Kevin woke to find Holly still asleep, lying on her side facing him. The kitten was batting at his head, and he picked it up and put it down at his feet, but it decided it was playtime. The clock read close to seven thirty, which meant the cat had been good longer than could be expected. If nothing else, the thing needed its litter box.
After three rounds of sex, he knew Holly was exhausted. She’d gotten worried when her cousin hadn’t come home, but she’d finally gotten a text that her cousin was spending the night with her boyfriend. Which made him regret not insisting on taking her on the counter.
He slid out of bed and stepped into his jeans, then hurriedly shoved his arms into his shirtsleeves. The kitten had discovered Holly’s hair and was about to pounce on it when he scooped it up and carried it downstairs.
A dark-headed woman sat at the kitchen counter, nursing a cup of coffee. She turned her head to look at him, a slow smile spreading across her face.
“Please tell me you live next door.”
He cocked his head. “Um…yes?”
“So was it the pasta salad or the pita sandwich that won you over?”
“Excuse me?”
“Last night’s dinner. I made it for Holly to take to you.”
He smiled. “She won me over before I even saw the dinner.”
“She’s a good person and she’s been through a lot. She deserves a great guy, if you get what I’m saying.”
“I’m not sure if I’m a great guy, but I do want to get to know her better and I have no intention of hurting her.”
“I suppose that’s all you can promise, isn’t it?” There was a sharp edge in her voice, which he suspected had nothing to do with him and Holly. She stood and walked to the sink with her coffee cup, wobbling slightly. “There’s definitely no promises in life.”
“Are you okay?”
“No. But thanks for asking.” She enunciated her words like a drunk person trying to appear sober. “I’m going to bed.”
She walked past him, over to the dining room table, glancing down at the papers spread across the top. “The wedding’s going to be gorgeous.”
“Excuse me?”
“Her wedding. It looks a lot like the ones she used to plan when we were little.”
She was planning her wedding? He walked over to the table and, sure enough, there were pictures of cakes and flowers and dresses scattered around. If she wasn’t planning a wedding, she was definitely obsessed with one.
Holly’s cousin started for the stairs, but then Kevin remembered her earlier remark and called after her, “You said you made dinner for Holly to bring to me?”
“Yeah. I pushed her to take you the lasagna, but last night’s dinner was all her. She called me and told me she wanted to use it to win you over.”
His eyes sank closed and disappointment washed over him. He’d thought she was normal. He could have sworn she was normal. Yet she’d begun planning her wedding—their wedding—before they’d even slept together.
He’d broken his six-month ban to sleep with a crazy woman. This was a disaster.
The kitten squirmed on his arm. “I have to take the cat to do its business and get to work.”
“On a Saturday?” she asked at the bottom of the steps, sounding skeptical.
“Yeah. New job and all.”
“Yeah…right…”
He didn’t give her time to call him on his bullshit, instead practically running across the front yard to his house. It occurred to him as he entered the house that he’d left it unlocked, which wasn’t a smart move if there really were car break-ins in the neighborhood. Jesus. Had she made that up, too, so she’d look helpless and he’d stay to take care of her?
He took the kitten to the laundry-room litter box, afraid to let it do its business outside. Trying that last night had been what had gotten him into this situation.
How was he going to get out of this? He really liked her, but what sane woman planned her wedding before her first date? Still, he hated to just ignore her. Was there a kind way to say: Sorry, I made a mistake. I didn’t realize you were batshit crazy?
He pulled out his phone and considered calling his sister to take him to pick up his car, but he needed advice, too, and he didn’t exactly trust her decision-making skills at the moment. Instead he sent a text to Matt.
Any chance you can pick me up and take me to my car at Café Rustica?
It was early enough that he didn’t expect Matt to respond immediately.
I have a T-ball game at 9. I’ll pick you up in fifteen minutes and you can help me coach.
Coach a T-ball game? Why not? If nothing else, he could leave the house and avoid any awkward encounters with Holly.
I’ll be ready.
He took a quick shower, hoping the calming effect of the water would help him figure out what to do.
Sex with Holly had been the best he’d ever had. And then the time they had spent just talking made it even more perfect. He’d thought she was what he’d been looking for—that puzzle piece that just fit—but that damned wedding planning—
Why couldn’t women just be normal?
The kitten looked up at him through the shower door and mewled.
“Yeah, I know, buddy. Life sucks.”
He finished showering quickly and tugged on a fresh pair of jeans and a T-shirt, then tromped downstairs. He needed to get Megan to take the cat or admit defeat and give it a name. He wasn’t ready to go that far yet.
A rap on the door made his heart stutter. Had Holly come over looking for him? But the door opened and Matt poked his head inside. “I’m a few minutes early, so I thought I’d come in and take a look at your project.”
Kevin snorted. “You mean disaster.”
Matt made a quick walk-through, silent the entire time until he ended up at the front door.
“Give it to me straight,” Kevin said, his back tense.
“There’s a lot of work to do, but your sister has a good eye. I think it’s a good investment.” He clamped his hand on Kevin’s shoulder. “Let’s get some doughnuts and coffee and eat them on the way to the field, which will give you plenty of time to tell me why you have the wild look in your eyes. We’ll stop by your car after the game.”
“Worried I’ll take off and skip the game?”
Matt crossed his arms. “Nope. I know you’re too smart to break a commitment to your boss.”
A sardonic grin spread across Kevin’s face. “Well, that’s your first mistake—assuming I’m smart. It only took twenty-four hours before I broke our pact and jumped straight into the fire.”
Matt laughed, dropping his arms to his sides. “Ha! You didn’t waste any time, did you?”
He grimaced. “I blame it on the alcohol.” Only he’d sobered up quite a bit before he’d carried her upstairs.
Matt released a sigh. “We all want to blame it on alcohol. Let’s go, and you can fill me in on the ugly details.”
Kevin put the kitten in the basement with fresh food and water, then locked up the house and cast a long look at Holly’s bedroom window before he climbed into Matt’s truck.
“What happened?”
“I also give partial blame to the blind date my mother set me up on.”
Matt started laughing. “I definitely need more coffee. I could swear I heard you say you let your mother set you up on a blind date.”
“I didn’t let her do anything. She tricked me into it. I thought I was meeting her and Dad.”
“She fixed you up with your neighbor?”
“No. She fixed me up with Bethany Davis from high school.”
“What? No way. Is she just as crazy as she was back then?”
“Even more so.”
“How’d your mother find her?”
“I’m guessing the country club. She’s sure using it to her advantage since she coerced Dad to join a few years ago.”
“So you went home with her?”
“God, no. Why would you think that?”
“Dude, you’re doing the walk of shame to your car. Or in this case, the drive of shame.”
“My car’s still in the parking lot because I got drunk off my ass to make it through the dinner. I had to call my sister to come get me.”
“Bethany didn’t offer to take you home?”
“Oh, she offered, all right. I gave her a hard pass.”
Matt laughed. “Is that why you’re so grumpy? You got blue balls?”
Kevin sat back in his seat, his mood getting worse by the minute. “That’s right, funny guy. Laugh it up.”
“So you left one date to go home and hook up with another woman?” Matt whistled. “And I thought Tyler was bad.”
“It wasn’t like that,” he said a little too defensively, cringing at Matt’s chuckle. “Megan took me home and I took that damn cat out back to pee.”
“Why didn’t you just let it use the litter box?”
“Dude, I was drunk, okay? Obviously I wasn’t thinking straight.”
“Obviously…”
“Holly’s dog got through the fence to chase after the cat and she followed it back.” Was that all staged, too? To give her an excuse to talk to him?
“And then…?” Matt prompted.
“Then I saw her…she was still in her work clothes. This tight peach-colored skirt that clung to her ass and a low-cut top that showed off her…”
“And you were drunk. …”
“She said she was, too. She’d had a good day.”
“And you made it better?”
Maybe, but he had to have fucked up her morning just leaving like that. What if there was some logical explanation for her wedding photos everywhere? What if she was helping a friend? “Her dog freaked out the cat and it scratched my cheek. Holly saw the scratches and offered to get her first aid kit. So I went over to her house and she cleaned up the scratches.”
“And then?”
“And then one thing led to the other and I had the best night of my life.” He realized it really had been. He’d never connected with someone that quickly. He took a deep breath, trying to fight his rising panic. “I think I just fucked up.”
“Nah, it was one hookup. You can jump back on the womanless wagon. Call it Day One of your new virginity.”
That wasn’t what he’d meant. What if he’d made a mistake about leaving her this morning? What if he had thrown away something that could have been amazing?
But Matt continued on, unaware of his inner dilemma. “What made you realize she was crazy?”
“I found wedding photos.”
Matt’s eyebrows lifted. “She’s married?”
Kevin shook his head. “No, like she was planning one. Cutouts from things she’d found online—you know: flowers, cakes, dresses.”
“One of those, huh?”
“But she didn’t seem like it last night. In fact, she seemed like she thought I was just going to get up and walk home.” His panic increased. “Oh, Jesus. I really fucked up.”
“Well, hold on. Maybe not. Could they have belonged to someone else? Didn’t you say she lived with her cousin?”
He paused to recall his conversation with her cousin, his heart sinking. “She does, but her cousin was the one who pointed them out. She said they were Holly’s. She said it was the wedding she’d wanted as a kid.”
Matt cringed. “That sure sounds like a woman desperate to get married to the first man who comes along.”
“Her cousin said Holly asked her to make dinner so she could bring it to me.”
“I thought she showed up in your backyard to get her dog. Did she happen to have the dinner with her?”
“No.”
“Maybe she tried to bring it over while you were gone? But look at this this way: she’s at home on Friday night, trying to land you with a tuna casserole.”
“Pasta salad and turkey-and-avocado pita sandwiches.”
He turned to look at Kevin. “Are you shitting me? Was it good?”
Kevin pinned his gaze on him. “Amazingly good.”
Matt shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that she’s some kind of looney tunes who set her sights on you the day you moved in. She brought you a lasagna, for Christ’s sake.” Matt turned to face him. “Take it from someone who knows all too well—when they want to rush to play house, all kinds of red flags are flying. Don’t be an idiot and ignore them.”
“Yeah…”
“And don’t worry about working on your house. After the game, I’ll follow you home and we can spend the rest of the day working on ripping your house apart.”
“Only until three or so. I have plans.”
“Another date with your neighbor?” Matt laughed. “What’s she bringing you tonight? Steak and baked potatoes?”
Kevin frowned. “I promised my mother that I’d go over this afternoon.”
“After she set you up on a blind date with Bethany Davis? I would totally blow it off on principle alone.”
“Like hell you would.” Kevin laughed. “Your mother would hand you your ass on a platter. And it’s not just her. I promised my sister.”
“What’s so important? A family dinner?”
Kevin considered lying, but Matt already thought he was an idiot. He couldn’t make it much worse. “A baby shower.”
Matt burst into laughter. “You are so whipped. And you aren’t even married. You need to stay away from women until you can grow a pair.” Chuckling, Matt tilted his head toward Kevin. “And you definitely need to cut your losses with your neighbor.”
Unfortunately, Kevin was sure they were talking about two very different losses.