“Believe me, the last person I’d ever want to date is Nick. I’ve never met anyone who gets under my skin like he can!”
“My point, exactly.” Jo turned off the light.
***
Nick headed for home. Watching the game on Monday from an executive suite with all the food and beer he wanted would be awesome. It even included a limo so he wouldn’t have to worry about having a few drinks and then driving. And he’d get to see Shelby again.
Thanks dear old dad. You bastard!
As Nick pulled into his driveway, visions of a pair of sweats and a cold beer filled his head. What a crapper of a night.
Just as the garage door rumbled closed behind him, his doorbell peeled. Must be Beth.
He swung his front door open and found blonde, beautiful Beth standing before him in her skimpy robe. “Hey, there.” Beth in her see-through robe couldn’t hold a candle to Shelby in her red dress.
“You’re wearing a tux?” Beth’s eyes grew wide. “Yum.”
She slapped the door shut behind her, pressed her lush body against his and kissed him. He quickly broke the kiss, suddenly realizing how badly it was Shelby’s full lips he’d like to taste.
He grasped Beth’s wrists to stop her busy fingers from trying to unbutton his shirt. “I thought we were going our separate ways.”
She smiled. “I made a mistake. I miss you, Nick.”
His sister’s words about Beth staying away so he’d miss her clanged in his head. Crap.
He took her hand and led her to the couch, gently nudging her onto it. “When we were together, we never spent the entire night, and we didn’t go to dinners or movies, so we wouldn’t get attached. Right?”
“Well, yeah. But . . . don’t you miss me at all, Nick?” When Beth’s eyes misted with tears, his stomach took a dive. His sister had been right. And did that mean she was right about the other thing too? The part about Beth being in love with him?
He ran a hand through his hair, searching for the right words. “Of course I miss you, Beth. As a friend, absolutely. But I told you from the beginning I couldn’t give you anything more than friendship.”
Beth closed her eyes and her shoulders slumped. “I know that in my head, but my heart thinks otherwise. You’d be a great husband and father, Nick. Something tells me it’s just going to take the right woman to make you see that.” She opened her eyes and stared deeply into his for a moment before shaking her head. “But I’m not that woman. Am I?”
A stab of guilt arrowed straight to his gut. She wasn’t and never would be, but that didn’t mean he wanted to hurt her.
“They’re my issues, not yours, that make it impossible to be together long-term, Beth. You are an incredible woman and deserve more than I can give you.”
She slowly stood as a single tear ran down her cheek.
He wanted to ease her pain, but it’d be best to let her go. Any encouragement he gave would give her the wrong idea.
Beth wiped her cheek and worked up a smile. “Well, then it looks like it’s time for both of us to get back out there and quit taking the easy road.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered, “But I still want to peel you out of that tux, Nick. How about it? One last time?”
After a month without sex, it killed him, but he couldn’t. Not when they had to end things. And not when a certain sexy little blonde with killer green eyes kept popping into his thoughts at the most annoying moments. “It’d just make this harder. I want to part as friends.” He took her hand and led her to the door.
She forced a sad smile. “We’ll always be friends, Nick. If you change your mind, I’m right down the street. ’Nite.” She gave him a soft kiss on the cheek then walked toward her house.
He waited until she was inside, then closed his door. Something in his gut told him that had been way too easy. Especially if the “L” word had been involved.
Beth just needed to find the right guy, and then she’d be fine. First thing in the morning, assuming Shelby had cooled off enough to talk to him, he’d find that for Beth. And by throwing another client Shelby’s way, maybe she’d forgive him for abandoning her on stage.
Problem solved.
CHAPTER SIX
“Chester liked to tease girls and pull their hair because he secretly liked them. But that can get a monkey into big trouble.”
Chester’s Very Long Timeout
Shelby paused the yoga workout playing on her television to answer the doorbell. It was probably Jo’s mom stopping by on her way home from church to lecture them because they’d skipped.
After wiping the sweat from her face with a towel, she peered through the peephole.