He’d just had sex with his best friend’s sister.
He stepped back, inhaling deeply, shaking away the feeling.
No.
He’d just made love to Georgie. He had nothing to feel guilty about. It was consensual and they loved each other. The Stokes brothers were going to have to deal with it. Darcy probably hadn’t considered Georgie a candidate when he’d spoken about Matt settling down.
Matt got the pasta out of the cupboard, frowning at how little was in there. “Where’s your food?”
“I don’t cook much,” she said. “Lunch was provided on the boat, and then I’d buy what I needed for dinner on the way home.”
“You should be taking better care of yourself.”
She shrugged. “It’s hard cooking for one.”
He’d never considered it. When he got home from work he had the Stokes family to eat with. First Beth, then Amy, always cooked dinner, with them helping out if there were still things to do when they got home. If he needed a change, he’d visit his parents. “Do you get lonely living alone?”
She didn’t look at him as she answered. “There’s usually someone in town who’s free for a drink if I need company.” Her tone was upbeat, almost flippant, but the fact she didn’t look at him told him there was more to it.
“Georgie, look at me.” He placed the pasta on the table and touched her shoulder.
She shrugged him off. “Yeah, of course I get lonely, but it made sense to live in town so I didn’t have to get up so early to get to work.”
No wonder she’d spent her free day out at the Ridge. “I’m sorry. I never realised.”
“I didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for me. I made my decision.”
“So what about now?” he asked. “You can choose your starting hours.”
“Brandon and Amy don’t need me moving home,” she said. “And I don’t want to be there when Darcy and Faith finish their house and move out. It would be too weird.”
The conversation with Darcy came back to him. He understood how Georgie felt, as if he no longer belonged there. He’d figured one day he’d build or buy his own place, but there never seemed any urgency.
Now he wished he’d bought months ago. “What if you built your own place out there like Darcy?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know if they would want me out there.”
Matt frowned, stopping her from lighting the stove, and turned her to face him. “Your brothers would love to see you more often. Darcy said I could build a house on the land the other day.”
Her eyes widened. “He did?”
Matt nodded.
“Well you’re his best friend, so of course he wants you hanging around.”
Where was this lack of confidence coming from? This wasn’t the Georgie he knew. Before he could ask, she said, “Besides, my lease doesn’t run out until the end of the year.”
They had a couple of months to sort out what to do next and hopefully by then, the situation with Stonefish would have been resolved.
He stilled. Already he was thinking about the future, a future with Georgie. It wasn’t scary, it was comforting, joyful. Shouldn’t he be freaking out? Everything was happening so fast.
“Are you all right?” Georgie asked, turning from the stove where she was cooking the mince.
He smiled. “Yeah, I am.”
He kissed her and held her in his arms where she was meant to be. “What can I do to help?”
Chapter 13
