Ouch.
“Honesty. I like that.” Leanna shook his hand again, trying her best to mask the pain of his comment. “I assure you, this is far more than a hobby. I’ll be in touch.”
Chapter Seventeen
KURT LOOKED AT his watch for the hundredth time that afternoon. He tried to concentrate on writing, but climbing into the dark recesses of his mind proved to be problematic when he was so excited and worried, in equal measure, to hear how Leanna’s meeting with Mama’s Market went. He finally gave up on hammering out more than five thousand words and drove over to wait for Leanna at her cottage.
He parked in the driveway, and even before he turned off the car, he heard Pepper barking. His nose was pressed against the window screen, and when Kurt stepped from his car, Pepper began whining.
“I hear you.” He went to the window and touched his finger to Pepper’s nose. The dog licked the screen and whimpered. Kurt tried the door and wasn’t surprised to find it unlocked.
“So now you’re breaking into her house?”
He spun around at the sound of Bella’s voice and found all three of Leanna’s girlfriends standing in their bikinis with their arms crossed and their mouths pressed into tight lines.
“No. I came to wait for Leanna and heard Pepper barking.”
As if on cue, Pepper barked.
“And I thought I’d see if it was unlocked, so I could take him for a walk.”
Amy was the first to lose her scowl. She burst into laughter. “If you could only see your face.”
Bella and Jenna laughed with her.
“We know you’re not breaking in.” Bella opened Leanna’s door and walked inside.
Kurt and the others followed.
Amy crouched down to love-up Pepper. Pepper’s tongue hung from his mouth as he rolled around on his back.
Kurt found Pepper’s leash on top of the pile of shoes beside the door. “Why aren’t you guys at the beach?”
“And miss Leanna’s big news? No way. You know there’s no cell reception on the beaches.” Bella grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and held it up. “Anyone?”
“Not me, thanks,” Amy said as Pepper wiggled from beneath her hand and began pawing at Kurt’s feet.
“No thanks, Bella. Sit, Pepper.” He hooked his leash. “I’m just going to take him for a walk.”
“I want to go,” Jenna said. “And I want a wine cooler please, Bell.”
“She has none. Beer or jam?” Bella held up both.
“We’ll stop at my place for a cooler.” Jenna looped her arm into Kurt’s. “Shall we?”
“We’re coming, too.” Amy and Bella followed them out.
For a guy who was used to spending almost every waking hour alone, Kurt wondered how he’d ended up walking around a complex with a dog and three women pawing at him. Strangely, he didn’t have the urge to run back to his keyboard, which would have been his reaction a week earlier. These were Leanna’s friends, and Pepper was Leanna’s dog, and for that reason, he wanted to be near them all.
His cell phone rang, and he had to disengage from Jenna’s hand on his arm to dig his phone from his pocket.
“Is it Leanna?” Bella asked.
“No, Leanna and I haven’t exchanged numbers.” He hadn’t realized that until this moment. “It’s my sister.” He answered the call. “Hi, Siena.”
“Hey, Kurt. I had an idea of what you could buy Jack and Savannah.”
“Give it to someone else. I’ve already bought them something.” On their way out of Provincetown, he and Leanna had stopped into a gallery and picked out a nice marble sculpture depicting a couple embracing. It was perfect for Jack and Savannah, and even more perfect because Leanna had helped him pick it out. They walked by the pool, and the women began laughing about chunky-dunking.
“Where are you?” Siena asked.
“Walking a dog with three beautiful women.” He knew that would throw her for a loop.
“That’s right; he is,” Jenna said.
“You know it,” Bella added.
“Shh. He’s on the phone.” Amy waved her hands at them.
“Oh my gosh. You’re not lying. How did they get you to leave your house? You won’t even stop writing for me.”
He imagined her eyes narrowed, and where any other woman might stick out her lip and pout, Siena would be more likely to shoot steam from her ears.
“I stopped writing when we all got together to meet Savannah, didn’t I?”
“Are you really out walking a dog? Whose dog?” Siena asked. “I wish I was there so I could see it for myself. Take a picture. Text it to me.”
“You’re so weird. Okay. I will. My girlfriend’s dog.”
Siena squealed so loud he had to pull the phone away from his ear.
“Wow, seriously?” Bella laughed.
“I’ve never heard you use that word before,” Siena said. “Is it serious? I guess it has to be if you’re walking her dog. You. A dog. A girlfriend. Oh my gosh. Kurt?”
“Yes, Siena?” He had no idea why, but he enjoyed her reaction.
She sighed loudly. “You know girlfriends need attention. We’re not like plants that you can water once a day and then ignore. We like when guys think about us, and we love to talk, and we—”
“Siena, I’m thirty years old. I think I know how to treat a girlfriend.”
“Yeah, he does,” Jenna yelled toward the phone.
“Who’s that? Is that her?” Siena asked.
“That’s one of Leanna’s friends, Jenna.”
“Leanna? Is that your girlfriend?”
He knew that Leanna’s name would be on the tongues of every one of his siblings within the hour. “Yes. Leanna Bray.”
Another call beeped through on Siena’s phone. “I’ve got to take that. It’s my agent. Love you, Kurt. You sound happy. I’m happy for you.”
“Love you, too.” He ended the call to the tune of the three women saying, Aw. They circled up to Leanna’s cottage.
“Let’s sit on my deck and wait for her,” Amy offered.
“I want to get a cooler. I’ll be right over.” Jenna hurried across the grass to her cottage.
“I’ll see you guys later,” Kurt said as he headed for Leanna’s deck.
“What?” Bella grabbed his arm. “Come on. You can wait with us.”
There were worse things than sitting around with three bikini-clad women waiting for the woman who had made quick and efficient work of stealing his heart. He followed Bella up to Amy’s porch.
LEANNA SANG ALONG to the radio as she pulled into Seaside and parked by the laundry room. She was still singing as she crossed the grass and heard Kurt’s laugh, followed by Bella’s and Jenna’s. Her stomach fluttered as she picked up her pace in anticipation of seeing Kurt. She followed the sound of their voices to Amy’s deck, where she found them eating chips and dip and drinking wine coolers. Her heart squeezed a little at the sight of him sitting so comfortably with her friends.
“What are you doing here?” She lifted up on her tiptoes and peered over the deck railing. Kurt rose to greet her with Pepper’s leash in hand. She reached through the railing and petted Pepper’s head.
“I couldn’t concentrate. I was so busy wondering how your meeting went that I decided to come wait here instead.”