“You kissed her?Was it that bad?I mean, she’s a very beautiful woman.I would have thought that kissing her would have been nice.”He looked at his brother and knew that he’d made a mistake in telling him that he’d kissed her.“What is wrong with you?I’m not going to leave until you tell me what’s happened between the two of you.”
Penrod thought that if he had to think about Lori much more, he was going to explode.She’d just been a woman that he’d gone out with and nothing more.He didn’t think she was for him, and that was final.He looked up at his brother and sighed heavily.
“I kissed her at the door and wanted more.More, I don’t know what, but I thought of her being in my new house, and I panicked.”He asked if he thought that he was in love with her.“I don’t know what I feel about her.But the thought of her being in my home is something that I thought about all night.That’s not right.I don’t need someone in my home when I just got it the way that I wanted it.Do I?”
“I have no idea what you’ve been thinking.But I have a feeling that you’ve blamed it on her and she’s going to be pissed off.”He asked why.“Because you left her there at her door after kissing her.Did you even say anything to her?”
“That I had to work this morning.That I had to go.Then I spent the entire night cleaning my apartment like it was a crime scene that I had to clean up afterwards.I even washed my mustard bottle before putting it back in the fridge.”He eyed his brother.“Don’t tell me that mustard doesn’t go into the fridge.I like it cold when I use it.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything about how weird you are for putting your mustard in the fridge.But I will point out that you cleaned your bottles before putting them back.Who does that but a person who can’t think?I bet you can’t tell me a single thing that you thought about all night while cleaning, can you?”
“Nothing.When I came into work today, I nearly had three accidents because my mind was blank.How is that love, I ask you?It’s not.It’s me trying to convince myself that I’m not in love with her and don’t want her at my house.”He asked if he was sure.“No.I’m not sure about anything anymore.Why did I have to go out with her in the first place?Gilman was going to ask her, but he told me to do it.Now all I want to do is find Gilman and beat the shit out of him for making me ask her out.”
“How did he make you ask her out?”He wiped his hand over his face and said he’d not.“Then let him ask her out, and you’ll be off the hook with her.”
“Yes, that’s what I’ll do.I don’t care that he dates her.”He didn’t think he did anyway.The thought of Gilman pawing her at the door had him sitting up straighter in the chair.“He’ll not be kissing her, though.I draw the line at him doing that.”
“What do you care?”Why did he care?He didn’t know, but he just did.And when he thought of Gilman asking her out, using his charm on her made him want to find Gilman and beat the shit out of him.And he didn’t even know why.Penrod looked at his brother, and he was smiling.“You have itbad, don’t you, little brother?”
Did he?Could he be in love with Lori after just one date?That didn’t seem right for him.He didn’t want to be in love with anyone just yet.His house.He’d just gotten it, and now he was going to have to share it with someone else even before he moved in.And what if she didn’t like the house?What was he supposed to do then?Move to someplace else simply because it didn’t suit her?He loved his new home and didn’t want to move just yet.
“I’m going to call Gilman and tell him that it didn’t work out between us, and he can have her.Anyone can have her as far as I’m concerned.”He didn’t feel that way in his heart, but he wasn’t going to let his brother know.“As for having it bad, I don’t know what it is you’re talking about.I had a date with her, and it didn’t work out the way that I wanted it to.That’s all it was.Nothing more.”
“Sure.Call Gilman now and tell him.There’s still time for him to ask her out tonight.”He picked up the phone, determined to do just that when it rang.Damned if it wasn’t Gilman.“Tell him what you were going to tell him.”
“Gilman, I had a date with Lori last night, and I think she’d be better suited to dating someone like you.We just didn’t click.”Gilman asked him if he was sure.“I’m as sure about that as I am about anything.You take her out and have a good time with her.I don’t care.”
But he did, and the pain in his chest was telling him so.There was no way that he’d fallen in love with a woman after one date, no matter how much fun she’d been.And they had clicked, he just didn’t want his family to know that.As soon as he told his brother that she loved seafood, he knew that he wasn’t going to see her again.There was no point in it.She’d fall in love with his brother, and he’d have to move away from the country because seeing her with his brother was going to destroy him.
For the rest of the afternoon and into the evening, he worked on paperwork.There seemed to be an endless supply of things that needed to be filed after making sure that they were right.After getting his desk cleared of things that were on it, he managed to get some files off his captain’s desk, too.
When four o’clock rolled around, he was exhausted.Being up all night was taking its toll on him, and he just wanted to go home and go to bed.After the short drive to his home, he couldn’t believe how clean his place was and decided that he was going to have things packed up to take to his new home.
No time like the present, and since everything was cleaned, all he would have to do is unpack it and put it away.Even his bed had clean sheets on it, so that he could put it together in the master suite, so that he could rest.Deciding to take a nap, he lay down on his bed after making a few calls.
He was going to be moved in on Thursday, and that was two days from today.Then all he’d have to do was find him some staff to run the place, and he’d be set up.He did find himself wondering what Lori would think about the house, but he shut that down almost as soon as he thought about it.It was his house, and he was the one who mattered where it was concerned.
Lying down on his bed, he only thought was that he would lie there for a few minutes, then he’d be all right.Almost as soon as his head hit his pillow, he realized that he was going to be down for a while.He did have his final thoughts of the day about Lori and what she was doing on her date with his brother, but rolled to his side and pushed that thought away.He wasn’t going to think about Gilman and her out on a date because it was none of his business.
He wasn’t going to think about her having sex with him either.None of what she did was going to be any of his concern, and he wasn’t going to be pissed off at his brother for getting laid.It was his business if he wanted to go to bed with a near stranger.He began tossing and turning.
If it was none of his business, then why was he so bothered by the idea of any of his brothers going out with Lori?His head just wasn’t screwed in straight was all he could think about.Damned woman.
Chapter 5
Lori wasn’t having a good time.Gilman was all right, but he wasn’t his brother.They went to dinner first, and she’d enjoyed the food, but the conversation was never got there so that they could talk about things other than work.She found herself talking more about her last few days at work than she did about anything else.And she thought that was just sad.
She didn’t tell him about the money either.Not that she didn’t trust him as much as she had Penrod, but it just didn’t seem right.He was funny and listened to her when she spoke, but he didn’t engage her like Penrod had.She knew then that she’d not go out with him or any of the other Hathaway brothers because Penrod didn’t ask her.
“He told me to ask you out because you two didn’t hit it off.I think he was lying to me.”She asked him what he meant.“I think you’re wondering why you went out with me instead of Penrod tonight.”
“That’s not true.I’m having a good time.”He nodded, then laughed.“I don’t know what you think is so funny right now, but I am having a good time.”
But you’d rather be with Penrod.It’s all right.I understand.He’s a lot more charming than I am, and to be honest with you, he told me you weren’t his type.I think he was telling me that because you are his type.”She asked him what he was talking about.“You and Penrod hit it off really well, and he’s running scared.I would imagine that if I were to ask you out for a second date, you’d turn me down.Isn’t that right?”
“I don’t know what it is you’re talking about.What did he mean, I wasn’t his type?It was our first date.Only date, I guess.”She looked around the restaurant and felt tears fill her eyes.“He just left me there without a word other than that he had to go to work.He made me feel like I’d done something wrong with him.And I did have a wonderful time with him.I’m sorry.”She looked at him.“I’d don’t know why I said yes to going out with you.My heart hurts for how he treated me, and I’m not sure it wasn’t my fault.Maybe I said something that he didn’t like.”
“Did you fall in love with him?”She said it had only been the one date.“But could you?I mean, could you see yourself falling in love with him?I’m sure that’s what he felt about you when he left you at the door.By the way, I’m going to pound his head in when I see him next.He shouldn’t have just left you standing there.”
