The Bachelor Next Door

Lily was still pondering what Jill could have meant when she hung up the phone.

* * *

Brendan strode up the sidewalk, one hour and thirty-eight minutes later than he’d planned.

The trucking company had no business hiring people who didn’t have a clue how to change a flat tire. But then again, the guy he’d found sprawled on the hood, tethered to his iPod by a bright orange cord dangling from one ear, didn’t even look old enough to hold a valid driver’s license. Brendan had ended up changing the tire and unloading the cargo into his own vehicle.

Just to make sure it didn’t end up somewhere in Canada.

The house was eerily quiet when he opened the front door.

No humming. No whistling. Lily must have taken his polite request for peace and quiet to heart.

It was bad enough the lower half of the house now resembled the paint aisle of a home-improvement store, but on his way to check something in the shop earlier that morning, Brendan happened to glance into the living room. Lily had been stretched out on the rug in front of the fireplace, reading the label on a plastic tub with the intensity of a law student studying to pass the bar exam. Missy was sprawled across her legs, her whiskered chin resting on Lily’s knee.

Two thoughts had collided in Brendan’s mind. Lily looked as if she belonged there. And, for the first time, he’d wished he could trade places with a dog.

Halfway to his office, the tantalizing aroma of cinnamon beckoned to him from the kitchen. Brendan took a deep breath, determined to forge ahead…

“Hi.” Lily landed in front of him, looking like a sunbeam in the yellow apron he’d bought for Sunni one Christmas.

Bare toes, each one painted a bright shade of coral, peeked out from the rolled up hems of Lily’s faded jeans. “I was starting to get a little worried.”

Brendan was getting a little worried, too. Worried that it didn’t matter if Lily sang along with the oldies on his mother’s ancient am/fm radio. Or kept up a lively dialogue with Missy.

Her very presence in the house had somehow changed things.

“The driver didn’t know how to change a flat.” Brendan noticed a smudge of grease on the back of his hand and took a quick detour over to the sink. “You didn’t happen to hear the phone ring, did you?”

“Yes…and I also happened to answer it.” Lily fished a piece of paper from the pocket of Sunni’s apron, embroidered with the words Hug the Cook. Somehow, the words took on a whole new meaning.

Don’t. Go. There.

Brendan plucked the paper from Lily’s hand and glanced at the name scrawled at the top. “Jill?”

“Robinson.” Lily grabbed a potholder and opened the oven door a crack. A burst of steam rolled out, carrying the scent of apples. “One of the parents in the booster club.”

“What booster club?”

“For your soccer team.”

“I don’t have a soccer team.”

“New Life Fellowship. The Conquerors.” Lily’s sigh stirred a wisp of hair on her forehead. “Does that ring a bell?”

“No—” Okay. Maybe a very faint one.

Lily tipped her head. “You hear it, don’t you?”

In spite of his rising frustration, Brendan battled a sudden urge to smile.

“Jill said that Castle Fall Outfitters—your business—is sponsoring the team.”

The pieces were beginning to come together. “I signed a check.”

“Hence the word sponsor.” Lily fisted her hands on her slender hips. “You said you were expecting her call.”

“I said I was expecting an important call,” Brendan shot back. From Garrett Bridges, the CEO of Extreme Adventures.

“It sounded important to Jill.”

“Was that the only time you heard the phone ring?” Brendan had been in contact with Bridges often enough over the past few months to know that he and the CEO were a lot alike. Every minute of the day attached to a certain task. If something disrupted the flow or severed the connection, they didn’t have time to wait around. They simply moved on to the next thing on their agenda.

“It might have. I took Missy for a walk right after Jill called.” The flash of guilt on Lily’s face made him feel guilty. It wasn’t her responsibility to answer his phone. She’d done it as a favor, even though he’d enforced a code of silence all morning. Never mind that Lily had kept breaking it.

Or that he’d looked forward to her breaking it.

“Don’t—” Worry about it, Brendan had been about to say. But a series of short, staccato barks peppered the air, shooting holes in his apology.

Lily’s gaze locked on something outside the window. “Hold that thought.”

The screen door slapped shut behind her as she charged outside.

Brendan didn’t want to know what kind of trouble Missy had gotten into. Again. As he contemplated who might benefit from the responsibility of taking care of a pet—Aiden instantly came to mind—he heard another door slam.

“Something smells good!”

Brendan froze when his brothers sauntered into the kitchen.

“What are you doing here?”

Aiden shoulder-bumped Liam. “Told you he missed us.”

“We decided to come back a day early.” Liam’s nose lifted like a timber wolf’s on the hunt. “Do I smell apple pie?”

“I have no idea,” Brendan said irritably. “Did something go wrong? Did you run into bad weather? Was there a problem with the new design?”

Liam ignored him. “You don’t know what’s in the oven?”

“I don’t know because I didn’t make it,” Brendan muttered. “Lily Michaels did.”

“Who is Lily Michaels?” Aiden wanted to know.

“The painter Mom hired, remember?” Liam hunkered down and peered through the oven door for a better look.

Aiden turned to stare at him. “You’re letting her use the kitchen?”

“Not exactly.” Brendan wasn’t letting Lily do anything. She’d invaded his home…his territory…at his mother’s invitation and there was nothing he could do about it. Just like there was no sense hiding the fact the arrangement included room and board. Liam and Aiden would figure it out soon enough. “Mom let her move into the guest room. Temporarily,” he added, more for himself than his brothers.