Girl Next Door - The Complete Series (15 page)

I was having a really nice dream. Gentle fingers were touching my face, sliding down my cheek and jaw to my neck. I smiled and stretched, making a low noise in my throat. The fingers drifted into my hair, running through it.

“Cat, you’re going to get sunburned.”

The man’s voice was familiar, but, hovering between sleep and wakefulness, I couldn’t place it. I turned on my side, tucking my hands beneath my cheek, and grunted at him. He needed to be quiet and just keep playing with my hair. It felt lovely.

“Cat.” There was that voice again.

Annoyed, I refused to open my eyes. “Go away.”

The man chuckled. “You’re a redhead, Cat. I have a feeling you’re gonna regret it if I do what you say.”

I groaned and opened my eyes a little. Apparently, I’d been asleep for a while, because the sun was high in the sky and almost blinding. The man sitting on the chaise next to me blocked the sunlight from shining directly into my eyes, but it was still pretty bright out. I woke completely and realized that the fingers smoothing through my hair belonged to Patrick Hart. In a blink I was wide awake and sitting straight up.

Patrick smirked but kept playing with my hair. I pulled back, leaning against the seat, and Patrick let my hair slide through his fingers until it fell back to my shoulder.

I cleared my throat. “What are you doing here, Patrick?”

His face grew serious and he handed me the glass of water I’d brought out with me. “I wanted to apologize for this morning and see if I could talk you into feeding me,” he paused when I glared at him, “or at least going out for a quick lunch. The kitchen at my house is almost completely empty. I think all I have is a couple of slices of bread and a banana. When you didn’t answer the door, I let myself in and saw you out here. You do realize it’s almost twelve-thirty and you’re lying in the sun, right?”

I sipped the water and scowled at him. “I appreciate the concern, smartass.”

He chuckled. “Your face is already a little pink, would you prefer I let you lie out here and burn to a crisp?” His index finger tapped the tip of my nose.

I rolled my eyes. “Okay, so thanks for waking me up. I’d prefer to avoid obtaining any more freckles.” My stomach growled loudly. “Did you say something about lunch?”

Patrick threw his head back and laughed. “Yes, I did. I am sorry I scared you this morning. Let me take you out for lunch to make it up to you.”

I squinted at him, trying to decide if he was toying with me or being sincere. What the hell, he could take me out to lunch and I’d order the most expensive items on the menu as payback. “Okay, but I get to choose the place.” I paused. “And you’re buying me dessert.”

Patrick smiled and stood up. “Okay.” He held out a hand and helped me stand. “Go get your stuff together and we’ll go wherever you want.”

I went up to the guestroom, ran a brush through my hair, and slid some flip flops on my feet. We didn’t speak as he led me next door and loaded me into his Jeep. I gave him the name of one of my favorite restaurants. They would still be serving Sunday brunch, and the frittata was to die for. Once we arrived at the restaurant and were seated, Patrick looked at me, smiling.

“So, exactly how much am I going to have to spend here today to get you to forgive me?”

I did not like that he had me figured out so thoroughly. I opened the menu and began looking it over, even though I knew exactly what I wanted.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He smiled. “Sure you do.”

I sighed and closed the menu with a snap. “Fine, I will be ordering at least two mimosas, bruschetta, frittata, and dessert. Once I have consumed as much of those as possible, I might be in the mood to let you off the hook.”

He laughed. I didn’t want to be amused, but I couldn’t stop the small smile from surfacing. It seemed he appreciated my quirky sense of humor. “I think I can handle that,” he said.

I crinkled my nose at him. “The whole point of me ordering the most expensive thing on the menu is to cause you pain, well, at least cause your wallet pain. What good is forgiveness without at least a little retribution?”

He shook his head. “I think the whole point of forgiveness is to let go of grievances without retribution, Cat.”

“Why would I want to do that? I’m still a bit perturbed with you and I think you should pay.”

He chuckled, still shaking his head. “Sure thing, sweetness.”

I opened my mouth to blast him for his condescending attitude, but the waitress arrived. I ordered everything I told Patrick I would and decided, just for calling me sweetness, he would be buying me at least three mimosas.

Lunch was more pleasant than I expected. Patrick was actually pretty funny and he seemed to get my twisted sense of humor. We also had more in common than I thought. He liked the same mystery novels I did and we both enjoyed horror films. I doubted Patrick slept with a lamp on for a few days afterward. I also doubted that he checked out his closet before going to bed for at least a week after he’d watched the film. I didn’t mention either of these things, because even Nat made fun of me for freaking out after I watched a scary movie. When she asked me why I kept watching the damn things, I told her the truth. I liked being scared, at least while I was watching the movie. The paranoia that followed wasn’t as fun.

I ate quite a bit and downed three mimosas. I would have had four, but I didn’t think I could hold all the food and drink. Patrick paid the bill, winking at me as he did it. I ignored the little flutter in my belly when he did, chalking it up to too much food.

We got into the car and rode in silence back to Nat’s house. I wasn’t sure what to say so I just watched the streets and businesses pass by. Patrick had surprised me today. He had been different today than any other time we’d spent together. All the sparring and bickering from before was gone. Sure, he’d teased me and he could be incredibly sarcastic, but it was funny rather than annoying. He was actually a pretty cool guy.

I stiffened. He was my type of guy, the kind of guy I would have gone for a few years ago before I realized that happily ever after would never exist for me. I closed my eyes. I couldn’t go back there again. The hope of the fairy tale and the crushing of that hope had left me devastated. I opened my eyes and looked over at Patrick. He was looking at me like he could see right into my brain and he knew exactly what I was thinking.

He studied me for a moment, eyes intense. I turned back toward the window and ignored him. When I glanced back over at him again, he was looking at the road. He pulled into his garage and shut off the car. We climbed out of the car. The strange tension in me unwound when I got a little space to myself.

Before I turned away and walked out the garage, I gave him a small smile. “You’re forgiven for this morning, by the way.”

I saw his grin flash.

With that, I walked over to Nat’s house. I also decided that I would avoid Patrick Hart for the foreseeable future. He was too dangerous to my peace of mind.

I stuck with my decision to avoid Patrick for two whole days. Unfortunately, my clumsiness ruined my decision. It was a running joke among my family and friends that I literally couldn’t walk and breathe at the same time. What made this even funnier to them was my decision to become a physical therapist. Even my patients made comments about how klutzy I was. So, Tuesday night, after my shift at the hospital, I was getting out of the shower when I slipped. Arms pinwheeling, I grabbed whatever I could get my hands on. The first thing my fingers brushed was the hose hanging from the shower head. I grabbed ahold and ripped the entire damn thing off the wall. I managed to keep my feet and avoid breaking a hip on the side of the tub, but I held the hose with the shower head dangling from it. Great.

“Dammit!” I stared at the object in my hand and then up at the naked pipe sticking out of the wall.

I dropped the shower head in the bottom of the tub and climbed out. After I dried off and pulled on some comfy lounge pants and a tee, I went back into the bathroom to inspect the damage. I knew there was no way I could fix the damn thing. I refused to call Nat and Aidan on their honeymoon, so there was only one person I could call. Well, I could call a plumber, but I really didn’t want to. Besides, why would I waste my money on something that I could have Patrick fix for free?

I steeled myself and slid on a pair of shoes. I walked across the front yard. It was already dark and cool. I knocked on Patrick’s door, rocking back and forth on my feet. After a few seconds, he opened the door and I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head. Apparently, Patrick was getting ready for bed too because he was dressed in a loose pair of lounge pants and that was it. I swallowed hard.

“Um, I’m sorry to bother you, Patrick. I sort of had an accident and I need your help.”

He leaned against the doorjamb and ran his eyes over me. “You look fine.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m fine. The shower head didn’t fare so well.”

He stayed exactly where he was and I knew, I
knew
, he was planning on giving me a hard time. I crossed my arms over my chest and tapped my toe.

“This is your brother’s house we’re talking about. Do you want him and your brand new sister-in-law to come home to a messed up bathroom? I can assure you I will tell them that I asked you for help and you refused.”

I guess the guilt card worked well with the Hart brothers, because Patrick sighed and straightened.

“Let me grab a shirt and some shoes and we’ll head over there.”

Huh?

“I’ll just go on and wait for you next door.”

He shook his head. “No, wait for me here. It’s dark. I’ll walk with you.”

I rolled my eyes again. Overprotective streak a mile wide, I realized.

“Fine.”

Patrick opened the door wider and I stepped into the front hall. He gestured toward the living room. “Have a seat and I’ll be right down.”

I walked to the den and looked around. Some of Aidan’s furniture was still there, but the rest appeared to be Patrick’s. It all looked comfy and large, made to sprawl out on and watch a game or a movie. The news was on so I settled on the couch and watched. A few minutes later, Patrick sauntered into the room wearing a faded pair of jeans, a ratty gray tee, and a pair of sneakers.

“Okay, let’s go.” He grabbed the remote and clicked the television off.

We walked next door and I led Patrick up to the guest bathroom. He took one look at the shower head and burst out laughing.

“What in the hell happened?”

I sighed. “If you didn’t already know, I’m extremely clumsy. I slipped when I was getting out of the shower and grabbed the hose connected to the shower head. I pulled the whole thing off the wall.”

Patrick inspected the damage. The only object left intact was the pipe sticking out of the wall. “I’m going to have to replace the entire thing. I’m sure Aidan has a couple out in the garage.”

Aidan and Patrick were partners and general contractors. They owned their own business. Still, I would never have expected for Aidan to just have an extra shower head lying around. I said as much and Patrick smiled.

“Sometimes we have leftover fixtures from jobs, so we keep them around for just this kind of occasion.”

“Do you need me to help, or something?”

Patrick slid me a sideways look. “I think you’ve done enough already.” He softened the remark with a smirk and I realized he was being a smart ass.

“Fine. I’ve got stuff to do.” I started to leave the bathroom.

“Hey, Cat, I was just teasing you,” he said.

I smirked back at him. “I know. No offense taken.”

“You could do one thing to help.”

I waited.

“Could you grab me a beer?”

I couldn’t help myself. I laughed and decided to get him a beer because he was saving me the trouble of hiring a plumber. After I delivered his beer, I made some popcorn and settled down on the couch to watch a movie. Of course, I picked my favorite genre, horror. The movie was getting tense and I had most of the lights in the living room dimmed. Hey, that was the only way to enjoy a scary movie. Suddenly, a heavy hand landed on my shoulder. I shrieked and leapt to my feet. The bowl toppled out of my lap and popcorn flew everywhere.

Patrick stood behind me, both hands raised as if to show me he wasn’t a threat. He was still for a second, but soon he was laughing uproariously.

I clenched my hands into fists. “Dammit, Patrick, you scared the shit out of me. It’s not nice to sneak up on someone in the dark, especially when they’re watching a scary movie!”

He bent over and wrapped his arms around his stomach, still laughing like a lunatic. The damn sneak was laughing so hard, he couldn’t even speak. Okay, I wasn’t so freaked out anymore, I was heading straight for seriously annoyed. I walked around the couch and punched him the arm.

“I’m glad you think this is amusing, Patrick, but I almost expired from a heart attack. I also have a shitload of popcorn to clean up.” I thought about this for a second. “Well, you have a lot of popcorn to clean up since it is your fault I spilled it.”

Patrick finally straightened, wiping his eyes. “You should have seen the look on your face.” He chuckled again. “Priceless and worth every piece of popcorn I’m going to have to chase down.”