Not So New in Town

by Michele Summers

  “Why? I left it for Hank.”

  “I took care of Hank. Just thought you might need it. Maybe put it toward a new radiator or something.” Like a new car? Lucy hated she’d let things get so bad. It reminded her of how she’d been ignoring her life and not taking care of her needs.

  “Thanks. But I’m afraid even Grady’s rates have gone up. And Grady’s gone fishing. I’m gonna have to drive her into Raleigh for service.” Grady’s Gas & Bait repaired cars and had serviced Harmony for as long as Lucy could remember.

  “I’ll take care of it for you.” Startled, Lucy jumped as he reached across her, brushing her chest with his forearm. “Buckle up,” he said, pulling on her seat belt. Stunned both by his actions and his offer, she allowed him to fasten the clasp into the buckle. Goose bumps broke out on her skin. She rubbed her bare arms, hoping he didn’t notice.

  “Thanks, but I can handle it. Probably only needs coolant.” And maybe new brake pads and, uh, a new engine.

  Brogan flashed his wonderful smile again. “You know where to put the coolant?” Her look of confusion must’ve tipped him off. “Didn’t think so. We’ll take care of it tomorrow.” Lucy appreciated his offer. But she didn’t want to spend another day with Brogan Reese, who still carried a torch for Julia. And she didn’t relish Brogan witnessing the shambles her life had become these last few months.

  “Where would you like to go?” Again, that melting caramel voice, making her resolution to avoid him darn near impossible.

  Vegas. Key West. San Francisco. Top down. Hair blowing. And Brogan Reese behind the wheel. Her heart leaped and then plummeted. “Home. Julia is having another pillow crisis, or there’s one too many ice cubes in her water. Something earth-shattering.”

  “Home it is,” he said, shifting into reverse and backing out. “If I remember correctly, Julia thrives on crisis. Lots of drama. It’s the way she deals. Don’t let it get to you. Once she figures out you’re not available 24-7, she’ll stop demanding your attention.”

  She speared him with a sharp look. Spoken like a true expert. “That’s just it. I am available 24-7. I don’t have any other job at the moment, and she knows it.” More like a failing career needing a steroid shot to wake it up.

  “Maybe we can fix that.”

  “Huh? Here you go again with ‘we.’ What does that mean?”

  “You. Me. We. As in you and me together.” His lips twitched with an effort not to smile.

  Fried frog legs! Lucy’s eyes widened. She didn’t have the strength to play games with him. He’d see straight through to her soul in less time than it took to consume a bag of Lay’s potato chips. She leaned forward, pointing a finger at him. “No we. You and I don’t do we. Got it? Besides, I’m on a break. Eight months of Anthony Tiger is enough to turn any woman off.”

  “Anthony Tiger? What are you talking about?”

  “Anthony, my ex-boyfriend.”

  Brogan came to a stop at the intersection of Main and Carver. The street and sidewalk were empty of cars and pedestrians. The late summer air hung heavy, thick as peanut butter, but the air-conditioning inside Brogan’s car blasted arctic temperatures.

  Despite the cold AC, heat prickled her neck and attacked her cheeks at Brogan’s surprised stare.

  “You dated Tony Tiger? As in, ‘They’re grrreat!’”

  “That’s original.” She didn’t hold back the exaggerated eye roll. “Yes, I dated Tony the dipweed Tiger.”

  “Did he eat Frosted Flakes?” Brogan grinned, enjoying himself a bit too much at her expense.

  “Ha-ha. You’re a real comedian. Look, in my defense, my work schedule was beyond chaotic, taking temp jobs when we were short staffed while trying to keep up with all the marketing. I took the safe way out on relationships. I wanted easy and predictable.” Lucy stopped. What had possessed her to babble about her personal life in front of Brogan Reese? Like he was her shrink…not the crush-gush that got away.

  The car idled at the four-way stop. “Uh, maybe we should go or something.” She motioned toward the windshield. Brogan crossed the intersection instead of turning left onto Carver, which led to her house. He kept driving down the winding road until he pulled into the side parking lot at the high school. Easing to a stop between two light posts, he shifted in his seat and faced her. The three-story stone school building loomed to her right, and the car faced the two-story detached gymnasium. Strategic spotlights on the sides of the buildings lit part of the school grounds for security, but it was still too dark and intimate for Lucy’s liking, conjuring up memories best left buried. Like how Lucy used to wait for Brogan behind the pillars. Invisible. After every home game, win or lose, just to make sure he was okay.

  “What are you doing?” Panic worked its way from the pit of her stomach as she wondered if he remembered too.

  “Parking.”

  Lucy gulped. “Er, in case you’ve forgotten…this isn’t where kids go to make out. That would be down by the lake. Remember?” Not that she’d ever made out by the lake. She’d spent her junior and senior year in Chattanooga with her grandparents. A self-imposed ban from her home. Away from Julia.

  But a few times, sophomore year, she’d snuck down to the lake with her best friend Wanda Pattershaw…to spy. On Brogan and Julia. She squirmed in her seat at the memory. From what she could see hiding in the brush, Brogan took kissing to a whole new level. Deep, slow, lazy kisses. Not awkward and jerky like the other boys. Yuck.

  Humor lit his clear green eyes as if he’d read her mind. He made a slow top-to-bottom survey of her person, grinning like a naughty boy finding his dad’s secret stash of porn.

  “Don’t get any ideas!”

  “Awww, you’re no fun.” He patted the top of her leg in a buddy way, but her thigh prickled in a not-so-buddy way. “Finish the story. I want to hear about Tony Tiger.”

  She groaned. Why had she opened her big mouth? “If I tell you the embarrassing story of my life, will you take me home?”

  “If that’s where you really want to go.” He made it sound like she had choices. She had a worthless business contract, a depleted savings account, her poor baby broken down on the side of the highway, and her commitment to Julia and Parker. Kind of limited in those choices.

  “We dated for eight months. Three weeks ago, during one of our business meetings to discuss the new partnership we’d be forming…with me, Anthony makes a huge announcement. The usual suspects were there: Anthony; his accountant; his new assistant, Shannon; and me. Anthony and I had made big plans to partner and expand the business. I had invested time, energy, and funds toward our new goal. The money wasn’t huge, but for me it was a lot.”

  Lucy took comfort in the concern etched on Brogan’s face. He didn’t like the direction this story was heading any more than she did. “I won’t bore you with the humdrum details, but Anthony cut me out of the deal. He announced his wonderful news like I was supposed to be thrilled or something.”

  Brogan gave a sympathy nod, but his eyes had narrowed, and his jaw hardened as she continued the story detailing her complete humiliation. “He joined forces with another agency…and Shannon. And yes, they’re sleeping together.” Brogan had the decency to flinch. Lucy loved him for that. Okay, not love like in love.

  She fiddled with the braided leather strap on her handbag. “Yep. I’m a cliché.”

  “What do you mean?” His voice was low and soothing.

  “What’s the saying? The wife or girlfriend is always the last to know.” She snorted in disgust. “I think I’m more ticked at losing out on the partnership than being jilted. Dumb, right?”

  “Not at all. This whole thing sucks…big time. You have every right to feel mad and angry. For the record, Tony the Tiger is a class-A jerk, and you’re better off without him. Wish I’d been there. I would’ve kicked his sorry ass.”

  Lucy would’ve paid good money to see that. With
a wry smile, she said, “I should’ve known.”

  Brogan shook his head. “He hid it well to keep you off track. He played you, Luce.”

  “I know that now. I meant while we were dating. I should’ve known. All those months, I kept wondering why he wasn’t interested in…er, well, you know”—she fluttered her hand between them—“we never actually…”

  “What? Come on now, you’re joking.”

  She chuckled at his flabbergasted expression. “Nope.”

  “Stop. You mean to tell me you dated a guy for eight months and you never had sex?” The horror on Brogan’s face was almost comical.

  She shrugged in her defense. “I stayed busy marketing and increasing the agency’s numbers, because I was working toward a partnership. At least I thought,” she mumbled. “The more jobs we filled successfully, the more referrals we got, and the higher our rankings shot up on all the job sites. By the end of the day, I was so pooped I had no energy or desire to work on the relationship. Exhausted. Fried. Unexciting. No wonder he ditched me.” Lucy slumped against the seat.

  “Come on, Lucy. You’re not allowing that creep to mess with your head, are you? Consider yourself lucky.” She glanced in his direction. Brogan’s brows had hiked up and hid under the tawny wave of hair that fell across his forehead. “You did nothing wrong except believe in someone you thought had your back. Face it, Lucy, Tony the Tiger is a dick.”

  Amen to that, brother. Relief washed over Lucy, making her feel lighter than she’d felt in weeks. Knowing Brogan staunchly defended her side brightened her world. Even if only for a few moments, it was something to Lucy.

  Brogan’s smile turned friendly. “Look, you may feel exhausted or fried. But there’s no way you could ever be unexciting. Not a chance.”

  Lucy sighed. What a nice guy. She remembered that about him. He’d always spoken to adults in a polite manner, and he’d never made her feel insignificant those rare moments he’d happened to notice her. Brogan was as steady as the Rock of Gibraltar. Why hadn’t she met someone like him over the years?

  “Nice of you to say, but I’m afraid I was terribly uninteresting and dull. I stayed busy, helping the bottom line, marketing day and night, and sometimes filling in when we were short temps.” Not working on her own career plan, like she should’ve been.

  “Were any of the jobs interesting?” Brogan fiddled with the nautical rope bracelet he wore on his right wrist.

  Some of the more off-the-wall jobs came to mind and made her chuckle. “You could say that.”

  “Like Stanley Cup Keeper? Paper Towel Sniffer?”

  “No, but I handed out jocks and socks at the gym one semester at Georgia Tech.”

  “The guys must’ve loved that.” He laughed. “What about golf-ball diver?” he asked “You ever done that?”

  “No, but I clipped coupons for my old neighbor, Mrs. Bunkins. She’s really loaded, but you’d never know it. Made me go through everyone’s recycle bins, hunting for coupons. She never spends more than forty-seven cents on groceries each week.”

  Brogan shook his head in disbelief. “Just my kind of customer. Hey, ever been a pet-food taster?”

  “No. But golf-ball diver sounds kind of fun. Don’t know if I could stomach pet-food taster. Has to be disgusting.”

  “Not any more disgusting than what you put in your system,” he said under his breath.

  “As opposed to garbanzo beans and nasty tofu?”

  “I’m with you on the tofu. Can’t handle the texture. But BetterBites has some great-tasting food. You should give us a try.”

  Lucy would like to give Brogan a try, but she was pretty sure he meant his food and not his tasty beefcake self.

  He tilted his head and gave her a long, unwavering stare. “You studied marketing in college?”

  “Yes. Marketing and PR. I had several jobs before I succumbed to the underbelly of Anthony’s obsessed rise-to-temp-stardom.”

  A sudden calculated look flashed across his face, or maybe she imagined it, because when she blinked, he appeared as relaxed and affable as usual. “Word around town is you’re pretty good.”

  She straightened in her seat. “Pretty good? Who’s been talking about me?” She hated being the topic around town.

  “Calm down, tiny dancer.” Brogan laughed. “At marketing. Bertie told me you did a great job for her, and Keith wants your help.”

  Lucy had helped Bertie market her interior design business, which had led to bigger clients for Bertie in other cities. If Lucy could sign more small businesses with little or no in-house marketing, she could put her own marketing plan in motion. She nodded. “I like working with small companies that need marketing. That’s really my focus.”

  “And Keith’s a shrewd businessman. If he’s asking for your help, then he must think you’re qualified.” He shifted toward her, taking up more space, along with all the oxygen inside the car. “I also might have a job to keep you busy.”

  Her mouth gaped open. Did his voice drop an octave in a sexy, suggestive way? Why this sudden interest in her? She forced her gaze past Brogan’s five o’clock shadow, firm lips, and white teeth. The teasing laugh lines at the corners of his eyes fueled her suspicious nature. “What kind of job? It better not require a French maid’s outfit, fur-lined handcuffs, or sneaking off to some Motel 6.”

  Surprise lit his face. “That thought never occurred to me, but now that you mention it—”

  “Let me warn you…I’m packing and have a black belt in karate.” She crossed her arms and tried for Julia’s bitchy glare-down. He appeared innocent, but she could never be too sure.

  “Little Lucy, we need to channel all this aggression you carry around into something more productive.” His tone playful, Brogan tilted her chin up with his finger and slayed her with his most endearing smile, designed to break hearts and cause all rational thought to flee from heads. “I’ve got the perfect solution.”

  Mesmerized by sparkling green eyes and his unique blend of scents filling her head, Lucy swayed toward his firm, wide mouth…

  “What the—!” She pushed on his rock-hard chest as she leaned toward the driver’s window, practically crawling in his lap.

  “Uh, okay. This works too,” a surprised Brogan said, wrapping his hands around her waist.

  “Pay attention.” Lucy turned his head from the magnified view of her chest region toward the window. “That’s my nephew. What is he doing out at this hour?” She jabbed her finger at the side of the school gymnasium, where Parker stood with two other boys, holding a football and a canned drink.

  “That better not be beer, or he has drawn his last teenage breath. Julia is going to kill him.” Her breath came out in short bursts. Holy hush puppies. She smacked her palms to her cheeks. “First me and then him.” She scrambled from his lap and reached for her door. “I haven’t been home for twenty-four hours, and I’m already dealing with a runaway teen. He’s dead meat.”

  Chapter 8

  “Hold on there, Super Nanny.” Brogan reached for her upper arm.

  This whole night had taken a sharp turn. Lucy Doolan’s sweet, luscious form had been in his lap, and her lips within inches of his mouth. Lucy. The same girl who’d hidden behind columns, sneaking peeks at him back in high school. The girl who’d handed out socks and jocks or clipped coupons, all for the bottom line. Julia’s younger sister. He had zero feelings for Julia these days, but he couldn’t be too sure about Julia’s feelings for him, and he didn’t want to complicate Lucy’s life any more than it was.

  And kissing Lucy would be a complication. But damn…he’d been tempted.

  “Let go!” She wriggled like a fish on a hook. “I need to karate kick his lying little butt back into bed before Julia finds out.”

  “Calm down. You’re not going to gain anything by going all dingo-dog wild in front of his friends.”

  Lucy stopped sq
uirming. “Okay. What do you suggest?”

  Hell if he knew. He looked through his windshield at Parker and his friends leaning against the brick gym wall, drinking their beers. Shit. He’d participated in some underage drinking, trying to be cool. Peer pressure could be a real son of a bitch.

  “Sit back.” Brogan released his hold. Silky hair spilled past her shoulders, tantalizing his fingers. The oddest urge to scoop it up and bury his face in the glossy strands came over him.

  “What are you going to do?” she whispered, as if they were conducting top-secret surveillance. Her concern dragged him back to the problem at hand.

  “Just pay a little visit.” He put the car in gear and slowly rolled forward toward the group of boys.

  The boys jumped to attention as soon as they spied his car. Parker stood frozen to the spot. His friends tossed their beer cans and hauled ass around the building and across the football field. Parker unfroze and started to chase after his friends.

  Brogan slammed to a stop, jumped out, and yelled, “Parker! I wouldn’t if I were you.”

  Parker skidded to a halt. Shoulders slumped, head hanging, he slowly turned.

  “Parker! What in holy peanut brittle are you doing?” Lucy stood next to her door as she banged it shut. “You told me you were going to bed. I…what…how…?”

  Parker narrowed a disgusted look at Lucy. “I’m not a baby. Quit treating me like one. It’s only eleven thirty. What the fuh—”

  “That’s enough.” Brogan used his most commanding voice. “Pick up those beer cans and throw them in the garbage and get in the car.” Parker stayed put, aiming a rebellious glare at Brogan. “Now!” Brogan roared. Parker moved as if crossing hot coals in bare feet. After he tossed the cans in the garbage, Brogan held the back door open and ordered, “Get in.” Parker slid onto the seat. “Stay there and don’t move.” Brogan closed the door and glanced over the car top at Lucy.

  “What are you doing?” Lucy asked in a loud whisper, surprise written all over her flushed face.