by Sonya Weiss
Josie paused in the middle of using the craft ruler on the bottom of the scrapbook page to give her a hard stare. “Nothing more to it?”
No, there wasn’t. She still wanted to spend her life with someone, but that man was never going to be Kent. She’d had a runner once and didn’t want a second one. Which was why Kent was perfect for her fake relationship needs. He wasn’t into her, and she wasn’t into him. They were a match made in fake-dom.
“Kent’s very heroic. He’s sexy, kind, and he loves animals. All positives in his favor. It would be easy to develop feelings for a guy like that.” Josie took a sip of tea and eyed her over the rim of the glass.
Kent was a hero. Sexy, nice, and loved animals, she agreed with all that, but he was wrong for her, and she’d filled her quota of being with Mr. Ditch This Girl after Dominic. “You don’t need to psychoanalyze me. This isn’t one of your counseling sessions. Seriously, I’m not into Kent.” Casey sighed when Josie gave her the “oh yeah?” face.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the sofa, she did her best to ignore Josie’s disbelief and sifted through the photos of her parents. Their fortieth wedding anniversary party was tonight, and she was putting the final touches on the timeline scrapbook to give them. Her parents had had a whirlwind romance after meeting in Paris during a vacation. When they’d discovered they were both attending the same university in Connecticut, they’d considered it fate. Casey never got tired of hearing their love story.
“Out of all the guys you know, why zero in on Kent to help you?” Josie asked.
Casey blinked. She’d thought they were off that topic. “Because.”
“Because?”
“He was accessible.” Casey stretched her legs out in front of her when her foot started to fall asleep.
Josie broke into peals of laughter. “Right. Accessible. That’s the word I think of every time I see his gorgeous face. Are you sure that’s all it is?”
“We’re not interested in each other. Well, I mean, I’m interested in him, but it’s because he’s a man.”
“Captain Obvious,” Josie said with a knowing smirk.
Casey rolled her eyes. “He’s a friend who can help me save my business. The end.” She picked up a photo of her parents on their honeymoon and smiled at how young they’d been. It made her ache with longings that she didn’t dare give voice to.
As if she could guess what Casey was thinking, Josie wagged the ruler at her. “Dominic bailed because he wasn’t the right guy. I don’t want to say I told you so, but…” She let the rest of the sentence hang.
“I know. You weren’t a fan of his.” Casey positioned a photo on the mat and carefully cut around it with the decorative crafting scissors. “At least he didn’t leave me with all the expenses.” He’d mailed her a check covering half, with “sorry” scrawled across the notation line. While she appreciated the gesture, she was still out the portion she’d spent on the dress, the cake, and half the food. His apology didn’t cover the humiliation she’d endured when the pitying looks had fallen on her like a drenching summer rain. Or the ache in her heart that someone who was a friend had treated her in a way she didn’t deserve.
“I never thought the two of you made sense,” Josie said while passing over a box of photo adhesives.
Casey took the box and frowned. “What? We made perfect sense. We always agreed on everything.”
Josie pretended to fall asleep and let out a loud snore.
“Oh, come on.” Casey balled up a scrap of paper and tossed it at her. “We weren’t boring.”
“No, sweetie, you’re not boring. Dominic was as exciting as watching grass grow. He was predictable, he never got your sense of humor, and he vacuums out his shoes. Who does that?”
“So he’s a neat freak.”
“More emphasis on freak, less on neat,” Josie muttered. She took a drink of her sweet tea, then set the glass carefully back down on the coaster beside her on the floor.
“To be honest, I was surprised when you told me he asked you to marry him. The two of you didn’t have any sizzle.”
Josie was right. There hadn’t been any sizzle. Casey mentally scrolled through her past relationships. There’d been a few mutually beneficial relationships, but nothing where her heart screamed stay. So she hadn’t. The guy hadn’t. Oh my god. She clapped a hand over her mouth. “Why haven’t I felt the sizzle?” she asked, stunned by the realization. Josie gave her a pity-filled look but didn’t say anything.
Casey waved a hand. “You can psychoanalyze me now.”
“Okay, you asked for it.” Josie took a deep breath. “You haven’t felt the sizzle because you’ve always ignored what’s right in front of you.” Grinning, she reached for a sheet of stickers and peeled off a miniature bride and groom. “Or maybe I should have said, you ignore who’s right in front of you.”
“That’s not helpful,” Casey said. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you there’s nothing between me and Kent.”
“Did I mention a name?” Josie arched her eyebrows, the picture of innocence. “What I want to know is why isn’t there something between you and Kent?”
“He and Lincoln are best friends.”
“So? What does your brother have to do with anything?”
“Kent and I grew up together.”
“And? Are you saying you think of him like a brother?”
An image of Kent from a summer past flashed in her mind. Their two families had gone to the lake to celebrate her father’s birthday. The guys had taken turns jumping into the lake from the old wooden dock that stretched out into the water. When she’d turned her head and caught Kent stripping down to his swimming trunks to join in, she hadn’t been able to look away from the perfection of his sculpted body. As if he’d sensed her staring, he’d looked in her direction. She’d pretended to be interested in taking a bite of her toasted marshmallow. It had been too hot from the fire, and she’d spent the next few minutes sticking her tongue in a cup of cool water, looking like an idiot while carefully ignoring Kent.
“The way your face is turning red, I’d guess you aren’t thinking brotherly thoughts,” Josie said.
Casey shook her head. “He’s a friend. After what I’ve been through, I could never date much less fall in love with a friend again.”
Wanting a moment to cool off after remembering Kent stripping down, Casey got up and walked into the kitchen. She needed to put the memory into perspective. Kent was attractive. He was fit everywhere. She’d checked. Probably a little longer than she should have. What woman wouldn’t have popped a hot marshmallow after seeing what she had?
She inhaled a deep, calming breath, let it out slowly, then pulled the tea pitcher from the refrigerator. “Need a refill?” she called out.
“No, but you might want to set out some more glasses. Your brothers are here.”
“Finally. They’re always late.”
“They’re walking up the driveway.” There was an excited note to her tone that Casey didn’t miss. She was glad her brothers were here, too, so they could help out like they’d promised, but she didn’t think Josie was glad for the same reason. She left the kitchen and rejoined her friend. “Josie…I had no idea. Which one of my brothers are you interested in?”
Josie’s lips tightened, and she ducked her head for a moment before looking up with a pleading expression on her face. “You can’t say anything. He doesn’t even know I exist.”
“Rafferty?” Casey guessed. He was usually the more clueless of the three.
“Lincoln,” Josie said in a rush.
Casey’s eyes widened, and then she smiled. “Josie, that’d be great—”
“No.” She twisted the hem of her shirt around her fingers. “Don’t say anything. Please.”
“I won’t.” She’d never in a hundred years have guessed her best friend was interested in her oldest brother. When they were in the same room together, they got along as well as a balloon and a porcupine. Still wondering how
she’d missed the signs that Josie liked Lincoln, Casey swung open the screen door and stepped out onto the porch in time to see her brothers climb out of Kent’s extended-cab truck.
Like her, Lincoln, Grayson, and Rafferty had the same blond hair, the same brown eyes, and the same stubborn streak. Lincoln and Rafferty had followed after their father to become firefighters, but Grayson had chosen to become a doctor.
Though they were great brothers, their protectiveness tried her patience. As they walked toward her, they shifted, and she spotted Kent behind them. Her stomach fluttered. He was on a cell phone and didn’t look happy at whatever conversation was taking place.
Her brothers filed into the house, and because of the quizzical look Grayson gave her when she didn’t join them, she said, “I’ll wait outside until Kent is finished with his call. I don’t think I thanked him for rescuing me from that tree.” What she really wanted was to speak to him alone without her brothers listening in.
After a few minutes, he ended the call and turned around to toss his phone into the front seat of the truck. He grunted and rubbed the back of his neck. “My mother doesn’t grasp the meaning of the words ‘not interested.’ My phone battery just died so at least she won’t be able to nag me until I recharge it.”
His mother still pressuring him was exactly the situation she’d been waiting for to make her appeal again. Casey held the door open for him. “Who’s the prospect this time?”
“The daughter of the principal at the elementary school.”
“If you and I were a couple, you wouldn’t be having this problem,” Casey couldn’t help pointing out. If he would just see the pros in her plan instead of the negative side, both of their problems would be solved.
…
Kent started to tell Casey again that her idea was never going to happen when he noticed she’d changed into a pair of shorts that made her look like she was all legs. Her little pink T-shirt looked pretty good on her, too. Somewhere between him noticing and his brain processing that information, he forgot how to form words. So he settled for another grunt.
He didn’t know what was wrong with him. Ever since he’d helped her down from the tree, she’d been on his mind. He’d remembered holding her as she’d cried on his shoulder the day he’d hurried her out of the church. He’d wanted to hunt Dominic down and teach the guy a fist or two full of lessons on how to treat a woman. A man handled his business. He didn’t run out like a coward and leave a woman mired in the emotional cleanup.
“You want something to drink?” Casey asked.
What he wanted was for her not to stand so close. He could smell the sweet, flowery scent of her perfume. It messed with his concentration, and when he thought about how he’d had his hands on her ass, it made it worse.
“It’s hot in here.” He looked around the living room, trying to find a target to look at that wasn’t her.
“The air conditioning went out. I checked it and saw the fan wasn’t turning.”
“Linc and I will take a look at it.” Kent latched onto the thought. Ever since she’d transformed herself and started running around with her hair curled and her lips covered in something that made them look full and pouty, he wasn’t as comfortable around Casey as he’d once been.
When Grayson and Rafferty both got up from the sofa to join them, Casey protested. “You’re supposed to help me get ready for tonight.”
“She’s right. We don’t have time to check the air conditioner,” Rafferty said. He looked at the boxes of decorations waiting to be taken to the banquet hall and gestured. “All this?”
“Yep, and there’s more in the kitchen.” Casey’s phone rang, and she excused herself to answer it. She listened for a few seconds, then held it out to Kent. “It’s your mom again. She wants you to give her a ride. She said your father won’t be back in town until after the party starts.”
Kent groaned. This was the way it’d always been. If she couldn’t reach his cell, she usually called Lincoln. He didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out why she’d started calling Casey instead. He promised his mom he’d pick her up in time, then hung up.
“She worries about you,” Casey said. “Given everything you went—”
“I’m fine,” he cut her off, because he knew what she was going to say and didn’t want to think about it.
“Okay.” She shrugged.
That was the nice thing about Casey. She never pushed him to talk if he didn’t want to. He wiped his brow with his shirtsleeve and moved to help her brothers load what looked like an unending pile of boxes.
In the middle of carrying out what felt like box number sixty, Casey stepped directly into his path. Kent paused and raised his eyebrows.
“If you were really my boy toy, I’d have a different use for you.”
The box slipped in his grasp, and he scrambled to keep it from hitting the floor. Was she trying to kill him?
“My brothers would be doing all the work while we honed our acting skills.”
He cleared his throat. “Your innuendos aren’t going to convince me, but nice try.”
“Innuendos?” She drew her brows down.
She hadn’t meant… Jeez, now he felt skeezy. “Sorry, I misunderstood.”
She smirked. “Nah, you didn’t. I’m just messing with you.” She patted the top of the box and moved out of his way.
“Just for that, see if I put my hand on your ass again.”
She laughed. “Are you sure I can’t change your mind?”
“Okay.” He drew out a long sigh. “One more feel, but then I’m cutting you off.”
“I’m being serious. You won’t change your mind about helping me?”
“It’s not a good idea,” he said gently, and Casey nodded, falling silent, but he was willing to bet she wasn’t giving up.
He went back to carrying out boxes, and once that was finished, he suggested to her brothers that they should head back to their apartments to change for the event, but Casey quickly said, “Josie can drive Lincoln home since she lives that way and I’ll take the other two.” She smiled sweetly, and he got the feeling something was up but didn’t have time to delve into it.
He agreed and left and steeled himself the entire way to his parents’ home for his mother’s next found-you-a-woman attempt. It wasn’t that he couldn’t see her heart in the attempts, because he could. His mother thought the way for him to recover from what he’d been through last year was to move on with someone else. He shook his head and rolled his window down as if the breeze could blow away the ghosts of his past. He wished she’d accept that his life was fine as is.
When he arrived at the Colonial-style home he’d grown up in, his mother was outside in the front yard talking to the next-door neighbor. Probably shaking her down for the names of women she could nudge his direction.
“Kent.” She beamed a smile at him. Short and petite, Lynn Wakefield had a graceful beauty that hadn’t diminished with age. “You look tired,” she said after giving him a hug.
“Dodging all the women you try to set me up with is exhausting.” He was only half joking. In the last forty-eight hours, he’d fielded four calls from women who’d started the conversation with “Your mother thought we should meet.”
She sighed, looking momentarily put out. “I worry about you, son. It’s been—”
“I know, Mom.” He didn’t need her to finish to know she was going to tell him exactly how long it had been since the fire where he’d been injured and his friend Aiden killed. He didn’t like discussing that part of his past or the part where he’d lain in the hospital’s burn unit, unsure if he’d ever walk again, much less return to the career he loved.
His mother sighed again, then perked up and he knew she was back on the hunt. “You remember Trixie Majors, don’t you? She’ll be at the anniversary party tonight.”
“Yes.” How could he forget Trixie? Under the guise of wanting to help a charity, the woman had started a movement around town petitioning for the m
en in his firehouse to pose for a shirtless calendar.
“She’s newly single,” his mom persisted.
“For the last time, can you stop pushing women at me?”
His mother stared into his eyes. “You haven’t dated since everything happened. I’m only trying to help.”
“Okay, Mom.”
She brightened. “Then you’ll let me set you up on a blind—”
“No.” He tapped his watch. “I need to get to the hall early, so we have to leave now if you’re riding with me.”
“I’ll grab my purse.” She walked slowly across the pavers arranged between two flowerbeds, then paused to say, “What about Suzanne Hampton?”
His mother seemed almost frantic to set him up with someone. He narrowed his eyes, catching the worry in hers. “Mom? What’s going on?”
“Rebecca’s back in town. I heard it this morning.”
Something sucked all the air from the space around him. The final, grating sound of his ex’s heels clicking on the hospital floor spun around in his mind. She hadn’t wanted to be tied to a man who was disfigured, especially one who might not walk again.
Fueled by his anger at the words Rebecca had thrown at him, he’d worked hard on his physical therapy and completed rehabilitation in less time than the doctors predicted. He’d healed physically and emotionally. Now that she was back in town, the past would be dredged up and he’d have to relive those memories.
“I started hearing the rumors a few days ago and hoped they weren’t true, but they are. That’s why I’ve been trying so hard to set you up with a date. I’m worried about you.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“I wish I could believe that. Rebecca is friends with Sebastian’s bride-to-be, and she’s going to be in the wedding party. If you show up at the wedding alone, and she’s there…”
That smothering blanket of pity was the last thing he wanted. It had been hard enough to go through the first time—he didn’t want to face it again.
Wait a second.
He thought of Casey’s proposition. “You can stop worrying. I’m interested in someone, and I’m taking her to the wedding as my date,” he said, working to keep his face straight so the lie wouldn’t give him away.
