Dating the Guy Next Door (17 page)

“I mean that I made a mistake,” he panted, obviously realizing there would be no more kissing until he'd answered her.

“Explain.” She folded her arms tightly in front of her chest, more to protect herself from his lethal touch than because she was angry. She was anything but angry. She was tingling all over, and more important, she was again hopeful. But until she knew what he was going to say, she couldn't trust herself around him.

“Are you sure you don't want to kiss first and talk later?” He tried again to nuzzle into her neck, pushing his whole body toward her. The temptation to do so was overwhelming, but there were bigger issues at stake here and until they'd talked about them then Kate really wouldn't know where she stood.

“I'm sure,” she said, once again edging away from him slightly.

“Fine,” he finally said as he ran a slightly shaky hand through his hair. “I was wrong. Having a child is important. Very important. But it's not everything. In fact, it's nothing if there's no love. I guess I just saw my parents and sister enjoying their families so much I assumed it would be the same for me. Not to mention that I thought my uncle would've been happy and less consumed with his business, but I can see now that it's not true. None of it's true.”

“So what are you saying, Matt? That you don't want kids now?”

For a moment Matt was silent, as if he had to consider his words carefully.

“I'm saying that while I love kids, they don't have to be part of my happiness. The only thing that my happiness depends on is you. I've made a lot of dumb decisions in the past and thought a lot of dumb things, but I've never managed to make them twice. So when I learn something, I learn it good, and right now, today, I've learned what I think I've always secretly known. You're enough, Kate. You've always been enough.”

She was enough?

Kate's heart pounded in her chest as his words filled her veins and seemed to breathe life into the small empty spaces under her skin.

“It's a lot to take in,” she finally said.

“I know, and I don't blame you for having your doubts, but that's okay because not only am I organized but I'm persistent. Not to mention that I have the added advantage of living right next door, so I'm happy to wait as long as it takes for you to see that I want to be with you forever. It doesn't matter if we have kids or not. It doesn't matter if we live in a studio with an orange cat and lots of mess. All that matters is that we're together. Forever, Kate. I love you.”

Kate stared at him and Matt started to nervously sway from foot to foot. She realized Matt wasn't the only one who had strange ideas about what a family should be. She was guilty too. She'd spent the last year losing herself in her paints and her canvases, thinking they were her only family. But that wasn't true. She'd started to rebuild things with Julia and soon she'd have a new baby half-sister according to the latest scan. Perhaps she and Matt could do the same?

She thought again about the baby her mother was carrying. Since she'd found out about Julia's pregnancy, she'd been experiencing a million different emotions. And not all of them fear. She still had a long way to go; she knew that. But suddenly it didn't seem quite so terrifying.

Maybe Jenny was right. Maybe having babies was something that she could consider one day. But she still wasn't sure it would be enough for Matt. She'd asked for a miracle and it appeared that she'd gotten it. He wanted her just the way she was. Flaws and all. That was a good thing. It was a great thing. But could she really be sure?

“Kate?” Matt looked at her expectantly.

“I—I want to believe you,” she stammered. “But what if you change your mind? Look at Harry.”

She watched Matt frown slightly before finally answering her. “I always thought that Harry was a loser. I mean, he had you and then he lost you. What kind of idiot would do that? Except then I realized I was that idiot. Jesus, Kate.” His voice cracked and she noticed his hands were shaking. “I almost lost you because of some stupid fantasy about a table that I had
in my mind.”

“You had a fantasy about a table?” Kate blinked, not quite sure what he was talking about.

Matt grimaced in embarrassment. “It wasn't an actual table. It was a scene around a table with my wife and kids. I could see it so clearly and that's what I thought I needed. However, I finally figured out that it wasn't the kids who completed the picture or even the wife. The thing is I got confused with thinking that some idea in my head was more important than what was real. And all I can tell you is I'll never make that mistake again. I don't need a picture in my head. I just need you.”

Okay, so now she could believe in miracles. Here was living, breathing proof that maybe there could be more to her life than paintbrushes and cat food. It had been a long time since Kate had believed she could be happy, really happy. But now Matt was offering it to her and all she had to do was to accept it. She looked up to him. He was so close to her she could almost feel his breath on her cheek. This was her chance.

All she had to do was take it.

But what if things didn't work out? What if she got scared?

It was easier to stay in her gallery and be safe. Then she thought about all the time she and Julia had wasted because they'd been too scared. She just needed to push the past behind her and reach out. She just needed to lean toward what she wanted and see what happened.

“Well?” he eventually said. “What do you think?”

“I love you too, and I think we can start kissing again now.” She leaned forward and was instantly rewarded by the touch of his lips on hers, the smell of his skin in her nose and the feel of his strong fingers around her waist. She was enough and so was he.

***

Several hours later Matt felt a tickling sensation on his chest and he looked up to the delicious sight of Kate's hair, which was spread out in wild abandon as she lay in the crook of his arm.

“Did we really just make love in a half-completed restaurant?” she murmured groggily as she snuggled deeper into his chest.

“Several times actually.” He tightened his grip protectively around her.

“Oh dear.” Kate finally struggled into a sitting position and wrapped a paint-splattered drop cloth firmly around her nakedness. “I can't believe we did that. Anyone could've walked in.”

“As a rule workmen don't tend to work past five o'clock,” he reminded her, wondering about the possibility of dragging the cloth back off her.

“But still,” she persisted. “You have to admit it was risky.”

“Not as risky as trying to drive home in such a heightened state.” He grinned as he gave in to temptation and pulled her back toward him. “We'd never have made it around the corner, Kate, and you know it.”

“Okay,” she giggled. “You're right. But we did have a lot of making up to do.”

“That wasn't the making up stuff,” Matt protested. “That was just a teaser. We have the rest of our lives to make up.”

“Challenge accepted,” Kate whispered as her hands began to explore his chest again. Matt let out a soft groan and searched out her mouth. He could definitely get used to this.

Kate looked up in frustration as she heard footsteps entering her studio. Footsteps meant movers, and movers meant she needed to finish her packing. She quickly dumped her paintbrush in a glass jar and shoved a couple of piles of magazines into one of the large cardboard boxes Matt had thoughtfully provided. Personally, she would've been just as happy with the old banana cartons from the local farmers' market, but according to Matt, that wasn't a very efficient way to pack.

She pushed away the calico curtain that separated her studio from her gallery and walked through, Socrates hindering her progress by darting in and out of her legs in excitement. As she moved to the front, she crossed her fingers and really hoped it wasn't the movers. She'd planned to have everything packed and ready to go but things had been so hectic lately. What with helping to organize her baby sister's fourth birthday, a sell-out exhibition and—

“Hey,” she exclaimed as her eyes honed in on a crouching figure hiding behind the window display. “What's going on?”

“Are they still out there?” a muffled voice demanded.

“Are who out where?” she said while glancing around to see if anyone had a hidden camera trained on her as some sort of joke.

“Women,” the voice said. “Across the road. Lots of women.”

Kate peered out of the window and saw that were indeed a huddle of women gathered outside the building. She couldn't quite fathom what they were all doing, but they seemed to be dressed for opening time at the church fete rather than Columbia City at ten o'clock on a Monday morning.

“Yes, Matt. There are a lot of women. But what on earth are they doing there?”

Slowly her husband inched his way out from the protective shelter of the window display. “I have no idea,” his subdued voice replied. “But I have an awful feeling of déjà vu. You know how bad they were last time.”

“Yes, I remember how bad they were last time. I also remember that your baby-chasing women were how we first met. But”—Kate leaned up against the glass and squinted in the bright morning sun—“there's something different about this lot.”

“What do you mean? Don't tell me that they have weapons?”

“Well.” She paused as she took another peek. “Not exactly.”

Matt's head bobbed up so that he could peer around one of the half-filled packing cartons. “What do you mean
not exactly
?”

“I'm not sure.” Kate frowned for a moment. “It's just that they seem to have . . . knitting needles.”

“Knitting needles?” Matt jumped up in surprise and Kate felt the familiar surge of electricity power through her every time she was near her husband. When she'd first met him, the feelings had terrified her, but now she found her physical reaction to his presence reassuring, and she automatically reached out and laced her fingers with his.

“I think so.” She squinted. “And what are those things hanging off them? They look like baby cardigans.”

Matt stood back up and let out a long groan. “Keith.”

“But how would he know?” Kate said before staring at her husband's gorgeous face. “Matt, tell me that you didn't tell Keith our news. That you didn't tell Dr. Love—the nosiest man on the air—our private news?”

“Well.” He grimaced. “I might've accidentally mentioned something.”

“But why?” Kate boggled. “Why would you do that?”

“It's just last Sunday when you and Jenny were shopping, Keith, Sam and I might've gotten together for a few beers and Keith told us that he and Miranda are finally getting engaged. Then Sam mentioned they were all going to Disneyland for the twins ninth birthday. And in amongst all of that good news, I just thought—”

“You should tell them some of your own,” Kate clipped in.

“Something like that,” he mumbled, looking like a guilty schoolboy. “I'm sorry, I didn't think. I should've waited until we'd at least told Claire.”

Kate automatically smiled as she thought about Claire. Their darling little daughter. Two years old and full of sparkle. When Kate had first found out she was pregnant, the anxiety attacks had lasted all through the first two trimesters, but as she approached her full term, a sense of calmness had descended on her and been with her ever since. And now that they were expecting their second child, it was time to move out of the converted bike store and into the large sprawling cottage out by the beach.

“Forgive me?” Matt gave her the sheepish grin she could never resist.

“I suppose so. Besides, I really shouldn't complain since your idea of good news is boasting that your wife is about to have another baby.”

“Actually,” Matt admitted, “that wasn't my good news. I was just trying to boast about how gorgeous my wife looks now that she's three months pregnant. Of course, don't get me wrong, when little Matt Junior comes along I'm going to be just as crazy about him as I am about Claire, but right now I'm just crazy for Mrs. Hunter.”

“Who said anything about a boy?” Kate protested, but she couldn't wipe the smile off her face as her husband's agile fingers started to explore her slightly swelled belly in a way that was decidedly non-maternal. Who would've figured that having a baby could be so much fun?

Keep reading for a special preview of

DATING THE GUY UPSTAIRS

Coming soon from InterMix

It was a truth universally acknowledged that when your boss called you into their cramped office at the back of the library on a Monday afternoon and asked you to do a small favor, that the favor would neither be small nor enjoyable. It also explained why Riley Harris was now back in her apartment, with the dubious honor of babysitting a yellow-haired guinea pig named Bingley.

A yellow-haired guinea pig that refused to eat.

“Come on, Bingley, you can do it. Do you know that your namesake, Charles Bingley from
Pride and Prejudice
, was exceptionally fond of lettuce?” She dangled the green leaf into the cage. The guinea pig blinked and retreated into a small fabric hiding hut, leaving only his backside exposed.

Riley sighed. Charles Bingley also had excellent manners but she was starting to get the feeling that the guinea pig didn't care. Of course she could've just said no to Gloria's ridiculous request to babysit her niece's guinea pig, but that might've meant saying no to becoming a permanent member of staff at the Deacon Caldecott Memorial Library.

And right now job security was all that mattered.

Especially if she wanted to pay off the huge debt that her mom, Jude, had run up after deciding to follow the latest “love-of-her-life” to India, only to discover that he was less of a “love” and more of a “money-stealing rat bag.” At least Jude hadn't made this guy husband number three, saddling Riley with yet another step-family, but it had still left her mom completely broke.

Which brought Riley back to the guinea pig.

He'd already turned up his nose at the hay pellets Gloria had provided and so Riley was just about to use the last of her carrots when there was a knock on the door. Relief pumped through her veins as she jumped to her feet. The cavalry had arrived.

Well, not the cavalry exactly, but rather ten-year-old Cameron, who lived in the apartment next door and who often came around to play Minecraft while his mom did the grocery shopping. Thankfully, he also had an encyclopedic knowledge of all things animal and she was sure he'd know how to tempt the guinea pig. She padded across the room as the faint Seattle sun was trying to push its way in through the bay window. But when she pressed her tortoiseshell glasses up to the peephole instead of seeing Cameron's unmistakable boy-band-styled hair, she was greeted with the sight of pale sea-blue eyes set against olive skin and framed by thick dark lashes.

“Will?” she yelped. “What are you doing here?”

“I'm politely waiting to be let in.” Her landlord and best friend gave her a smile, thereby releasing the two dimples responsible for causing so many women to fall for him. “I would've used my emergency-only key but you made me give that back due to excessive milk stealing. Which by the way, considering that I own the place, doesn't seem fair.”

“No, you idiot.” Riley unlocked the door and her smile increased even further when she noticed he had her favorite chocolates in his hand. He really was the perfect friend. “I don't mean in the hallway. I mean what are you doing back home? I thought you were in Indonesia for two more months.”

“You and me both.” Will swept her up into a big hug, causing the wind to whoosh out of her lungs and be replaced with a sense of happiness that always filled her when he was nearby. “But here I am.”

“Here you are.” Riley waited until he set her down so that she could rearrange her glasses and smooth down her long red hair that was no doubt a mess thanks to Will's impromptu fling. Then she noticed that his battered old backpack was on the floor. “Have you even been upstairs to your apartment yet?”

“Nope. I'm fresh off the plane,” he said, causing Riley to marvel at how he could look so good when he must be jet-lagged and operating on no sleep. She would've resembled Frankenstein's monster. But even though there were small smudges of fatigue under his eyes and his sandy blonde hair was in desperate need of a cut, nothing could take away from his movie star good looks. That was assuming movie stars wore faded jeans and a crumpled linen shirt that looked like it had seen better days.

She'd first met Will two years ago when he came into the library asking if he could put up a notice looking for tenants for the six converted apartments in the old Victorian property he'd inherited. And while her colleagues had admired his smooth jaw line and hypnotic eyes, Riley had been much more interested in his low rent and great location. After growing up with hippie parents who'd divorced when Riley was nine and both remarried several times, always with disastrous results, she'd long ago decided to avoid romance and focus on her independence.

It had been the best decision of her life.

In the last two years she'd painted the ground floor apartment robin's egg blue, hung up heavy white drapes and filled the rooms with carefully restored furniture and her huge collection of books, all giving it a homely feel. She'd also become friends with Will and she smiled as he settled himself down in the old leather chesterfield that he'd long ago claimed as his. She knew better than to try sitting next to him, since his long legs would soon take up the entire space and she'd be reduced to one tiny corner. Instead she dropped down into her favorite reading chair.

Will spent at least half the year doing volunteer work all over the world, living off the rental income from the apartments and occasionally doing some sustainability consulting in between. She also knew that he never cut his trips short.

“So, are you going to tell me what's going on?”

“I take it you didn't read the society pages.” The dimples disappeared and the smile faded.

“Not exactly,” Riley confessed, since between her job at the library, the online English degree she was taking and the extra book club she ran for her kids from the local community center, reading the society pages hadn't been high on her agenda. It wasn't normally on Will's either, but considering he did come from one of the richest families in Seattle she guessed it had something to do with one of them. “What did I miss?”

“Tucker's getting married.”

“What?” Riley leaned forward to check that she was hearing properly. “Tucker your brother? As in the confirmed bachelor for life? As in the guy who told me that the romance section at the library should be reclassified as mythology?”

“Yup.” Will ran a hand through his overgrown hair. “And it gets worse. It was love at first sight, followed by a whirlwind trip to Paris and a wedding proposal under the Eiffel Tower. Oh, how the mighty fall.”

“Wow.” Riley couldn't hide her surprise. Will's brother was definitely the least likely person to ever get married, closely followed by Will, who never dated anyone for more than two weeks. Not that Riley was judging considering her own thoughts on relationships. Then another thing occurred to her and she widened her eyes.

“But if you're going to the wedding, doesn't that mean you'll have to—”

“See my father and my ex-fiancée?” Will casually lifted an eyebrow, though there was no hiding the bitterness in his voice. “Yeah, it's going to be an unavoidable side effect.”

Riley's heart went out to him.

Will had always had an uneasy relationship with his father, who was one of Seattle's richest property developers and had no interest in the humanitarian causes that were so important to his son. As a result Will had paid his own way through college, determined not to trade on the family name. Unfortunately, he'd misjudged his fiancée who was far from happy at the news he'd disinherited himself from the family fortune, and not only did she call off the engagement, six months later she'd married his father.

It was a match made in Freudian hell and what prompted Will to book his first volunteer trip to Africa. That was three years and numerous trips later. As far as she knew this would be the first time he'd seen either of them since it happened.

“And are you going to tell me why else you've come home?” She narrowed her eyes as she noticed the way he was studying his hiking boots.

“You mean apart from brotherly love?” Will gave an offended sigh before a rueful smile tugged at his lips. “Okay, fine, so a friend and I have been working on plans to build an E-waste business big enough to sustain an entire village. It will literally change lives and should be self-funding in five years. Problem is that we need investors to help with the initial set up and while Josh is a logistical genius he's not great on the people skills thing so finding the money is my job. I'd planned to do it when I came home in two months' time. But now that I'm here, I figured—”

“You figured that you'd kill two birds with one stone.” Riley nodded in understanding. Will had always possessed a certain kind of brilliance and could normally find a solution to just about everything. It was one of the things she admired most about him.

“You girls aren't the only ones who can multi-task.” Will flashed one of his killer smiles. “And now that we've covered the reasons I'm back, I have a favor to ask. You see—” He paused as a soft rustling sound came from over by the table. Will pushed his eyebrows together and craned his neck before turning back to where Riley was still sitting. “Um, why's there a cage on your table?”

“Hell.” Riley jumped to her feet. She'd completely forgotten about the guinea pig. She was a bad person. “I'm looking
after Bingley for a couple of weeks.”

“Bingley? As in the guy from
Pride and Prejudice
?”

“That's right,” Riley said, secretly impressed that Will even knew who Charles Bingley was. Then again, considering how many times she'd made him watch the 1995 television series with her, it probably wasn't such a surprise. “He belongs to Gloria's niece, though between you and me, he's more of a Darcy than a Bingley. Anyway, Gloria was supposed to be watching him but her cat took exception to it.”

“And you got roped into doing a job that normally belongs to a fifth grader.” Will groaned with a shake of his head, no doubt meaning to imply that she was roped into far too many things. Which was completely untrue. Babysitting Bingley was a tactical move designed to get the job security she longed for.

“It's not so bad,” Riley protested before remembering Bingley's lack of interest in the three day old lettuce that she'd found at the back of her refrigerator. “Well, it won't be once Cameron gets here. Actually, I wonder why he hasn't arrived yet?”

“Cameron?” Will suddenly sat up and narrowed his pale eyes. “Who's Cameron? I didn't know you were dating anyone?”

“I'm not. He's Monica William's kid. He often swings by and I was hoping he could help me,” Riley quickly assured him, mainly because Will seemed to think it was his duty to vet anyone who seemed remotely interested in asking her out. Not that she minded. In fact it occasionally came in handy when someone didn't want to accept that she wasn't looking for a relationship.

“Ah.” He nodded, obviously happy with the explanation. “In that case I can answer your question. I passed the pair of them outside. They were on their way to a movie. Thankfully for you, one of my many talents is guinea pig feeding.”

“You?” Riley couldn't quite hide her skepticism.

“Don't look so surprised. My childhood wasn't all pony rides, nannies and vacations in the Bahamas,” Will scolded as he crossed the room and carefully picked up the cage, much to the surprise of Bingley, who poked his head out from his hut. Both Riley and the guinea pig watched with interest as Will lowered the cage to the floor and slowly opened the wire door. “The trick is to just relax and let them get to know you.”

“I see,” Riley said as Will lay down on the floor next to the cage and began to hum. Then she let out a small gasp of surprise as Bingley wandered out and sniffed Will's lean, nicely-muscled arm.

“You just need to let them get familiar. Build some trust. Isn't that right, Bingley?” Will crooned in a soft voice, proving that his powers of attraction even extended to a snobbish, misnamed guinea pig. After several more minutes the small creature was happily eating the lettuce. “See, easy.”

“Thank you. I'm forever in your debt,” Riley said as she joined him on the floor, tucking her blue sneakers underneath her legs. “I'm not sure how many other landlords would include guinea pig feeding on the lease agreement.”

“You know my motto.
Where there's a Will, there's a way
.” He grinned. It was a long running joke between them. Riley
had even bought him a coffee cup last Christmas that had the quote printed on it. Then he sat back up, but left the guinea pig perched in his lap. “And speaking of debt, we still need to talk about that favor.”

“Sure, though if you want me to help you wash carpets again then you're going to need to buy me more than pizza,” Riley said as she recalled how he'd roped her into helping him steam the carpets last summer and she'd almost died of heat exhaustion.

“No carpets, I promise,” Will said in a solemn voice, which was ruined by the smile hovering around his shapely mouth. He obviously still found the whole thing very amusing. “In fact it involves being in the lap of luxury for an entire day. Your every whim catered to.”

“You spend most of your life living in a tent and then you come home to an apartment that doesn't even have drapes because you like being woken up with natural light. Luxury isn't normally your middle name.” And why was he doing that thing where he tilted his head? That was never a good sign. Riley narrowed her eyes. “What kind of favor is this?”

“I want you to be my guest at the wedding,” Will announced as if he'd just given her a gold-coated invitation to the party of the century.

“Your guest?” Riley blinked, dumbly repeating his words to check that she hadn't misunderstood. “You want me to go to the wedding with you?”

“God, yes.” Will leaned forward so that his face was now uncomfortably close to hers as he reached out and grabbed her hands. “It makes so much sense! If I go on my own I'll be hounded all day about when am I coming home and getting a real job. Or worse, they might suggest I talk to my father or dance with Lisa. All I need is a barrier so that my toxic family won't harass me.”