Seeking Single Male

  SEEKING SINGLE MALE

  Stephanie Bond

  This book is dedicated to all the wonderful readers

  who have taken the time to write letters to me about

  the characters and stories that run around in my head.

  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

  Contents

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

  Epilogue

  1

  Lexington, KY: SF in mid-twenties seeking SM for good times. Horse lover a plus. I'm a good cook. Coffee Girl

  LEXINGTON ATTORNEY Greg Healey looked up from the ad circled in Attitudes magazine, his stomach twisting at the sight of his younger brother's wide smile. "You want to do what?"

  "Meet Coffee Girl," Will said. "'SF' means single female, and 'SM' means single male—that's me."

  Closing his eyes, Greg murmured, "Seeking single male."

  "For good times," Will added eagerly. "Will you help me, Gregory?"

  After a long morning of correcting real estate contracts, this he did not need. He sighed, then looked up into innocent brown eyes. Will's childlike expression seemed incongruous with his twenty-five-year-old body, which was broad and toned from grooming and riding horses at the farm that neighbored their home. Greg was tempted to dismiss his brother's request, but lately Will had been showing an elevated interest in women and dating. And in truth, considering Will's shyness and relative isolation, turning to the singles ads wasn't so far-fetched. The fact that his brother had ventured downtown to Greg's office to discuss the ad was proof that he was serious.

  Still, intense protective feelings reared high. Greg gestured for his brother to sit in a plush visitor's chair, while he himself leaned against his desk and crossed his arms. "I don't think this is a good idea, buddy. You don't even know this woman—"

  "But she likes horses and she likes to cook and she must like coffee." Will shrugged massive shoulders, as if he couldn't imagine what else mattered. "I love coffee, Gregory. Can I call her? There's a number at the bottom of the ad."

  Greg bit down on his tongue, unable to offer an alternative for the handsome man before him who was obviously craving female companionship. The physical need, he could relate to, but Greg feared Will wouldn't be able to distinguish a physical attraction from an emotional one. And he was determined to shield Will from would-be opportunists with their sights set on his brother's half of the Healey family business.

  "Will, women are…complicated creatures."

  "Is that why you're not married, Gregory?"

  Greg squirmed. Subtlety was not in Will's repertoire. "Er, yes." One of many reasons, the main one being he'd never met a woman who warranted the trouble of his becoming involved. Besides, most women seemed embarrassed by Will's presence, and his brother would always be his top priority.

  Will scratched his temple. "But if women are complicated, then why do other men marry them?"

  Greg gave him a wry grin. "Little brother, if you can answer that question, then you're a lot smarter than I am."

  Will's eyes widened. "How about for sex?"

  Okay, he'd asked for that one. Even after all this time, he still flew by the seat of his pants where Will was concerned. "You don't have to be married to have sex, Will."

  "How often do you have sex, Gregory?"

  He blinked. "That's a personal question." And pride barred him from answering truthfully. "Besides, how often one man has sex has nothing to do with how often another man has sex. Everyone is different. Do you understand?"

  Will nodded. "Like how often you brush your teeth?"

  "Er, something like that, yes."

  Scooting to the edge of the chair, Will said, "I want to have sex, Gregory, but I want to be married first. Don't you think that's best?"

  And how could he answer that question without being hypocritical? If he said yes and believed it, he would be sentencing himself to a life of celibacy, since marriage was nowhere in his plan. He inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly. "Let's take it one step at a time, okay? First you need to meet a nice girl."

  Excitement lit Will's entire face. "So I can call Coffee Girl?"

  Greg massaged the bridge of his nose. His brother was a late bloomer with raging hormones. When mixed with Will's trusting nature, it was a recipe for trouble. The woman who placed the ad could be a hooker, for all they knew. On the other hand, a hooker would be preferable to a gold digger, or to a woman who would make fun of Will's mental disability. None of the scenarios that played out in his head had a good ending.

  "Please, Gregory?"

  This had to be what parenting felt like, Greg decided as he looked at his brother's hopeful expression. Being torn between good judgment and giving in. At last a compromise struck him. "How about if I check out this…Coffee Girl first?"

  Will bit on his lower lip. "I don't know…"

  "Will, don't I always take care of you?"

  "Yes, Gregory." Will gestured toward the phone. "But will you call her right now?"

  Greg hesitated, noting with alarm that his brother seemed fixated on the idea that this woman in the ad was somehow his soul mate. But the sooner Greg called, the sooner Will would realize that women were a disappointing lot.

  "Sure, buddy, I'll call." Consulting the voice mailbox at the bottom of the ad, Greg dialed the number and, after the mechanical voice identified the mailbox, said, "Yes…I'm calling about your ad. My name is…Greg, and I'd like to meet you for…a cup of coffee." Feeling like a colossal fool, he left the number for his private office line and banged down the receiver.

  "She wasn't home?" Will asked, his eyebrows knit.

  "It doesn't work like that. The number is for a voice mailbox, where I left the message. The lady will call in to pick up the message, then she'll return my call. It's safer that way."

  Will jumped to his feet. "But what if she doesn't call back?"

  "She'll call."

  "But what if she meets you for a cup of coffee and she likes you, Gregory?"

  Greg draped his arm around his brother's shoulders. "You're the one looking for a woman, aren't you?"

  "Yeah."

  "And you're the horseman of the family, aren't you?"

  "Yeah."

  "Then don't worry."

  Will frowned, obviously trying to follow the reasoning. "But when will I get to have coffee with her?"

  "If she's a nice lady, then I'll introduce the two of you." But not until she passed every test he planned to throw at the woman.

  A grin transformed Will's face again. "Okay, Gregory." He gave Greg a giant bear hug. "Maybe we'll find a lady for you, too. One that's not so complicated."

  With effort, Greg maintained a smile while Will waved goodbye, but as soon as his brother was out of sight, he leaned heavily on his desk. Gentle, big-hearted Will was always full of surprises, but this one had topped them all. Greg glanced at his desk piled high with papers, and heaved a sigh. And now back to our tedious, mind-numbing program, already in progress.

  Moving in slow motion, he settled into his father's worn leather chair and tried to remember where he'd left off. Increasingly intricate real estate transactions had quadrupled the Healey Land Group's paperwork over the past year. At times he felt more like a pencil-pushing clerk than president and chief legal counsel. Rewriting mountains of contracts wasn't what he'd had in mind when he passed the bar exam a decade ago.

  His phone bleeped, and he pushed a button with one hand while massaging a pain needling his temple with the other. "Yes, Peg?"

  "I need your sign-off on plans for the company Christmas party on the twenty-second, sir."

  He rolled his eyes. Was it his imagination, or had it only been six months since the last agonizing company Christmas par
ty? "Are you within budget?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Then go ahead with it."

  "It's only two weeks away, and you haven't yet RSVPed, sir."

  Greg sighed. "Will and I both are coming."

  "Shall I put you down for two or four?"

  Peg's polite way of asking if they were bringing dates, although they never had before. "Two, Peg. And I can't be interrupted right now." He knew he sounded like a grinch, but he couldn't help it—as far as he was concerned, Christmas simply heralded the end of another year of being trapped in this corner office. "Hold my calls."

  "Yes, sir."

  He stabbed the disconnect button, then walked to the window that consumed two entire walls of his office. The glass transferred the outside chill to his splayed hand, providing the most pleasurable experience of the prolonged morning. Downtown Lexington, Kentucky was all dressed up for the holidays with giant white plastic garlands and shiny blue bulbs twined around street lamps, the colors a tribute to the university.

  Regardless of the season, his eyes were always drawn to the same building—the city courthouse. Indulging in a favorite daydream, he imagined how his life would be different if he'd gone into criminal law, instead of taking over the legal responsibilities for his father's real estate company when he'd graduated law school. Now, as the sole heir capable of running the business, he had no choice.

  Greg reached up to loosen his tie in an attempt to assuage his sudden claustrophobia. Lately he'd had the pressing feeling that he was missing out on something, that life was passing him by. God, he hated the holidays. So damn lonely.

  And now Will was wanting to leave him—or so it seemed.

  Unable to face the paperwork that loomed large on his desk, Greg grabbed his gym bag and strode out the door. Without much success, he tried to push the singles ad business from his mind during his lunch-hour run, which he extended by a mile. For a reason that now escaped him, he'd never considered the day when his brother might marry and strike out on his own.

  When their father had died seven years ago, Greg had sold his plush condo and moved back home, partly so Will could remain in familiar surroundings, partly to put the proceeds from his condo toward the mountain of debt their father had amassed. The bond the brothers had shared when they were children was forged even stronger, and Greg had simply assumed they would always live together, two happy bachelors.

  Except, Will obviously wasn't completely happy. Later, as Greg toweled his neck, he admitted that some small part of him was grateful that his cynicism where women were concerned hadn't rubbed off on Will. But then again, it hadn't been an issue for a while; he hadn't dated anyone seriously since moving back home—the work required to get the family business headed back toward profitability had been enormous.

  Oh, he'd had a few dinner dates here and there, but all the women had made their intentions rather clear—marriage. And their interest in his family's money had been equally apparent. He couldn't blame a woman for wanting financial security, but even a token interest in him, in his hobbies, in his dreams—was it too much to ask?

  Of course, the real kicker was that, thanks to the string of bad investments their father had made before anyone realized his mind was slipping, the Healey brothers weren't worth nearly as much money as most people believed. He groaned as he stepped under the club shower, regretting more and more the call he'd made on Will's behalf. They had each other now—a woman would change everything, and not for the better.

  When he returned to the office with a boxed lunch, he was cranky and favoring a pulled calf muscle. At the sight of a silver garland strung across his windows, he frowned. "Peg!"

  The owlish woman appeared at his door. "Yes, sir?"

  "I thought I said I didn't want my office decorated."

  Her eyes bugged wider. "Do you want me to have it taken down, sir?"

  He dragged a hand down his face and sighed. "No, never mind." He gestured to the slips of paper in her hand. "Do I have messages?"

  "Yes, sir. Mr. Payton wants you to call him as soon as possible, sir. And a woman called about an ad, sir. Someone named…Coffee Girl?"

  Heat flooded his face. "In the future, please don't answer my personal phone line."

  "It rings so rarely—I thought it might be an emergency."

  A nice way of saying he had no social life. "Did you say you took a message?"

  "Yes, sir. Here it is, sir."

  "Thank you," he chirped, then took the note and stuffed it into his pants pocket without looking at it. "That will be all."

  Peg trotted out and closed the door.

  Greg closed his eyes and counted to ten, willing away this restless, frustrated feeling that seemed to have escalated recently. He knew he needed to reduce the stress in his life, to simplify his obligations, but for the time being, things were what they were.

  Glad for a reason to postpone contacting the woman from the singles ad, he phoned his general manager, Art Payton, convinced another problem was afoot. "Art, this is Greg. What's up?"

  "Great news, Greg. The interest from developers is snowballing on the Hyde Parkland parcels." Art's hearty laugh rumbled over the line. "If the rezoning goes through, you could be sitting on the most valuable property in central Kentucky."

  Greg refrained from reminding Art of his opposition to the acquisition of Regal Properties that Greg had targeted two years ago specifically for the Hyde Parkland property under its ownership. "Cut to the chase, Art. How valuable?"

  "I'm talking about serious money. You could retire."

  He managed a small laugh. "You're exaggerating." But he paced in front of the window to expend a burst of nervous energy.

  "No, I'm not. If the rezoning goes through, you'll be set for life. Will, too, of course."

  His feet stopped moving. Will was the sole reason he hadn't left the company when their father died. When he discovered the financial disaster they'd inherited, Greg had been thrust nearer to panic than he'd ever been in his life. He had to be certain that if something happened to him, Will would always be taken care of. If what Art was saying was true, the Hyde Parkland project would be the parachute he'd been hoping for.

  "I'm telling you, Greg, this time next year you could be doing anything your heart desires."

  Greg walked to the tinsel bedecked window, zeroed in on the courthouse roof, and smiled—actually smiled. Maybe this Christmas wouldn't be so bad, after all. Still, anything that sounded too good to be true…"I need more details, Art. Can we get together this afternoon?"

  "How about three-thirty?"

  "I'll see you then."

  He slowly returned the handset, while hope thrashed in his chest. Was this deal the light at the end of a long tunnel? Greg shoved a fidgety hand into his pocket, and his fingers brushed the note Peg had given him. A groan welled in his chest, but a promise made to Will was a promise kept, so he pulled out the piece of paper.

  Meet me at The Best Cuppa Joe tomorrow morning at eleven. Coffee Girl

  Greg scowled and wadded the note into a ball. Romance—bah! As if he didn't have enough on his mind.

  2

  The next morning

  LANA MARTINA CONJURED UP a beaming smile for Miss Half-Caf-Nonfat-Whip-Extra-Mocha. Secretly Lana thought that without the fat, why bother with whipped cream at all. But then again, she didn't even drink coffee—an admitted peculiarity for the owner of a coffee shop—so she offered no comment. Especially since her customers were usually a bit testy before they had their first jolt of caffeine.

  Ringing up the three hundred and fifty-sixth sale of the morning, she instead thanked her lucky stars for the large number of Lexington, Kentucky downtowners who relied on the ritual of sucking down coffee before facing their respective daily grinds. Addictions were profitable for the supplier, and Lana prided herself on supplying the best cup of Joe in the city. Ergo, the name of her shop: The Best Cuppa Joe. Okay, she couldn't take credit for the name since the shop had been located at 145 Hunt Street for thirty years�
��as long as she'd been alive—but she was proud to carry on the tradition as owner and manager for going on six months now.

  The woman exited, and with the morning rush officially over, Lana slumped into the counter and willed away the anxiety roiling in her stomach. She'd promised herself she wouldn't turn into a workaholic entrepreneur, but lately one circumstance after another had made long hours unavoidable. Her pastry chef Annette had arrived at four-thirty a.m. with her regular supply of decadent muffins, bagels and baklava, but had sprained her ankle in the parking lot. Lana had sent her home, knowing she'd be shorthanded until Wesley clocked in before lunch.

  Oh well, at least she'd be spared Annette's monologue about her ongoing manhunt. The girl was convinced her life was incomplete without the perfect man, and she never ran out of inventive ways to extend her search. Lana, on the other hand, had already found the perfect man. His name was Harry and his maintenance consisted of an occasional puff of air into the valve on the top of his rubber head. Harry never questioned her decisions, never wrestled for the remote, never criticized her hairstyle or clothing.

  On the other hand, the only release Harry's anatomically correct body offered her was an occasional burst of laughter.

  The bell on the door rang, and Lana straightened automatically until she recognized her friend Alexandria Stillman. "Oh, it's only you."

  Alexandria glided toward the counter, sleek and catlike in a cobalt designer suit from her family's upscale department store across town. "Nice to see you, too."

  Lana waved off Alex's comment and rubbed her aching pouring arm. "You know what I mean."

  "Business is good, huh?"

  Lana surveyed the space she'd come to love so fiercely, from the ancient brick walls to the whorled wood floors, to the slightly sagging stage where talented and not-so-talented hopefuls put their pride on the line during open-mike nights. A far cry from the claustrophobic accounting office where she'd spent seven years of her life after college—holy humdrum.