by Hope Ramsay
“Really?” Andrew invested just the right amount of incredulity into his voice.
A muscle worked in Brandon’s jaw. “The asshole. You’d think he would have told me he was meeting Laurie here. I mean, I went over there to say hi, and he acted like there was nothing going on.”
“Um, Brandon, Danny doesn’t need to ask your permission to have dinner with Laurie.”
Brandon shifted his gaze and blinked a couple of times. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“Of course I am.” Andrew played it cool.
Brandon turned his attention back toward the menu while Andrew observed him. He didn’t glance in Danny’s direction. Not once. It was a little disappointing.
The waitress came over, and they ordered a couple of burgers. It was only after she’d left that Brandon looked over Andrew’s shoulder a second time. “What the hell?”
“What?” Andrew started to turn.
“No, don’t stare.”
“What is it?”
“She ordered a burger. Can you believe that?”
“Yeah. The burgers here are pretty good.”
“No, it’s not that. She never eats red meat. I mean, it’s like a religion with her or something. That’s why she hates this place. We used to argue about it all the time. You know I love the burgers here.”
Oh yeah, Andrew knew, which was why he’d suggested that Laurie’s date with Daniel be staged here. He gave Brandon a what-are-you-worried-about shrug. “Maybe she ordered the burger because their salads suck.”
“Why would she come here for dinner in the first place?”
“Maybe Danny picked the place.”
“Yeah, maybe he did.” Brandon frowned down at his beer before he continued. “No, that’s not right. This isn’t Danny’s kind of place either. California kind of rubbed off on him, you know. He eats a lot of salads too.”
“Maybe Laurie suggested it, thinking that it was.”
Brandon drummed his fingers on the table and looked up again. “Maybe she did.”
“Hey, relax, maybe they’re just sharing their common experiences.”
Brandon scowled. “Is that a reference to the wedding?”
“Yeah, Brandon, it is. I mean, it was probably inevitable that Laurie and Danny went out together, given that both of them were dumped at the altar. And by now I’m sure Laurie has heard that you went on the honeymoon with Matt. So I’m thinking she has a lot to unload on someone who’s willing to listen.”
Brandon nodded as if he was taking it all in stride. “Maybe I should go over there and tell her that I didn’t have much fun. Matt is a total jerk.”
“You just discovered this?”
Brandon let go of a long sigh. “I didn’t really enjoy the pick-up scene as much as I thought I would.”
“Ah.”
“But,” he said as his gaze shifted away from Laurie and Danny, “at least I can say I’ve experienced it. That’s something.” His gaze shifted again. “What the hell is Danny trying to prove anyway?”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s gone ghost on my sister, and now here he is hitting on my ex-fiancée. What a creep…Oh my God, that’s disgusting.”
Andrew once again attempted to look over his shoulder but Brandon grabbed his arm. “Don’t.”
“What’s disgusting?”
“Danny is like all over her.”
“What?” This time Andrew turned. To his surprised relief, Danny wasn’t all over Laurie, but Daniel was leaning toward her, talking, and she was smiling at him as if she was enjoying herself. Damn. They looked as if they were having a pretty good time together.
She might be all hell-bent to make Brandon pay for what he’d done, but Andrew was doing this because Noah wanted to make sure that Laurie didn’t retreat from the world. Maybe Noah was on to something.
But watching Laurie smile at Danny made Andrew’s gut churn for some reason. What if something real blossomed between Danny and Laurie? What would Noah think about having a son-in-law like Danny? Andrew had a feeling Noah wouldn’t much like Danny with his long hair and leather jacket. Plus Danny didn’t fish or play golf or share Noah’s conservative politics. Damn.
Andrew turned around and attempted a smile. “Well,” he said, “you did tell her to go out and experience the world while you did the same. You took Matt to Bermuda. She’s here with Danny. It’s a difference without any distinction.”
Brandon almost spewed the sip of beer he’d just taken. After a few coughs, he leaned forward with an angry light in his eyes. “You think letting Danny seduce her is a positive experience?”
“For God’s sake, she’s only having dinner with him. I don’t see any kind of seduction happening.” Andrew fixed his mediator face in place, even though a small part of him was a little worried. What if Danny did seduce Laurie? What would Noah think about that?
Shit. This whole shame dating thing was fraught with pitfalls and booby traps, wasn’t it?
“Look,” Brandon said, slamming his beer down on the table for the second time, “I know Danny is your cousin and all, but he’s as big a jerk as Matt.”
“Brandon, why is this bothering you so much?” Andrew asked in his best nonconfrontational voice.
“Come on, don’t pull that crap on me. You know Danny can be a jerk.”
“In what way?”
“Well, how about how he’s treated Roxy all these years? Don’t tell me you don’t remember how he used to make her cry. And he’s still doing it. I don’t know what my sister sees in him. I’d hate to see Laurie get caught up with a guy who doesn’t know what he wants in life.”
Andrew let himself smile. “Brandon, what happened between Roxy and Danny when they were younger is just kid stuff. He may be reevaluating his future right at the moment, but Laurie could do a whole lot worse than him. I mean, he’s unmarried, has money, and has already proven himself to be good father material.” Andrew laid it on thick, even though, down deep, he didn’t see a good fit between Laurie and Danny either.
“I’m not blaming her.” The words exploded out of Brandon’s mouth. “I mean, I’m proud of her for actually getting off her butt and setting up a date with someone. Really proud. But why’d she have to pick Danny?”
“Because she’s dating. You know, it’s like trying on clothes before you buy them.”
Brandon gave a short nod. “Okay, that’s fair, I guess. And just because she’s having a burger with Danny doesn’t mean she’s going to let him into her life, right?”
“Uh, well, we don’t know, do we?” An unsettling thought.
Brandon pushed up from the table. “I think I’ll go over and say hi.”
Andrew grabbed his friend by the arm and yanked him back into his seat. “No. Bad move. Laurie doesn’t want her ex showing up when she’s out with someone else. If you want to say something to Laurie, you should call her. Or text her. Or, hey, you could visit her and have a conversation about the house you bought together. No more public scenes, Brandon, especially since she’s only doing what you asked her to do.”
Brandon sank into his chair. “Yeah, she is, isn’t she? I never really thought she’d have the balls.”
“No?”
He drained his glass and waved it at the waitress before turning back with a shake of his head. “No. I mean, she’s a little bookish and shy and…I don’t know. She’s not the hottest tamale out there, you know? But look at her tonight. She’s wearing high heels and a tight skirt. Since when does she dress like that?”
“Since you told her to go out and have fun. Pat yourself on the back. She’s coming out of her shell. You did a good job.” And Andrew found himself regretting the fact that his back had been turned when Laurie had arrived. He would have liked to have seen her wearing a tight skirt and high heels. She’d probably turned a few heads.
“Yeah, I guess. But Danny?” Brandon sounded morose. Damn, maybe Noah knew what he was doing. Maybe he really could get Brandon and Laurie back together.
&
nbsp; Andrew could happily and truthfully report to Noah that Brandon was absolutely miserable at the idea of Laurie dating Danny. “Why not Danny?” Andrew asked.
“It’s absurd. Honestly, if she wants to get back at me by dating one of the Lyndon boys, she should have picked you, not him. She’d be safe with you.”
Andrew almost opened his mouth to ask why but then decided against it because the answer was self-evident. She would be safe with him because she was the boss’s daughter and his best friend’s ex-fiancée. And also because he was still halfway in love with Val, and everyone knew it.
Chapter Seven
The tiny dining room at Bean There Done That always got crowded around 11:00 a.m. on Saturdays. A lot of old-timers still went down the street to Gracie’s diner to get their fried eggs, but the new urbanites who’d flocked to Jefferson County from Washington, D.C., preferred the gluten-free, exorbitantly priced breakfast scene.
Laurie stood in the doorway for a long moment, scanning the room with its dark wood floors and walls covered with local artists’ work. Andrew had wisely taken a table in the extreme back corner, away from the coffee bar and the windows.
He glanced up out of his dark, masked eyes, and for an instant the whole setup felt like some kind of clandestine meeting with her secret lover. Which was absurd.
She met Andrew’s gaze, and to her astonishment, something sparked in her that hadn’t been there before. Whoa, wait a second. She was here for a “debrief” of last night’s date with Daniel and nothing more than that.
But someone should have briefed her girl parts on the plan. Her libido, which had been slumbering for years, stretched, yawned, and woke up hungry. It fixed on Andrew Lyndon and got all hot and bothered. In his faded blue jeans, worn-out loafers, and gray T-shirt, Andrew looked about as yummy as a box of Krispy Kremes.
She slid into the facing chair and studied him for a moment. Like all the male members of his family, he had espresso eyes, chiseled cheekbones, a sensuous mouth, and dark hair that curled over his forehead. Every single one of the Lyndon boys was handsome and accomplished. But most of them came with serious personality flaws. Matt was a womanizing jerk, the epitome of Courtney’s Player. Jason was so interested in public policy that he fit the profile of the Clueless Guy. And Edward, who loved to play sports and who had equipment ranging from a full set of goalie pads to no less than three pairs of skis, definitely fit the profile of the Space Invader.
Andrew, on the other hand, was like a deep, still pond that reflected whatever anyone projected onto him. Pigeonholing him was hard. Even now, gazing right into his eyes, Laurie had trouble reading him. A part of her wanted to take a sledgehammer and demolish that mask the way Brandon had demolished that wall separating the dining room from the kitchen in their fixer-upper. But then Brandon had left his drywall mess for her to clean up. So maybe smashing walls was not a good idea.
The corners of Andrew’s mouth turned up, and a certain mischievous light danced in his dark eyes. Yearning of a kind she’d never known took flight inside her like a caged bird.
“I took the liberty of getting you a cup of coffee,” he said. “The line in here is ridiculous. To be honest, I would have preferred Gracie’s Place, but on Saturday mornings it’s like gossip central over there.”
“Are you afraid to be seen with me?” she asked. The idea of asking him out was right on the tip of her tongue.
“Of course not. But I don’t want Brandon to find out you and I were seen together. He might realize what we’re up to.”
Right. Andrew was so focused on the whole make-Brandon-jealous plan that he was missing the forest and the trees. She thought about challenging him the way she’d challenged Daniel, but decided it wasn’t worth it. He was just doing what Dad had asked him to do.
So she picked up her paper cup and took a sip of her lukewarm coffee, which had too much sugar and not enough milk, proving that Andrew didn’t know her at all. “So,” she said, once she’d swallowed the less-than-satisfactory brew, “I’m dying to know how Brandon reacted to what went down last night.”
Andrew’s gaze shifted down and to the left, and he paused for a moment as if deep in thought. Or maybe he was just trying to find a way to deliver bad news.
“He wasn’t jealous, was he?” she said, a little piece of her heart breaking off. Damn, she needed to remember that she wasn’t trying to make Brandon jealous, per se. She was trying to drive him crazy.
Andrew looked up. “Um, well, yes and no.”
“What does that mean?”
“He was jealous. But I got the feeling he was more worked up over the fact that he didn’t think Danny was the right man for you. Honestly, he spent a lot of time talking about how Danny had hurt Roxy. I got the feeling he wanted to protect you and his sister from my big, bad, confused cousin.”
“Oh,” she said.
“Yeah. Afraid so. He, um, told me that he’s still proud of you for going out with someone.”
“Well, that’s just great,” she said in an exasperated tone. “Brandon is pissed at Daniel for dumping Roxy, while Daniel spent most of the night telling me how much he’s in love with her.”
“Really? But they broke up.”
“They did, but he’s still carrying a torch. And you know what? I’m pretty sure Roxy is carrying a torch for Daniel.”
“Really?” Andrew had a very adorable frown. She’d never noticed that before.
“I’m serious. I feel like we should do something about that, you know?”
“We? No, thanks.”
“Okay, but maybe I should call Roxy or something and tell her how Daniel feels about her.”
“Oh no. You should not do that. Let’s just move on, okay, and say that this idea of you dating other people to make Brandon jealous was flawed from the start.” He drained his coffee. “And I think we should just forget all about me helping you to find dates. I’ll figure out some way to make your father see reason.”
“Andrew, stop.” She leaned forward and touched his hand. She’d only meant the touch to convey her seriousness, but the warmth of his skin sent an intoxicating brew of chemicals flooding her bloodstream. He pulled his hand back as if her touch had scalded him, and for a moment, their gazes locked.
When he finally looked away, she said, “I’m going to call Dad and tell him to quit putting you in the middle, okay?”
He looked up, panic on his face. “No, don’t do that. He’ll crucify me.”
She shook her head. “It’ll be fine. Trust me.”
She pulled her phone from her purse and dialed Dad’s number while Andrew looked on. He really must have been worried about this to let his emotions show.
“Princess,” Dad said in that sentimental-daddy way of his, “finally you’ve returned my calls. I’ve been worried about you. I know your mother has been filling your head with a lot of nonsense about makeovers. You don’t need a makeover. What happened is not your fault. And I’m going to move heaven and earth to fix it for you. Just wait and see, I have a master plan at work.”
“I know you do. Honestly, didn’t you think I could see through your BS? I’m not stupid. I figured it out. And you’re being totally unfair to Andrew.”
“Andrew?” He seemed surprised.
“Yes, of course, Andrew. Your associate. The best man. The one who rescued me when Brandon did his thing the other day? Him. You’ve put him in the middle with this silly plan, and he’s way too nice and way too honest to be used that way. Dad, you should know that I like Andrew a lot. Okay?”
“Oh, I didn’t realize that you and Andrew were that close.”
“We’ve gotten to know each other better the last few days. You’re being unfair to him. And I don’t like it.”
Dad was silent for a very long moment, as if he was thinking long and hard about what she’d just said or choosing his words carefully. When he finally spoke, it was in his daddy-wise voice. “I’m glad you like Andrew because I trust him. And I want you to listen to him and go with th
e flow. Let’s see what happens, okay?” Dad ended the call before she could even say good-bye. What the hell? Daddy’s behavior was kind of odd.
“He didn’t listen, did he?” Andrew asked.
Laurie shook her head just as Andrew’s cell phone buzzed. He picked it up, glancing at the caller ID and then at Laurie.
“It’s him, isn’t it?” Laurie asked.
Andrew nodded and took the call, which lasted only half a minute. Andrew said nothing. He just blinked and said uh-huh a couple of times. When he disconnected, he gave Laurie a worried look.
“What did he say?” she asked.
“He told me that he was glad that I had gained your trust, and that he wanted me to continue the good work.”
Damn. This was so unfair. She couldn’t let Andrew pay for the mess she and Brandon had made of their relationship. Especially since it wasn’t all Brandon’s fault.
“Well, one thing is totally clear: If I don’t let you set me up on dates, my father is going to make your life miserable. And I hate that. So let’s just continue on for a little while, okay? Until he loses interest. Also, I’m thinking that the next date should be a real one.”
“A real one?”
“Yeah, you know, a real date with a real guy who doesn’t know anything about the plan to make Brandon jealous. And you know what? I don’t want Brandon in the room this next time. To be honest, it was distracting to know he was there last night.”
Andrew studied his empty coffee cup and said nothing.
“Come on, Andrew. I’m trying to help you out.”
“Are you?”
“Yes. So who did you have in mind for my next date?”
He looked up, his dark eyes filled with kindness. “Your father suggested that I set you up with some of my friends. I made a list. But it’s lame. And I—”
“Let’s see it.”
He heaved a gigantic sigh as he pulled a folded-up piece of yellow paper from his jeans. “I can’t believe I’ve been sucked into this,” he said.
“I can’t either. But since we’re in this together, we might as well make the best of it. So who’s on your list?”