Will regarded him with pity. “How long are you going to keep trying to sell yourself on that story? None of the rest of us are buying it. I’m pretty sure Susie isn’t, either. If you don’t make a move, one of these days she’s going to find herself a man who will officially date her and marry her and have babies with her. Is that what you want?”
Mack looked sickened by Will’s words. “Of course not, but—”
“No more excuses,” Will said sternly. “Don’t lose her. It’ll hurt if you try and lose, but if you never try and lose, you’ll regret it the rest of your life.”
Mack met his gaze. “Is that why you’re finally making a move on Jess? So you won’t have regrets?”
“Something like that,” Will acknowledged. “To be honest, I came darn close to giving up myself without trying, but circumstances changed.”
“He’s talking about the infamous kiss in the bar at Brady’s a while back,” Jake said.
Will smiled at the memory. “I am. That and a few other things since then. I’ve been encouraged.”
Mack looked disconsolate. “If only Susie would give me some kind of sign that she’s ready for things to change.”
Will rolled his eyes. “Unlike Jess and me, Susie spends every spare second she has with you. Do you need her to issue an engraved invitation to her bed?”
Jake chuckled. “Like that’ll ever happen. She’s an O’Brien woman. They like their men to court them.”
“All women do,” Will said. “I have it on recent authority, they like to be swept off their feet. I’m pretty sure it takes more than flowers and candy. If I figure it out, I’ll pass along the tips.”
“Hurry up,” Mack pleaded. “This whole celibacy thing…” He shook his head. “I’m not cut out for it. The only thing that’s kept me from taking some other woman up on an offer of uncomplicated sex is knowing that I’ll be playing right into Susie’s hands. She’s just waiting for me to mess up and revert to that niche she’s stuck me in. I doubt she’ll ever believe I’m no longer some irresponsible player who’ll trample all over her heart. Sadly, that reputation has been carved in stone, or into her heart or something.”
Will gave his shoulder a squeeze. “I think you’d be surprised about that, if you’d just get up the gumption to move forward.”
Mack still didn’t look convinced. Will had no idea what it was going to take to bring those two together. He just hoped they didn’t take so long that one of them got their heart broken before it happened.
14
Connie glanced out the window of her office at her brother’s nursery and saw Thomas’s hybrid car turn into the parking lot. Her heart picked up its pace, and she couldn’t seem to look away as he emerged and headed her way, carrying what looked to be two containers of coffee and a bag from Sally’s.
She cast a frantic glance toward Jake’s office, deeply regretting that he hadn’t yet left for his job site. Having Thomas show up here once had been awkward enough. Having him back again so soon was really going to stir up Jake’s suspicions. She wasn’t quite ready to deal with all the brotherly concern that was likely to ensue once Jake figured out why Thomas was turning up so frequently.
Maybe she could manage to keep the two men from crossing paths, she thought, getting to her feet and hurrying outside. She caught Thomas just a few feet from the office door.
“Good morning,” she said cheerfully, then added loudly enough to be overheard if her brother happened to be paying attention, “I wasn’t expecting you today.”
“Though I’m a bit out of practice, it occurred to me that women like the occasional surprise,” Thomas said. “I brought coffee and croissants. I thought we could have breakfast together, if you have the time to spare.”
“I had breakfast hours ago,” she told him. “I’m usually here at the crack of dawn.” Seeing the flare of disappointment in his eyes, she quickly added, “But I am definitely ready to take a break. Shall we take a walk and try to find someplace we can talk?”
Thomas regarded her with amusement. “You wouldn’t be trying to get me away from Jake, would you?”
“I am,” she admitted candidly. “Your last visit didn’t go unnoticed.”
“Do I need to have a talk with him? Explain my intentions?” Though there was a twinkle in his eye, he sounded willing to do exactly that if she thought it necessary.
Connie regarded him with dismay. “Absolutely not. He’s my brother, not my father, and my younger brother at that. I’m a grown woman, perfectly capable of making my own decisions.”
“Well, of course you are,” Thomas said, eyes sparkling at her indignation. “But Jake is obviously very protective of you. I can understand why he’d be concerned about the two of us seeing each other. I have no problem trying to put his mind at ease.”
“Really? Because I do,” she responded. “It may have been a long time since I’ve dated, but I think we’re long past the era when some man in the family either gets to pick out my dates or put a stamp of approval on them.”
Thomas grinned. “I wasn’t going to give him veto power, Connie. I thought it might be nice, though, to have him on our side, before all the fuss starts with my family.”
She sighed. The O’Briens would definitely be an entirely different kettle of fish. “You might have a point about that,” she conceded. “Still, there’s a picnic table around back. Why don’t we go out there and discuss this? We can decide how we want to handle all the likely family interference.”
Thomas nodded. “Fair enough.”
Of course, what Connie hadn’t considered was that the picnic table was in clear view of Jake’s office window. They’d barely taken a sip of their
