent, law-abiding customer minding his own business. But noooo. Instead I'm automatically marked as a condom thief. Oooh, someone call the cops, there's a man in the condom aisle. I mean, so what? So I'm standing in the condom aisle!"

  A man clearing his throat behind them made them both flinch. When Georgie dared to look, her boss, Al, stood only a few feet away with his arms crossed and an exasperated expression plastered all over his elderly face.

  Wonderful. Not only did she have to answer for the missing condoms, but wrongly accusing a customer too. She was so fired.

  Al stepped closer, but surprised her by poking the man in the shoulder and addressing him instead. "Will you please lower your voice and stop yelling about how you're standing in the condom aisle, young man? Maybe that's standard practice in the city, but we country folk just use signs to let the customers know where the products are. And it's no way to speak in front of a lady."

  The man's jaw dropped. "But she-"

  "No buts. I don't want to be at home recovering from surgery worrying about you and what kind of example you're setting around here. Shame on you, Walt!"

  Georgie's eyebrows shot up. Walt?

  Uh-oh. Did she hear Al correctly? She studied NiceSmelling Condom Man's face again with the intensity of an electron microscope, then wanted to smack herself upside the head for not noticing the resemblance sooner. Oh, my gosh. It was Walt Somers. Curse her poor recall ability. Hopefully, he had a bad memory too, and if she made her getaway now, he wouldn't remember what she looked like later on. Turning on her heel, she stepped in the direction of the pharmacy department.

  Al grabbed her by the arm and swung her back around. "Not so fast, Georgie."

  She cringed, and Walt dropped his cell phone again. Being the snake that he was, he'd probably make her pay for a new one.

  "Georgie?" Walt sputtered.

  Walt knew who she was now. Great. She was trapped. Not that she didn't consider making a run for it anyway. But escape was futile. It was less up time.

  "Oh, uh, hi, Walt." Her hand felt clumsy as she lifted it in a small wave. "I guess ... long time no see?"

  Walt didn't verbally respond to her greeting. He'd have to close his mouth first, and she didn't see any signs of him doing that in this millennia.

  "Georgie," Al said, breaking the awkward silence. "Did you honestly think Walt was stealing? Whatever gave you that crazy idea?"

  "Uh, well, that's the thing. I didn't know it was Walt. I mean, I do now. You see, he was loitering around ... and, well, Randall didn't notice ... then Dee thought ... and then I thought ... If I had known .. " The look on Al's face told her to cease and desist before she hung herself further.

  At least she wasn't that stupid.

  "I can't believe it," Walt said, shaking his head. "I just can't."

  Oh brother. Walt was carrying the shocked, indignant gentleman bit a little far for her taste. Although, something in his voice had her looking at him more closely. His surprised expression hadn't changed all that much from a minute ago, but now she couldn't tell if he was surprised because she had accused him of stealing condoms or he was just surprised to see her.

  Walt seemed to be doing an intent study of her as well. Then suddenly his thickly lashed eyes crinkled together and a little one-sided grin slipped out, making him look every millimeter the mischievous teenager she'd remembered years ago. Without warning her heart shifted rhythm. Just a little shift, but still, that little shift was disconcerting, especially since she'd known this man before she knew what a training bra was. But she attributed the atria flutter to nerves about getting reprimanded, and assured herself it had nothing to do with the sexy glint in his eyes that told her he'd done quite a bit of growing up himself since the time she'd seen him last.

  Al looked past her shoulder. "Dee's waving you back. You must be busy. Once you're caught up, tell Randall I'd like to speak to him in the back room" He slapped Walt on the back and looked at him expectantly. "Well, young man, I guess it was all a simple misunderstanding."

  She couldn't resist chiming in. "Yes! That's right. Just a simple misunderstanding. Sorry about the whole mistaking you for a condom thief." With a shrug, she even tried a friendly smile. After all, this was her boss's nephew and her brother's best friend-whom she was unfortunately going to have to live with. For
a little while anyway. "No harm done, right, Walt?"

  Walt gave her a curt nod. By all body language definitions, she didn't think that was the no-harm-done gesture.

  Some people were so touchy. Make one little accusation of prophylactic thievery and you're forever condemned as incompetent. He'd never let her live this down. She could tell that by his facial expression alone. Walt looked at her just like he had when they were young-as though she was still Brad's dorky little sister.

  It was just as well. Why had she expected anything different? The way things have been going for her lately, she'd never be able to convince Walt or her brother she had really changed.

  If his uncle weren't staring him down at that moment, Walt would have pinched himself. Hard.

  Wow. Little Georgie Mayer had changed.

  Although changed was really an inadequate verb. He had never seen her look so ... striking. Striking in a fresh and innocent way-almost as if someone took Little Orphan Annie and crossbred her with Barbie.

  Okay, so he was wrong about how Brad's sister would turn out. Who knew?

  Sure, the red hair was there, and her face was still on the whiter-shade-of-pale side, but now her skin had more of a peachy-cream sheen to it-something he'd never noticed about a woman before in his life.

  Trying to understand what was going haywire with his brain, he stared at the way Georgie's blondish-red ringlets bounced and swayed against her back as she marched back to the pharmacy department. Then it suddenly hit him, like a swift kick in the stomach. Georgie wasn't a little girl anymore. She was a grown woman.

  He hated to admit it, but Brad's sister piqued his interest, at least before she'd accused him of stealing. Never in a million years would he have thought the woman he was ogling was Georgie Mayer. He hadn't experienced this kind of immediate attraction in a long time. But now that he knew who she was, he'd have to get his head on straight and treat her like he'd always treated her. After all, she wasn't any ordinary woman. No. She was his best friend's little sister, and there were definite unwritten rules about stuff like that.

  Which meant hands off.

  "She's something, isn't she?" Al asked, with open pride.

  "Yeah, something," he murmured. Really something. He couldn't take his eyes off of her, even when she stopped to talk with a customer. He still had a hard time trying to mesh in his mind the woman before him and the girl he had known.

  His uncle chuckled. "Georgie's a spitfire and a little rash, I admit, but she means well. She'll be a great asset here once she gets her dispensing license."

  "As long as she doesn't accuse any more customers of stealing and drive them all away before that happens," Walt said wryly.

  "Nonsense," his uncle said with a wave of his hand. "She made a small blunder. Don't hold that against her. The pharmacy is doing just fine."

  He pulled himself back down to earth and gave his uncle a sharp look. "Is the pharmacy doing fine?"

  "We're doing as well as can be for right now. Don't you worry, though. Once summer hits, we'll be hopping again."

  Walt didn't comment further, although he suspected the pharmacy was slowly losing money to the bigger corporateowned stores popping up in the area. Walt hoped his uncle was right about business picking up in the summer. He'd have to use his financial expertise and take a closer look at the books to see exactly where they stood.

  "I hope you can get past this little mishap with Georgie," Al said. "I need you to continue training her while I'm recovering. She's still technically a student. Maybe show her some of those business skills you've acquired in the big city. She could use some more mentoring."

  Walt couldn't argue with that. Georgie just proved she could use advice in the business department.

  His gaze sought her out again. He noticed that she'd gotten her lab coat caught on the endcap of the aisle and was in the midst of a tug-of-war with the metal shelving. He didn't want to be amused, but his lips twitched at the sight. At least he found it reassuring to see the old Georgie somewhere in that beautiful woman's body. Then he kicked himself for noticing she was a woman again. And that she had a beautiful body.

  He cleared his throat. "I'll see what I can do," he told Al. "I'm sure I could teach her a thing or two. After all, Georgie is practically like a sister to me." Yeah, you just keep reminding yourself that.

  Al gave him an approving grin. "That's very kind of you. See? Readjusting to small-town life is like riding a bike. Even an ex-city pharmacy supervisor like yourself won't have any problems here at all."

  Walt's gaze shot back to Georgie just as she flipped one of her long springy ringlets from her shoulder, and he sighed. Never before had he been so mesmerized by a head of hair. He couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like to bury his hands in that massive mane of strawberry-red curls and another unexpected shot of desire coursed through him.

  Not quite the "brotherly" reaction he wanted to have at the moment.

  No problems? He rubbed the back of his neck and hoped his uncle was correct in that aspect. But something about working and living with his best friend's sister had him thinking his problems may have just begun.

  "That went well."

  Georgie glared at Dee as she stepped behind the counter. "Oh, stuff it."

  Dee laughed. "I told you he didn't look like a thief," she said in a sing-song voice.

  She raised a hand to her forehead and hung her head. "I know! I know you did. Why didn't you stop me?"

  "To be honest, I thought it was a good opportunity for you to meet a man. A little unorthodox maybe, but I figured since you're going to enter that dream date contest, anything went at this point."

  Georgie's head sprang back up. "I didn't say I was going to enter that contest. I said I'd think about entering that contest. And I've now just decided that I won't. How can I even consider something like that? I just accused the owner's nephew of stealing! Ugh. I wanted so much to prove I could really take charge, but all I proved was how big of an idiot I am"

  Dee raised her fingers to her lips, but it didn't hide the sound of her chuckle. "There, there, honey. It took real nerve to do what you did. Al wasn't mad at all."

  "Yeah, but Walt's another story. How am I ever going to face him again? And he's going to be living under the same roof with me. What if he tells Brad? There'll be no living that down. How mortifying."

  "Yeah. Walt did seem pretty upset. His face turned a color unknown even to Crayola."

  Georgie shot her a withering glare. "Just so you know, that comment isn't making me feel better."

  "Oh. Sorry. Well, look on the bright side. He does look good, doesn't he?"

  Unfortunately, yes. Walt Somers did look good. She squinted into the aisle where Walt was still talking with Al, to make sure she hadn't been seeing things.

  She hadn't been seeing things.

  Walt looked very good. But she dismissed such thinking as more of the temporary insanity she'd already been experiencing today. Walt was still ... Walt. And he was still as overbearing as her brother.

  "I wouldn't be complaining if my brother's friend looked like that," Dee added, as though she'd read her thoughts. "He's still single, isn't he?"

  "How am I supposed to know? I couldn't care less." Georgie marched over and, with a pasted-on smile, took a prescription bottle from a customer's hand and typed the refill number in the computer. "This will be ready in a few minutes, Mrs. Barkat," she told the older woman.

  See? It's obvious. Business as usual. I'm not interested in Walt. But for some reason she couldn't resist peering back down the aisle to see what he was up to.

  Dee grabbed Georgie's wrist and pulled her away from the counter. "What do you mean, you couldn't care less?" Dee asked, lowering her voice. "You were just giving me a tearful Sally Fields speech about how you have no life and can't get a date. God answered your prayers and delivered you tall, blond, and hunky."

  "Don't be so blinded by appearances," she whispered back. "Besides, I know Walt. He's a weasel. I'm sorry, bu
t bossy pain-in-the-necks are not my type"

  Dee snorted as she took the label from the printer. "I don't understand what your problem is with Walt."

  "I don't have any problem. Just because he's Brad's friend doesn't mean he has to be mine. I saw how much my parents doted on Walt. He milked every second of it. It was disgusting. Besides, there was the same she's-justa-kid attitude in his eyes when he looked at me just then. Trust me, it wouldn't work. We're as opposite as ... as that political commentary team Mary Matalin and James Carville."

  Dee's face fell. "Uh, Georgie, they've been married for over ten years now."

  They have? "Oh. Well, you know what I mean," she said irritably, picking up and shoving a bottle of penicillin in Dee's hands.

  Dee shrugged and poured some tablets onto the counting tray. "Okay, okay. Fine. All I'm saying is maybe Walt isn't the same person he was when he was teenager. Give him a break. People do change"

  At that moment, Georgie looked up and saw Walt swaggering toward them. Ignoring the triple flip her heart performed, she walked over to the counter. Her response to him was borderline ridiculous. Walt may have filled out physically-in very attractive ways-but he still bore the same old know-it-all attitude of the past. "My judgment stands until further notice," she murmured to Dee, then braced herself for Walt's teasing assault.

  When Walt reached her, however, he surprised her by extending his hand in a friendly, nonderisive way. "I was thinking, Georgie, you're right. No harm done. I guess I did look kind of suspicious back there"

  She stared down at his hand. His reaction was a twist to what she'd expected. She hesitated a moment longer, still not sure what to think of his change in attitude, but then put her hand in his. Walt had a solid yet surprisingly gentle grip, which felt very much like putting on a favorite pair of warm mittens.

  Warm mittens that gave you a tingly feeling throughout your entire body.

  She snatched her hand back and tucked it under her arm. "Yeah, you did act suspicious. But I think it was your beady eyes that pushed me over the edge"

  Walt chuckled. "Look, I'm sorry about how I reacted back there. You threw me off guard. I wanted you to know that it's no big deal. Let's put it behind us"