How to Handle a Heartbreaker Read Free

here?”
    “Huh?”
    “Shouldn’t you be with your brothers?”
    Normally, Brody spent his Friday evenings playing cards at Mike’s. But Cameron, the youngest McCauley, was out of town. And no way was Flynn’s girlfriend taking his place. If you didn’t have a Y chromosome, you didn’t rate an invite to poker night. Three guys wouldn’t cut it… Then again, Colin was almost six. The kid could palm a card and knew how to stack a deck, thanks to Brody’s clever teaching.
    “You know, you make a good point.” Brody quickly double-checked the thermostat and the plumbing in the downstairs bathroom. All good. Seth wouldn’t freeze to death. “You got food?”
    “You are one nosy neighbor,” Seth half frowned, trying unsuccessfully to hide a grin. “Yeah, yeah, I have food. Damn, son. I’m supposed to feed you now too? Invite yourself over for dinner, why don’t you?”
    Brody ignored him, as he normally did. He and the old man had an unspoken agreement. They liked the hell out of each other but refused to admit it. Before Brody had bought his half of the large building from Seth, he’d been the ideal tenant. Nothing had changed since he’d purchased the place. He still fixed both sides of the house, and Seth continued to treat Brody like an unwelcome relation. That, and the guy was always giving him stuff. Ancient record albums, figurines, things Brody didn’t feel right taking—the old man’s treasures. Brody had protested that he’d fix the house for free, but Seth wouldn’t hear it. Proud old bastard. He totally reminded Brody of a crotchety James McCauley.
    “And you know, it wouldn’t hurt you to get a love life. Ain’t seen a woman around in a while. You gone gay, boy?”
    Brody blinked. “Ah, no. Not yet.”
    Seth shrugged. “Boy or girl, at least you wouldn’t be moping around on a Friday night.”
    “Who’s moping? I’m relaxing after a hard day’s work.”
    Seth raised a brow.
    “We had to fix a leak then relocate a water line in a new construction complex in Tacoma. And the traffic was nuts.”
    “Always is.”
    Brody nodded. “Okay then.”
    “Okay.” Seth just stared at him.
    Feeling foolish, Brody glared, warned the crankpot not to screw with the dog by pounding on the walls, and left. He returned to his bedroom and thought about just staying in for the night, but he wanted some company.
    Being around Abby frazzled him. Brody had been scoring with girls since the seventh grade when he’d grown out of his awkward stage and into his voice. Maturing early had its perks, and girls noticing him was a win-win, any way he looked at it. Hanging with the tough McCauleys had helped too. No one screwed with Mike’s younger brothers. Though Brody’s blond hair and obviously different last name said otherwise, the McCauleys had always treated him like a sibling. One that annoyed Mike, bossed Cam, and got into mischief with Flynn on a daily basis.
    But now that Flynn had Maddie, it kind of left Brody at loose ends. Then there was that fascination with Abby that wouldn’t quit.
    “I am so screwed.” He sighed. He wanted Abby like crazy. But there seemed to be no end to the obstacles standing in his way.
    As he undressed and then scraped away the fur from the tub the dog had just used, he considered his myriad problems. Brody turned on the shower and waited with bated breath. After a minute or two, he stepped under the spray of hot water. No problem with the water heater tonight, thank God.
    He watched rivulets of water race down the tile, just as fast as Abby ran from him time and time again. Granted, he hadn’t exactly made his intentions clear. He flirted, leered, and teased. But he hadn’t asked her out yet. Because she’d deny him.
    And there was that weird resemblance she had to Lea, Mike’s dead wife.
    Brody groaned. How to make a move on the woman he couldn’t get out of his mind without offending Mike? And if he did get a date, how not to mess things up with Abby so badly