occupied when she was bored with her wealthy life and friends. Emotional involvement hadn’t been part of her plan-just an exciting affair that abruptly ended when he no longer served a purpose in her capricious life.
Despite that lesson learned, he’d wanted to believe Teddy was different, that her ulterior motives wouldn’t cloud what seemed so obvious and right between them.
He’d been wrong.
Swearing at his stupidity, he turned off the water, grabbed the thick navy towel hanging over the stall and scrubbed it over his damp hair and wet body.
“She did you a big favor, buddy,” he muttered to himself as he stepped from the shower. “And she’s definitely all wrong for you,” he continued as he trekked naked into the bedroom, where the early-morning sun was just beginning to seep through the second-story bedroom window to warm the hardwood floor.
Grabbing his favorite pair of soft, faded jeans, he pulled them on and concentrated on all those wrongs, mentally ticking them off in his head: her wealthy family, who wouldn’t approve of him, her job being more important than a relationship, and her admitted unwillingness to balance the two.
He finger-combed his thick, damp hair away from his face, and tried not to grimace at the less-than-refreshed reflection in the mirror-he looked tired, haggard and as irritable as a provoked bear. “You have every reason to be grateful that she didn’t allow things to progress further than they had last night,” he told himself, pivoting toward the bedroom door.
But as he headed downstairs, he found it difficult to be gracious about Teddy’s rejection when he’d tasted the need and hunger in her kiss, and in the way her body had responded so openly and honestly to his touch. There had been nothing calculated about her soft groans as he’d caressed her breasts, nothing fabricated about the sensual way she’d arched toward him for more.
Letting out a deep breath to erase those arousing thoughts that would surely haunt him for months to come, he entered the kitchen. Jordan, who’d always been one to be up bright and early, flipped down the corner of the Sunday sports section and glanced at Austin. A slow grin spread across Jordan’s face as he homed in on his brother’s cantankerous disposition.
“You look like hell this morning, little brother.” Humor threaded Jordan’s voice and creased the corners of his eyes.
Austin gave a noncommittal grunt in response. Of course, Jordan looked neat and orderly and ready to begin the day, his knit shirt pressed, and his jeans crisp and a vivid shade of blue, which indicated they were fairly new. Austin barely contained a disgusted snort. Didn’t his brother ever dress for anything but success?
Jordan’s grin increased. “And you should be plenty rested, considering I heard you come in just a little after midnight.”
Jordan’s insinuation that Austin’s evening plans hadn’t ended as he’d personally hoped rankled. Crossing the cool tiled floor, he opened the cupboard and brought down a bowl and a box of cereal, then withdrew a carton of milk from the refrigerator. “I thought I’d outgrown you waiting up for me long ago.”
“Oh, I wasn’t waiting up.” Jordan folded the section of newspaper neatly, and laid it aside. “I was awake, in bed reading. Even if I wasn’t, the way you stomped up the stairs and slammed your bedroom door would have woken the dead.”
He grimaced as he carried his breakfast items to the table. “Sorry,” he said, genuinely contrite. Sitting across from Jordan, he poured Cap’n Crunch into his bowl and added a generous amount of milk. Jordan looked on disapprovingly at the sugared cereal, which Austin had eaten for breakfast since the age of eight.
Jordan believed in a healthy start to the day; Austin wasn’t about to sacrifice his favorite cereal for the scrambled eggs, wheat toast and cantaloupe his brother preferred. “I guess I’m still not used to having someone else in the house.”
“I figured as much.” Jordan shoveled scrambled eggs onto his buttered wheat toast and took a bite while considering Austin through curious eyes. “Dare I ask how things went last night?”
Austin tried for a nonchalant shrug and failed miserably. “Depends on whose point of view you want.”
“How about hers?” Jordan asked, slicing his cantaloupe into precise wedges.
“Great.” Unequivocally, Austin was sure. There was little doubt in his mind that everyone at Sharper Image had fallen for the ruse, which could only work to Teddy’s favor.
“And yours?”
He scooped up a spoonful of cereal, glancing at Jordan before taking the bite. “Disappointing and frustrating.” And a multitude of other emotions he didn’t care to verbally analyze.
Jordan digested that, appearing sympathetic. “Care to talk about it?”
Austin wasn’t one to spill his guts about personal issues, but Jordan had always been a good listener, reflective without judging, and Austin needed that quiet male camaraderie and support right now. “The night itself was great. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I had such a good time with a woman. Teddy is smart, sexy, amusing…and entirely too determined,” he added on a note of annoyance.
Jordan lifted an eyebrow. “Usually that’s a good thing.”
Austin pushed his half-eaten bowl of Cap’n Crunch aside. “She’s determined to the point of seeing nothing beyond her promotion.”
“Can’t begrudge a person for wanting to be successful.”
Austin didn’t miss the bitter note to his brother’s voice that had nothing to do with Teddy.
“I don’t begrudge Teddy for wanting that promotion, but what about being successful and making time for a relationship?”
Jordan picked up his glass of orange juice. “Depends on the person’s priorities.”
Austin snorted. Teddy had made it patently clear where her priorities lay-in the hands of Sharper Image. “I guess I went with her to this party expecting something…different. Like maybe another date, where we could get to know one another without that ridiculous charade between us.” Shaking his head, he scrubbed a hand over the light stubble covering his jaw. “Man, it’s been a long time since I’ve felt that way about a woman.”
Jordan chuckled, the sound entirely too gleeful. “She certainly has you tied up in knots.”
Austin scowled, but knew he’d be a hypocrite if he denied what was so obviously the truth. Teddy did have a hold on him, one he couldn’t shake. She made him think about things he’d decided were beyond his reach until his landscaping business was financially stable. She made him think about what it would be like to come home to her smiles in the evening and her soft, feminine scent filling this old Victorian house. And then there was the luxury of making love to her every night, and waking up beside her for the next fifty years.
Commitment. Security. And the comfort of having a family. After years of playing the field, the notion appealed to him. More and more with each passing year.
Folding his hands over his bare belly, Austin leaned back in his chair, rocking on the solid hind legs. “Jordan, you ever think about settling down?”
Stacking his fork and knife on his plate, Jordan shrugged noncommittally. “I thought I was close once, but it didn’t work out, which is just as well because look at where I am now. If I had a family to support, I never would have been able to quit and walk out on those dishonest bastards.”
Austin nodded in understanding.
“Now, I’m an unemployed architect, living with my bachelor brother, and I have no idea what the future holds.”
“You could always take over Fantasy for Hire,” Austin offered with a devilish grin.
Jordan visibly shuddered. “I’m nobody’s fantasy, and I prefer to conduct business with my clothes on, thank you very much.”
“You don’t give yourself near enough credit. I’m sure there are women out there who fantasize about straitlaced architects.” Austin ignored the dirty look Jordan cast his way. “I’d sell you the business real cheap.”
“What, you thinking of giving up being the object of every woman’s fantasy?” Humor threaded through Jordan’s voice.
“I’ve been considering selling the business for a while now,” Austin admitted. “Not only is Fantasy for Hire becoming too much for me to handle along with all the business coming in for McBride Landscaping, I’m tired of all the pretense.”
“Feeling a little taken advantage of, hmm?”
He hadn’t, not until he’d met Teddy. For this particular reason, he’d always been careful to draw the line between his job as a fantasy for hire and the customer he performed for, but that’s where he’d failed with Teddy
