“Ha!”
“Like I was saying. It doesn’t matter. He’s going out with Kelly, probably tonight. I’m bound by the sister code not to pursue any interest I may or may not have in a certain heavy hitter.” But that didn’t stop her from reliving the last few minutes over and over throughout the day. Brock had shown another side of himself—and she liked it. Liked it more than was good for her.
Chapter Six
Brock
Brock glanced down at his arm as Kelly slid her hand into the crook of his elbow. They’d had a nice dinner in the small historical district. Actually, he wasn’t sure if it was classified as historical or just built to look like a pioneer square. Sheila would know.
He mentally groaned. That was the hundredth time he’d thought of her in the last three hours. Which didn’t bode well for things with Kelly. Kelly had grown up in this area; she would know if the brick was original to the pioneer settlers or just made to look old. The trouble was, he didn’t really want to talk to Kelly about brick—he’d rather discuss it with Sheila.
He was trying to be a gentleman and focus on his date, but he kept going back to the planning meeting at the bakery. He was pretty sure the girls had baited him with the whole tree for a mascot thing—and he’d fallen for it—which he kind of liked.
Kelly was talking about something, and he tuned in, once again scolding himself for not paying attention to his date.
“I’ve always had this drive to succeed, to push myself, and in turn, to push medicine.” She turned the full force of her blue eyes on him … and nothing happened. Not a leap of his heart, not a flutter in his chest, not even a spark of interest. He got nothing. “You understand that, right? Because you play ball. You had to push yourself all the time in order to make it to the big leagues.”
“Yep.”
“So we’re kind of the same.” She snuggled up to his arm as they walked around the splash pool. The night was pleasantly warm, and the sound of water running over the strategically placed rocks soothed his troubled mind. Kelly, with her smiles and chipper attitude, thought the night was going better than he did. She continued to pull him tighter to her side, her arm like a vice, cutting off his circulation. “Oh, look, an old-fashioned merry-go-round.”
“Let’s ride.” Brock used the excuse that he needed to get his wallet out to shake her off. There wasn’t a line, so he purchased the tickets quickly. “Julia would get a kick out of taking pictures with this thing. I’ll have to mention it to Sheila—see if they want to have an autograph party down here or something.” Brock bit his tongue. Yes, Sheila and Julia were the only two people he and Kelly had in common, but that was the third time he’d brought up Sheila. If Kelly noticed, she did a good job of hiding it.
The same attendant who sold the tickets went around to let them in. “Have a nice ride.”
“Thanks.” Kelly winked at him over her shoulder.
Instead of going to the double-seater, Brock climbed on a black stallion. He was so big, and the horse so small, that his feet could touch the ground. It would be a miracle if the horse was able to move up and down with him on it.
Kelly perched sidesaddle on the pink horse next to his. It was the same color as her tight pants. Her knees brushed his thigh. “What were we talking about? Oh, our competitive drive. Some people have it, and some don’t.”
She lifted a bare shoulder. She wore a peek-a-boo blouse that flowed beautifully, and her hair was down in big curls. She was wearing more makeup than she had the other day too. If Brock was hanging out with a friend, he’d be having a great time, but the feeling that Kelly thought she had found more than that wouldn’t let him relax.
“Sheila doesn’t have that drive.”
“What?” The merry-go-round lurched into motion, and Brock grabbed on to the pole to keep from falling off the back end of his horse.
“Sheila. She doesn’t have the drive. You know she scored higher than I did on the MCATs? She was supposed to follow me into med school, but she backed out because she couldn’t stand the competition.”
He snorted. That was unlikely. “Sheila isn’t one to back down.”
“She did.”
“Maybe it was the following part she didn’t like.” He leaned over to make his point. “People like us aren’t good followers. We’re leaders.”
Kelly sniffed delicately. “Then she should have shown me up and taken the lead. If I can’t hold up against the competition, I want to know.” She glanced down at where her hands rested on the saddle. “I always thought she was smarter than me. It was hard growing up with her always nipping at my heels.”
Brock cleared his throat. “Well, you both turned out all right.”
Kelly giggled. “I guess.”
Brock caught a note of derision in her simple statement. He wasn’t going to poke the hornets’ nest and ask what she thought was wrong with Sheila’s career choice. He was, however, not going out with Kelly again. She wasn’t a bad person; she just wasn’t his person. The sooner they got back to their cars, the better.
Then, he’d find a way to help out with the mascot competition, because the time he’d spent at the bakery had been more enjoyable than this date. And spending more time with Sheila was a perk he could get used to.
Chapter Seven
Sheila
