Page 10 of Tempting the Heart

A mischievous glint flashed through my brother’s gaze. “Yeah. Sounds good. We’ll be there in about twenty minutes. Bye.”

He hung up the phone, and his smile only grew.

“I’m not going. I didn’t shower this morning. I look like a mess. I feel like a mess. I don’t evenknowhim, know him.”

“No better time than the present.” Brad sipped the coffee. “I can’t smell you. Besides, didn’t you already see him this morning?”

“Yeah, but that was for less than ten minutes. Sitting in a booth across from someone in close proximity is an entirely different thing.”

“Alright. If it’s that big of a deal, I’ll come up with an excuse for why you couldn’t come.” He shrugged. “But he’ll be disappointed.”

I shook my head and grunted. “What are you even talking about?”

“He asked if you’d hang out with us.”

“Wait. What?” My heart skipped a beat. “I thought it was just you inviting me.”

“Does that change things?”

I scowled. “No.”

“Interesting.”

“What’s interesting?” I asked impatiently.

“Nothing.” Brad polished off his coffee. “But like you said, you have a bike to ride, and you stink.”

I groaned. “You’re such a brother. I don’t stink. I just said I didn’t shower this morning.”

Audrey bounded through the door between the coffee shop and the antique store. “Any coffee before you head home?”

“Ask your brother. He might have stolen the last bit.”

She eyed me and whipped her gaze to Brad. “Why are you onlymybrother and no longerourbrother?”

“The man, the myth, and the legend is in town,” Brad said, cracking a smile as Audrey’s eyes grew ten times too large. “He could be roaming the streets right now while Mae huddles in her coffee shop.”

“He’s here?” she chirped.

I could see it in her eyes. She wanted to call all of my sisters and tell them the news.

“What?” I asked innocently.

She pointed her finger at me with a wry smile. “You know what.”

“I don’t have the slightest idea.”

“And he invited Mae out tonight with me,” Brad added.

Audrey wandered over to the coffee and managed to drain the last of it before I had to clean the machine for tomorrow.

“I’m sure he was only being polite,” I added.

Audrey shook her head before taking a sip of coffee. “He didn’t invite me or Emily.”

“Yeah, but he saw me this morning. He didn’t see you or I’m sure he would have. Wanna come? Please?”

Audrey’s mouth pulled into a genuine smile. “No, I think Brad’s presence is enough to screw things up for you. You don’t need me too.”

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