Georgie on His Mind (16 page)

Her face set into a decided pout as if she were about to
break the news that Georgie had only two weeks left to live.
"You've got intimacy issues," Kendall whispered.

"Thank you, Dr. Phil," she said, rolling her eyes for effect.
"But I don't have any issues. I'm not crazy here. In fact, I'm
perfectly sane. Probably the only sane one in this store"

More sympathy exuded from Kendall's soft brown eyes.
"I didn't say you were crazy, sweetie, I said you have intimacy issues. And don't knock Dr. Phil. I've learned quite a
lot watching his show. By the way, chronic defensiveness is
the first sign."

Georgie blew out a huff and cast a glance over her shoulder. Dee appeared to be busy explaining something to Randall and pointing to the computer screen. Georgie wasn't
fooled. Even though Dee looked preoccupied, Georgie had
no doubt she was somehow listening in. Maybe even silently
agreeing with everything Kendall had just said.

Did she have intimacy issues?

No, of course not. But she felt a prickle of uneasiness
when she realized that answer hadn't come to her right away.

Georgie turned her attention back to Kendall and folded
her arms. "And just what makes you think I have intimacy
problems? I do enjoy going out on dates, you know-when
Brad doesn't mess them up"

"True. But you should take a good hard look at the men
you've been dating. I couldn't see you seriously dating any
of them for any length of time. In fact, I'm surprised-"

"Look, not everyone wants the kind of relationship that
you and Jake have, okay?"

Kendall's eyes rounded, looking hurt, and for a brief moment Georgie felt guilty for her outburst. But just because
Kendall had decided to get married didn't mean that kind of
commitment was for everyone. It certainly wasn't in the cards
for Georgie. She had the Midas touch when it came to relationships. Only everything she touched didn't turn to gold; it
disappeared.

Having heard enough talk about dates, intimacy issues, and
Walt Somers, Georgie turned away. Of course, that's when
she immediately saw Walt stride into the pharmacy.

Her life was turning into a sitcom.

"Well, well," Kendall drawled, shooting him a saucy smile
as he approached. "Speak of the devil."

Georgie's pulse quickened as Walt sauntered up to them.
He looked like he'd been out and about early this morning.
His nose and cheeks were already pink, and the ends of his
spiky hair were windblown in all different directions. He
wore an untucked brown T-shirt with khaki board shorts and
smelled crisp and fresh, as if he'd just doused himself with
salt air and sunshine.

"Oh, were you talking about me?" he asked, his deep
voice thick with amusement. "I'm flattered. It's kind of nice
that there's a buzz about me going on already."

Georgie gritted her teeth. Walt had no right to be so happy
and charming today. Not when she was so confused and
grouchy-and apparently intimacy-challenged.

She scowled. "Why are you here?"

Walt raised an eyebrow at her tone. Unfortunately, he was
still breathtakingly handsome even when he was frowning
at her. "I'm here because I partly own the store, remember?"

"I know that. I mean, it's your day off. Shouldn't you be
taking the opportunity to look for more permanent housing?"

He chuckled, but his eyes were cold. She had to resist the
sudden urge to rub her arms to ward off the chill. "Thanks for your concern, Georgie, but I have a realtor out doing that
for me. What's the matter? Afraid I might cramp your style
when Mr. Movie Star comes to pay you a visit?"

"Not at all. It's just that-"

Kendall loudly cleared her throat. "Um, sorry to interrupt
this interesting moment you guys are having, but I have to
run" She turned her attention to Walt. "I'm so glad you're
here, because now I can ask you in person. Wanna come to my
engagement party this weekend? I'd love for you to meet
Jake. A lot of people from town are invited so it might be a
great opportunity for you to get reacquainted with everyone
again."

Walt's expression warmed, which had Georgie's jaw
tightening. She couldn't help feeling jealous, especially
when all he'd done since he'd first looked at Georgie was
frown and shoot icicles at her with his eyes. "Thanks. I'll be
there," he told her.

Kendall beamed. "Great! Well, I guess I better be off." But
before she left, she grabbed Georgie's hand and shyly added,
"Tell Brad I really hope he comes" She waved good-bye to
Dee and Randall, then made a beeline for the doors.

Georgie waited a few beats, then planted a fist on her hip.
"So, tell me, why are you really here on your day off?"

"I was on my way over to visit Al and thought I'd see how
the progress was going with the diabetes expo. News sure
seems to travel fast around here. I had three people stop me
in the parking lot to ask me about your contest win."

"Yeah," she said with a weak laugh. "I guess I'm all the
buzz around town now too."

Walt didn't crack a smile. He just kept looking at her,
sending a strange tingle through her spine. The smoky way
he gazed at her now and the way he'd reacted to her date contest news were in contradiction to one another. She didn't understand what was going on between them, but if she
could minimize their time together and treat him in a purely
professional manner, their relationship might be able to go
back to normal.

"Well, if that's all you want from me ..." Georgie turned
away, hoping to make a clean escape.

"That's not all I want from you"

Georgie's heart stopped at the huskiness in his voice. She
forced herself to turn around, giving him a questioning
look, but his expression remained bland. "I wanted to go
over a few more things with you, if you don't mind." He indicated toward the back storage room and grinned. "Step
into my office"

She hesitated, casting a glance at Dee, who was watching
the two of them as she would her favorite Clay Hayes soap
opera. "Um, all right, but just for a minute. I do have work
to do."

"I'm sure Dee and Randall can handle things on their
own"

She followed his gaze out into the empty aisles. "Oh.
Right. Well, people have been calling in their prescriptions
all morning. You never know when they'll come by and pick
them up. We could get a crowd at any second"

"Then I'll try to make it quick," he said with a wink. He
whirled around without a glance back, obviously expecting
she'd follow, which she did, trying not to let her gaze focus
too long on his backside.

It's no big deal, she told herself. Admiring a man's body
does not mean you want a relationship with him.

Walt stopped and opened the door for her. Georgie stepped
into the storage room and flipped on the light, allowing herself a good look around at the back room. Walt had certainly
done a lot with the space available. Al was a bit of a packrat when it came to filing. But now the boxes of prescriptions,
which had to be kept for a minimum of seven years, were
tucked away in the attic, neatly labeled. There was even a
nice, wide walkway now from the break room to the bathroom. The storage area had never looked so organized.

She had to give Walt some credit. Although he'd only
been in the store a short while, he'd thrown himself into bettering the working conditions and trying to turn around the
store's marketability. He obviously cared a lot about Al and
had pride in the pharmacy, which she couldn't help but admire.

Georgie finally turned around and was surprised to see
that Walt had been studying her reaction, a smug smile on
his lips. He obviously knew she was impressed with what
he'd accomplished so far. "Okay. What did you want to talk
about?" she asked.

Walt shifted his footing, letting out a hard sigh before
answering. "The other night."

Georgie froze. "The other night?"

"Yeah. Look, I-"

"Forget it," she said, and truly wished he would. She didn't
want him reading anything further into their kiss. Probably
because then she would be forced to as well.

"A momentary lack of good judgment on my part," she
continued, even though her cheeks felt like they would melt
off her face. "So don't worry about it. As far as I'm concerned that kiss never happened."

Walt's eyes darkened as they narrowed. "That kiss didn't
happen, huh? Look, I'm not going to push you, Georgie, but
you seem to have no problem with the thought of going out
with Clay Hayes. Yet for some reason I can't even get you to
acknowledge that you're attracted to me. I'm getting the
feeling you're purposely not giving us a chance"

Walt wouldn't let this conversation go, but she was determined to protect herself at all costs. She crossed her
arms, giving herself the needed support to stick to her decision. "You're absolutely right. I'm not giving us a chance
because there is no us"

Walt took a large step, closing the gap between them.
Without warning, he reached out and gently tucked a strand
of her hair behind her ear, letting his fingers lazily trail
through the ends of her hair and down the side of her neck.
She shivered. "We can work on creating an us," he said softly,
leaning his face toward hers.

She nibbled her lip as she gazed up at him, her heart
pounding with desire for him to kiss her again. But as tempting as he was and as hard as it was to do, she stepped away
from his touch. "I'm not interested," she said, more harshly
than she intended.

Walt's hand dropped. He stared her down for almost a full
minute before he nodded, the expression on his face clearly
showing that he didn't believe her. Well, she never was a
very good liar. That's one thing that hadn't changed since
they were kids.

"Clay Hayes is a lucky man," he murmured.

She looked away and lightly kicked one of the boxes on
the ground near her. Her chest felt tight. In her mind she told
herself getting involved with Walt would be problematicthat he would want more from her emotionally than she
could give-but her body was obviously telling her something else. He was becoming dangerous to be around. "Look,
can we just talk about the diabetes expo now and be done?"

Walt let out a frustrated sigh and pointed to the group of
boxes she had just kicked. "Tell Randall he can move those
to the pharmacy area. Also, when you get a chance today,
you can make a list of what we've received so far in dona tions and who sent them. Then I'd like to send some thankyou notes before it gets too late. Gather to-"

"I know what to do," she snapped. "I told Randall to move
everything to the pharmacy area. He obviously must not have
seen these boxes. And I already had plans to make a thank-you
list this afternoon. So you didn't need to come here and check
up on me. I'm not as incompetent as you think I am"

Blame it on her mental Fruit Loops or just being in Walt's
presence for too long, but she suddenly felt cornered and
defensive. She hated him telling her what to do when she'd
been doing things around the pharmacy long before he came
to town. The words had flown out before she could stop them.
Only snapping at Walt hadn't relieved any of the tension she'd
been feeling around him.

Walt's head reeled back. "Hey, easy does it. I never said
you were incompetent. I just want to make sure these things
get done. I'm not implying you don't know what to do"

"Yes, I believe you were," she said more calmly than she
felt. "You obviously think I need to be told how to do everything. Like I wasn't handling things perfectly fine before you
and your know-it-all ideas came to town. You're exactly like
Brad."

Anger flashed over his face. "Oh, am I? Well, maybe if
you didn't go around acting like a flighty brat all the time, I
wouldn't feel the need to come in on my day off to remind
you how to do your job"

"Message received loud and clear, boss. Now you can
leave rest assured that you won't have to hold my hand any
longer today. Sorry I'm such a burden. Seems like that's all I
am to people anymore" To her horror, tears started to fill her
eyes.

Walt's anger immediately deflated. His eyes softened, and
he instantly reached for her arm. "Georgie, don't be-"

She backed away, afraid her tears would start to spill out
once she allowed him to give her even an ounce of comfort.
She hated feeling so vulnerable, especially in front of Walt. It
made it harder to rely on just herself, to not get attached, to
remain independent, and not give in to what her heart really
craved.

"No, I'm fine. I'm a big girl." She dabbed the corners of
her eyelids with her fingertips, then stuck out her chin to
prove that point. "There's obviously nothing left to say.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to work."

Don't you need to get back to work?" Uncle Al asked,
glancing at his watch.

Walt refrained from rolling his eyes. Back to work? Ha!
Not a chance. He was sorry he'd spent ten minutes of his day
off in the pharmacy today. If he hadn't, he wouldn't have
gone and upset Georgie so much, they wouldn't have fought,
and she wouldn't be thinking what a complete and total jerk
he was right at this very moment.