Kissing Kendall (7 page)

Kendall shrugged feebly at her. With no offer of apology, she made herself busy by rewrapping the cupcakes and placing them back in the refrigerator.

She rubbed her forehead over the exact place where Brad had kissed her and her pulse went racing again. Not good. Not good at all. She was much too distracted to think about Georgie’s shower anymore. Her mind was on other matters at the moment—like why her feelings were changing toward Brad.

And more importantly, what exactly she was going to do about them.

…

What the hell had he been doing?

It had been over twenty-four hours, yet Brad was still mentally berating himself for touching Kendall. Dammit, he was a fool. He’d told himself he only wanted to comfort her, but once he’d held her in his arms and smelled her sweet scent something overtook him. And then Dee had walked in. Who knows what he might have done if she hadn’t.

He knew.

God help him, he would have kissed her. Even worse, Kendall might have kissed him back. Although she gave him no indication of what she wanted, made no movement toward or away from him, he could tell she was caught off guard by the moment as well. Only, if she’d given in to the kiss, she might have regretted it later. And that was something he wouldn’t have been able to deal with well.

Brad walked up to Walt and Georgie’s house and was immediately jarred from any further thought of Kendall when his sister opened the door and began bombarding him with questions. He took a small amount of comfort in the fact that they were at least questions he could handle for once, since they weren’t about his love life—or lack thereof.

“They’re throwing me a shower, right?” Georgie blurted, worrying her lip. She grabbed the front of his jacket and twisted it in her grip. “I mean, they have to because they’re my best friends. Right?
Right
?”

Brad held up his hands in surrender, hoping she wouldn’t see through his lie. “Georgie, I may be your brother, but I’m still a man. I’m sorry, I don’t know anything about any baby shower.”

His sister looked crushed. He was tempted to tell her the truth—to put them both out of their misery—but Dee and Kendall had already sworn him to secrecy, and he knew it would be much worse to get on those two women’s hit list than it would be to get on just his sister’s.

Brad brushed Georgie’s hands away and tried to sidestep her, but she blocked the door with her arm, looking ready to try a different interrogation tactic. Luckily, Walt appeared at her side and affectionately threw his arm around his wife’s shoulders.

“Let’s give it a break for five minutes, okay?” he said to his wife in a calming tone. “Besides, do you honestly think your brother would give you that kind of information even if he had it?”

Georgie stuck out her bottom lip. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. But
you’re
not giving me any information either. I can’t take it anymore. I’m dying to know!”

“You’re not
supposed
to know,” Walt told her, planting a kiss on the top of her head. “That’s why they call it a surprise.”

Georgie’s face brightened. “Aha! So they
are
throwing me a shower! I knew it! You better tell them to get a move on, then. They don’t have much time—my pregnant intuition is telling me that this baby is coming early, and I need all my stuff before that happens.”

Brad rolled his eyes. “Well done, detective. Now can I come in?”

Walt chuckled, gently prying Georgie away from the door. “Sure, man,” he said, sticking out his hand to greet him. “Glad for the company. I shouldn’t be the only one who has to sit through one of Georgie’s home-cooked dinners.”

Georgie swatted her husband in the arm. “Hey, I’m still learning.”

Brad frequently came to their house for dinner on Sunday nights even though his sister wasn’t much of a cook. Since her pregnancy, she’d gotten interested in learning how to make meals for her growing family, and since Brad rarely cooked, he was the perfect guinea pig for her.

“And if you don’t want our child to starve to death, you’ll try to be a little more encouraging,” Georgie told her husband.

“Our child won’t starve,” Walt said with a wry smile. “I’m actually a very good cook, if you remember.”

“But what if something happens to you?” she said, her green eyes widening. “What if you’re working or sick or something? It’ll be up to
me
to feed the family.”

“Or up to Chef Boyardee,” Brad countered.

Georgie’s expression turned indignant. “Never. No processed foods. Our child will only have homemade organic meals, right, Walt?”

Walt exchanged an amused glance with Brad, then gave his wife’s shoulders a little squeeze. “Whatever you say, sweetheart. We’ll have the healthiest baby on the block, thanks to you.”

Georgie looked as if she wanted to add something but instead she just smiled at Walt. Appearing temporarily appeased for the moment, she waddled back into the kitchen.

“Damn, that was close.” Walt rubbed a hand over his face in relief. “I’m learning to agree with your sister on everything for the time being until her sanity comes back. Those pregnancy hormones of hers are running amok and have temporarily blocked out what little rationality she had.” He shook his head. “Can I offer you a beer?” he asked Brad, quickly composing himself. “You might need one—Georgie’s attempting to make winter squash stew tonight.”

“Winter squash stew?” Brad made a face. “Ugh. For real? Please tell me there’s at least some meat in that.”

“No, plenty of chickpeas though—
organic
chickpeas,” Walt said with a smirk.

“Of course,” he muttered, but then he shrugged. “Still better than what I would have had for dinner.”

“Oh, what’s that?”

“Cheez Whiz on croutons.”

Walt threw his head back and laughed. “Ah, the good old bachelor days. I’ll get you that beer.”

Grinning, Brad followed Walt into the living room. He sat down and made himself comfortable, admiring the feminine touches his sister had made to their house. Even the scent in the air reminded him of his childhood. He hated to admit it, but whatever Georgie was cooking smelled pretty darn good. The whole atmosphere reminded him of what life was like when their parents had been alive. He’d just graduated from the police academy and Georgie had just begun college when their parents had died in a plane crash. He stepped in and took responsibility for his sister then, looked out for her. He had wanted this kind of life so badly for his sister, wanted to protect her and make sure she had someone who loved her. And now she had it.

But what did he have? Nothing even remotely close. Maybe he didn’t vocalize his thoughts enough to her, but he appreciated Georgie offering him a home-cooked meal every week. Despite her being a hormonal mess right now with her pregnancy, an awkward matchmaker, and very un-Martha-Stewart-like in the kitchen, he loved his sister and loved the time he spent hanging out with her and Walt. Their family dinners were becoming the one bright spot in his week.

His thoughts couldn’t help but drift to Kendall. He wondered what her bright spot of the week was. She’d even admitted how lonely she’d been feeling.

Walt emerged from the kitchen with two bottles of beer. “Drink up,” he said, handing him one. “Hopefully it’ll numb your taste buds.”

“I heard that!” Georgie yelled from the kitchen.

Walt sat down. Cupping a hand around his mouth, he leaned in and lowered his voice. “Ever since she got pregnant her hearing and sense of smell have become acute.”

“I heard that too!” she shouted.

Walt dropped his hand and chuckled. “So, anyway, how was your date last night with…Bambi, was it?”

“Not Bambi,
Brandi
. And it was great,” he said, overemphasizing the word for some reason, even though he didn’t truly mean it. “She’s really attractive and she could carry a decent conversation. Georgie definitely knows my type, I’ll give her that.”

“So you’ll call her again?”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

He’d had a nice time. Nothing was wrong with their date—nothing was wrong with Brandi—except for the mere fact that she wasn’t Kendall. But that was exactly why he
should
call her. He’d come way too close to crossing that proverbial line with Kendall yesterday.
Way
too close
. He couldn’t let that happen again.

Walt looked thoughtful for a moment. But he took a swig of his beer, not offering any further comment.

Brad placed his beer down and folded his arms. “What?” he demanded, irked by Walt’s calm, aloof manner.

“Nothing.”

“Don’t give me ‘nothing.’ You looked as if you were going to say something. So don’t be a pansy, just say it.”

A shadow of annoyance crossed his friend’s face, and now it was Walt’s turn to fold his arms. “Pansy, huh? All right, if I’m such a pansy, then why haven’t you told Kendall how you
really
feel?”

“Kendall?” Brad’s voice rose in surprise. “I thought we were talking about my date with Bambi.”

“Brandi,”
Walt supplied.

“Whatever,” Brad muttered. “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t feel anything for Kendall other than friendship. And if my sister happened to tell you differently, that’s her pregnancy hormones talking. She’s mistaken.”

Walt leaned back, not looking convinced. “Nobody told me anything. I’m just telling you as a friend what I see—
have been
seeing.”

“Well, maybe it’s time to have your eyes checked.”

“I’ve seen it too!” Georgie yelled from the kitchen.

Brad threw his hands up in exasperation. “Oh, great. Can you control your wife and tell her to stay out of my business? Actually, you too. You’re both crazy.” He didn’t need his sister sinking her teeth into his or Kendall’s life any more than she already had. For such a petite frame, Georgie had the fortitude of a steamroller. And the last thing Kendall needed from her friend was more pressure to date when she wasn’t ready.

Georgie came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel before tossing it over her shoulder. “I’m so glad Walt mentioned this,” she said, pointing her big, concerned eyes at him. “I think you have feelings for Kendall too.”

Brad waffled for a moment then broke into a deliberately confused grin. “And just what gave you that idea?”

She bit her lip and paused. “You have no filter.”

“No what?”

“No
filter
,” she said, waving her palm in front of her face for emphasis. “You know, everything is right there on your face for the whole world to see. You’re terrible at hiding your emotions. For a policeman I’m surprised you even—”

“Okay!” he snapped. “Enough. I get it. I’ll work on that…
filter
. I only came here for dinner, not a psych evaluation.”

Georgie cocked a hand on her hip. “You
did
ask.”

“And I’m sorry I did.” Brad stood and moved toward the windows, his jaw tightening. “Look, Kendall and I are just friends. That’s all. I admit I love her, but I love her as I would a…a sister.”

Sister
.
He almost laughed out loud at that. His feelings for Kendall were nowhere near the sister zone; he knew that much. And he knew the difference between right and wrong. Wrong was arguing with Jake about Kendall the day before he died. Wrong was moving in on a friend before she was over her husband’s death—something he’d come damn close to doing the other day. Even though she had felt so good, as if she were made for him, she wasn’t his. And he needed to remember that. He’d managed to rein it in though, mostly thanks to Dee. Good thing too. Kendall didn’t need him messing with her grieving process.

The worst part of his policeman’s job was delivering the news of the death of a loved one to his or her family. He also knew firsthand how much it hurt when he’d received the news about his parents’ deaths. It took a long time for him to get over it, so he wasn’t about to push Kendall.

Georgie came up behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry I was trying to play matchmaker between you and Kendall the other day. It probably
would
be a mistake to ruin your friendship. You guys are practically like family. I just saw two of my favorite people and…well, my mouth kind of got ahead of my mind.”

“Like that’s a surprise,” he muttered.

“Look, I’m trying to apologize, you dunderhead,” she said hotly. “The least you could do is graciously accept it.”

“Fine,” he said. “I accept that you have a big mouth and never think before you open it.”

Georgie’s face turned crimson but before she could fire back a retort, Walt popped up out of his seat. “Children, children,” he said, taking Georgie by the shoulders and guiding her away from Brad. “Let’s just forgive and forget on both sides, shall we? Brad, I think what Georgie is saying is that she won’t interfere between you and Kendall now that she knows how you really feel. Right, honey?”

Georgie’s lips thinned with irritation, but she gave a short nod of agreement.

“Good,” Walt said, collapsing back down on the sofa. He held out his hand to Georgie to join him. With one last glare at Brad, she took it and sat down. All the animosity on her face evaporated when Walt wrapped an arm around her shoulders and smiled at her in an adoring way. Under normal circumstances Brad would appreciate how happy his best friend and his sister were together, but at that moment their loving glances only made him want to hurl.

“If you guys can’t wait until I’m gone, could you at least hold off until after I’ve eaten? You’re going to ruin my appetite.”

“No, man, you’ve got that wrong. The
meal
will ruin your appetite,” Walt said with a laugh and then ducked before Georgie could swat him with her dish towel.

“Actually, dinner should be ready now,” she said. “So let’s go eat.”

Walt immediately followed Georgie into the kitchen, all the while commenting how wonderful everything smelled and how famished he was. But Brad took his time, finishing off his beer, then slowly making his way to the table.

Georgie had gone out of her way to create a centerpiece of fresh flowers, making their Sunday night meal even homier and inviting, just as he remembered their mom had done while they were growing up. He wouldn’t dare admit this to Walt or Georgie, but he’d missed that—having a family to come home to. Being around Kendall so much recently had made that longing come front and center all over again.