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eyes.

Chapter Five

    “What are you up to?” Brady asked his dad as he drove down the lane away from the mill.
    “Up to?” Nelson feigned innocence, but Brady wasn’t fooled.
    “Yes, up to. I swear I saw the little devil walking along your shoulder back there.”
    Nelson snorted on the passenger side of the truck. “I’m just inviting a friend over for dinner.”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “What is it you think I’m up to?” His dad pinned him with a probing look that made Brady glad he had to keep his eyes on the road ahead.
    “I think you’ve let Sophie’s matchmaker instinct rub off on you.”
    “Well, now, that’s not a bad idea,” Nelson said, as if the idea hadn’t already occurred to him.
    “I’m not getting involved with Audrey, so you can put that idea out of your head right now.”
    “Why not? She’s a nice girl.”
    “Because.”
    “She’s not Ginny.” Nelson’s words were kind but firm.
    “I know that.”
    His dad didn’t respond, but Brady could imagine all the things going through his head. How Brady needed to let Ginny’s betrayal go, find a good woman and settle down. Easier said than done if you were always wondering whether dates wanted you or your bank account.
    “I’m just too busy to get involved with anyone.” His dad ought to know that, with the Kingsport office barely two months old.
    “So busy that you’re over at her place every day, stealing glances at her every chance you get.”
    “I’m here to spend time with you, and you happen to be spending your time over there.” Brady didn’t look at his father because his dad had always been good at seeing what his children weren’t saying.
    “And the glances part?”
    “You’re seeing things, old man.” Irritation colored Brady’s words as he pulled into his dad’s driveway.
    “Yeah, I’m seeing my son appreciate a beautiful young woman.”
    Brady hazarded a look at his father as he shoved the truck into Park and turned off the ignition. “Audrey and I are just acquaintances, friends if you stretch it.”
    “That’s how your mother and I started out.”
    Brady sighed. “We’re not you and Mom.”
    “Not yet.”
    Fatigue weighed down on Brady. He didn’t feel like belaboring this point anymore. With a shake of his head,he stepped out of the truck, leaving his dad behind, and went straight for the shower. He needed to clean up because he stank, not because he wanted to look good for Audrey when she arrived.
    Right.
    As he showered, he couldn’t get rid of the memory of her long, tanned legs going up and down those stairs leading to the mill’s loft. Those were the kind of legs that drove a man crazy with wanting.
    He rubbed his hand over his face and wondered why he was fighting this so hard. Just because his first attempt at a long-term commitment had ended in disaster didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy a woman’s company. It hadn’t stopped him before.
    But this wasn’t merely a casual acquaintance back in Kingsport. This was someone his dad was treating very much like a daughter, not someone Brady could have a little fun with and then leave. He turned off the water and stood dripping. The thing was, his normal couple-of-dates-and-out M.O. didn’t feel right where Audrey was concerned. Something about her made him want to get to know her, really know her. Maybe that’s what was so damned scary. Part of him did want what his parents had enjoyed. But when he’d thought he’d found it, he’d been burned. Finding out someone you loved was in love with someone else didn’t do wonders for a guy’s confidence in his romantic judgment.
    Despite his determination to stay detached, he still fought the urge to dress nicer than normal for dinner. He growled in frustration as he pulled on a pair ofclean but faded jeans and a fresh blue T-shirt instead. When he wandered into the kitchen, he noticed his dad had showered, as well, but he’d put on a pair of khaki pants and a button-up green shirt. He was standing