Georgie on His Mind (12 page)

"You have a shoulder problem?" she asked Brad. "You
never told me that. Where does it hurt? Should I stop at the
pharmacy and get you some ibuprofen?"

"No, that's all right, Georgie," he said, removing her
hands from his shoulder. "We got plenty of medicine at
home. I probably did something to it directing traffic today.
I'll be fine" He gave her a weak smile. "You and Walt stay
and have fun"

Before anyone had a chance to protest further, Brad had
turned and was already walking out the door.

Georgie sank back into her chair, worry etched all over
her pretty features. "How odd. Walt, did Brad mention a
shoulder problem to you today?"

"Uh, no. But I don't think he's exactly the sort of guy to
complain."

"Hmm. I don't know. You haven't lived with him for as
long as I have. For a grown man, he can sometimes be one
hundred and eighty-five pounds of pure baby."

Walt hid a smile. Although she tried to hide it behind her
smart-alecky comments and her complaints about Brad,
Georgie had a true tenderhearted side to her that Walt admired. Despite Brad and Georgie's constant bickering, she
really did care a great deal about her brother. Walt even felt a
tinge of jealousy toward their relationship. He often wondered if his relationship with his father would have been
different-if they would've been closer-if he had a sibling
to share the grief over his mom leaving. At least Brad and
his parents had been around then to help him through it.
They had been a wonderful support to him.

Kendall snapped her order book closed and sighed. "I'm
sorry, guys. It seems as though my big news was an instant
party killer to your night out. I'll give you two some time to
decide whether you want to stay or not. Pete's waving me
over, so I'll be back in a sec."

When Kendall headed back toward the bar area, Georgie
turned to Walt with a shy smile. "So ..

"Yeah. So . . . ," he repeated, wondering what to do next.
He'd hoped to get to know Georgie better in the confines of
her brother in a nice platonic atmosphere. He hadn't counted
on spending any real alone time with her.

"We might as well order, don't you think?" she asked sheepishly. "I guess it'd be kind of crazy not to stay and eat
something."

Crazier to stay, he thought, thinking he'd probably enjoy
her company just a little too much for his own good.

She frowned, mistaking his silence as not wanting to stay,
and she stood. "Yeah, I guess it's a pretty stupid idea. We
should just go home too"

Before another rationalization entered his mind, he blurted,
"No, stay!" She froze and her eyes widened. Even he was a
little surprised at the desperation in his voice. But there was
no turning back now.

He grabbed hold of her hand and gently tugged her back
into her chair. "I'm sorry. It's not a stupid idea. It's a great
idea. I would love if you stayed and had dinner with me" He
smiled up at her. "My treat-to make up for any undue pain
and suffering I might have caused you over that old Barbie
doll of yours"

She planted a hand on her hip and sniffed. "She wasn't
old. She was Superstar Barbie. For your information, she
wore earrings and even had a diamond ring on her finger. I
was the envy of all my friends."

"Ah, a fine doll, she was," he agreed, lifting his drink in a
toasting gesture. "How about I buy you a glass of wine and
we can conduct our own personal wake if you'd like?"

Her gaze dropped to the table as she thought about it.
Then she slowly met his eyes and sent him a sexy grin that
nearly had him sloshing his beer in his lap. "Now how could
I refuse an offer like that?"

He quickly put his beer down and cleared his throat. "Uh,
then after we have a bite to eat, we'll head right home and
check on Brad"

"Absolutely," she said with a nod. "Sounds like a solid
plan. After we eat, we'll head straight home"

Walt smiled, but she had agreed to go straight home with
more enthusiasm than he would have liked. She obviously
wasn't interested in hanging around, getting to know one another better, and repeating-and maybe getting right?-that
near-kiss from yesterday. That spark of interest he thought
he saw in her eyes must have been confusion, a feeling he
could relate to well. Thoughts like those shouldn't be entering his mind anyway. He's definitely lost it. He better tell
Kendall to bring him plenty of coffee with dinner. Wine and
relaxed inhibitions would only get him into trouble tonight.
And trouble where his friend's sister was concerned seemed
to be the one place he was heading.

Georgie took the last forkful of her white chocolate
cheesecake and let out a satisfied sigh. She and Walt were
only supposed to have a light bite to eat, but he had eventually strong-armed her into sharing a large unhealthy platter
of fried shrimp and clams since Brad wasn't around. Before
she knew it, dessert and coffee were placed before her too.
Not that she put up much of a fight about it. A little extra
caloric intake along with being in Walt's company for the
evening certainly hadn't been a hardship to endure.

Walt had even made her laugh out loud at some of the stories he'd told about Brad when they were growing up. She
had no idea he and Brad used to go fishing when they were
young-or that Brad had fallen off the dock so many times
her parents had suggested he just attach the bait to his belt. It
was nice to know she wasn't the only balance-challenged
member of the family.

She shoved the empty dessert plate to the side with finality. "I shouldn't have eaten all that," she told him, patting her
stomach.

Walt took the last bite of his own dessert and grinned.
"Sure you should have. It's not going to hurt to indulge in
something you know is bad for you once in a while. Especially tonight being such a special occasion and all."

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "A special occasion?"

"Yep, we're celebrating a night of firsts."

Her lips twitched but she managed to keep a straight face.
"And what `first' would that be?"

"Tonight is the first night we've been in each other's company for over an hour and haven't argued"

"Really? Well, the night's not over. I'm laying odds you
could still muck things up."

He chuckled. "You know, that's what I like about you,
Georgie. You don't hold back from saying what you really
feel. You're refreshing to be around"

Georgie didn't want to admit it, but Walt was refreshing to
be around too. He was funny and charming and made her
forget all about the fact that she wasn't actually on a date.
This was the first time since she'd moved back home that
she'd been able to relax and have a good time with someone
of the opposite sex without any interference from her brother.
Something she'd wanted since she'd come home from college. How odd to finally get that from Walt-a person she
didn't think would ever treat her as someone other than
Brad's little sister.

Walt startled her from her thoughts by reaching out and
covering her hand with his. "Hey, you look like you just went
a million miles away from me. Did I say something wrong?"

She looked down at their joined hands and swallowed
hard. Yes. No. Maybe. She honestly didn't know. The only
thing she did know was that she felt that familiar fluttering in
her stomach as soon as Walt touched her. Then her throat felt
tight.

"Uh, I guess I'm just not used to getting compliments,"
she said with a shrug, pulling her hand away. "My standard
MO lately seems to be acquiring lectures-you know, from
you, Brad, Al. Even Mrs. Barkat from the pharmacy told me
I slouch too much when I'm working at the computer and
that I should cut my hair. She doesn't think the length looks
professional enough."

"What? Not professional enough? Mrs. Barkat is like ...
a hundred years old. What the heck does she know about
professional hairstyles?"

Georgie smiled at his indignant outburst. "Mrs. Barkat is
not a hundred years old." Although the woman looked pretty
darn close. "She's sixty-two and owned that salon down the
street from the pharmacy for over thirty years. So, yes, I think
she knows a little something about trends and hairstyles."

"Well, as your boss, I'm telling you not to listen to her.
You're professional enough the way you are. More than professional. You're perfect. And what are you talking about not
being used to compliments? Your idea about the diabetes
expo was awesome, and I told you that. What other way can
I show you how much I appreciate your idea?"

Kissing me the way you wanted to the other day would be
one suggestion, she thought, but she clamped down on her
tongue to keep that notion from spewing forth.

Uh-oh. She didn't want to analyze why that thought had
popped in her head. Bad, Georgie, bad. She shouldn't be
lusting after him like that. It was one thing to admire Walt's
charm-and body-from afar, and quite another to act on
it. She was in dangerous territory. One nice dinner together
didn't constitute anything deeper than simple friendship.
No matter how kind and attractive she happened to find
him.

"Well, well, doesn't this look cozy?"

Georgie blinked up and saw Dee standing next to their
table with a satisfied smirk, obviously coming to the wrong
conclusion that she and Walt were on a date and maybe even
.,an item" already.

"This isn't what it looks like!" Georgie exclaimed. Walt's
eyebrows shot up, and she blushed. She didn't mean to raise
her voice, but Walt had no idea what a hard time they would
endure if Dee thought there was anything really going on.
People would read too much into it.

"Easy there, hon," Dee said, grinning and squeezing
Georgie's shoulder. "I didn't say it looked like anything,
except ... cozy."

"Oh, don't give me your semantics. We both know what
you meant. You think Walt and I are on a date. Believe me,
this is not a date. Right, Walt?"

Walt didn't respond. With a glimmer in his eyes, he simply
lifted his coffee cup and took a long sip.

Great. Now was not the time for Walt to be cute. Little did
he know that action alone was adding fuel to Dee's gossip
fire. He wouldn't be taking this misunderstanding so lightly
if he knew what an unusual talent she had of broadcasting
news around town. Her mouth practically had its own call
letters.

Georgie turned to Dee again. "See? Walt's so shocked, he
can't even answer. Brad was here with us, but then he didn't
feel well, so Walt and I decided to stay and grab a quick bite
to eat. Uh, then you walked in, and, well, here we all are"

Dee peered at the remnants on the table and nodded
knowingly. "Hmm. Just a quick bite to eat, eh? I guess you
decided to grab a quick dinner, a couple of quick cheesecakes,
and quickly linger over a cup of coffee too?"

Walt chuckled. "Busted. But actually, all that was my idea.
Georgie wanted to rush back home early tonight. I'm sure she's expecting a call from one of her many would-be suitors.
I had to practically chain her to the chair to have her stay
here and eat with me"

Georgie sighed in relief. Walt's explanation should squash
any funny ideas Dee had about the two of them. She didn't
need her friend-or anyone else in town-giving her a hard
time about Walt when Georgie wasn't even sure what was
going on with him herself.

"Georgie's been a real sport about staying here with me.
As you can see I have a rather large appetite," he added.

"Walt has a rather large appetite, Georgie. My, my, isn't
that interesting to know?" Dee's eyes shimmered with
laughter. "Are you two at least having a good time?"

"Peachy. Until you showed up," Georgie muttered. "What
are you doing here anyway, aside from harassing me? Don't
you have a diaper to change or a husband waiting for you at
home?"

"Actually, I have a hubby waiting for me right over there."
Dee raised both arms and waved wildly toward the row of
barstools in the back corner of the bar. Her husband, Brody,
picked up his pint of beer and saluted them with it-his
version of hello. He and Dee never got out that much, even
before they had a baby. Unlike Dee, Brody was socially shy
and never really felt comfortable getting out and meeting new
people. Brody probably saw newcomer Walt and headed
straight for the bar.

"All this dating talk of yours made Brody and I realize
that we were overdue for a night on the town too," Dee said,
beaming at her husband. "So we got a babysitter and decided
to have a date night of our own"

Wonderful, Georgie thought. Now even married-withchildren people had a better social life and went on more
dates than she did.

"Would you two like to join us?" Walt asked.

Dee shook her head. "No, thanks. This is strictly a night
for the two of us, but hey, maybe we could all go on a double
date sometime," she said with a wink.

"That's real cute, Dee. If you don't watch it, I'll get my
so-called boyfriend here to fire you."