Matching Mr. Right (Rocky Mountain Matchmaker Series Book 1) (7 page)

Her show of support encouraged him to continue. “My dad yelled at me and then told me to wait in the car. On the drive home he said I’d only hurt my mother by telling her what I’d seen. He asked me to lie, and tell her he’d found me walking home and picked me up. He swore it’d never happen again. The next day he bought me a new mountain bike I’d had my eye on.”

Shelby grunted. “Okay, you win. He’s worse than my aunt.”

Nodding he said, “So, I decided I’d keep my mouth shut, but every time I rode that damned bike I felt like a heel. I love my mom and I hated him for making me keep his secret. About three weeks later, I went into his study to find a pen. He sat in his big leather chair with his back to the door, talking on the phone, so he didn’t notice I was there. When I realized he was making a date to meet a woman at a hotel, I lost it. I screamed at him at the top of my lungs. When my mom came to see what was wrong, I told her everything.” Swallowing back the bile rising in his throat he said, “They divorced soon after. I helped destroy my family.”

“And that’s why you never lie? Because of your dad?” Shelby frowned. “Not a bad trait, but your mom would have found out eventually, Nick, even if you hadn’t told her. It wasn’t your fault, and it wasn’t your problem to fix. It was between your mom and dad.”

“If I hadn’t said anything, there wouldn’t have been anything to fix.” He shook his head as he exited the freeway, regretting he had to let go of her hand to switch gears. “She probably felt like she had to kick him out after I exposed him, to show my sisters it wasn’t right to let a man treat them that way. Worse, what if she knew, but not having any way to support us, pretended not to know until she could stash enough money away to leave him? If I’d kept my mouth shut, my mom would have been so much better off financially now. He’s a divorce attorney, for God’s sake. My mom only gets whatever crumbs he throws her way while he lives in a mansion and belongs to clubs like the
Bay View. That’s on
my
head.”

“You told me the other day the fire wasn’t my fault and as much as you believe that, I believe you’re not responsible for the destruction of your family. Your father is. But that won’t change the way you feel any more than it did when you said the same to me. We’re both still wallowing in guilt and too damn stubborn to forgive ourselves.”

“Maybe. But I
am
sorry about tonight.”

His cell vibrated as they approached Shelby’s house. Snagging it from his jacket, he glanced at the screen. When he saw it was Beth, he ignored the text and tossed the phone on the console.

Shelby smirked. “It’s late. Booty call perhaps?”

“Don’t know.” Maybe Beth had changed her mind about their arrangement. Strangely, he had no desire to be with her anymore.

As he turned into Shelby’s driveway, his phone slid off the console and onto Shelby’s lap.

She picked it up. “Sorry, but I couldn’t help notice the screen. Whoever
Naughtylawyer
is says to hurry home. She wants you.” Shelby arched a brow. “I’m assuming this is from the sex partner you claim you’re broken up with who’s waiting at home for you? So, your real plan was to keep that woman on the side while I set you up on dates? If that’s the case, then we need to terminate our contract.” She handed his phone back. “And you say you never lie.”

Beth had some seriously bad timing.

“Beth is my ex . . . partner . . . but she’s still my neighbor. That’s what she meant about hurry home. She’s been so busy with work I haven’t even seen her since she broke up with me a month ago, Shelby. I swear.”

Shelby opened her door and swung her legs out of the car, giving him her back. “Whatever. I don’t think I’m the right one to find you a match anyway. I’ll reverse the payment you sent. And now your other debt to me has been paid, so have a nice life.”

“We have a contract. I’d prefer you to live up to your end of the bargain. And I told them to have the limo pick me up first. We should be here about five thirty for the game on Monday.”

Shelby froze in her efforts to exit the car and then turned and faced him. “
We’re
going on the date? Not you and the naughty lawyer? And you chose the football game?”

“I love football.” He tossed the purse her way. “Don’t forget your lipstick.”

Shelby’s snag would make an outfielder proud. “What if I didn’t like football, you arrogant jerk? You have
so
much to learn about women.” She slammed the door.

He stuck his head out the window as Shelby stomped to her front door. “Good thing I have you to teach me. So, was that a yes to the game? We could make it a lesson if you’d like.”

She muttered under her breath as she unlocked her front door. Once she got it open she called out, “Only if you bring Emily along—if she’s feeling up to it. Then I’d be sure to have a ride home. You’d never ditch her!”

When her front door slammed shut, he smiled. Good idea. Emily seemed almost back to herself when he’d seen her earlier. It’d be harder for Shelby to stay mad at him when there was a cute kid like Em around.

As he backed out of Shelby’s driveway, a thought struck him. She never answered his question. Who the hell was Greg?

***

Shelby flung her purse onto the couch and then leaned down to rip off her arch-maiming heels. Tossing her shoes in the general direction of her bedroom, she lifted the front of her long dress and made a beeline toward the kitchen. She needed ice cream, if there was any left. She’d never eaten as much ice cream as she had since meeting Nick earlier in the week. He had to be the most infuriating man on earth.

She yanked the freezer door open and grinned. Jo had gone shopping. God bless her.

Mint chocolate chip or Rocky Road? Decisions, decisions.

Grabbing both, she snatched up a spoon and then plopped down in the nook. The combination of both flavors in one bite was oddly delicious.

Jo stumbled into the kitchen, yawning as she ran her hands through her tousled hair. She found a spoon and then sat across from Shelby. As was their habit, Jo held out her spoon for an ice cream toast. After Shelby tapped spoons with her, Jo sampled a mixed bite like Shelby’s.

Jo winced. “That’s just gross.” She shivered in disgust as she pulled the Rocky Road toward her. “Door slamming and ice cream? Must’ve been some night.”

Shelby took a big bite and cringed as brain freeze incapacitated her for moment. When her powers of speech returned, she told Jo about her evening.

Jo listened intently as the ice cream in it’s cardboard box steadily disappeared. When Shelby finally got to the front-door-slamming part, Jo frowned. “If he’s such an arrogant jerk, why are you going to the game with him on Monday?”

Shelby sighed and put the lid back on her container before she made herself sick. “When have I ever missed a Broncos home game? Besides, I would’ve run into him anyway because Uncle Jack donated our executive suite for the auction.”

“Ah.” Jo nodded as her face lit with an evil grin. “It’ll be fun to see the look on his face when he shows up and sees you dressed in full Broncos regalia. The joke’s going to be on him.”

Shelby chuckled. “It’ll be even better when we get to the box and he sees who else is there.”

“Could be a Chester book in the making.”

“You never know. Sorry I woke you.” Shelby stood and put the ice cream away. “’Nite.”

As Shelby gathered up her dress and headed toward her bedroom, Jo said, “So, do you still want to come to Greg’s welcome-home party on Wednesday, or will you be busy with Mr. Arrogant?”

Shelby pulled up short. “Of course I want to come. I’ve got my, ‘look, I’m really a girl’ outfit all picked out. Why would you even ask?”

Jo shrugged before she put their spoons into the dishwasher. “I’ve never seen a man get such a big reaction from you. Normally, you’d just blow off a guy like Nick.”

“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.

Not again.

Nick wore nicely fitted jeans along with a chambray shirt, his sleeves rolled twice to expose his muscular forearms. It was the first time she’d seen him in casual clothes. He wore them just as well as a suit.

She opened the door and stuck just her head out, leaving her shorts-clad legs hidden. “Someone else in the hospital? Or did you come to apologize for your lame behavior last night?”

“I said I was sorry.” He shot her a typical Nick grin. “And now I have a dating emergency.”

“What? All the women you’ve scorned plotting against you?”

He quirked a brow. “Talking to clients that way won’t keep you in business long.”

“Ditching me in front of everyone won’t keep you as my client very long either, pal. I’ll call you later. I’m busy.” She started to close the wooden door but he opened the glass storm door and stuck his big tennis shoe inside.

“There’s another full fee in it for you. It’s Beth.”

That got her attention. Her Visa bill was due. “The ex-sex partner? Why isn’t she here instead of you?”

“Let me in and I’ll tell you.” Nick pushed on the door.

“Stop! I’m not . . . dressed.”

“You’re naked behind there?” His grin turned wicked.

Shelby leaned her shoulder a little further to the side to prove to the pervert she had clothes on. “No, I’ve been working out and I’m all sweaty.”

“I like a hot, sweaty woman.” He raised his hand to push the door open.

She pressed her hand to his hard chest to stop him. “Seriously, Nick. Just wait here and I’ll put some pants on. Then you can tell me all about your emergency.”

“Pants?” Nick’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t care about your legs, Shelby, if that’s what this is about. All I care about is getting Beth a soul mate. And maybe some more of your chocolate chip cookies.”