Georgie on His Mind (7 page)

"Agreed." Georgie glanced down at the piece of paper in her
hands and grinned. Brad was going to be so surprised. He could
finally relax and have fun, without worrying about her for a
change. Then she could do what she wanted, when she wanted,
and with whom she wanted. Life was about to get good.

Unless Brad didn't win. Then she'd be back to square
one, and they'd both be back to living like hermits. For her
sanity's sake, she'd have to come up with a plan B.

Luckily, thanks to Walt, she already had an idea.

Walt hoped it looked as if he were enjoying a leisurely
night of watching Ultimate Fighting Championship on TVbecause he was far from feeling enjoyment. It was just as
well, though. Two-time champion Kent Franklin was getting
rocked, and Brad's old sofa was crippling his back. No wonder
he felt edgy and restless and unable to think about anything
but his friend's sister.

Maybe he shouldn't have been so hard on Georgie, ordering her not to enter that date contest today. What was it to
him? He didn't really care one way or another what she did.
It was her life. She was obviously a grown woman. For one
brief moment, he even considered it to be a good publicity
stunt for the pharmacy too. So why had he acted so overbearingly?

Because something had overtaken him. Something he
couldn't quite describe.

A protective instinct? Yeah, yeah, that's what it was-a
protective instinct. A brotherly protective instinct. It wasn't
jealousy he'd felt toward that actor Clay Hayes. He was just looking out for his little "sister" and worried about her getting tangled up with some celebrity hot shot. Georgie and
Brad were the closest things to siblings he had. It was only
natural he'd want to look out for her.

Walt carefully let out a relieved breath so as not to draw
any undue attention from Brad, who was sitting next to him.
He felt better already, because now he knew his actions today had everything to do with loyalty to his friend and
absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with how beautiful
Georgie had become. Or anything to do with those gorgeous
baby-blue eyes of hers. Or the way her lab coat seductively
clung to her body. Or ...

Oh, crap.

"So, who's the lucky woman?"

Walt choked and spit out his beer at Brad's question.
"What? Huh? I'm not thinking about any woman" He averted
his eyes and brushed down the front of his shirt, making sure
to block out any lingering thoughts he had about Georgie.

Brad placed his own beer down and frowned. "Easy, man.
I wasn't offering a penny for your thoughts. You seem a little
out of it, so I figured there had to be a woman involved somewhere"

"Uh, no, there's no woman. Not that my uncle hasn't
hinted that there should be one. But you're one to talk. What
about you? If you're sitting here with me, eating mediocre
pizza and drinking lukewarm beer, I'm gonna guess your
love life isn't so hot either."

Brad shrugged and turned his attention back to the TV.
Walt reached for another slice of pizza, grateful Brad had
decided not to pepper him with any more questions. Women
were not a topic Walt cared to discuss at the moment. When
he was good and ready he'd look for a nice local girl who
sparked his interest. He didn't have time for that now. He still needed to begin planting his life here in town. He needed
to find a place to live, meet some more people, get the business situated. Adding a woman to that mix would only cause
complications.

"So, have you seen Georgie yet?" Brad asked.

Walt's heart did a short tap dance-not quite a Fred Astaire rendition, but a tap dance nonetheless-at the mere
mention of her name. Uh-oh. Not good. And not a simple
complication, but a major complication, which was exactly
why Georgie wasn't a topic he wanted to delve into either.

Walt took a few more slugs of beer, hoping it would snap
some sense into him. "Uh, yeah, I saw her. We ... we barely
recognized one another." True, but a minor understatement.

Brad scratched his chin. "Yeah, I guess it has been a
while. Man, I'm glad you're here now. Maybe you can take
some of the heat off of me. Georgie and I can't seem to do
anything but argue since she's come home from college."

Although Walt didn't want to be reminded of Georgie
since it only led to thoughts he shouldn't feel comfortable
with, he couldn't resist prying out information about her.
Good grief. He wanted to smack himself. Back in his hometown less than a day and he was already thirty-one going on
thirteen. "Oh, yeah? What kind of problems could you be
having with Georgie?"

"You know," Brad said, looking hesitant. "I guess the
usual brother-and-sister type stuff."

"No, I don't know. If I'm going to have to start acting as
referee between you two, you might as well enlighten me
now."

Brad's gaze flicked to his, then he quickly looked away
again. "Well, for one thing, she thinks"-he cleared his
throat, then gave a weak laugh-"now get this, she thinks that
I butt into her life too much"

Walt didn't have any siblings to fully understand Brad's
problem, but fights over independence didn't seem so out
of the ordinary. He supposed it would only be natural for
Georgie to feel the pressure of living with a big brother
police officer. "All right, I guess I can see where this could
be an area of tension between you two. But, uh, between you
and me ... do you butt into her life?"

"Well, of course, I do!" Brad shot to his feet and started
pacing the room. "I'm her brother. She doesn't have anyone
but me to butt into her life. Sheesh. But she acts as though it
were a federal crime. Believe me, it's not. I should know."

Walt shot up his hands in surrender. "Whoa, take it easy.
I was just
asking.""

"Huh? Oh" Brad sighed, slowly rubbing his face and then
pressing his fingers into his eye sockets. "Sorry. I think looking out for Georgie is making me a little crazy. I don't know
what goes on in her brain sometimes. She doesn't always
make the best decisions for herself."

Walt let that comment slide. He saw for himself Georgie's
less than perfect decision-making process this morning at
the pharmacy, but decided not to share that information with
Brad. Good Lord. All he needed was to get a man who was
licensed and trained to shoot a firearm more upset than he
already was.

I mean, you should have seen some of the characters she
had lined up to go out with," Brad said, frowning down at
him. "Do you remember Tim Clark from swim club?"

Walt crushed the beer can he had in his hand.

She wanted to go out with Tim Clark?

In ninth grade, Tim had gotten two days' suspension for
sneaking into the girls' locker room and hiding out in the
showers. He wasn't the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree,
and perhaps a little too curious as a preteen too. What was she thinking? A girl like Georgie shouldn't be dating a character like that.

Brad pointed to the mutilated can Walt still had clutched
in his fist. "My sentiments exactly. Which is why I need you
to do me a favor."

Walt had a sudden pleasant mental picture of showing
up at Tim Clark's home and making certain the guy would
never bother Georgie again, so he nodded without hesitation.
"Sure. Anything you want."

"Great," Brad said, flopping down on the sofa next to him.
"Because I'd like you to keep an eye on Georgie for me"

Keep an eye on Georgie?

Walt nearly fell over. The beer he'd just finished must
have already gone to his head, so he reached for his pizza
again and shoved half of it in his mouth, thinking he needed
more food to combat the effects of the alcohol. He couldn't
have heard Brad right. What Brad had probably said was,
"I'd like you to dye Georgie's hair for me" Yeah. That's what
he must have said. That made more sense.

Okay, not really. But compared to the latter, it was starting
to sound like a much more attractive alternative.

"I'm sorry," he said, choking down the pizza and returning his attention to Brad, "I must not have heard you right.
What did you say?"

"I said I'd like you to keep an eye on Georgie for me"
He had heard right. Why did he have to be such a loyal
friend? Now he could have kicked himself for being so readily agreeable to Brad's requests. Threatening and possibly
causing some bodily harm to a potential boyfriend of his
friend's sister was one thing, but this ... spying on her business was too much to ask. Especially for a sister who looked
like she could be a contender on America's Next Top Model.

"No," he blurted. "No way. When I said I'd do anything you want, I meant anything you want but that ... and murder
and extortion. Throw arson on that list too"

"Why not? Don't you care even the smallest bit about
what happens to my-our-little sister?"

Walt gritted his teeth. "Of course I do. But stalking crosses
the line, and you know it."

"Stalking?" Brad made a face, drawing back as if he'd
been asked to host a Pampered Chef party. "I didn't say anything about stalking. All I want you to do is stick close to her
and check out who she talks to ... see where she goes ...
maybe find out what kind of guys are approaching her. That
sort of thing. Then report it all back to me."

"Right. My mistake then"

Brad ran his hands over his head and sighed. "Look, you
don't know what I've been living with, so give me a break
here. Ever since she came back from college, she hasn't been
dating the right kind of men, or even trying to date the right
kind of men. She needs to spend time with someone who
really deserves her."

For a brief moment Walt's heart stopped, but then as he
looked into Brad's eyes he realized he'd misunderstood his
friend's intent. Brad wasn't suggesting he date his sister at
all. What a relief. How did something so bizarre as him dating
Georgie even enter his mind anyway? He couldn't possibly
want to date his best friend's sister.

To cover up the sudden awkwardness, Walt placed his
hands over his heart with mock seriousness. "I'm touched,
man. Really. But I can't-"

"I'm not talking about you, ding-dong. Sheesh. You're the
last man on earth I'd want touching my sister. Or even looking at my sister that way."

"Gee, you really know how to make a guy feel special."

Brad's solemn expression finally cracked, and he laughed out loud. "Aw, shut up. You know what I mean. You're like
family to us. Besides, you're not even Georgie's type. I owe
it to my parents to make sure she's settled in her life. They
were always harping on me to take care of her because she's
younger. And I never did. I always assumed it was their job,
not mine. Well, now that they're gone, I'm finally going to
step up to the plate. But I need your help. So, take her out
and make sure she meets an okay guy for once. You know, be
a brother to her. I'd be one myself, but if Georgie thinks I'm
interfering in her life one more time, she'll flip out"

Walt set his jaw and tried to bank down his growing resentment. As crazy as it seemed, something irked him about
not being considered Georgie's type, and he couldn't help
wondering who exactly her brother thought was her type.
But he called himself a fool and brushed the thought away.

Get your head together, stupid.

Walt rubbed the tips of his fingers along his eyebrows to
ward off the King Kong headache he suddenly felt looming.
"All right, wait a sec. Let me get this straight." If he could.
Maybe he was the sane one after all, and Brad was the one
who had the beer affecting him. "You want me to stalk-er,
I mean-spend time with your sister so we can make sure
she meets a decent guy? Is that right?"

Brad looked grim as he took a few seconds to think it over.
"Yeah. That's pretty much it in a nutshell. What do you say?"

"I say you've completely lost your mind."

"No, I haven't. You don't understand. I really need you to
do this for me. At least until she's married. No, scratch that.
Until she at least gets her pharmacy license and gets settled
with her job. How about that? Come on, I'd feel so much
better about her going out knowing you were keeping an eye
on her and steering her in the right direction."

Walt stared at the pleading-almost pathetic-appeal in his friend's eyes. Poor Brad. The stress of being a policeman
had finally gotten to him. The guy really had his sympathy
for having an attractive, if overly impulsive, sister. But despite the things Brad had said, he was sure Georgie didn't
need her hand held every waking moment. Walt had enough
on his plate trying to get situated into town and handling the
pharmacy while his uncle was out.

"Look," he said, with an apologetic grin, "I just can't do
it. I'm sorry. You know I think of Georgie as my own sister,
but I'll already be spending enough time with her at the pharmacy. Believe me, she'd get suspicious if I suddenly wanted
to spend time with her outside of work too"

"No, man, she wouldn't. I think-"