An Unlikely Match (The Match Series - Book #1) (5 page)

She squinted out the window and realized he was out there, grilling something in his yard. Burgers? Steak, maybe? Man, it smelled delicious.

“Well, I’m off to bed,” said Hannah.

“Goodnight, Auntie.”

“Goodnight, honey.”

Amelia hit the end button and stepped back from the window. The last thing she wanted was for Morgan to think she was spying on him.

She
returned to her seat on the floor and munched her way through the granola bar while checking the social-media statuses of her friends. Then, tired of smelling Morgan’s barbecue, she decided to take a long bath and listen to some music. It was only eight o’clock. She’d have plenty of time to blow up the air mattress later.

Sunday afternoon, Morgan heard a sudden, sharp crash in his front yard. He jumped up from his computer to fling open the front door, fearing somebody might be hurt.

No sign of injuries, but
a rental van was backed halfway into the shared driveway, Amelia at the wheel. Judging by the scattered dirt and the crushed flowers, she’d driven up onto the brick garden, then dropped back down again.

He struggled not to grin at her antics as s
he glanced frantically into the side mirrors, first rocking the steering wheel one way, then frowning and moving it the other. She was clearly thrown by the reverse images.

He closed his door behind him, intending to help
out. Before he could make his move, he caught sight of two men striding across the street. The pair were obviously intent on becoming her white knights.

He
hung back. After his boorish behavior the night she’d moved in, he’d been doing his best to avoid her. On balance, it was probably better to let the strangers step in instead. Plus, the two would probably appreciate a shot at flirting. Even if they were a little old. Even if Morgan didn’t know a thing about them. Even if they might hang around, talk their way inside her condo...

Forget that. He might only be acquainted with Amelia, but that didn’t mean
he should leave her to these two strangers. He followed the short path to their shared driveway. Better too many white knights than not enough.

Amelia
hopped out of the van and greeted the two men with a smile.

“Do you need a hand with that?” the taller one offered. He was close to six feet, only slightly shorter than Morgan
, broad-shouldered and deep-chested. He was probably in his late thirties, with trimmed hair, cotton shirt, pale khakis.

“This is a really big van,” she
noted, taking in the breadth of the vehicle.

“
I can put it anywhere you want,” offered the shorter guy. He was stocky, wore a baseball cap, blue jeans and a Raiders T-shirt.

“Everything okay, Amelia?”
Morgan questioned as he approached. He wanted them to know he was there, and he wanted to show he knew her name.

She turned
to look at him, and her smiled faltered. “It’s fine. These gentlemen,” she gestured to the two men, “just offered to give me a hand.”

“I can give you a hand.”

“I don’t want to impose on your time.”

“The lady doesn’t want to impose,” the taller man put in, giving Morgan a sweeping
once-over.

“What’s in the van?” Morgan asked
Amelia, ignoring the obvious challenge from the tall man. He definitely didn’t want this to deteriorate into an argument.

“A couch and a kitchen table.”
She looked quite proud of herself. “I found some garage sales in town. Really good stuff at really great prices.”

“Then you can probably use
help from all of us. Shall we get out of the way so that...” Morgan looked to the shorter man. “I didn’t catch your name. I’m Morgan Holbrook.”

“Stan Reynolds,” the man offered.

“It sounded like you thought you could park the van?”

“
I can park anything,” said Stan.

“I’m Eddie Sutherland,” the tall man put in, even as he stepped
to one side of the driveway to clear the way.

“This is Amelia
Camden,” Morgan told them both, pretending she was his to introduce, even while he hated himself for making the move. He then compounded his ridiculous behavior by gently taking her arm and urging her onto the strip of lawn.

Stan
maneuvered the van to the front of Amelia’s condo. He put it in park and set the brake while Eddie swung open the back doors.

“Wow,” said Eddie
, staring at the contents.

Stan rounded the end of the vehicle
, surprise registering on his face. “I bet you got it for a good price,” he noted.

Morgan couldn’t bring
himself to lie. “That’s the ugliest couch I have ever seen.”

The
base was bright red, while the cushions and back were a patchwork of black, white, orange and neon green.

“It’s leather,” Amelia stated.

“That’s not leather,” Morgan countered.

“Okay, small ‘L’ leather,” she conceded.
“It’s practically new, from a designer shop in Beverly Hills. The owners didn’t want to keep it.”

“I guess they could only stand
the glare for so long,” Morgan muttered.

“More like,
the wife caught him on it with the babysitter,” said Amelia.

All three men took
a precautionary step back.

“Relax. They were only kissing. And, well, apparently he had her blouse undone.
”

“
You can probably steam-clean it,” Stan said, reaching out to press his finger experimentally against the stiff fabric. “It looks indestructible.”

“Want us to put it in the
backyard?” Morgan asked. “So we can hose it down?”

She turned to look at him.
“Seriously?”

He was
completely serious. That couch shouldn’t go anywhere near her living room without some serious soap and water.

She threw her arms up in defeat. “Okay, now you’ve all got me freaked out about babysitter cooties.
”

“You should be freaked out,” said Morgan.

“Go ahead,” she continued. “Put it in the backyard. I’ll buy some industrial-strength vinyl cleaner.”

“Good
decision,” Eddie approved with a nod.

He grasped on
e end, dragging it out through the door of the van. Stan quickly stepped up and took the other end.

“
They threw in the ottoman for free,” Amelia told them.

“Backyard for that
, too,” said Morgan, leaning into the van to lift it out.

“You do s
trike me as the germaphobe type,” she said.

“Nobody ever died from good hygiene.”

“Nobody ever died from couch cooties, either.”

“I wouldn’t be too quick to say that.”

She surprised him by hauling out one of the kitchen chairs.

“I can come back for those
,” he offered.

“It’s not very heavy.” She followed
behind him on the walkway to the front door. “Are you trying to tell me you’ve never slept on a friend’s couch?” she challenged.

Not that he could remember. Though, he probably had as a child.
“I’ve never slept on a stranger’s couch.”

“Commendable.”

“You?” he asked.

“Men don’t usually invite me to sleep on their couches.” She paused. “I mean... Okay, that obviously didn’t come out the way I intended.”

“You don’t owe me an explanation.”

The woman was in her early twenties. It was ridiculous to think she hadn’t had a personal life
in college. Not that he wanted to think about her personal life. He shook his head to clear it.

“Obviously, I’ve had boyfriends.” She followed him through the living room.

“It’s
really
none of my business,” Morgan tossed over his shoulder.

“I don’t want you to think I randomly sleep around.”

“I don’t.”

“
I’ve had offers.”

“No kidding.”

“
Hey
.”

“That wasn’t an observation
about you. It was an observation about men in general.”

“What I
meant to say was that I’ve had offers, and I’ve turned them down. I don’t sleep on couches, but I don’t sleep in beds, either. Other than my own. You know, once I get one. And other than my boyfriends’, and we’re talking long-term, monogamous relationships here, not one-night stands.”

Morgan stopped just inside the sliding door to the patio. He turned. “Amelia?”

“What?”

“The more you talk, the worse you make it.”

She looked crestfallen, and he felt that damn guilt again.

“I’m explaining,” she said in a small voice.

“You don’t have to explain. I never assumed you slept around.”

“People do,” she told him
with an air of fatigue.

The answer gave him pause. “Well, they shouldn’t. And if they do, it’s their problem, not yours.”

“Where do you want it?” Eddie called from the yard. “It fits on the patio, but you’ll have runoff into the pool.”

“On the lawn,” Morgan found
himself answering on Amelia’s behalf. “Close to the hillside.” He looked at her again, trying to ignore the sudden vulnerability in her jade eyes. “We can pick up some organic cleaner.”

“Okay,” she agreed.

Something squeezed against his chest, and he felt a ridiculous urge to draw her into his arms. Of course, that was impossible with the ottoman and kitchen chair between them, and for a whole host of other reasons as well.

“Are you bringing the chair outside?” he asked her instead.

She glanced down at it. “Might as well clean it all.”

He gave a nod of agreement then proceeded
into the yard.

They unl
oaded the rest of the furniture, and Amelia offered them each a can of beer. They stood in the living room drinking and chatting about general topics, but it wasn’t long before Stan’s cell phone rang. His wife was looking for him, wondering why he and Eddie had stopped working on the garden retaining wall. Eddie made a big show of pointing out that he wasn’t married, but he polished off his beer and left with Stan.

“
Where did you get the van?” Morgan asked, glancing around for a recycling container.

“A discount rental o
n Mondavi Drive. East end of town.”

“I can follow you back
there to drop it off.” He moved to where he had a better view of her kitchen.

“Do you need something?”

“A place for the cans.”

She looked blank.

“A blue bin?” he elaborated.

“Oh, recycling.”

“You don’t do that in Arizona?”

“Well, you can
save them up and turn them in, but there’s no organized pickup or anything.”

“I’ve got a bin
in my condo. So, are you ready to go?”

She shook her head. “I
didn’t mean to interrupt your day. I can find my own way back.”

“Pay for a cab?” he asked
doubtfully. It was obvious how closely she was watching her budget.

“Or catch the bus. That’s how I’ve been getting to work.”

“You found a job?” He was surprised she’d accomplished that so fast. And he was impressed with her initiative.

“They took me on a
t Sapphire Sunday. My tips paid for my garage sale hopping.”

“
Is that the place near Caltech?”

She nodded.
“Down California Boulevard.”

“I’ve seen the sign.
” He canted his head toward the stash of furniture in her yard, recognizing that she’d only had a few days to work. “You must have made good tips.”

She gave a shrug of her slim shoulders.
“Helps that it’s a cheap, ugly sofa.”

“It’s still p
retty impressive.” He hesitated for a moment. “So, you think it’s ugly, too?”

“It’s hideous. But it’s in good shape, and I only had so much money to play with.”

Again, he found himself admiring the way she was solving her own problems. He probably owed her an apology for the Pavlovian blonde crack. She seemed like a perfectly nice woman, and it was sure easy to warm up to her.

He glanced at the sky.
“They say it’s going to rain tonight. We better pick up some cleaner on the way home and get that stuff washed and inside.”

She looked worried. “Morgan, you
really don’t have to—”

“Don’t worry about it.
” He cut off her protest.

“I’m not trying to
persuade
you,” she parroted his words from the first night.

He found himself gazing into her eye
s. “I’m sorry about that. I was out of line.”

She gave a small, self-conscious smile.
“I do get free drinks in bars.”

“
That’s not your fault. I’m sure it’s the men hitting on you.”

“Sometimes I bat my eyelashes.” She gave him a demo.

Okay, he could
so
see how that would work. “I’m being neighborly, that’s all,” he assured her.

But there wasn’t much he could say to reassure himself
. He knew full well his libido was messing with his logic. But hormones were a formidable thing, and he couldn’t seem to control the impulse to take care of her.