The Standby Guy

by Natasha Moore

  Because most of all, Katie was his friend, his confidant. Sure, she was attractive with those wild golden waves and milk chocolate eyes. She had a sense of humor that had always melded perfectly with his.

  He’d never let himself get into a situation where any feelings would have had a chance of growing. And a dinner in a fancy restaurant, even with another couple, even if it was a business dinner, was too atmospheric to risk.

  It had always been fast food or barbecue joints when they went out to eat. Jeans and sneakers, he could handle. Not candlelight. Not soft dresses and high heels.

  “Now you’re being ridiculous,” she threw back at him.

  “I’ll find someone else.”

  She laughed at him. Of course she would. “How’s that been going for you so far?”

  “There has to be a friend of yours…”

  She shook her head and laughed again. “No. I’m not setting you up with any more of my friends.”

  He hated feeling desperate. “What about that woman who came in for headshots the other day? You said she was gorgeous and funny. Is she single?”

  “Merilee? I think she’s single but—”

  “Wait a minute. Merilee Rosen?”

  “Yeah. Do you know her?”

  She was one of the women who hadn’t returned his call. “Never mind. There has to be someone else.”

  “Hmm. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you didn’t like to spend time with me. But here you are, in my house, drinking my coffee, like you do almost every afternoon.”

  “I think the word ridiculous has been batted around a little too much this afternoon, so I’ll just say you know better than that.”

  “Then what’s the problem? I clean up well. I won’t embarrass you.”

  “I never thought you’d embarrass me.”

  “I have a little black dress and a pair of heels.”

  Little black dress. Carter swallowed. He’d seen Katie in that little black dress at his parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary party last year. She’d looked amazing. It had hugged her curves and left a lot of her arms, legs, and cleavage bare.

  She backed up slightly, and he realized he was frowning. He smoothed out his expression.

  “Never mind,” she said. “I’ll buy something new. You wouldn’t deny me an excuse to get a new dress, would you? New shoes?”

  “Kat…”

  “Where is the dinner going to be?”

  “Castle on the Hill.”

  Her eyes lit up, and he couldn’t feel sorry for that. “I’ve always wanted to go there. In fact, I bet that’s on my list.” She started to flip through the little notebook she’d carried with her for as long as he could remember.

  “I believe you.” He reached out and covered her hand to stop her manic flipping. “You don’t have to show me.”

  “So what’s the problem? We can help each other. You want a date who can help show you off in the best possible light. I can do that.” She turned her hand over and squeezed his. “And you can help me check the first couple of items off my list.”

  Sure. It was a win-win situation, right? She would be a perfect pretend date for this business dinner. This opportunity was too important to leave to chance. He should have come to Katie right off the bat. Katie, whose smile lit up a room. Who could charm fussy babies and grumpy old men into sitting for amazing photographs. Whose hand felt way too good in his.

  He slid his hand out from under hers. When had he started having these kind of feelings for Katie? Not when she was married to Tim, he was certain of that. Sure, he’d thought she was attractive—he was a man, after all. But she’d been just a friend when Tim was alive. She’d had to be. Tim was the love of her life. He’d heard that often enough over the years. Carter had been nothing but Tim’s stand-in.

  When had his feelings for Katie started to change? Had they changed? Of course not. They were friends. They’d stayed good friends, regardless of what happened when Harry met Sally. Carter was going to take Katie out to dinner, land Worthington as a client, and they would stay the good friends they had been all along.

  It was his problem that he worried about what would happen if there was a shift in their relationship. Obviously, Katie wasn’t concerned about it, so why should he? They’d been best friends for years. That wasn’t going to change because they dressed up one night and went to a fancy restaurant.

  That was never going to change.

  “Katie Kat, would you like to go out to dinner with me tomorrow night?”

  Her smile hit him right in the chest. “I’d love to.”

  Chapter Two

  Katie’s phone rang as Carter was leaving. Her friend Ginny was Carter’s cousin and worked full-time at Colburn and Sons Salvage. “Did Sean get off okay?” Ginny’s voice was uncharacteristically soft and hesitant, as if she didn’t know what emotional shape Katie was going to be in.

  “Without a hitch,” Katie told her. Funny how her conversation with Carter had made her forget all about her only child leaving home.

  “Glad to hear you so upbeat. Well, I have to change and then I’ll be over to pick you up.”

  Pick her up? Oh yeah, a few days earlier Ginny had offered to take her out for drinks and dinner to get her mind off Sean leaving. “Okay. I have to do some shopping, though. Want to run to Erie first?”

  “Sure. What are we shopping for?”

  “A dress.” Why did she feel so excited about finding a dress and shoes that had the right mix of sexy and business? Why was she even thinking about sexy? There was no reason for sexy. “The dinner is tomorrow night, so it’s my only chance to shop.”

  “Wait.” She could hear the frown in Ginny’s voice. “Some guy asked you out to dinner at the last minute? Are you sure he deserves a new dress?”

  Katie chuckled. “I deserve a new dress.” If she was going to spend her time helping out Carter, at least she could get a new dress out of the deal. “I’ll tell you about it on the way.”

  “Well, we’re eating first. You know, in order to find a dress you’ll be comfortable in after a meal, you’ll want to have a full stomach when you’re trying it on.”

  Katie had never thought about that before. It had been way too long since she’d gone out to dinner. Or dress shopping. “Okay, but I don’t want to wait until the last minute.”

  “Sweetie, it’s already the last minute. Oh hey, I asked Anita to join us. Do you mind if she comes along?”

  Anita Delgado had moved to Lakeside that summer and met Carter’s older brother, Noah. They fell in love and got engaged, all in a matter of weeks. “Sure. I like Anita.”

  “Cool. We’ll take your mind off Sean and you can tell us all about this guy you’re going out to dinner with.” Ginny hung up, and Katie ran upstairs to change.

  She glanced out the window at the top of the stairs and caught a glimpse of Carter on his back patio, lighting the grill. Their houses were side by side, with very little green space between. If it were anyone else, Katie would probably hate living so close to her neighbor, but she and Carter had been close friends for years. When this new housing development opened up shortly after Tim died, they’d bought houses next to each other.

  Carter had been so great with Sean when he was growing up, being the steady male presence her son had needed in his life. In fact, thanks to Carter, all three of the Colburn brothers had been surrogate fathers to Sean.

  The least she could do was help Carter land the big client.

  Katie was about to continue to her bedroom to change when Carter stripped off his shirt right there under her window. An unexpected tingle at the sight of his bare chest made her shiver. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen him without a shirt before. Working in the yard. Taking her and Sean to the lake. All that tingle meant was that she wasn’t dead. She could appreciate a fine example of male perfection. It didn’t mean anything else.

  She forced herself to turn away from the window and head to her bedroom. She pulled a casual sundress from her closet. It’d
been a hot August day, and it didn’t look like it was going to cool down anytime soon. She wished she already had the perfect dress in her closet to wear tomorrow night. Carter wouldn’t care what she wore, certainly wouldn’t expect her to go out and spend money on a new dress and shoes. But she cared.

  Ginny and Anita picked her up a few minutes later, and the three of them stopped into Bud’s, the local bar and grill, and ordered wine and chicken salads all around.

  “Okay, I’m dying to hear about your date tomorrow night.” Ginny had pulled her curly blond hair into a messy bun, which somehow looked perfect on her. Her nose for news—in other words gossip—was well-known in Lakeside. “Did it really just come out of the blue or have you been holding out on me?”

  “Don’t you go posting anything on the village page. It’s not a real date.”

  Ginny held up her hand like she was getting ready to take the stand. “Nothing goes on social media. Promise. This is between us girls. You said a guy asked you out to dinner. How is that not a date?”

  “And who’s the guy?” Anita chimed in.

  Katie took a sip of wine and wished she’d ordered a juicy cheeseburger instead of a salad. “Carter has an important business dinner tomorrow night. The prospective client is bringing his wife, so he told Carter to bring a date.”

  Ginny’s eyes widened. “And he asked you?”

  Would it be that astonishing? “I offered.”

  Ginny studied her for a moment. “Of course you did. I love my cousin, but everyone knows he doesn’t do relationships.” She glanced at Anita. “He doesn’t even date all that much anymore. I worry about him.”

  Leave it to Ginny to keep track of everyone’s dating habits.

  “He seems like a nice guy,” Anita said carefully. “Is that the problem? Though I can’t see that being too nice would be a problem getting dates.”

  “Since you’re engaged to the nicest guy in Lakeside,” Ginny said with a laugh.

  “So what’s the story with Carter?”

  Ginny caught Katie’s eye. She gave her friend a subtle shake of the head. There was no point mentioning Carter’s designation as a rebound guy to his soon-to-be sister-in-law. Anita’s eyes narrowed as if she could tell there was more to the story, but thankfully Ginny only shrugged.

  “Ginny, why were you so surprised that Carter would ask Katie to be his date?” She turned to Katie. “Don’t you like each other?”

  Ginny jumped in. “You love him like a brother. Right, Katie?”

  She thought of the tingles she’d felt as she ogled Carter from her hallway window. She cleared her throat. “Brother. Right. We’ve been friends for years.”

  Anita’s lips lifted in an almost-smile. “So how often do you not-date Carter?”

  “I’m only going because he needs someone who knows him well enough to play the part. He doesn’t need to be worried about some potentially bad first date.” She’d heard about some of his first date nightmares over the years. “That’s why I offered. He has to focus on impressing this friend of Gloria Burns.”

  “Gloria loves Carter,” Ginny said.

  “Exactly. So I figure he’s a shoo-in. While he’s impressing the rich guy, I’ll chat with the wife. No problem. Not a date. Just a business dinner and helping out a friend.”

  Ginny considered her over the rim of her wineglass. “But you want to buy a new dress?”

  “My nest is now empty. I deserve a few new feathers for myself.” They laughed with her. Time to change the subject, but before Katie could comment on the delicious local Riesling, Anita chimed in again.

  “So Katie, how often do you date someone who’s not Carter?”

  “How did this conversation become all about me?”

  “Katie hasn’t dated in forever,” Ginny blurted.

  Thanks a lot. “I can count on one hand the number of first dates I’ve had since Tim died. That was back when I was younger and none of them were worth the effort. The guys only wanted to talk about themselves and get in my pants. Definitely not worth the time. “I’m just too busy to date.”

  “Busy is a cop-out,” Anita said. Easy for her to say, with her long legs and gorgeous face and thick, dark hair. Guys would love her. Katie was short and curvy, with hair that rarely behaved. “I’ve been busy for years,” Anita went on, “but I still manage to have fun, sexy times.”

  “Anita used to meet guys all over the world and have flings with them. You know, before she met Noah.”

  “Flings?” The word sounded fun and harmless. But could she actually do that? In Lakeside? How could she have a short-time sexual arrangement with a guy she’d probably see around town on a weekly basis? How did Carter do it?

  “Flings are fun. You should try it sometime. Doesn’t take the time a serious relationship would.”

  Ginny frowned and elbowed Anita. “Don’t tell her that. She needs a relationship. She just needs to find the right guy.”

  No. Katie was never going to give her heart and soul to any man again. “I don’t need a boyfriend. I can be perfectly happy without a man in my life.”

  “Of course you can,” Anita said.

  “A fling sounds like fun, though,” Katie admitted. It had been so long since she’d had any of those tingles like the ones she felt today. She shouldn’t have been feeling them about Carter. But it sure would be nice to feel them about somebody. “I wouldn’t even know how to start.”

  “Oh, hon, there’s nothing to it. Find an interesting guy and smile wide. Give him a glimpse of sexy confidence, and he’ll eat it up.”

  Sexy confidence?

  “Yeah. That. I think I lost my mojo back when Sean was little. If I even had any back then.” She was too young when she met Tim to even know what that was. Was it even a term that meant sexual confidence and charisma twenty-some years ago? “I’m going to put that on my list. To find it.”

  “Awesome. What list?”

  “It’s like a bucket list,” Ginny told Anita. “She’s been writing stuff down in that notebook forever. I used to think she was writing a book. Or journaling or something. But she has pages full of stuff.”

  “It’s not really a bucket list. That’s for big things like riding the Orient Express or climbing Mount Everest.” Then Katie remembered the item she crossed off her list. Maybe it was kind of a bucket list. “It’s just a list of things I want to do someday. I started writing them down when Sean was little and I was beginning my photography business. No time for anything else then. Those were my treadmill years.”

  “Your what?” Anita asked.

  “God, it was a crazy time. Tim had died, and I felt like I had no control over my life. It was like I was running on a constant treadmill and couldn’t get off. Building the business. Raising Sean. I’m so glad that’s over. You two never had to juggle work and kids, so it probably wasn’t like that for you.”

  “Doesn’t mean we don’t understand what busy means,” Anita told her. “I still say it’s a cop-out. Sean hasn’t needed you to cut up his food or help him with his homework in ages.”

  The waitress came with their salads, saving Katie from replying. Because, of course, Anita was right.

  But her new friend started right in again after she asked for ice water all around. Ice water? Oh yeah, they still had to go to Erie. She nailed Katie with her direct gaze. “So you have a list of things you’ve put off doing for… How old is Sean?”

  “Eighteen.” Katie had never thought of it as putting off, but it was probably true, too. She chewed and swallowed a bite of salad before she nodded. Man, she could have really used that cheeseburger.

  “Sean is a big boy now, and he’s left home, and you don’t even want to think about what he’ll be doing as a college freshman spreading his wings. Believe me, I know. I used to be a college professor.”

  Katie groaned. “You’re right. I don’t want to think about it. I simply have to picture him in his dorm room studying and push everything else out of my head.”

  “And to distract yo
u, let’s see the items on that list you’re not going to put off any longer.”

  The notebook was safe in her purse, and no one else was going to see it. “Actually, I’ll get to check a couple of items off my list tomorrow night.”

  “A date with Carter?” Ginny guessed.

  “No!” Katie rolled her eyes. “But a candlelit dinner in a fancy restaurant. I’m sure there will be a candle on the table.”

  Anita studied her as if she couldn’t believe Katie hadn’t experienced a candlelit dinner since Sean was born. “What’s the other?”

  “Dinner at Castle on the Hill.”

  “Exclusive,” Ginny said. “I’ve never been there, either.”

  Anita lifted her water glass in a toast. “See how easy it is? You’ll be checking off all the items on your list in no time.”

  “I think we should focus on the getting-her-mojo part,” Ginny said with a laugh.

  They were having too much fun at her expense. “I was thinking about getting a tattoo.” Katie’d had some glimpses of Anita’s fiery back piece. It was gorgeous. Not that she’d ever get anything that big. “A small tattoo.”

  “Cool, but let’s talk about you getting some sex.” Ginny again.

  Katie was tired of everyone talking about her. Ginny was still single and, last Katie knew, wasn’t dating, either. “Hey, Ginny, how’s your sex life lately?”

  When Ginny’s smile dropped, Katie wished she’d never lashed out at her friend. “That was mean. Sorry. I’m nervous. I don’t even know where to start.”

  “Well, let me ask you this,” Anita said. “When you’re talking about mojo, you are talking about…”

  “Sex!” Ginny shouted. The people at the tables around them stared. Katie wanted to slide under the table while Anita, the mayor’s fiancée, laughed out loud.

  “I’m serious, though,” Anita said. “Do you want to stick with flirting, just getting comfortable chatting with a guy at a bar? Or are you interested in jumping into a one-night stand? A longer fling? A steady relationship? Marriage?”

  “Not marriage. Not interested in another one of those. I don’t even want a steady relationship. I want ‘me’ time. List time. And yes, mojo time. I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I’ve had…” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Sex.”