And Then He Kissed Me by Teresa Southwick Page A

Nick.”
    Abby glanced at him. “Nick!” Quickly she stepped away from his brother.
    Nick didn’t miss her guilty look or the pink in her cheeks. “Hi, Abby.”
    He studied Joe. Nothing out of the ordinary there, but his brother had had a lot of experience with women. Abby had none with men. If Joe decided to put the moves on her, she hadn’t acquired the know-how to deal with the situation. But Joe wouldn’t take advantage of that. Would he?
    Joe’s grin faded. “You look as if you’d like to yank the head off a doll. What’s up?”
    â€œThat’s what I’d like to know.”
    Abby tucked her hair behind her ear. “Is something wrong?”
    Nick met her gaze. “You tell me.”
    Tell me what you’re doing here with my brother when I specifically told you I was unavailable today.
    Nick realized a couple of things in one of those moments of crystal clarity. He didn’t want Abby alone
with playboy, confirmed bachelor, charming, outgoing Joe Marchetti. His second thought was that no way did he want another man hugging Abby, not even his own brother, especially his irresistible brother. His third was that he had no right to entertain thoughts number one and two. Unfortunately, that was the world’s smallest thought and didn’t diminish his testosterone surge one bit. Apparently his protective instinct for Abby was on overdrive. What else could it be?
    He cleared his throat as he tried to get a grip on his anger. “What are you doing here?”
    Abby glanced up at his brother, another quick, guilty look. “Rebecca looked over the quarterly report and was worried about the numbers. We discussed some of my ideas, and she agreed that they could generate business at the restaurant. She sent me over here.”
    Nick’s feelings took a detour into something territorial. She had first broached that subject with him .
    Joe rested a hip on his desk and folded his arms over his chest. “She’s got some dynamite plans, Nick. Two-for-one coupons, poor-but-hungry Tuesday, and—”
    â€œAll-you-can-eat family night,” Nick finished.
    Joe nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah. So she talked to you about this.”
    â€œSome,” he answered.
    Abby looked at him, worry creasing her forehead. “You were in a meeting, Nick. I was looking for Luke to run the numbers by him, but he’s not around. Joe saw me in the hall and called me in. He was kind enough to listen to everything, including my whining.”
    Nick couldn’t erase his mental picture of Abby in his brother’s arms. “So what was the hug for?” he snapped.
    â€œJust company T.L.C. Abby isn’t used to being a
manager,” Joe said. “She doesn’t like calling off employees.”
    Nick knew he was being a jerk, but couldn’t seem to help it. “Is that right?”
    â€œAbsolutely.” Joe had that I-know-something-you-don’ t-know look on his face.
    Nick didn’t like it any better now than he had when they were kids. “Well you’re wrong. It doesn’t get easier.”
    Nick hadn’t felt this irrational since that summer he’d spent in Phoenix. But there was no connection between what happened then and Abby. She was his friend. He hated it when rational thought returned. The bad part of a testosterone surge was picking up the pieces after he’d shot off his mouth. How could he salvage the situation?
    There was only one intelligent choice—make a stupid excuse for his churlish behavior and look like a jackass for a few seconds. It was the course of action better known as Plan B, or retreat and run like hell. He didn’t want to think about the way seeing Abby with his brother had made him feel. He decided it was just a fluke. His one foray into a relationship and the disaster that followed had destroyed the part of him that rationally processed relationship information.
    He ran a