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“Right.” I turned on my heels and went in search of a beer and anyone else to talk to who wasn’t Cal Rutledge.
Gus handed me a beer and leaned in with a conspiratorial smile. “I saw sparks with you and Cal. Is there something there?”
“Yeah, a history. I’m not interested, at all. Been burned by him once and the scars have barely faded, thank you very much.” I didn’t want to get into it with Gus or anyone else. I just wanted to shut down all Cal-related questions before anyone else got ideas.
“What kind of history?” Hannah skulked around like a ninja when she wanted to.
“The kind that is ancient and no longer relevant.” Vincenzo had a spacious backyard, it was more than big enough for the both of us. “I’m hungry.”
“You’re always hungry,” Hannah said with a wistful sigh. “And not an ounce of fat to be found anywhere.”
“My work is very physical, and I finished a job this morning without breakfast.”
After a restless night of sleep, I had woken up late and rushed to the Robbins house without anything but a cup of coffee. Thankfully, my brother was as organized at home as he was at work, providing platters of everything along the long rows of picnic tables in the yard, avoiding buffet lines.
“Everything looks and smells so good,” I groaned as I piled an obscenely high plate of food.
“Over here, Aunt Teddy!” Rosie waved us over because the one thing she craved more than being a princess was being surrounded by women. Without her mother in her life, it was up to me and the girls to give her girl talk and lessons in femininity. Well, it was mostly up to Hannah, who excelled at that stuff.
“You saved us seats?” She nodded and popped a chunk of watermelon in her mouth. “Thanks.”
“Room for one more?” Cal stood between me and Rosie, a smug smile on his face that dared me to turn him away in front of her.
I kept my comments to myself and dug into the potato salad, leaving Rosie and the girls to answer. I realized my mistake when Hannah shifted and gave her seat to Cal. “Traitor,” I mouthed to her and she shrugged, looking as delighted as her brother.
“It’s all right, Teddy, I’ll only bite if you ask.” He winked again, a move that sent annoyance through me.
“I won’t. Word on the street is you have no staying power.”
Surprise flashed in his blue eyes, followed by a laugh that turned into him choking on his burger. “Check your sources, sweetheart. I’ve got tremendous staying power.”
I’ll just bet he did. When sex was your main goal, a good-looking man like Cal would make sure he excelled at it, the way he excelled at most things. “Maybe you’re trying too hard. There are tools that get the job done perfectly. And quickly.”
Heat flashed in his eyes and Cal licked his lips. “Good to know.”
It would have been easy to think this attention meant something, but as the meal wore on, it was easy to see that Cal was just a big flirt. It didn’t matter if it was Vince’s ninety-year-old neighbor or little Rosie, he made every woman he came in contact with feel special.
That was his superpower.
He made you feel like you were the most beautiful, smartest, wittiest girl on the planet. That any man would be lucky to have you, to go on a date with you, but he didn’t mean it. He didn’t mean any part of what he said, it was just harmless flirting.
And I’d fallen for it. Once.
Not again.
Cal was funny and charming and hot as hell, but he was a surface kind of guy. Shallow where it mattered.
As long as I remembered that, working on his house would be a breeze.
Cal
“What happened between you and Teddy?”
Hannah’s question was filled with accusation, and I frowned at the screen.
“What are you talking about? We ate some barbecue together and she tried not to be charmed by me. That’s it, Hannah. You were there.” It made me wonder what Teddy had told her, but past experience told me getting details from Hannah wouldn’t be so easy.
“Not this weekend, dummy. Before.”
“Before what?” I barked into the phone, drawing a few stares from the other doctors in the cafeteria. It should be a place of peace, to relax and eat when you had a free moment. Phone calls were frowned upon, but not forbidden. I glared back with attitude.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Nothing happened between us—not then, not now. Well, not yet, anyway.” Because no matter what I told Antonio, I couldn’t stop thinking about Teddy and those long legs, that pouty smile, and the fact that she gave me so much damn attitude.
Hannah laughed at me, and when I growled, she only laughed harder. “Good luck with that. Teddy isn’t affected by you like she was when we were kids, and clearly you don’t remember something that she does. You have your work cut out for you, dear brother.”
