At least the repairs he was doing on Kendall’s bakery were almost finished—he hoped she wouldn’t need anything else from him after that. At this point his restraint could rival any monk’s. He didn’t know how long he could hold out on telling her how he felt, but when he’d come clean with Jake and told him about his feelings for Kendall, it was a disaster. He couldn’t go through that again.
Maybe Georgie was right—he and Kendall were like family. And family was the one thing she needed more than ever. That was enough of a reminder to remain silent.
Chapter Five
Kendall watched the early morning rays of sunlight glisten across the ocean with a renewed sense of contentment. Since starting the renovations on her bakery, she’d been feeling energized. Even inspired enough to take Deuce for a walk on the boardwalk before the sun rose.
She leaned against the guardrail and breathed in the fresh ocean air, enjoying the mild breeze and call of the seagulls flying overhead. Her life felt like it was finally coming together again. She should have been taking advantage of the scenery more often, not wasting her life cooped up inside her house.
Deuce startled her, tugging on his leash—a sure sign he was tired of her enjoying the view and wanted to keep walking. “Okay, boy,” she said with a chuckle. “Let’s turn around and head home.” Then she glanced up and froze. Running toward her about a block away and quickly closing the distance between them was Brad.
And he was shirtless.
Oh God.
To make matters worse, Brad spotted her. He slowed down his jog to a walk and made his way over to her. “Hey, Kendall, enjoying the view?” he panted.
She stared at him. Almost like a
Playgirl
scene come to life, he took the shirt he held in his hand and began wiping the sweat from his perfectly chiseled chest and abs.
I am now
.
She felt her throat close a bit but cleared it quickly. “Um, yes. You look beautiful—I mean, the view looks beautiful. The
beach
looks beautiful.”
She wanted to die. Right there and then.
Calm down. Brad happens to have a good body. A fantastic body. You’re only human.
He smiled, casually tossing his shirt across his shoulder. “Mind if I walk with you?”
“Oh, uh, don’t let me ruin your workout. Deuce and I were about to head back anyway.”
“Perfect. I only wanted to get in a few miles today anyway. A walk will help me stretch my calves a bit and cool down,” Brad said, scratching underneath Deuce’s chin.
“Cool down,” she repeated, watching a trickle of sweat roll down his middle. “Right.” She put a hand over her heart, which was picking up speed.
Looking is okay,
she reminded herself.
Acting on it is another thing. Whatever you do, do
not
act on it.
She quickly turned away and headed south along the boardwalk, willing her eyes straight ahead as Brad fell into step next to her.
“I’m glad I ran into you,” he told her. “I wanted to let you know that I plan on swinging by the bakery this Wednesday to take a few measurements. Do you have a time that works best for you?”
“I’m usually there first thing in the morning until late afternoon. Whenever you can come by would be great. I’m just so thankful that you’re able to put any time at all into helping me.”
“I’m glad to do it. Really. You know, I had dinner with Walt and Georgie last night and it got me thinking how much we’re like family.”
She almost tripped. “F-family?” She felt her cheeks ignite for ogling his half-naked body only seconds before.
“Yeah. Georgie reminded me of how family needs to be there for each other.”
Her lips twitched. “Like the time I was there for you as your date to your cousin Donny’s wedding?”
He shook his head with a groan. “Thank God you were there. That maid of honor had…wandering hands.”
She laughed out loud, remembering the expression on Brad’s face when the woman grabbed his butt during the bridal party dance. “That’s right—you owe me. I saved you from a very awkward groping fate. And you made me dance to every single slow song with you after that. My feet were on fire by the time we got home.”
“Mine too.” He chuckled. “But that was a fun night.”
Kendall lowered her eyes, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the happy memory and how close they’d been back then. “Yeah, it really was.”
They continued walking in silence until Brad playfully bumped her arm with his shoulder. “Hey, I think we’re due for a bad eighties movie marathon. What do you think?”
“I’d like that.” They reached the end of the boardwalk, and she stopped, angling her head to smile up at him.
He stood there, all tan and glistening from his morning run, and smiled back down at her. She blinked, squelching the one-two punch of butterflies that sprung in her stomach. “I—I have to go now,” she said lamely.
She turned and led Deuce down her street without looking back. As she struggled to regain normal breathing, she realized she was going to have to be extra careful around Brad if she didn’t want to ruin their friendship. He meant too much to her. Reminiscing over those good times they’d shared served to remind of her that even more.
It was that smile of his that knocked the breath from her every time. But as long as she was aware of that—and he remained fully clothed around her—she was sure their friendship would be fine.
She just had to believe that.
“Would you like something to eat?” Kendall asked, holding out a plate of sliced chocolate-chip banana bread under Brad’s nose.
Brad had shown up at the bakery ten minutes after she did Wednesday morning, claiming he only wanted to take measurements so he could enlarge her workbench. She heard a lot of sawing and sanding going on after that. Now here it was, almost noon, and he had yet to take a break. She was paying him good money for his handyman services, but he needed to eat something or guilt would plague her the rest of the afternoon.
Brad slid his safety goggles up his forehead and wiped the sweat off his face with the back of a gloved hand. “You are a complete princess,” he breathed, gazing longingly at the tray.
Kendall smiled. “Would a princess wear dirty overalls as she delivers banana bread to her overworked knight in shining work boots?”
Brad stood, removing his gloves. “Maybe not in your storybook, but she definitely would in mine.” He picked up a slice of bread, raising it as if giving a champagne toast, then took a bite.
She forced her gaze away from his mouth and it fell on the workbench he had been working on all morning. “Oh, Brad!” she exclaimed, running her hand over the smooth wood surface. “You finished. It looks so great.”
Brad admired his own handiwork and nodded. “Yeah, it still needs to be sanitized before you use it, but that’s solid maple wood, so it should be good and sturdy for you.”
“I love it. The stainless steel one the previous owners had is nice, but nothing is going to work for rolling out my dough like wood. I don’t know how to thank you enough.” She glanced back up and their eyes locked. She could feel it then, that invisible web of attraction building between them again. Of all people she could be attracted to—Jake’s friend,
her
friend, Georgie’s brother, and worse yet, a police officer. Could he be any more wrong for her?
She turned to grab a broom, feeling the need to break the stare and keep her hands busy. “So how’s work been?” she asked, trying to sound casual.
Brad picked up another piece of banana bread and raised an eyebrow at her. “The work I’m doing here for you or…work in general?”
“Oh, work in general.” She gulped. “Um, shoot anybody lately?”
“Plenty.”
Her heart stopped.
“Really?”
Brad stopped chewing and gave her a curious look. “Kendall, I’m just kidding. Why the police questions all of a sudden? Are you worried about vandalism or something?”
“No, no. Nothing like that. Um, just making small talk.”
And reminding myself why a relationship between us could never work.
“You should know from waitressing how busy the summer is. With all the out-of-towners buzzing around, my job will be pretty interesting for the next few months.”
Her nerves tensed at his reminder. Their little shore town always saw a dramatic increase in vacationers every summer, so much so that they had to hire a lot of part-time policemen to help with the temporarily expanded population. But even with all that added help, Maritime City still saw a lot more accidents, robberies, and assaults. So when Brad had said his job would be getting interesting in the next few months, she knew that really meant his job would become more dangerous.
“That reminds me,” Brad said, his mood turning buoyant. “I haven’t mentioned this to anyone yet, but I recently applied and got in to the National Academy program in Quantico.”
“What?” She blinked. “Why would you want to do that?”
Brad chuckled. “I think the appropriate response should have been ‘congratulations.’”
“Sorry,” she murmured as an unwelcome heat crept into her cheeks. “It’s not that I’m not happy for you. I—I guess I’m just surprised.” Surprised. Shocked. Maybe even a little sad, too, because Jake had also talked about going back to school and earning a master’s in
environmental science and fire safety engineering.
“I figured if I ever wanted to move up in my career, it would be worth my effort to take some advanced training in investigation and management,” he said. “I might as well do it now before I have a wife and kids. Not only is the academic workload tough, but I’ve actually been training already for the fitness requirements. There’s a thirty-four-mile swim challenge.”
Judging by what she saw of his body the other day when he’d been running, she’d say he was already in perfectly fit condition. “Wow. You’re certainly keeping yourself busy between work, school, and helping me out. Do you think you’re spreading yourself too thin?”
He cocked his head and one of his charming smiles slipped through. “Hey, don’t worry. Classes won’t start until this fall, so I’ll still be able to help you with any work you need done here.”
“Oh. No, I wasn’t worried about that. I… So you’ll be going away?”
“Yeah, but it won’t be for that long. You’ll barely even miss me,” he said with a wink.
Kendall frowned. She doubted that. She missed him already. Brad had just become part of her life again and she didn’t want to lose him. She’d just begun digesting that realization and everything Brad had told her when a tall man carrying a toolbox walked into the kitchen.
“There you are,” the man said, grinning at Brad. “Just wanted to let you know I finally made it. I’ll start checking things out for you.”
“Thanks, Rick. I appreciate it.” As the two shook hands, Kendall noticed the man had nice wavy brown hair with sandy-red highlights. He wasn’t classically handsome, but attractive in a clean-cut, athletic sort of way. How he carried himself spoke of overconfidence, but there were little touches of laugh lines around his mouth and eyes that made Kendall automatically like him anyway.
Brad stepped aside and motioned to Kendall. “Kendall, this is my friend Rick Caldwell. If you ever need a plumber, this guy’s the best in town. He’s going to be checking out your pipes today.”
Rick stepped forward and gave her body a raking gaze. “Your pipes, and anything else you’d like me to check out while I’m here,” he added suggestively.
She almost laughed out loud at Rick’s outrageous flirting, but Brad didn’t seem as amused. A muscle clenched along Brad’s jaw. “Just the pipes,” he ground out.
“Sorry,” Rick told Brad, looking anything but. “You didn’t mention I’d be helping out such a lovely lady. If I had known, I wouldn’t have put off coming here for so long.”
“Nice to know where I fall on your list of priorities,” Brad muttered.
Rick threw his head back with a laugh. “Women will always rate way above you, my friend. Hey, that reminds me—how was your date a few nights ago?”
Kendall’s shoulders went stiff. She had completely forgotten that Brad had a date lined up last weekend.
Brad seemed to have forgotten too, suddenly resembling a man who’d been hit in the face with a bucket of ice. “How do you know about my date?” he asked warily.
Rick grinned. “Your sister, of course.”
“Of course.” Brad’s lips thinned with irritation.
“So how
was
your date the other night?” Kendall asked. She thought she sounded nonchalant enough, but was afraid to look at him in case her face gave her emotions away. She continued sweeping up errant sawdust while she waited to hear his reply. She told herself she wasn’t prying into his love life, just curious, considering this was his first serious date in a while and he hadn’t bothered to mention it to her when he saw her on the boardwalk the other day. Besides, Rick brought it up first.
Brad leaned against the counter, apparently in no hurry to share any details of his date. “Georgie told you that, huh?” he asked Rick. “I don’t know where she finds the time to broadcast my life like she does.”
Rick grinned. “Your sister is something else, all right. But don’t be mad at her for telling me. You know how she gets when she’s all fired up about something.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Brad reassured him, although there was an edge to his voice. “There are plenty of other reasons for me to be mad at Georgie, but telling you about my date is not one of them.”
Kendall grew impatient. Who cared if Georgie had a big mouth? That was old news. She wanted new information—details about his date—now! Like if Brad had kissed this woman good night or not.
She took a deep breath, finding the courage to ask the question again. “So…tell us, Brad. How was it?” she repeated. “Er, the date, I mean. Was she…nice?”
Brad quirked an eyebrow. “You really want to know?”
Kendall feebly nodded and was ashamed at how lame her affirmation was. Of course she wanted to know. They were friends and whatever—or whoever—interested him interested her.
Sort of.
“You can share anything with me.” Then she quietly sucked in her breath and braced herself.
“Well, it was great. I had no idea she and I had so much in common.”
Kendall’s heart sank as Rick gave him a thumbs-up sign.
“That’s great,” Rick added. “I went to school with Brandi. She was a cheerleader, if I remember. Still good-looking?”
Brad nodded with heavy emphasis. “Beautiful.”
Kendall gave a little anxious cough.
Brandi?
Oh, come on. Brad went out with a woman named Brandi? Honestly, what kind of mother would name her child that? It’s as if the woman was just begging for her daughter to grow up and become a Hooters waitress.