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Sighing, she shut down his computer. Just then her cell phone rang and the caller ID announced her mother. Her stomach knotted because they hadn’t talked yet. She’d had to leave a message and now her mom was getting back to her.
She hit the send button. “Hi, Mom.”
“Hey, Livvie. Sorry I didn’t call you sooner, but your text said to call when I had time to talk. Even now I barely have a minute, but wanted to get back to you. What’s up? Is everything okay?”
Without actually answering that question, she asked one of her own. “Have you seen Maureen O’Keefe?”
“Not since we had breakfast this morning. Why?”
“There’s something I have to tell you, Mom. You’re aware that I’ve been thinking of quitting my job.”
“Of course. You already gave your notice twice and Brady talked you into staying.”
“He has a way of doing that. But this time I made sure it will take.”
“You quit?” There was barely a question mark in her mother’s voice.
“Yes. I didn’t tell you guys in advance this time because of the other two times it came to nothing. But I had to tell Brady I was leaving.”
“Well, of course you did. He’s the boss and will need to replace you.”
“Exactly. But Maureen dropped by and he told her.”
“So that’s why you’re sharing now. You wanted us to hear it from you.”
“Partly. It’s just that this time I wanted to make sure I went through with it. The thing is, Mom, I’ve accepted a job with a college friend of mine who’s starting up a technology company in California.”
There was a moment of silence, long enough to make Olivia hate herself for not delivering this information face-to-face. But she couldn’t chance that the news would get back to her mother before she’d had an opportunity to say something.
Finally words filled the silence. “That sounds like an exciting opportunity, sweetie. It’s good to shake things up.”
“Speaking of that...” She took a breath. “Maureen will ask you about my boyfriend...”
“You’re going out with someone? Have I met him?”
“I’m pretty sure you haven’t.” No one had. Not even Olivia.
“That’s wonderful, honey.” Her voice sounded rushed. “Look, I’m so sorry. But I have to run. Are you still coming for dinner this weekend?”
“Of course.”
“Good. You can tell us all about your news then. Bye. Love you.”
“Okay, Mom. Love you.”
She hit the end button, then looked around Brady’s office as she was about to turn off the lights. Her gaze rested on the place where they’d stood when he kissed her. Memories of that perfect moment squeezed her heart.
Why did he kiss her now, when she was really leaving? It would be one more thing to miss when she was gone. And she had a bad feeling that no man’s kiss would ever be quite as incredibly, deliciously adequate as Brady’s had been.
* * *
On the drive out of Blackwater Lake to his sister’s house, Brady still couldn’t quite believe he’d kissed Olivia. He was used to being the smartest guy in the room, but what he’d done was colossally dumb. In fact it set a new and higher bar for dumbness. Thanks to probably the hottest kiss he’d ever had, it made him completely aware of his executive assistant in every way. Not only that, he couldn’t stop thinking about how easy and natural it would have been to sweep her upstairs and into his bed. And he was still regretting that he hadn’t, because there was no doubt in his mind that she’d have gone with him.
Since the day he’d hired her, he’d always been able to close off these thoughts, but kissing her opened the door and there was no way to shove the messy flood of feelings back inside. So he needed a distraction.
“And I know just the thing.”
He turned off the main road into Maggie’s driveway and up to the three-story log cabin set in a clearing surrounded by evergreen trees. The yard in front had grass bordered by bushes and flowers, which were not blooming in January. This place was like something out of a fairy tale and any second he expected the seven dwarfs to march out of the woods singing “Hi Ho.”
Brady exited the low-slung sports car then jogged up the steps and knocked. A few seconds later the dead bolt clicked.
Maggie opened the door. “Hello, Uncle Brady.”
“Ba-ay!” His niece, pretty in pink from head to toe, toddled over and grabbed her mother’s leg.
“If it isn’t Snow White and the littlest dwarf, Sunshine.” He grabbed up the little girl and lifted her high in the air, where she giggled happily. “How are my two favorite girls?”
“Don’t let Mom hear you say that.”
“She knows I put her into a completely different category.”
“Right.” Maggie grinned. “You’re still her favorite.”
“And you’re still bitter about that.” He settled Danielle on his forearm and moved farther into the room.
“Always.”
His sister was a beautiful woman, and that was a strictly impartial male observation. Shiny brown hair fell past her shoulders to the middle of her back and her eyes, depending on her mood, were warm like dark cocoa or cool and shaded like smooth brandy. For nearly two years they’d been more like the latter. Any man would be lucky to have her, but the one who’d won her heart had died almost two years ago while bravely serving his country in Afghanistan. Now his two favorite girls were alone.
“You’re here earlier than expected. Want a beer?”
“Love one.” When Danielle wiggled to get down, Brady set her on the wooden floor in the big, open great room. “I’m here early because I missed you guys.”
Maggie walked around a kitchen island big enough to land a helicopter before stopping in front of the refrigerator. Glancing over her shoulder, she said, “What’s wrong, Brady?”
“Nothing.” No way he was that easy to read. “Why do you think something’s wrong?”
“You look funny.” Maggie set his beer on a coaster on the coffee table. “Everything okay at work?”
“Fine.” If you didn’t factor in him kissing Olivia.
He sat down on the earth-tone woven area rug that covered the middle of the room to play with his niece. Danielle pulled over a wicker toy basket filled with dolls, stuffed animals and fat play figures that fit in her tiny hands. Chattering to herself in a language only she knew, she started unloading her toys one at a time into his lap.
“How are you?” he asked his sister.
“Good. I’m thinking of expanding the ice-cream parlor into the available business space next door. Make it a sandwich shop. With homemade soup. Quiche. Salads made with organic greens. Free-range chicken and grass-fed beef.”
Brady held still while his niece crawled onto his thigh and threw a teddy bear out of her way to make room. When she was settled, he braced a hand on her back for stability.
“Are you going to have hamburgers?”
“Hadn’t considered it.” Maggie sat on the dark-colored sofa and thought for a moment. “Maybe veggie and turkey.”
“You don’t want it too girly. You want your marketing window open wide. Don’t turn off the guys with too much chick food.”
“Good point.” She smiled fondly at her daughter, who’d pulled a pink feather boa from the bottom of the toy basket and was doing her best to wrap it around Brady’s neck. “Speaking of girly...”
“Don’t you dare take a picture. No way this leaves your house,” he warned.
“Serves you right for buying it.”
“I couldn’t come home from that San Francisco trip empty-handed.”
“Danielle wouldn’t know the difference.”
“She’s smarter than you think. She would know Uncle Brady went away and didn’t bring her something.” He smiled at the solemn concentration on the little girl’s face. “Besides, I’m all about retail bribery to secure her affections.”
Maggie beamed at him. “You would be a terrific father, Brady.”
“Why? Because I spoil your child?”
“No. Although that’s important, too.” Her expression turned tender. “Just spending a lot of time with her like you do means so much. Every little girl needs a positive male role model in her life so she knows what to look for when she grows up.” Her eyes took on the familiar sadness. “You should have a bunch of kids to fill up that obscenely big house of yours.”
“Not likely,” he said.
“Surely you have women throwing themselves at you. You’re okay-looking if one can ignore those ears.”
Brady threw a foam-rubber pink ball in her direction. “Funny.”
“Seriously, you’re rich and handsome. A pretty good personality. And, quite frankly, you’re getting to the age where people are beginning to wonder and ask questions.”
Folks in Blackwater Lake gossiped about anything and everything anyway. But Maggie meant something more. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re not getting any younger, and inquiring minds want to know if you’re gay. Or if there’s some dark and twisted reason for you not getting married and having children.”
“I don’t need to explain. Let’s just call it highly unlikely.”
“But why?” Maggie persisted.
“It’s not complicated.” He watched his niece totter over to pick up the ball and then put it in her mouth. “I’m just not a falling-in-love kind of guy.”
And that was the primary reason to acknowledge his not-just-business awareness of Olivia Lawson all these years. Hurting her wasn’t an option—and that’s what would happen if he started something he had no intention of finishing.
Except a little while ago he had started something.
“You’re wrong,” Maggie said.
“About?”
“Being the falling-in-love sort.”
“Oh?” He grabbed his niece and lifted her onto his shoulders, where she squealed with delight and slapped the top of his head with her little hands. “Why do you say that?”
“Here’s my theory and worth what you paid for it. Feel free to blow me off.” She met his gaze. “You won’t let anyone close because you’re afraid of losing them. Because it hurts when you lose them.”
“Don’t quit your day job and take up psychoanalysis,” he teased, but there was a lot of truth in her words.
As if she hadn’t heard the taunt, Maggie continued. “We lost Dad that Christmas you came home from college.”
“Yeah.” A trauma like that stayed with a guy forever.
Brady and his father hadn’t always been close but then his dad changed jobs, allowing him to be home all the time. He’d coached Brady’s baseball team and never missed a high school football game whether or not his son was playing.
He would never forget how his father had collapsed and died in his arms. One minute life was normal and happy, the next it changed forever. And the absence of the man he’d grown to love and emulate was a gaping black hole. It did hurt. So sue him.
“Is there a point to bringing this up?” he asked irritably.
“Then Henry was killed in the accident.”
His best friend. The two incidents were a painful lesson that someone you love can suddenly be gone. The only way to keep from hurting was not to care.
Brady met his sister’s gaze. “Of all people, you should understand. You lost Dad, too. And then Danny. I know how hard that was on you.”
“Still is.” The words were spoken softly as she stared at her daughter. “She has his dimples and the shape of his face. Losing him was the worst thing I’ve ever gone through.”
“So you understand why it’s unlikely there will ever be anyone special for me.”
“No, I really don’t.” She was still looking at her little girl. “At least I had a great love and know what that feels like.”
“If it was so great, why don’t you do it again?” Brady countered. “Why aren’t you dating?”
She sighed. “For one thing, it’s not easy when you have a child. How many people want to start a relationship with someone who has a kid?”
“I think you’d be surprised. Look at Adam Stone and Jill Beck. He adopted C.J. after they got married.”
“Okay.” She thought for a minute. “But then there’s Cabot Dixon and Tyler.”
Cabot was a good friend of Brady’s. His wife had walked out right after Tyler was born and he remained happily single. “Maybe he’s not the falling-in-love sort, either.”
Maggie made an unladylike snorting noise. “We can trade examples all night, but that won’t change what’s going on with you.”
“And that is?”
“Your only excuse for refusing to open yourself up to love is that you’re chicken.”
“What is this? Pick-on-Brady day?”
“Did someone else tarnish your image?”
“No way I’m passing this one on. You know how rumors spread here in Blackwater Lake.”
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