Not His Type (25 page)

An hour into her
date with Travis, Kaye Kelly began to pout prettily.  The man’s mind was
obviously elsewhere.  Kaye tried repeatedly, and unsuccessfully, to draw Travis
out.  His answers remained short, sometimes to the point of rudeness.  Finally,
Kaye leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms in front of her.

“Okay, Travis,
what’s going on?” she asked.

“What do you
mean, Kaye?”

“You’ve barely
looked at me since you kissed me back at my place,” she said.  “Your answers
are all monosyllabic and you’ve hardly touched your meal.”

“I’m sorry,
Kaye,” Travis said sincerely.  “I guess I just have a lot on my mind.  Work,
you know?”

“Well, maybe we
should call it a night,” Kaye suggested coolly.  “I’ll take a rain check for
some evening when I can have your full attention.”  She frowned.  “I certainly
never used to have to fight for your interest.”

“I really am
sorry, Kaye,” Travis repeated.  “But maybe you’re right.”

Kaye seemed
surprised that he agreed.  She’d only thought to shake him up and bring his
attention around to her.  Her eyes narrowed and she glanced at the bar where a
handsome man had been eyeing her for several minutes.

“You know what,
Travis?” Kaye snapped.  “The night’s young, and I’m a big girl.  I think I can
find my way home.”

“Kaye, I don’t
want to just leave you alone –“ Travis began.

“Trust me,
Travis, I won’t be alone for long.  Just because you’re not interested doesn’t
mean no one else is!”

Kaye rose and
wove her way through the restaurant to the bar.  She smiled at the man who’d
been watching her.  He might not be as handsome or sexy as Travis Cooper, but
her certainly had eyes only for her!  Maybe the night wouldn’t be a total wash.

Travis tossed
several bills on the table and rose.  He left the restaurant, his temper back
in force.  What kind of spell had Brooke Valentine cast on him that he couldn’t
enjoy a casual evening out with a gorgeous woman?  The whole time he’d been
with Kaye, Travis had been wondering where Brooke was, and what she was doing
with the extremely handsome Rafa de la Cruz.

Brooke was doing
her best to smother a yawn.  Meghan saw it, however, and nudged her fiancé. 
Rafa looked over at Brooke and grinned.

“Come on,
Brooke,” he said, pulling her to her feet.  “I’d better get you home before you
turn into a pumpkin.  Or before that neighbor of yours sends out a search
party!”

“Sorry,” Brooke
said, smiling.  “Your cousin is kind of a slave driver.  I have to be at work
by six o’clock.”

“You can come in
a little late tomorrow,” Jazz offered.

“No, she can’t,”
Riley argued.  “Don’t you think Travis would find that odd?  He doesn’t know
Rafa is your happily engaged cousin, remember?”

“He’s got a
point, Jazz,” Meghan agreed.

“I’ll be on
time,” Brooke interjected wryly.

“All right,”
Jazz said, echoing Brooke’s yawn.  “See you in the morning.”  She turned to her
husband.  “And you better take me home, too.  I already
look
like a
pumpkin, you know!”

Travis sat in
his darkened front room, watching for headlights next door.  It was nearly two
in the morning, and he knew Brooke had to be at work early!  Where in the world
was she?  He looked at his watch again, and his head came up at the sound of an
engine; headlights splashed across the wall in his living room, then went
dark.  He heard a car door slam, then a second one.  Almost against his will,
Travis rose and moved to look out the window.

Brooke walked
arm-in-arm with her date.  Her head was tilted back and she was laughing at
something he’d said.  Then Rafael de la Cruz bent his head and kissed Brooke;
it appeared to be a long, lingering kiss, and Travis felt his anger rising even
further.

“You know we
have an audience, don’t you?” Rafa asked quietly.  “No, don’t look!  I saw a
curtain move as we drove up.”  He bent his head toward Brooke, who remained
motionless.  “And now, with my head so close, he thinks I’m kissing you.”

Rafa grinned and
unlocked Brooke’s front door.  He placed her keys in her hand and backed away
down her steps.

“Thank you for a
lovely evening, Brooke,” Rafa said a little loudly.

“I had a nice
time, Rafa,” Brooke replied.

“I’ll call you,
gorgeous!”

And with that,
Rafa bounded to his car and drove away.  Resisting the urge to look at the
house next door, Brooke turned and closed her front door.

Chapter
34

The following
morning, Brooke struggled to wake up.  She knew with a certainty this plan of
Jazz Valenzuela’s was a horrible idea now.  There was no way she could keep
hours like last night’s late homecoming and still function at work.  Besides,
she still didn’t like the idea of misleading Travis.  She knew Jazz disagreed,
but Brooke felt it was deceptive.  After Rafa left, she’d decided she’d tell
Travis the truth this evening.

Now, she dressed
in one of her new pairs of jeans – the ones that actually fit, which still
amazed her.  She pulled on one of the tunics Jazz had ordered for her, smoothed
her hair back into a ponytail and added just a touch of makeup.  She hurried
out the door and headed to Babycakes.

Brooke had been
at work for about four hours when a knock sounded on Travis Cooper’s front
door.  Nick Rodgers waved Travis back into the seat behind his desk.

“I’ll get it,
boss,” he said.  “You expecting anybody?”

“Not that I know
of,” Travis replied, turning back to the file he and Nick had been reviewing.

A few minutes
later, Nick returned carrying a bouquet of long-stemmed pink roses.  He eyed
Travis curiously.

“Did you send
Brooke roses?” he asked.

Travis’ head
came up abruptly.  He stared at the roses and snapped his fingers at Nick.

“Let me see the
card!” he muttered.  Nick plucked the small missive from among the greenery and
handed it to Travis.  Travis didn’t even hesitate before sliding the little
card from the envelope; his expression darkened.  “They’re from some guy she
went out with last night.”

“Brooke had a
date?” Nick asked.

“Yes!” Travis
growled.  “Is that so hard to believe?”

“No, what’s so
hard to believe is you’re so bent outta shape over it, Coop,” Nick observed,
his dark eyes dancing.

“I just worry
about her, that’s all!  She’s a sweet kid, and I don’t even know where she met
the guy!  You should’ve seen him!  Showed up in a red Corvette, all swarthy
Latin lover looks – including the accent!  Then he didn’t bring her home till
after two in the morning!  A
first
date, Nick!  Then finally, the guy
was all over her kissing her goodnight!”

“So you’re just
concerned for Brooke’s well-being,” Nick observed evenly.

“Of course, what
else would it be?” Travis said, snorting.  He looked at Nick.  “Look, like I
said, she’s a sweet girl.  I wouldn’t want to see her hurt or taken advantage
of by some slick loser.”

“Oh, sure,
sure.”  Nick was silent for a moment, then asked, “So you’re saying you haven’t
kissed Brooke again since that first time?”

Travis remained
silent.  He pointed a finger at the roses Nick still held.

“Why don’t you
go find something to put those in?” Travis asked pointedly.  “I’ll take them
over to her place later.  I’m taking her to the tree lighting downtown.”  At
Nick’s look, he rolled his eyes.  “Like I might take a kid sister, Nick! 
Brooke has never been!  That’s all!”

“Did I say anything?”
Nick asked innocently.  He turned quickly to hide his grin and left Travis’
office.

Brooke muddled
through her day, wishing she had time for a nap.  Riley smirked at her and Jazz
both as they continued to yawn.

“You’re going to
fall asleep on your date with Travis tonight!” he teased Brooke.  “Maybe you
should ask him for a rain check.”

“Not on your
life!” Brooke said quickly.  “But it’s not a date!”

“Whatever you
say…Cupcake,” Riley said grinning.  “Or wait.  Is it Bunny-girl?  I can’t keep
his pet names for you straight.”

“Don’t you have
anything to do?” Brooke muttered.

When she left
the bakery, Brooke wondered if she’d have time to take a quick nap before
Travis took her to the tree lighting ceremony.  He’d not told her what time
they’d be leaving.  As she turned into her driveway, she saw Nick Rodgers
leaving Travis’ house.  He grinned and waved at her.

“Hey, Brooke!”
he called, walking across Travis’ yard toward her.  “How’ve you been?”  When he
reached her, he squeezed her shoulders in a brief hug.  “You look good.  In
fact, you look great!  Have you changed your hair?”

Nick knew very
well what was different about Brooke.  He’d noticed the first couple of times
he saw her that her clothes seemed to swallow her, making her look short and as
Will had put it, plump.  The jeans she wore now, without being too tight,
followed the curve of her hip and thigh.  Nick wondered if Travis had seen
these jeans.

“I’m good,
Nick,” Brooke said cheerfully.  “How about you?”

“Good here,
too,” he replied, nodding.  He smiled.  “Well, I hate to be rude, but I’d
better get a move on.  Oh, before I forget, something was delivered to Coop’s
house for you.  They had the address wrong.”

“Oh!”  Brooke
was puzzled.  “Well, I’ll just go take it off his hands.  I need to talk to him
anyway.”

“You do that,”
Nick said.  He touched the brim of his cowboy hat with a finger.  “You take
care, Brooke.”

“You too, Nick. 
It was good to see you.”

Still smiling,
Brooke walked across to Travis’ house.  She knocked on the front door and it
opened almost immediately.  Travis looked down at Brooke, a slight frown on his
face.  Brooke hesitated a moment.

“I, um, Nick
said you took a delivery for me,” she said.

“I did,” Travis
agreed.  “Come on in, I’ll get them.”

“Them?”

“Two dozen of
them, to be exact,” he said wryly.

Brooke waited
just inside the front door, her curiosity rising.  Her eyes widened when Travis
returned with the huge bouquet of pink roses.  He pressed them into her arms.

“I – who –“
Brooke stammered nervously.  She had a feeling she knew exactly who was behind
the roses; more specifically, she thought she knew who was behind having the
roses sent to the wrong address.

“There’s a
card,” Travis said flatly, arms folded across his broad chest.

Brooke slid the little
card from its envelope.  She felt the color rise in her cheeks and her eyes
darted upward to look at Travis.

“An admirer?” he
drawled.

“Um, they’re
just from Rafa,” Brooke answered awkwardly.  She shoved the card in the front
pocket of her jeans.  “Travis, I wanted to talk to you about tonight.  You
didn’t mention what time I should be ready.”

“Didn’t I?” he
asked.  Brooke thought his voice seemed a little cool.  “Is seven too early?  I
couldn’t help noticing you were out pretty late last night; maybe you need a
rest?”

“I’m fine,”
Brooke said, even though that’s exactly what she’d been thinking only a short
time ago.  “I’ll be ready at seven.”  Her chin went up a notch and she fixed
her smile firmly in place.  “I’m really looking forward to it, Travis.”  Her
smile wavered a little.  “We never did much for Christmas.  The tree lighting
sounds really nice.”

“I think you’ll
enjoy it,” Travis said, some of his usual warmth returning.  He placed a large,
warm hand at the back of Brooke’s neck, massaging lightly as he guided her to
the door.  “I’ll see you in a while, okay?  Dress warmly.”

Carrying the
roses, Brooke returned to her house.  She laid them on the table inside the
front door, tossing the card on top of them.  Brooke had recognized the name of
the florist; it was the same florist Jazz used when she needed fresh flowers
for a cake.  Apparently, her boss was just adding fuel to the fire.  The roses
only reinforced Brooke’s decision to tell Travis the truth.

Recalling
Travis’ advice to dress warmly, Brooke changed into another of her new pairs of
jeans and a black sweater.  She shook her hair free from her ponytail and
brushed it until it shone.  She laced on a pair of old hiking boots and touched
up her makeup.  She added a bit of perfume from one of the samples the
saleswoman had tossed into the bag.  Brooke was just heading to the living room
when she heard a knock at the front door.

She crossed to
the door, realizing she was both nervous and excited about the upcoming
evening; she was nervous about telling Travis about Jazz’s little plan to try
to make him jealous.  For some reason, she just had a feeling the whole thing
wouldn’t sit well with him.  But she was also excited about the Christmas
celebration; as she’d told Travis, she’d never really done much for the
holidays.  When she was younger, her mother was either working or spending the
time with her latest boyfriend.  Later, when she lived with her grandfather, he
tried, but money was always tight.