Winning the Right Brother(27)

“Just Will,” she answered, inhaling the delicious aroma of coffee and hot buttered toast. There was fruit, too, sliced up and arranged on a plate. “He’s on this health kick, thanks to you I think, where he insists on cooking us both a lot of hearty breakfasts that I never eat.” She looked again at the tray in front of her. “Normally I don’t have a big appetite when I first wake up in the morning, but this really looks good.”

Holly glanced up in time to catch his grin, and her heart skipped a beat. That was one killer smile. And now she’d be seeing it every day.

“That’s because it isn’t morning,” he informed her. “It’s two o’clock in the afternoon. You slept for twelve hours, beating your son by about forty-five minutes. He’s had his hearty breakfast and is now downstairs pawing through my music collection. What does it mean when a fifteen-year-old likes your taste in CDs? Does it mean you’re really cool, or that he’s kind of a geek?”

“Will is not a geek,” she said indignantly.

“Which must mean I’m cool,” he said smugly, grinning at her again, which made her think it might be a good idea to focus on something else, like her coffee. She looked down at the big blue mug, three quarters full of steaming black fluid, and added cream and sugar with careful attention.

“Mmm,” she said after the first sip and looked at him in surprise. “You make good coffee.”

“After thirty-five years as a bachelor, yes, I have learned to make good coffee.”

He was looking at the left side of her face as he spoke, and suddenly he leaned forward, running the tip of his index finger lightly over the scratch there. It hadn’t turned out to be very deep or serious after Holly had cleaned it last night, and she hadn’t even bothered with a Band-Aid.

The sensation of Alex’s fingertip tickled a little bit, making her shiver, and Holly turned her head away. But then his fingers were twining around a strand of her hair that he tucked behind her ear. Holly drew in a sharp breath.

“That scratch looks a lot better today,” he said softly, his touch lingering, and Holly felt her stomach muscles tighten. She licked her lips nervously and Alex pulled away, clearing his throat.

“Unfortunately, I don’t make much else other than coffee, although I do manage to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and reasonably healthy things. I’m just not very creative in the kitchen.”

“Not interested in the culinary arts?” Holly asked, pleased that her voice sounded so normal.

Alex shrugged. “There doesn’t seem to be much point when you live alone. Maybe now that you and Will are here I’ll get inspired. I’ll have to get some more interesting groceries, though. Speaking of shopping, I thought we could hit the mall today to buy you and Will some clothes and other necessaries. I know we’re not going to be able to replace everything you lost overnight, but at least we can make a start.”

Holly was staring at him. “You’re a good guy,” she said slowly, as if realizing it for the first time. “You really are a good guy. You’re not a jerk.” She shook her head. “I was wrong about you, Alex.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “Well, thanks. It’s good that you don’t think I’m a jerk anymore. Let me return the compliment. You’re a good guy, too, Holly Stanton.”

Holly started to smile. He looked so cute sitting there at the foot of the bed, his brown hair a little tousled and his blue eyes crinkling up at the corners when he smiled at her like that. She really liked him. How could she have missed out on a potential friendship like this?

“Nope,” she said now, enjoying herself. “Not good enough. I’m going to make you refute every one of the lousy things you’ve said to me over the years. Uptight, for instance.”

He considered it. “Well, you look pretty relaxed right now, so I guess I can take that one back.”

“Stuck up and holier-than-thou.”

“Okay, that I don’t even have to think about. Definitely not.”

“Stubborn.”

Alex snorted. “Sorry, kid, but that one I’m going to stand by.”

Holly made a face at him. “Fine. What else did you call me? Oh, right. Repressed.”

Alex’s eyebrows went up and he grinned again, this time slow and lazy, and Holly felt a sudden blaze of heat that started down low and moved through all her limbs. “Well,” he drawled. “Let me see. I think you blew that one out of water on Saturday night, wouldn’t you say?”

It was her own fault for bringing it up, Holly thought, blushing furiously. She’d been hoping to avoid any references to Saturday night as long as she was staying in Alex’s house, and here she’d gone and reminded him of it.