His Southern Sweetheart

“Just half the time.” Amelia covered her face with her hands. The pounding continued before she realized it wasn’t her bedroom door being knocked on, but the stairs. What the hell?

“Amelia,” Grandmamma’s voice called out. “Is that you up there? I know you don’t have a boy up in the room with you.”

Chapter 10

The last time Nate had been forced to hide for a woman was a few weeks ago, moments before Amelia had opened the door to her angry colleague. Now he sat at his dining room table with his leg propped up, his knee sore from landing too hard on it after scaling down Amelia Marlow’s bathroom window. It was a wonder he didn’t break his neck, but he didn’t want to have his neck broken by Helen Marlow. So far, the woman with the ornery reputation liked him and he wanted to stay in her good graces.

“You’re not fifteen anymore.” Stephen frowned, coming in from the kitchen with a fresh pack of ice.

“You don’t say?” Nate responded and accompanied that with an eye roll. He’d hobbled into his SUV and made his way home in time to catch Lexi slinking out of the house he shared with his brother. Though he’d checked in on his nieces every day for their first week of school, he still felt like he hadn’t been home in months. He missed the cotton-candy smell of Philly’s clothes folded neatly in a white plastic laundry basket. He missed stumbling across the array of Kimber’s colorful cell phones. Even though he’d agreed to allow Jeanette and Enzo to take the girls with them overnight, a part of him regretted it. Walking through the doors and not being attacked by hugs and kisses made him feel strangely empty.

“What kind of example are you setting for the girls?” Stephen continued to lecture.

Nate sat up farther in the high-back chair to accept the freezing bag. He pulled up the hem of his red basketball shorts and rested the bag over his knee where the skin displayed a bright red, puffy sight. “The girls are with Jeanette and Enzo.”

“And how long do you plan on sneaking around?”

Nate wasn’t sure where his brother was going with this. “What?” His eyebrows rose.

“You were able to tell the girls last week the reason you were gone was because of the commitment you made for the bachelor auction.”

Nate raised his pointer finger in the air. “An auction you volunteered me for.”

“I didn’t volunteer you to spend the nights at her place.”

“Well,” Nate said, shrugging his shoulders, “as I explained to the girls already, I slept in the barn.”

“Fine, but your job with Amelia is done. Now what?” Stephen took a seat opposite his brother. “Her grandmother is back from the hospital.”

“I’m not going to disrespect her grandmother’s house, if you’re worried about that,” said Nate, toying with a stray piece of wicker from the basket on the center of the table.

A bowl of fruit sat on the table before him—one of Lexi’s influences. Prior to her coming, their table usually had pizza boxes stacked on it. In fact, the dining room at Amelia’s grandmother’s place reminded him of their pre-Lexi days. From what he’d learned of Amelia, he knew she stayed busy. Now that she didn’t have a job, would she become more domesticated? He’d hoped hanging out with her old friends would inspire her to stay. Lexi utilizing Amelia’s skills as a videographer was genius. He hoped that when he met up with Amelia later on today she’d be excited about putting together the footage for Sam and Emily. He wished she’d want to stay. And then what?

“The whole reason Amelia came back to Southwood was to take care of her grandmother. What happens when she leaves?” Stephen’s question reiterated Nate’s thoughts. “Before she came, you were going through the women in town.”

“I haven’t gone through all the women.”

“Not all.” Stephen nodded. “But you’ve gone through enough of them, telling them to back away because you don’t do complicated.” Stephen made air quotes with his hands. “You’ve been running through the women, leaving all of them thinking you might take them as your date for Sam’s wedding.”

“Give me a break, big brother.” Nate sighed and shook his head. “I never once gave any of the ladies I’ve dated—”

“Dated?” Stephen interrupted with a raised brow and another set of air quotes.

“I never gave them the inkling I wanted to take anyone to the wedding. I didn’t think I’d want to attend.”

“Until you met Amelia?”

“I thought you liked Amelia?” asked Nate.

“Amelia is great, but you’ve felt this need to cover for her because you got her fired.”

“I’m not covering for her,” said Nate. “I’m trying to get her to find a reason to stay in town.”

“So you t

wo can what? Sneak around?”

“Date.” The usually awkward word rolled off Nate’s lips with ease. True, he’d never committed himself to one single lady, but he wanted to give it a try with Amelia. The idea of dating Amelia didn’t scare him, but rather relaxed him. This seemed natural.