Not Just The Girl Next Door. Stacy Connelly

herself before she could tumble over backward, she stared across the table. “You wanna what?”

      “I was thinking that I could set you up on a date. You know, with one of the guys from the basketball league. Several of them are single and—look, Mollie, what I’m trying to say is that you’re a great girl, a great catch.”

      Right. Which is why he’d just tossed her overboard.

      Pushing away from the table, she grabbed her bowl of half-eaten chili and stalked over to the kitchen counter. Her face burning in humiliation, Mollie couldn’t bear to look at Zeke. Leave it to her to read his words so completely wrong!

      When it came to dogs, she could interpret every tail wag, every raised ruff, every ear flick. But with people?

      She didn’t know what was worse. That she’d so stupidly fooled herself into thinking he was interested or that he thought she was so desperate that he had to set her up on some kind of pity date.

      Barely restraining the urge to throw the dishes into the sink—or right at Zeke—Mollie set the bowl on the counter and marched back to the table to face him. “This isn’t like your coming over here and working on my house without my permission. I don’t need you to fix my love life!”

      But Zeke didn’t give up easily. Especially not when he was sure that big brain of his was right. “Mollie, this isn’t about fixing anything. It’s about letting me help you.”

      She let out a low growl that would have done King, her most aggressive dog to date, proud. Instead of backing off, though, Zeke circled the table, clearly not the least bit intimidated. But then again, King had been a ten-pound Chihuahua.

      Reaching out, Zeke caught her shoulders in his wide hands. As mad as she was, that moment earlier—when she’d so foolishly let herself hope, let herself believe—had unleashed something inside her. All the barriers she’d built up over the years were suddenly gone.

      She wasn’t a kid, and she wasn’t his little sister. She was a grown woman, and she wanted Zeke to hold her, to kiss her, to love her as only a man could love a woman.

      “Zeke—”

      But even though everything had changed for Mollie, nothing had for Zeke.

      “I know you always tell me you like dogs better than people,” he was saying with a smile, “but it will do you good to go out and meet someone new. And, hey, if it would make things easier, we could always go on a double date.”

      “You’re seeing someone?” Mollie’s chest cramped at the thought as she stepped away from his embrace.

      Recently, Zeke had mostly dated women he met in Raleigh. Mollie always told herself she was glad. She didn’t want to see firsthand how smart, how sophisticated, how sexy those women were in comparison to her. And she feared the day when Zeke might actually find a woman he saw as The One. A smart, sexy, sophisticated woman who knew better than to serve him vegan pizza.

      Two years ago, that worst-case scenario nightmare had seemed all too close to coming true when he’d gotten engaged to Lilah Fairchild. There was not a woman on the planet Mollie wanted to see Zeke pledge his eternal love to, but there wasn’t a woman in the world she wanted to see him with less than Spring Forest native Lilah Fairchild.

      Mollie was still endlessly grateful that Zeke and Lilah had broken up before that fateful walk down the aisle. Even if her unwitting role in their breakup still made her squirm when she wasn’t able to push the memories from her mind.

      Since Lilah, Zeke had kept his dating life separate from his life in Spring Forest. Mollie supposed he thought it easier that way, with less chance of things getting messy.

      Mollie thought of the toolbox on the back porch with everything in its proper place. She reached for her glass of milk—because, of course, what else would Zeke expect her to drink?—and tried to swallow the lump in her throat. He’d stuck her in a box clearly labeled Friend, back when she was a kid, and she despaired of ever finding a way to break free.

      Setting the glass back on the table, she strove for a casual tone as she said, “You hadn’t mentioned going out with anyone recently.”

      He lifted a broad shoulder in a half shrug. “I’m not seeing anyone right now, but I could always make a call.”

      Because dating was that easy. Just picking up a phone and making a call. Other than Zeke, Mollie could barely remember the last conversation she’d had with the opposite sex that didn’t involve her business, the shelter or estimates for something that required updating on her house.

      Geez, no wonder Zeke thought he had to fix her up! Her love life really was that pathetic.

      “I just thought it might make you more comfortable if I was there with you.”

      Mollie could think of little that would make her more uncomfortable—including stabbing hot needles into her eyes. She didn’t know which would be worse—Zeke witnessing just how socially inept she was while on some painfully awkward blind date, or sitting across the table from him and watching him romance another woman.

      “Right. With me. On a date.”

      With her but not dating her. With her while he was on a date with another woman.

      * * *

      “What about next Friday?” Zeke asked as he pulled out his phone and opened his calendar app. He knew Mollie well enough to realize she’d keep putting the date off—the way she did with the repairs around the house—unless he got her to agree to a specific day and time. “That would give me a chance to—”

      “Enough!”

      Surprised by the sharp comment, he glanced up from the screen. “What’s wrong? Is next Friday not a good day?”

      “No, Zeke,” she gritted out between clenched teeth, “next Friday is not a good day.”

      Zeke hadn’t expected her to jump at his suggestion. Not with how stubborn and independent she was. But he also hadn’t expected her to stare at him like he’d lost his mind.

      “Mollie—”

      “There will never be a good day.” Standing in front of him, she lifted her chin and glared, spots of color flaming in her cheeks. Her slender throat moved as she swallowed, and he bit back a curse.

      Though he’d tried easing into the subject of setting her up, he’d clearly embarrassed her. They’d been friends for so long, sometimes he forgot how shy she could be around someone new. He’d never understood how a woman who could stare down a Rottweiler had a hard time looking a guy in the eye.

      “Look, it won’t be so bad.”

      She sucked in a deep breath. “Going on a double date with you and—” She waved a dismissive hand as she muttered, “You have no idea.”

      Zeke felt his own face heat at the unspoken slight against the women he dated. Not that Mollie had met any of them. No one in Spring Forest had met any of the women he’d dated since Lilah. Introducing a woman to his friends and family would be an unspoken signal that the relationship was getting serious. And Zeke didn’t do serious. Not anymore.

      But he’d break his own rule for Mollie. He’d do anything for Mollie.

      He owed it to Patrick to look out for his little sister.

      But as Mollie tossed her wild curls back and met his gaze head on, she didn’t look embarrassed anymore. Sparks snapped from her blue-green eyes and her chest rose and fell as her breathing quickened. When she stepped closer and pointed a finger at him, he’d never seen her look so angry.

      He’d never seen her look so sexy.

      And Zeke wasn’t thinking about his best friend or some meaningless double date with a woman from Raleigh as his blood heated in his veins. The sudden rush of desire caught him so off guard, he took a stumbling step backward when Mollie poked him in the chest.

      “I