"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.
"Georgie, I-"
"Love isn't in the cards for everyone," she said quietly.
How could she say that?
He wanted to demand an answer to that, but her baffling statement, her poignant look, the whole situation left him completely speechless.
She pried his fingers off of her wrist, then quickly walked away to take a look at the kitchen. "So you're really staying around? I mean, for good? I guess you must really like this town"
Walt walked up behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders. "I do like this town and a few other things here"
Her body tensed at his touch, but he wasn't about to let her change the subject or get away so easily. Not when all he'd been able to think about since they'd stepped foot in the house was confessing his feelings and touching his lips to hers again.
Georgie turned around, gazing up at him with tentative eyes-as if she knew exactly where his thoughts were heading. Because of that, Walt half expected her to slip away and start chattering about the house again. He would have let her if she had, as much as it would have killed him. There was no use forcing something she wasn't feeling. But she surprised him by reaching her hand around his neck and leaning his head down to hers. He didn't waste any time analyzing her reasons for meeting him halfway. He only wanted to lose himself in the heady spell Georgie had already cast on him. So he quickly cupped her face with his hands and kissed her.
She surprised him again by kissing him back with an equal vengeance. The softness of her body brushed against his, and he gathered her up against him. He wanted her to know what she did to him, how he made her feel-praying she felt what he felt. The sweet and airy scent of her skin smelled like fresh summer fruit; he couldn't decide if he wanted to just inhale her or take a bite.
He chose to come up for air instead.
"That's one of things I really like about this town too," he said, smiling against her mouth.
She swallowed hard. "Yeah," she said breathlessly. "I-I can see why."
He chuckled, even though he wanted her so much he couldn't see straight. But he wasn't going to rush her. This was new and different for him, and he was going to make sure it was different to her too. Not a fling or something temporary. He wanted to take up permanent residence in her heart.
Just like she had with him.
He leaned his forehead against hers and gazed into her eyes. "I have something else I'd like to show you."
"Oh yeah?" Her lips curved. "What else do you want to show me?" she murmured.
"The sign I made up for the diabetes expo. You're going to love it. It's in the trunk of my car."
"The expo sign?" She blinked then laughed out loud. "After that kiss you're thinking about a sign? Oh, my gosh, Walt, you're driving me crazy!"
Walt grinned as his fingers combed through the loose curls of her long red hair. Crazy is good, he thought. Georgie had drove him his fair share of crazy these last few weeks, so it was only right that he inflict a little of the same torture. He considered it a good sign that she was so easily frustrated when it came to him. She might not have said she was in love with him, but crazy was definitely a start. And if she canceled that ridiculous date with Clay Hayes, he'd consider it a fantastic start.
He dropped his arms and forced himself to keep his hands at his sides. "Maybe we should head back," he suggested.
"Back?" She cocked her head, her expression still half dazed. "Back where?"
"To Kendall and Jake's engagement party. People are probably wondering where we went off to"
Georgie sprang backward, alarm registering on her face. "Oh, jeez, you're right. If Dee saw us leave, we're totally busted. She and Kendall-you don't know them like I dothey're probably planning our engagement party as we speak." She let out a nervous laugh. "If you could imagine something as funny as that"
Walt could imagine that. But he didn't find it funny at all. Maybe a few weeks ago he would have laughed at the thought of he and Georgie engaged, but not now. Now that was all he wanted. It seemed Georgie did not want the same thing.
Yet.
He extended his hand to lead her out and she took it, entwining her fingers with his. Their hands joined together felt right, but he knew if he so much as mentioned that thought to Georgie, he'd scare her away. For whatever reason, Georgie wanted to avoid serious relationships. Convincing her that they were meant for one another was going to be tricky, but considering how comfortably she left her hand in his, he felt he was heading along the right path.
"So ... anything delightfully naughty happen when you and Walt disappeared from Kendall and Jake's party the other night?" Dee asked, propping her elbows on the counter and giving Georgie her one hundred percent full attention.
Georgie walked into work not surprised by Dee's keen interest in her love life. After al
l, she had assumed Dee had seen her leave the engagement party with Walt. So, naturally, Dee would assume that there was something more going on between them than friendship-which there wasn't. There couldn't be. Now the only problem was trying to convey that to her friend before half the town-and especially Bradheard otherwise.
"So?" Dee prompted eagerly. "You gonna spill the juicy details or what?"
"Oh. Well, let's see. . " Georgie put on her lab coat and pretended to find Dee's question amusing. "Um, he did hold my hand. Twice."
Walt had kissed her twice too, but Dee didn't need to know that, or that he had talked about marriage and starting a family and ... Good Lord, she suddenly couldn't breathe. Why, oh, why had Walt mentioned all that stuff to her? Did he want more than friendship? Was he now thinking about getting back together with his fiancee?
Ugh, why was she even thinking about it?
Because she was a mess. That's why. She didn't have Fruit Loops for brains like she'd thought the other day. Nooooo. Her mental status had slithered down a notch.
She was now officially cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.
And it was all Walt's fault.
Dee made a face. "Walt held your hand? That's it? You guys were gone an awfully long time for just some simple hand holding to be going on."
"He only wanted to show me the house he's buying. Nothing sordid or naughty whatsoever."
"I know. That's the problem."
Georgie rolled her eyes. Leave it to Dee to want her soap opera stories to come to life. "Sorry to disappoint you, but Walt and I are just friends. Good friends." Good friends who had held hands. Good friends who had kissed. No big deal. At least she was trying to convince herself it was no big deal, and that she could treat Walt just like she had any other man she had briefly kissed or held hands with-and continue to keep him at arm's length.
Suddenly a tall older man with a full head of wavy gray hair stepped up to the counter and caught Georgie's attention. She walked over and immediately greeted him.
"What's this about some diabetes thing you're having?" he asked, holding up one of the flyers they had distributed a few weeks ago.
"Oh, we're going to have a diabetes expo set up here in the center of the pharmacy," she answered proudly. "There'll be a pharmacist and a diabetes educator on hand all day to answer questions about the disease, and we'll be giving away some free samples of various products and raffling off a few glucose monitors. Are you interested in setting up an appointment to talk with one of the health care professionals?"
The man thought it over, then nodded. "My wife has diabetes. I know she'd like to come in and get some help with that. Do you have to get your medications here to come to the expo?"
"Not at all," Georgie said, smiling. "The health fair is open to anyone in the community who wants to get educated on the disease."
He dug into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. Lifting out a crumpled prescription that was folded between his money, he smiled, then held it out to Georgie. "Well, I think I'd like to start coming here to get my prescriptions filled."
"That's wonderful, Mr."-Georgie took the slip of paper and glanced at the name-"Mr. Sheppard. I'll just need your insurance card. Dee over here will need to ask you a few questions so we can put all your information into our computer."
As she handed the prescription over to Dee, Georgie saw Walt enter the store. She couldn't wait to tell him that the expo was already attracting customers and raced down the aisle toward him.
"Guess what?" she prompted, smacking him in the shoulder.
Walt watched her bounce up on tiptoe with amusement. "Let me guess. You've entered Brad in another date contest?"
"Of course not" She laughed, then quickly frowned. "Wait. Is there another date contest?"
"Georgie . . " he said with a hint of warning.
"I'm kidding! Seriously, I just wanted to tell you that I've already had someone want to transfer their prescriptions to our store and all because of the diabetes expo. We have two clipboards full of appointments for the diabetes educator too. How's that for progress?"
"Hey, that's great. After we see how the expo turns out, we should brainstorm some more ideas. I think if we put our heads together, we might be able to keep this store afloat. We make a good team, you and I"
Georgie beamed. She didn't even have her pharmacist license yet, and Walt was already considering her part of the team. His team. Funny, but she didn't mind the way that sounded at all. It was so easy to think of herself as part of his team when it came to the pharmacy, but when it came to being on his team for anything more ... her stomach did a backflip.
"Where's Randall?" Walt asked, looking over her head. "I made the new schedule and I wanted to go over it with him before I go to settlement."
"He must be in the break room. Uh ... you're definitely moving out today?" She tried to smile and remind herself that distance from Walt would actually be a good thing.
"Got my bags packed and everything." He cocked his head and gave her a thoughtful look. "You know, if you're not busy tonight, you could always swing by my place and keep me company as I unpack. You think you could spare to spend your free time with me?" His question surprised her so she hesitated, and his expectant face suddenly fell. "Oh, sorry. Do you have other plans?" he asked.
Her only plans were watching her brother polish his shoes and gun for work tomorrow. But even if she had other plans, she'd still consider hanging out with Walt a much better option. And a far more dangerous option.
"I'll have dinner waiting, and I should have some furniture for you to sit on by then too," he added.
"You went furniture shopping already too?"
He chuckled. "No, I had some stuff in storage from my place in Philadelphia. The movers should be there by two this afternoon. So what do you say? Actually, I still want to go over some things for the diabetes expo. We can do it while I unpack."
"Well . . ." Business, Georgie. He just wants to talk business. Don't be such a chicken. "Okay, I guess I could come over then"
"Great," he said, looking relieved. "I was hoping you'd come"
For a long moment their eyes met, and neither of them said another word. It hit her then how adorable he looked, standing there in his Phillies baseball cap and surfer board shorts, just like how she remembered he'd looked back in high school-only now he had muscular legs. She couldn't help but wonder what he saw when he gazed at her. Did he still see Brad's little sister?
"I'll go give the schedule to Randall now," he said, jerking his thumb behind him. "I'll order a pizza tonight. And wine. I won't order the wine, just the pizza. I have some already. We can drink it. The wine, that is." He winced and shook his head. "I'll see you tonight." With that he cut himself off and walked away.
For a second there, Walt almost seemed unsure of himself, and she had to grin. There was definitely a sweetness about him when he lost the highhanded attitude like her brother's. She didn't want to analyze why she found that so appealing-or why she was suddenly looking forward to tonight so much.
Randall's voice boomed through the store pager. She'd been standing alone in the pharmacy aisle way too long, and he needed help. Seeing a few customers head toward the pharmacy department, she whirled around and ran smackdab into Dee. Georgie staggered backward, rubbing her chest. However, the collision hadn't changed Dee's militant posture of folded arms and feet planted two feet apart.
"I can't believe it," Dee said with disgust.
"Wha-huh? Can't believe what?"
"That you've been holding out on me"
Georgie quickly hid her attack of guilt and thrust her chin up. "I don't have the foggiest idea what you're talking about." She brushed by Dee and continued her way back to the pharmacy.
"Georgie, if you saw what I just saw between you and Walt back there, you wouldn't be playing dumb with me right now," Dee charged from behind. "What's going on? I thought you said you and Walt were just friends."
Georgie stopped and slowly faced her friend. "I...
Well ... We are"
Dee gave her a mini eye roll. "Ugh. Believe me, there wasn't an ounce of friendship in the way Walt just looked at you. Or the way you looked at Walt for that matter. Does Brad know?"
Georgie bristled at the mention of her brother. "Know what?"
"That his best friend and his only sister have the hots for one another." Dee began to laugh. "And it happened right under his nose. Actually, it's perfect if you really think about it. I'd like to see Brad interfere with this relationship."
"Relationship?" Her tongue stumbled over the word. "Oh, no. Walt and I may be attracted to one another-like you said-but it's nothing as serious as a relationship. And no, Brad doesn't know. He doesn't have to know. There's nothing to know. It's just ... a little harmless dalliance."
Dee stared at her, skepticism pooling in her eyes. "What I just witnessed didn't look like a harmless dalliance. I hope you know what you're doing."
"Dee, don't worry. I'm a big girl. I know exactly what I'm doing."
"Do you?" she asked. "Then what exactly are you going to do about your date?"
"What date?"
"Your date with Clay Hayes"
Georgie's face fell and her eyes widened. She'd completely forgotten all about her celebrity date. It was coming up soon too. She had just filled out some more release forms a few days ago. She was so preoccupied with Walt, she hadn't even given it a second thought.
Dee shot her a smug grin. "Wonderful. I can see that you've got everything under control by the sheer panicmode expression on your face" She took a step forward and lightly placed her hands on Georgie's shoulders. "Honey," she began, her voice low and sobering, "you better decide exactly what you want to do about Walt fast. Or else somebody could get hurt."
Georgie looked away and studied the ground. There was no use trying to convince herself-and Dee-that she only wanted friendship with Walt. The truth was she didn't want to go on that date with Clay Hayes. She didn't want to go out on any date with anyone. Except Walt. How had that happened? She had convinced herself she could handle her attraction to him and the inexplicable fear of losing control over her life if she had opened up her heart again. She thought she could keep Walt at arm's length. But now she had gone and completely fallen for him.
Georgie on His Mind Page 13