Georgie on His Mind

by Jennifer Shirk

  "But you can't," Brad said, still looking dazed. "What's the point? Nothing will come of it. You can't have a relationship with someone like him. And you might even get hurt"

  "I won't get hurt. Honest. I want to do this." She felt Walt's gaze on her, but she didn't dare look at him to gauge his reaction. A little part of her was curious to know, though. He had said he had felt a connection with her. Now she had probably gone and hurt his feelings by saying she'd go out with another man. But it was for the best.

  "You know, it might be good publicity for the diabetes expo," Walt finally said.

  Publicity? She swung her head in his direction. Walt was thinking about publicity? She couldn't help feeling miffed at this sudden turnaround in attitude. She thought he'd at least fight for her a little more instead of throwing her on a date with another man so soon.

  "Yeah, the diabetes expo," she mimicked, trying to sound upbeat and failing miserably. "Right. I guess some attention would come to it."

  "Hey," Brad cut in, eyes aimed like daggers at Walt, "just whose side are you on?"

  Walt raised his palms up in surrender. "I'm not trying to be on anyone's side. Clay Hayes is harmless. So what's the problem in capitalizing on that? I'm just trying to be rational here."

  "Oh, yeah? Well, go be rational with someone else's sister."

  "Enough!" She snapped a little louder than she'd wanted, but she couldn't help it. If she didn't snap, she'd cry. And she wasn't about to show Walt that her feelings were the ones that were hurt.

  "I'm going to go freshen up and give a statement to the press out there," she announced, thrusting her chin up for effect. "Please, I would appreciate it if you didn't do anything to embarrass me further."

  She was met by silence. Taking that as an acquiescence she marched to her room, hoping once again she'd taken hold of her life and made the right decision-and that maybe by going on that date, she'd forget all about Walt's kiss.

  Brad sank onto the sofa with his head in hands. "Do you see what it's like with her?"

  Walt nodded, gritting his teeth in frustration. Oh, he saw what it was like living with Georgie all right. And she was driving him one short block away from the looney bin.

  Had he really said that he thought her winning that date would be good for business?

  Business? He almost laughed out loud. Ever since he'd kissed her, business was the furthest thing from his mind.

  There was something more than mere attraction going on between them. Something even more than chemistry. He'd never felt a spark like that toward anyone before. Not even toward his ex-fiancee. He didn't know what, but whatever it was Georgie was sure afraid to face it. Maybe he was afraid to face it too, and that's why he had said what he did.

  "She's impossible to reason with," Brad said, breaking out of his thoughts. "And because of that she now assumes I'm the worst brother on the planet."

  "Don't sweat it. You're a good brother. Georgie knows deep down inside you're just looking out for her."

  Brad rolled his eyes. "Gee, I explode on her and practically threaten to handcuff her to the house. Yeah, that really conveys I'm looking out for her best interests."

  Walt couldn't resist a grin. "A little extreme for some, but yes. In your defense, Georgie does seem to get herself into more trouble than the average woman."

  "So you don't think I said anything that was crazy?"

  Walt gave him a noncommittal shrug. Between him and Georgie it was really too close to call who was more crazy. He cleared his throat and went for a more diplomatic response. "Uh, as her brother, you had every right to say what you did and to be worried."

  "You've got that right," Brad said with a nod. "And now she's got herself involved with some actor. No thanks to you."

  "Me?" Walt blinked. Did he exude an "easy target" aura? Both Brad and Georgie seemed to get an unusual amount of satisfaction by pinning the blame for their problems on him. Maybe he should rethink moving in with his uncle, for more reasons than that. "Oh, come on, Brad. You know if I had sided with you, she would have come to the same decision, only ten times faster."

  "Yeah, you're probably right." Brad shook his head and let out a hard sigh. "I give up. Maybe I should just stop trying to protect her and let her live her life the way she wants. I should take a Vegas-like attitude-whatever happens ... happens. You know, butt out of her life."

  "Well, I suppose that's the right thing to do," he said, grudgingly.

  Brad looked thoughtful for a minute. "Yeah, I could butt out of her life, but ... but that doesn't mean you have to butt out of her life."

  Those familiar warning bells went off in Walt's head again as he heard the keenness in Brad's tone. He obviously needed to find a new best friend. "Hold on, I don't like the sound-"

  "Yeah," Brad said, a slow grin spreading across his mouth. "You can make sure Georgie doesn't get hurt for me"

  "Hey, I thought we already went over this. And we already decided it was a bad idea."

  "I know what we agreed, but look." Brad stood and walked over to the coffee table, on which sat a picture of Clay Hayes with a full-toothed grin. He picked it up and waved it in front of Walt's face. "Look at this guy. Do you know what kind of reputation he has?"

  Walt didn't know, but he had his suspicions. Just the thought of Georgie and Clay Hayes alone together made his fists clench. He looked away. There was no way he could allow her to go out with some hotshot clown like Clay Hayesno matter what he'd said about publicity for the pharmacy.

  How did he get involved in this whole mess?

  When Walt had decided to move back to town, he thought it'd be nice to be with his family and true friends again. He thought he'd be gaining some stability in his life. But noooo. Instead, his life gets handed a five foot five red-haired walking complication. A complication he felt a totally stupid and inappropriate need to protect that went beyond any friendship with her brother.

  "Okay. I'll do it," he told Brad.

  "You will? You'd do that?"

  "Yeah. I see now what you've been going through. You're right. Georgie is ... special. And I don't want to see her hurt any more than you do. With me around, Clay Hayes isn't going to think that she's another townie woman he can just love and leave. She deserves more. Much more. Uh, you know, like you said."

  "All right," Brad said, folding his arms and cocking his head to the side. "What's going on here?"

  "Nothing" He heard the petulant strain in his voice and immediately tried to lighten his tone. "I realized you were right about Georgie. That's all. I mean, what are friends for?"

  Brad stared him down for a moment, then he shook his head and chuckled. "Hey, man, I'm sorry for getting all weird on you there. It's just for a moment, I thought ... never mind. I owe you for doing this for me. At least now I can relax knowing she's in your good hands"

  Walt's mouth went dry thinking of Georgie-and his own good hands on her. No, not good. Wrong. His hands weren't going to be anywhere near Georgie. She had made that perfectly clear to him after he'd kissed her. "Yeah. Well. No problem." He averted his eyes and jerked his thumb behind him. "I'll go alert the media out there that Georgie's going to make a statement. I'll try to get a little more information about the date too"

  Brad gave him a thumbs-up. "Good thinking. You're a great help."

  Help. Right. He was being helpful. He tried to smile, but when it didn't happen he ducked outside before Brad offered any more appreciative comments. Walt was already doubting his involvement in all this. The things he did for his friend. As he marched over to the media, his mind wandered to Georgie and the desire he saw marked all over her beautiful face after he'd kissed her in the parking lot.

  Why had she rejected my offer of a serious relationship?

  The question was eating at him even though he told himself to forget it. He should have known better than to think that someone like Georgie could so easily be purged from his thoughts. But he assured himself that his decision to stick to her had nothing to do with his attrac
tion to her. Nope, not at all. After all, he was not going to get in the habit of pursuing a woman who wasn't interested in him.

  Unfortunately, he hadn't been in the habit of lying to himself either.

  Walt just hoped if Brad ever found out he'd understand.

  You know, for someone who just won the most coveted date this side of the Mississippi, you sure managed to wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

  Georgie shot Dee an evil glare-unfortunately only affirming Dee's statement-then went back to cleaning the counting tray.

  Yes, she darn well was feeling grouchy today. The worst part was she didn't even know why. She'd just won a dream date with a famous television star. Clay Hayes! Nearly every woman in town was probably green with envy by now. So what the heck was wrong with her?

  She had her suspicions. Namely, one Walt Somers.

  Walt was getting to her. One minute the man kissed her like she was the only woman on the planet, and then the next minute he was practically throwing her into the arms of another man. True, she had rejected him first, but still. It was a callous thing to do to her, and it bugged her. Which only bugged her more. Gosh, if anyone knew how depressed she was, they'd think she had Fruit Loops for brains.

  And maybe they'd be right.

  Dee waved a hand in front of Georgie's face. "Yoo-hoo, anybody home?"

  "Just me and my Fruit Loops," she muttered.

  Dee scrunched her brows together and checked her watch. "You're hungry already?"

  "No, no, I was just ... thinking." Thinking about Walt, who just so happened to have made it plainly clear that he was looking to start a serious relationship with her. Also thinking about why in the world she was so down in the mouth about him quickly moving on with his life after she had told him she wasn't interested.

  Checking for and seeing no customers lurking around, Dee pulled up a stool and sat down. "I'll bet. So tell me, were you thinking about your upcoming date with Clay Hayes, or were you thinking about your date last night with Walt?"

  "Dee! I told you Walt and I were not on a date last night."

  "Okay, okay," she said, holding her palms up. "Sheesh, for someone who didn't go out on a date, you sure are touchy about it."

  Georgie reached for more alcohol swabs and began cleaning the mortar and pestles. For the third time this morning. "I'm not touchy about it." Too much. "I just wish you'd stop calling it a date"

  "But I don't understand. A date with Walt is good. He's a nice guy, you know him, and although he tries his best to hide it for whatever reason, I think Walt is crazy about you. If you're worried that Brad-"

  "I'm not worried about what he thinks," she snapped. "Walt and I aren't right for each other. That's all. Besides, he's too much like Brad. We both want different ... Oh, I just feel ... Did you know he was engaged?"

  Dee's brows rose. "Brad was engaged?"

  "No," she said with a sigh. "Walt was engaged."

  "Oh. No, I didn't, but I consider that a good sign."

  "A good sign? How so?"

  "Well, for one thing, Walt knows his feelings. That's rare in a man. And second, he's not afraid of commitment. Also rare in a man."

  Georgie lowered her eyes, suddenly feeling queasy and overwhelmed. Walt was the type who looked for commitment in a relationship. But a good thing? No, not for her. For another woman, yes. But not her. She wasn't looking for that. A date with a celebrity who'd only be in town a short while sounded much more her speed. After all, a casual night out was all she'd really been hoping for from the beginning. Nothing serious. No chance for any kind of attachment to form. It would be perfect.

  So get yourself together and be happy about it then.

  A gruff groan caught their attention. Randall slowly approached from the back room, carrying a large bulky box. He managed to maneuver it through the swinging doors, finally stopping by the coatrack, where he let it drop with a loud thud.

  "Hey, what's in this thing?" he asked, taking out a handkerchief from his back pocket and mopping the top of his lip.

  Georgie rolled her eyes. Wouldn't it have been nice to ask that before dropping it to the ground? "Three glucose monitors, some test strips, and a case of Glucerna," she answered, not hiding the annoyance in her tone.

  Randall scratched his head. "Why did you want me to bring it out here? Does Walt want us to put that stuff on the shelf or something?"

  "No, I just wanted to keep it separate from our regular stock. Didn't Walt tell you about the Diabetes Health Expo we're having?"

  His dark brows pulled together like a giant hairy caterpillar. "Expo? Why are we going to have a diabetes expo?"

  "Because of this." Georgie made a sweeping gesture of the store with her hand. "Look how dead we are. We need to do something to perk business up, and poor Al can't be worrying about his store while he's recovering."

  Randall sniffed. "That sounds like an awful lot of work for no guarantee of success. I don't think it's such a good idea. Besides, Al wouldn't want you getting his store involved in one of your crazy schemes"

  Georgie set a hand on her hip, banking down her resentment toward Randall's condescending attitude. "It really doesn't matter what you think, because Walt thought it was a great idea. Didn't he, Dee?"

  Dee gave him a smug grin. "That's right, Randall. We hate to pull rank on you, but Walt wants to proceed with the expo immediately. He already had me call the papers and draw up some flyers to give out. He even told Georgie he's hoping the publicity we'll get from the Clay Hayes contest will draw new customers"

  Randall shrugged and walked over to get his coffee mug that was drying by the sink, signaling he was done with hearing about the expo and any further talk of her upcoming date with Clay Hayes. Dee and Georgie exchanged aggravated looks, then Georgie glanced out into the store just in time to see Kendall bounce through the front doors.

  "Hi, guys," Kendall chirped, giving them a little wave. Georgie waved back, noticing how pretty Kendall looked this morning with her brown hair down and curling slightly underneath her chin. She wore a bright red long-sleeved tee-which Georgie could never pull off because of her bright orange hair-and boot-cut blue jeans that were simple yet still trendy. Used to seeing Kendall in her work clothes at the restaurant, Georgie had forgotten her friend's good taste in clothes.

  Georgie bounced over to the register. "Hey, Kendall," she said. "What brings you by here? You're not sick or anything, are you?"

  Kendall shook her head, sending funky red beaded earrings swaying against her cheek. "Nope. Never felt better. I came by for two reasons. First, I wanted to congratulate you on being the lucky lady who's going out for a night on the town with one super hottie Clay Hayes"

  "Yeah. It's ... it's all very, um, exciting."

  Kendall and Dee exchanged frowns. "You don't sound very excited," Kendall commented. "I thought you'd be happy about the news"

  "No, I'm happy. Really." Sort of. "The funny thing is I didn't even enter myself. I only entered Brad. Yet I'm the one who won. Don't you think that's a little weird?"

  Kendall looked uneasy for a moment, then she perked up and smiled brightly. "Well, maybe there was a mix-up with the names. I wouldn't worry about it. The outcome is much better this way anyhow. Rae Roberts isn't Brad's type at all. Did you see her on the cover of People? If her blouse was any smaller, my six-year-old niece could wear it."

  Georgie chuckled. "Something tells me Brad wouldn't have complained if Rae Roberts had shown up on their date wearing that blouse."

  "Yeah," Dee agreed. "I think any man could endure that kind of hardship."

  Kendall folded her arms and harrumphed. "Well, I still can't see him going on a date with her."

  Georgie cocked her head at her friend. Kendall almost sounded jealous, which was just about impossible considering Brad was her next best friend after Georgie-and that Kendall was less than a year away from marrying the love of her life, Jake Grisbaum.

  "Okay, so besides wanting to congratulate me on my suddenly enhanc
ed social calendar, why else did you stop by?" Georgie asked.

  Kendall's expression softened, and she began digging into her purse. "Ah, to give you two these" She held out envelopes, and Dee and Georgie each took one.

  "Oooh, an engagement party!" Dee squealed. "How fun. Do you need me to bring anything?"

  Kendall's face lit up. "Well, actually, I was hoping you'd make that monkey bread of yours. Jake loves that stuff. You have to give me the recipe too" She turned to Georgie with a look of amusement. "I already had these invitations printed up, otherwise I would have one for Walt. So be sure to bring him, okay, Georgie?"

  Dee elbowed Georgie. "That's right. You know, you really should bring him. You don't even have to call it a date this time."

  Georgie didn't let their joking rile her. Or rather, she didn't show that their joking around riled her. They also didn't know she and Walt had kissed, or how much it was obviously affecting her.

  The phone rang, but Randall didn't make a move to answer it. Dee stuck her tongue out to his back. The phone continued to ring. Dee hesitated another moment, looking torn between her job and not wanting to miss any of Georgie and Kendall's conversation, but she went over to answer it.

  As Dee walked away, Kendall pointed her big, inquiring brown eyes at Georgie. "Oh, are you dating Walt? I didn't know that or else we wouldn't ... I mean, is he okay with you going out with Clay Hayes?"

  Georgie thought about Walt and his enthusiasm over the possibility of any benefit that her date with Clay Hayes would have on the pharmacy and had to squelch her desire to snort. "Oh, he thinks the whole date idea is just hunkydory."

  Kendall bit her lip. "Oh. Well, I guess that's good. I don't know if Jake would be so easygoing about me going out with a rich and handsome celebrity, even if it is for charity. But I'm so glad you finally found someone. You know, I thought you and Walt looked like you were dating."

  "No. Walt and I are not dating. We're not doing ... anything." Not that she hadn't tried to feel him up in one of her Fruit Loop-type conditions the other night in the parking lot. But that would never happen again. She would make sure of it. "We're not right for one another."