Return of the Last McKenna (Harlequin Romance) (12 page)

“I was, but more than that, I was beating myself up for not
fixing it. It took me a long time to realize that some things are out of my
hands. I couldn’t make her come clean. I couldn’t make her want it; she had to
want it for herself. Just because I have medical training doesn’t make me a
miracle worker.” She crumpled the tissue into her fist, then leaned forward.
“Most of all, I had to learn that sometimes, you just have to cut yourself some
slack. You and me both.”

“I try, Mrs. Maguire. I really do.”

“No, you don’t. I’ve seen your face ever since you got back
from Afghanistan. Whatever happened over there, you are blaming yourself for and
now that weight has become an albatross around your neck.” She put up a hand.
“Now I don’t know the whole story, and I might be just talking out of my hat,
but all I can say is that I have been in shoes similar to yours, and if you put
your faith in others, and stop beating yourself up for what you can’t control,
what you couldn’t fix, it’ll all work out. You are a doctor, and you’re used to
fixing, bandaging. Not everything can be fixed. Some things just have to be.”
She got to her feet, and smoothed a hand down her jacket. “I’ve said my piece,
and I’ll let you be. I’m not trying to tell you what to do, Dr. McKenna, just
trying to offer you a solution. Take it if you want.” She gave him a kind smile,
then left the room.

Brody got to his feet and went to the window. He looked out at
the busy streets of Newton, beginning to fill with cars now that the clock had
ticked past five. For the next few hours, it would be bumper to bumper with
people trying to get home to their lives, their homes, their families. They
would sit around the table and talk about their days, and few, if any, would
realize just how lucky they were to be together.

He thought of Mrs. Maguire and her daughter, and how close his
head nurse had come to losing her only child. He thought of albatrosses and
choices, and after a long time, he pulled out the card, read it over for the
millionth time, then tucked it back into his wallet. It was time he told Kate
the real story about her brother.

And let the chips fall where they may after that.

CHAPTER NINE

K
ATE
had baked
and decorated,
frosted and sugared. But it hadn’t been enough to make her forget what Riley and
Stace had said. Or to put Brody McKenna out of her mind.

Because she’d started to like him. He kept his cards close to
his chest—heck, hidden inside his chest—but every once in a while, the other
side of Brody peeked out. A playful, sweet side. Like when they’d danced
together at the rest home. When he’d dug in and started baking, even wearing the
pink apron. At the same time, he showed this dimension of caring. Like the kind
of man a woman could lean against, depend upon. Even if being around him stirred
her in a way she hadn’t been stirred before.

Would it be worth it to take the risk and fall in love with
him? Or would she be burned by a man who was keeping part of himself hidden?
She’d seen her mother do it time and again with her father. Giving, giving,
giving, and never receiving his full heart in return. Would Brody be the same?
Would she be repeating her mother’s mistakes?

Her conversation with Riley and Stace had only stirred the pot.
What had Brody been hiding behind those blue eyes? The flame of Brody McKenna
drew her again and again. She needed to exercise caution—or she’d get
burned.

“Somebody’s got a lot on her mind.”

Kate jerked her head up and looked at her grandmother.
“Huh?”

“You just turned that rose into a radish.” She pointed at the
red clump of buttercream on top of the cupcake.

“Oh, no.” She swiped the ruined decoration off, then set down
the piping bag. “I guess I am a little distracted.”

“And I know why.” Nora hefted a heavy tub of frosting onto the
counter and started to peel off the lid.

“Grandma, quit that!” Kate said, sliding in to finish the job
before her grandmother hurt herself. “No helping.”

“You need the help. I have the experience. Let me give you a
hand.”

Kate sighed. She knew her grandmother. She wouldn’t give up.
“Okay. If you promise to take it easy, and sit down while you work, can you
frost those cupcakes over there?”

Nora laughed. “You sound like you’re the grandmother and I’m
the granddaughter.”

“Just watching out for my favorite grandma.” Kate slid a stool
over to the counter, then plopped a platter of red devil cupcakes and a piping
bag of cream cheese frosting in front of her grandmother. She laid a hand on
Nora’s shoulder. “Thanks, Grandma.”

Nora took Kate’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Anytime, sweetie.
I love this place almost as much as I love you.”

“Ditto.” She grinned, then dipped her head to focus on
assembling the order she’d been working on. Maybe talking about work would keep
her from thinking about Brody. “By the way, I looked at that second location the
other day.”

“You did? What’d you think of it?”

“It was…perfect. In this quaint little town square in Weymouth,
across the street from an old-fashioned movie theater. There’s a florist and a
café nearby, and a hospital right down the street.”

“I don’t think it gets much better than that,” Nora said. “Did
you make an offer?”

“Not yet.”

“What are you waiting for?”

Kate shrugged, then threw up her hands. “I don’t know. A sign?
A big, blinking, this is the right decision to make sign.”

Nora laughed. “Life never gives us those. If it did, every
choice we make would be easy as pie.”

“True.”

Nora laid a hand on her granddaughter’s shoulder. “You’ll know
the right answer when the time comes. Meanwhile, you have a big night tonight.
Are you ready?”

Kate glanced down at the dress she’d put on, the heels she’d
brought to work just for tonight. “As ready as I’ll ever be. If I just stick
with the desserts, I’ll be fine. Either way, I’m packing tissues in my
purse.”

Her grandmother gave her a quick hug. “Such a smart, practical
girl. No wonder I’m so proud of you.”

The bell over the door rang, and Kate turned to go out to the
shop when she heard Brody’s voice call out a hello. Her heart tripped, and a
smile curved across her face. Not thinking about Brody had worked for, oh, five
seconds.

“Hmm…and you wonder why you’re distracted,” Nora said. “I think
the reason just walked in.”

“It has nothing to do with him,” Kate whispered. “Nothing at
all.”

“Mmm, hmm.” Nora drew a little frosting heart on the stainless
steel counter. Kate swiped the romantic symbol onto her finger and plopped the
sweet treat in her mouth before Brody walked in and saw it.

Damn. Every time she saw Brody McKenna, she forgot to breathe.
He had on a suit jacket with his shirt and tie today, and he looked so handsome
she could have fainted. “Hi,” she said, because her brain wouldn’t process any
other words.

“Hi, yourself.” He started to shrug out of the jacket. He had a
tall, lean body, defined in all the right places. His muscles rippled under the
pressed cotton of his shirt, and she wondered what he’d look like bare-chested.
She’d seen him in a T-shirt and shorts and that had been a delicious sight that
had lingered in her mind. What would he look like, wet from the shower? Fresh
out of bed in the morning? In the dark of night, slipping under the sheets?

Damn. Why did this man affect her so?

“Uh, you might want to keep that on,” she said, putting up a
hand to stop him. “I have another delivery tonight. I forgot to tell you
earlier. If you don’t mind helping me, there’ll be a free dinner in it for
you.”

“A free dinner? One that doesn’t come out of a microwave or a
drive-through? Who can turn down that offer?” He grinned, then entered the
kitchen.

Her stomach flipped, her heart tripped, and she knew why her
thoughts lingered on him whenever they were apart. That smile. And those eyes.
And everything else about him. In that second, she decided she’d take the risk,
open her heart.

“Hello, Mrs. Spencer,” he said to Kate’s grandmother.

“Why hello, Dr. McKenna. So nice to see you again.”

“You, too, ma’am.”

“Why, would you look at the time?” Nora said. She took off her
apron, and laid it beside the piping bag. “I completely forgot I promised your
grandfather I’d go out with him for the early birds dinner special tonight. I
better go.” She shrugged into her coat. “You two can handle this alone, can’t
you?”

She laid a slight emphasis on the word “alone” and gave her
granddaughter a knowing smile. Behind Brody’s back, she drew a heart in the air
and pointed at Kate. “Oh, and, Brody,” Nora said, “I’d love to have you over for
Wednesday night dinner at our house next week.”

“I’d be honored, Mrs. Spencer. Thank you.”

“Good. I’ll see you at six. Kate knows the address.” She gave
her granddaughter a smile. “Maybe she’ll even drive you.”

Kate had no doubt her grandmother would drive over and pick up
Brody herself if her granddaughter didn’t. Matchmaker Nora at work again. Andrew
had had some of those tendencies himself, always telling Kate he’d keep an eye
out for the perfect man for his amazing sister.

“Do you need me to bring anything?” Brody asked.

“Aren’t you sweet? No, nothing at all. Just bring yourself.”
Nora shot Kate another smile of approval for Brody. He’d racked up several
brownie points and had clearly moved to the top of Nora’s list. “That’ll be
enough.”

Nora headed out the door. Kate wished the floor would open up
and swallow her but it didn’t. Or a customer would come in and save her from the
awkward silence. None did. Or the sky would fall and create a distraction—

None of that happened. Instead, the room became a warm, tight
space of just her. And Brody. Her gaze roamed over him. Desire pulsed in her
veins. He wore a half smile, and in an odd way, that turned her on more than a
full smile. She wanted to feel his hard chest beneath her palms, but most of
all, she wanted to kiss him.

Why had he yet to make a move in that direction? Brody didn’t
strike her as the shy type. She had read attraction between them, she was sure
of it. What was holding him back from pushing this further?

She watched him loading the finished cupcakes into boxes, and
read tension in his shoulders, a distance in his words, his smile. She kept on
talking, filling the room with endless chatter, if only to keep from asking the
obvious question—

What’s wrong?

They worked together for several minutes, exchanging small talk
about their days. The whole thing seemed so ordinary, smacking of a domestic
life with Brody. She could imagine a future like this—her coming home from the
shop, sitting across the dinner table from him, and talking about everything,
and nothing at all. Like ordinary couples with ordinary lives.

Already, that told her that her heart had connected with him. A
lot. She was falling for him. But the falling felt nice, like tumbling into a
warm pool.

As much as she wanted to linger in that pool, she held back,
because she sensed a reservation in Brody. Maybe he didn’t feel the same way.
Maybe he did, as though it was moving too fast. Or maybe she had read him wrong.
And she could be making the mistake of a lifetime.

“There, that’s the last one,” she said, sandwiching the last
cupcake in the container. She closed the lid and handed it to Brody. He stacked
them together, then gave her a grin.

“Another job done.”

“Yep.” Joanne would be back Saturday, and then her afternoons
of working with Brody would come to an end. Already, she could see that finish
line, and it saddened her. She’d gotten used to having him here.

“I’m sorry about my grandmother earlier,” Kate said, “but you
don’t have to go to dinner if you don’t want.” Her roundabout way of saying if
you aren’t interested in me, here’s your out.

“I’d love to go. Your grandmother didn’t bother me at all by
asking me over. I think there’s something in a grandmother’s DNA that makes them
bound and determined to matchmake,” Brody said. “When I saw mine a few days ago,
she said the same thing. That I should bring you to the next family dinner,
which in case I get in trouble for not inviting you, is at Mary McKenna’s house
in Newton, on Sunday at two. She’s just a few blocks north of here.”

Kate laughed. “Seems like our grandmothers are determined to
bring us together.”

“Mine heard glowing reports from Riley about how nice you were.
And that got her wheels turning, thinking that you and I…” His voice trailed
off.

“Yeah, my grandmother, too.” Kate let out a nervous laugh. She
brushed at her hair. Damn. She was acting like a schoolgirl. Her face heated
under Brody’s lingering gaze. She turned away to grab a spoon and moved too
fast, unnerved by the tension, by the unanswered questions. Did he like her? Or
not?

As she pivoted, her arm bumped the bowl, and sent it tumbling
onto the floor. When it hit the concrete, the violet frosting in the bowl
splattered upward, and outward, spreading in a burst of color on Brody’s shirt
and his suit jacket. “Oh no! I’m sorry.”

“No problem. I’ve had worse on my shirt. Especially during flu
season.” He slipped off the jacket, then, just like in her fantasy, he began to
undo the buttons. Her heart skipped a beat, and nearly stopped when he peeled
apart the panels of his shirt and revealed, a lean, muscled chest.

Oh. My. God. Kate opened her mouth. Closed it again. “Uh…I can
get you a T-shirt. If you don’t mind one that says Nora’s Sweet Shop.”

“Better to wear the words than the actual sweets.” Brody
grinned.

Kate spun away before she reached out and ran a hand down his
chest. Or worse. Like threw him onto the stainless steel counter and ravaged his
body. She grabbed a T-shirt from the glass case out front and brought it back
with her. “At least this is brown, instead of pink like the aprons.”

“It’s almost manly. Thanks.”

“Anytime.” And anytime he wanted to take his shirt off in her
presence, he could. But she didn’t say that, either.

He moved closer, standing inches away now, that broad chest so
close she could feel the heat against her own skin. “Do you, uh, want to give it
to me?”

Way to go, Kate, hold the man’s shirt
hostage.

“Oh. Oh, yes. I’m sorry. I…got distracted.” She inhaled, and
caught the woodsy scent of his cologne. Dark, mysterious, like wandering a
forest in the middle of the night.

“Distracted by what?”

“You.” There. The truth hung there, in plain sight. “You
distract me, Brody McKenna.”

“I don’t mean to.” He reached up a hand and cupped her jaw. His
hand was big, strong, yet gentle against her skin. “I keep telling myself not to
do this, not to take things further, but then every time I leave here, all I do
is think about you. And when I’m near you, all I can do is think about kissing
you.”

“Really?” She swallowed. “But…”

“But what?”

“But…you haven’t.”

A smile curved across his face. Slow, sexy. “No, I haven’t. And
maybe it’s time I remedied that.”

“Maybe it is.”

“Do you want me to kiss you, Kate?”

“Yes.” She exhaled. “Yes, I do.”

“Good.” He leaned in, winnowing the gap between them until a
fraction of space separated them. Her pulse rumbled like thunder and a craving
for Brody grew inside her until the world disappeared.

She watched the gold flecks dance in his eyes. Her heart
stuttered, stopped, stuttered again.

“Ah, Kate…” he said, her name a harsh whisper, then he closed
the space and kissed her.

His lips were hard against hers at first, a strong, wild kiss,
like a sudden summer storm. His hands tangled in her hair, and he pulled her to
him, tight against his chest. She curved into Brody, heat racing through her
body, charging up her spine. Her hands worked against his back, feeling the
ripple of the muscles she had fantasized about. The warm expanse of his skin,
the hard places of his body. He plundered her mouth, his tongue dancing hot and
furious with hers.