Falling for her Brother's Best Friend (Tea for Two Book 1)

by Noelle Adams

  This morning, however, she couldn’t think about her pleasant work environment. And she couldn’t think about the budget sheet pulled up on her two computer monitors.

  She was trying very hard not to, but she was thinking about Noah—imagining how he’d look and what he’d say when she saw him again, imagining various scenarios in which she came across as cool and aloof and unconcerned, proving that she’d grown up and moved well beyond him in the years he was away.

  She wasn’t at all convinced she could pull it off.

  She’d been spinning her wheels for well over an hour when a knock on her office door distracted her. She looked up to see Patrick in the doorway.

  “I don’t have it done yet,” she told him. “I said the end of the day.”

  She was really going to have to focus after lunch if she was going to get this project done by the end of business today.

  People always said that she looked a lot like Patrick. They had the same hair and eyes and the same even features and quiet appearance that was easy to overlook. He had a nice smile, though, and he gave it to her now. “I’m not here to nag. I was just wondering if you wanted to order in lunch today.”

  She glanced at the clock and was surprised to see that it was almost eleven-thirty. She’d wasted most of the morning. “Oh. No. I’m going over to Tea for Two. Carol’s making lunch for us.”

  Patrick perked up. “Carol is?”

  Emma knew that his excitement was not at the prospect of seeing her friend—Patrick was always nice to Ginny and Carol but treated them with a pat-them-on-the-head mentality—but rather at the prospect of eating her friend’s cooking. She chuckled. “You can probably come if you want. She always makes way too much food.”

  “I don’t want to interrupt any girl-talk.”

  “If there’s any girl-talk, you can sit in the far corner with your laptop and try to block out the chatter as you eat.”

  Patrick nodded. “Square deal.”

  ***

  At a little before noon, Emma and Patrick walked down the block to the Tea for Two store front. There was a sign on the front door about the grand opening the following weekend, and she could see a couple of women trying to peer in the windows curiously as she approached.

  She hoped that was a good sign that the tearoom would be a welcome addition to the downtown area. She was as invested in this launch as Carol and Ginny were, and she swung between tingling excitement over all their plans and overwhelming fear that everything would fall apart, despite all their hard work.

  “I brought Patrick with me,” she announced as they walked into the shop. It was beautifully decorated in British tearoom fashion and had a front counter with a bakery case and shelves full of boxes of unique teas and coffees for purchase against the far wall. “He heard you were making lunch, Carol.”

  “It’s nothing special,” Carol said, popping her head out of the back room. “Just quiche, salad, and soup. But there’s plenty of it.”

  Patrick was clearly unconcerned by the girly menu. With a friendly wave to Ginny and Carol, he headed for a table in the far corner and pulled out his laptop, soon so absorbed in his work that he was unaware of anyone else’s presence.

  Emma helped Carol bring out the food while Ginny went over a list on her tablet of the remaining items they needed to take care of before opening.

  They talked about business-related topics for about twenty minutes, but eventually the conversation shifted.

  “Where did you disappear to yesterday, Emma?” Ginny asked, leaning back in her seat. She wore black capris and a black top today and looked sleek and stylish with her hair pulled back in a low ponytail.

  “What do you mean? I picked up Patrick from the airport in Roanoke.” Emma knew exactly what her friend was asking—she’d made herself scarce after the ride home so she wouldn’t have to interact with Noah any further—but it was too embarrassing to admit this, even to her best friends.

  “I mean afterwards.”

  “Oh, I had a little headache so I just went home and vegged out.”

  Ginny slanted her a slightly suspicious look, but she didn’t pursue the questioning.

  “So how’s Noah?” Carol asked. “I can’t believe he’s really back.”

  Ginny replied, “I know. It’s strange. But he’s seems… he seems good.”

  Emma thought he seemed kind of cool and arrogant, but she wasn’t going to say that to his sister. “Did he ever get his luggage?”

  “No. He’s wearing clothes from high school today.” Ginny chuckled. “He’s not happy about it either.”

  “So he’s still planning to stay for a couple of months?” Carol asked.

  “As far as I know. He seems…” Ginny paused, her eyebrows drawn together as if she were thinking something through.

  “He seems what?” Emma prompted, unable to hold back the question.

  “We had a good talk this morning. I’m just wondering if he’s ready to stop running.”

  Emma’s heart leapt into her throat, although she tried to talk herself down from the ridiculous reaction. “I thought he was set on the big business route.”

  “He always seemed to be, but it’s not making him happy. He acts like everything is fine, but I know he’s not happy. He seems… I don’t know… like maybe he’s ready to admit that. I really hope so. I miss him.”

  Emma felt a twinge of guilt. She had all these silly, lingering feelings about Noah, but he was actually Ginny’s brother, Ginny’s family. She reached over and patted Ginny’s arm. She didn’t know what to say, but she wanted to support her.

  Ginny gave her a little smile. “So how’s the Man-Fast going?”

  Emma blinked, wondering if somehow she’d revealed her chaotic thoughts about Noah. “It’s fine. Why?”

  “I don’t know. I just wondered if you could make it a day.”

  “I can make it way more than a day. Six months is the plan.” Emma smiled, trying desperately to look casual.

  Ginny stood up. “Well, I’ll be asking you every day because I have serious doubts about your ability to last that long. I’ll be right back.”

  As she walked over to the bathroom, Carol turned to her and asked in a whisper, “What’s going on?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Something is weird with you about Noah.”

  Emma gasped. “No, it’s not!”

  “Yes, it is. Why do you try to lie? What happened with him?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Tell me the truth.”

  Emma released her breath in a gust and slumped in her chair. “It’s really nothing. It’s just that, when I first saw him, he… he didn’t recognize me.”

  “What?”

  “He didn’t recognize me. He didn’t have any idea who I was.”

  Carol’s mouth twisted into a strange little smile. “Really? I guess that’s not that surprising. It’s been a long time and you’ve changed a lot. Was it terribly awkward? Did you greet him and he acted like you were a crazy person or something? Or did he pretend to know who you were?”

  Emma shook her head, her cheeks flushing.

  Carol leaned forward. “What the hell happened, Emma? Tell me right now!”

  “He came on to me,” she admitted, as softly as she could.

  “What?”

  “Shh.” Emma glanced over at her brother, but he seemed oblivious to the world, completely absorbed in his work. “He came on to me. He… he had this whole routine. I didn’t want to tell Ginny because… well, it’s just weird, him being her brother. But he didn’t know who I was and he came on to me at the airport bar.”

  Carol’s eyes were as big as Emma had ever seen them. She looked somewhere between thrilled and overcome with hilarity.

  “What’s going on?” Ginny asked, returning to the table.

  “Nothing,” Emma said quickly.

  “Noah didn’t know who Emma was at the airport, and he came on to her,” Carol said, blithely ignoring Emma’s desperate attempts to shush
her.

  “What?” Ginny exclaimed, exactly as Carol had earlier.

  “It’s not a big deal,” Emma mumbled. Strangely, she felt better now that she’d shared this piece of news with her friends.

  “Noah came on to you?” Ginny’s voice was way too loud.

  “Shh,” Emma said again, but this time when she glanced over at Patrick, he was staring in her direction.

  “What did you say?” he asked.

  “Nothing,” all three of them replied in chorus.

  “Did Noah try it on you?” Patrick demanded. “You’re saying he tried something? Right there in the airport?”

  “No, no, no, no,” Emma said in a rush. “It was nothing like that. He just… he didn’t know who I was.”

  And then, in the inevitable cruel twisting of fate, the bell on the front door jangled as someone came into the shop.

  Noah came into the shop, looking adorably young in a pair of old jeans and a high school T-shirt.

  Patrick rose to his feet and said in a loud, angry voice, “You came onto my little sister, Hart?”

  Noah froze, looking stunned and disoriented.

  “Patrick, don’t be ridiculous,” Emma said, standing up too. Her cheeks were blazing hot, and she wanted to just sink into the ground and disappear forever. “It was nothing.”

  Noah’s green eyes shot over to her. “You told him?”

  “Not on purpose! I just told Carol, and… and…” And naturally nothing could be kept a secret. She’d been foolish for even hoping it could.

  “I can’t believe you thought she was some tramp,” Patrick grumbled, still glaring at Noah in obvious resentment. “My sister.”

  “Hey,” Ginny objected. “Let’s not descend back into the dark ages. A woman can sit at a bar without being a tramp. She can have sex if she wants without being a tramp.”

  “I know. I didn’t mean that. I just meant he looked at her and saw… saw someone he wanted to screw. My little sister!”

  “Stop it!” Emma burst out. “You’re all being ridiculous. We’re adults. It was an accident. It’s over. It’s forgotten. Can we drop it and just move on?”

  “As long as he’s not still thinking that way about you,” Patrick said in a gruff voice.

  “He’s not,” Noah said. “At all. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

  Emma gave him a quick look, and she saw he was genuinely concerned about Patrick being angry with him. And nothing on his face gave any indication he’d ever been attracted to her in the first place.

  Maybe he hadn’t been. Not really.

  Maybe he’d just been bored.

  Maybe he came on to any woman who happened to be available, whether he was really into her or not.

  It wasn’t a happy thought.

  “Fine,” Patrick said at last. “We’ll forget about it.”

  Maybe everyone else would be able to forget about it, but Emma wasn’t sure that she could.

  ***

  The conversation turned to safe topics—mostly their plans for Tea for Two.

  Patrick didn’t go back to work, as if he still suspected Noah was up to no good, but otherwise everything was back to normal.

  Emma kept on a smile the whole time, but she felt weird and uncomfortable and like Noah was watching her, although his eyes were never on her when she glanced over.

  She’d taken the lunch dishes into the kitchen, mostly so she could catch her breath alone for a minute, when a voice from behind her made her jerk.

  “I can’t believe you told.”

  She turned around to see Noah, holding the rest of the dishes he’d picked up from the table. “I told you. I didn’t mean for Patrick to hear.”

  “I know that, but why did you tell anyone?” His eyes were serious and resting unwaveringly on her face.

  She felt bad about the whole thing, but she soon realized there was no reason for her to feel bad. She hadn’t done anything wrong, and Noah shouldn’t make her feel like she had. “Carol’s my friend. Why can’t I tell my friend anything I want to tell her?”

  He curled his lip slightly. “You can. I just didn’t want Ginny and Patrick to know.”

  She gave a little shrug, trying to look unconcerned. “Nothing to do about it now.”

  He sighed and pushed a hand through his brown hair. It was so unnerving to see him in the high school T-shirt. It reminded her of when he’d been nicer, more vulnerable. “I am sorry about it. I’d… I’d just flown in from Tokyo and wasn’t at my best.”

  “It’s fine,” she said, pleased to be able to let him know how little it bothered her. “It’s no big deal. It’s not like guys don’t come on to me all the time.”

  They didn’t actually come on to her much, but Noah didn’t have to know that.

  “I know. But I should have recognized you. I can’t believe I didn’t.”

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s been a long time.”

  “But you’re not that different. There’s no excuse for me.” He smiled again, this one more like the teasing looks he used to give her. “So can we be friends again?”

  They’d never really been friends, but friends were better than the awkward weirdness between them. “Sure.”

  “Good.” Noah glanced back toward the main room, where they could hear Patrick’s voice. “We better get back in there, then. What do you say, Pudge?”

  Great.

  She was back to being Pudge.

  She’d almost rather be a stranger in a bar. At least he’d thought she was attractive then.

  ***

  Noah sat behind the steering wheel in his grandmother’s old Cadillac, which he was driving while he was in Blacksburg. He didn’t actually own a car, since he always used a car service his company paid for. He sat and watched as Emma walked back to work with her brother.

  She had another little dress on today with high heels and loose hair. She was very pretty, but he’d seen pretty women before. He didn’t know what it was about her sweet little body that made him want to take, claim, hold, please.

  All kinds of things he wasn’t allowed to do.

  Patrick’s reaction earlier had been immediate, instinctive—and thus utterly genuine. He might later on talk himself into a reasonable perspective about Emma being an adult now, but he obviously hated the idea of Noah’s thinking about her as anything like a woman.

  Noah could completely understand. He’d feel the same way if Patrick started looking at Ginny with hunger in his eyes. Sure, Ginny and Ryan had dated in college, but Noah hadn’t been around then. He hadn’t had to see it.

  Patrick was one of his only friends in the world, and Noah wasn’t going to betray that.

  No matter how much he was wanting Emma… and he was wanting her a lot.

  He was supposed to be listening to voice messages, but he’d lowered the phone as he watched her smile up at her brother as they entered their office building.

  She and Patrick were close.

  Noah didn’t know what Ginny would be if she hadn’t had a friend like Emma.

  Emma was a mature, competent person, a professional. A full and complete human being.

  She wasn’t just the little Pudge he remembered, and she wasn’t just that hot little package he’d noticed immediately at the bar.

  Noah was only going to be here for a couple of months. He wasn’t going to blow in, take what he wanted, and leave nothing but damage in his wake as he left.

  He wasn’t going to indulge this sudden, overwhelming desire he felt for Emma.

  She was his best friend’s little sister.

  She wasn’t for him.

  For once, he was going to be good.

  ***

  That evening, he was working on his laptop in the living room while his grandmother dozed on the couch.

  Nan was only in her early seventies, but she’d grown a lot frailer since he’d seen her last. It worried him.

  And made him feel guilty.

  “How long are you going to play around on that thing
?” Nan asked without warning.

  Noah blinked because he’d thought she was asleep. “What do you mean?”

  “All people do today is play around on their contraptions. At evening let not your hands be idle.”

  Noah knew from long experience that the last sentence must be a quote from the Bible.

  “Proverbs?” Ginny asked, coming into the room with her tablet. She was forever trying to identify their grandmother’s quotes and nearly always getting them wrong.

  “Ecclesiastes. But close, dear,” Nan said with a smile.

  “I’m not being idle, though,” Noah told her. “I’m working.”

  “You can really work on that contraption?”

  He chuckled. “Yes. Most of my work is done on computer. I also use the phone and video conferencing, of course. If I couldn’t work that way, I couldn’t come to visit you for two months.”

  “Well, you have a lot of time to make up for, young man.”

  “I know. I’m here now, aren’t I?”

  She smiled at him with obvious affection. “Yes, you are. And if you’d stop pretending to be someone else, all would be well.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “You know what I mean. You pretend to be some young hot shot who has it all together, who no one can touch. But there’s no happiness to be found there. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. I look at the heart too.”

  He felt defensive at the unexpected attack, but he swallowed over it. He wasn’t going to get in an argument with his sick grandmother. He just wasn’t. “I’m not sure how much heart is left in there to see.”

  “Don’t be silly, dear. You’ve got the biggest heart I’ve ever known. You’re just afraid to let it out.”

  Noah glanced over at Ginny, who was watching him with a knowing amusement. She’d told him something very similar that morning, and she was making sure he recognized it.

  He rolled his eyes. “If you say so.”

  “I do say so. And you should listen to me. I’m your grandmother.”

  “I know you are, Nan. I know you are.”

  They smiled at each other for a moment, and Noah was about to return to responding to emails when Nan asked, “Did you have a good time with your friends today?”

  He glanced back up at her. “Yes. I did. It was good to see everyone. Well, I haven’t seen Ryan yet, but I talked to him on the phone. He, Patrick, and I are getting together tomorrow evening.”