Carolina Home by Virginia Kantra Page B

said.
    She waited for him to fill in details the way a woman would. When he didn’t, she prompted, “Have you known each other long?”
    Matt opened her door. “Since ninth grade. We used to raise hell together in high school.”
    The dog jumped into the back. She heard its nails on the truck bed and then Matt slid in beside her.
    She arched her eyebrows. “Used to?”
    In the close confines of the cab, she could smell the ocean on him, sweat and salt and man. His shoulder was hard and warm, capped with muscle. She wanted to turn her head and bite him like an apple.
    Allison jerked her gaze up, shocked at the direction of her own thoughts. He was watching her, that little quirk at the corner of his mouth, his eyes so blue…
    “He left the island eight years ago,” Matt said.
    They were talking about Sam, she reminded herself. His friend, Sam Grady.
    “I thought he owned the realty company.”
    Matt turned the key in the ignition. “His family does. His old man was always pushing Sam to come into the business. But they never saw eye to eye. When the old man turned the fish house into a restaurant, that was the last straw for Sam.”
    She forced herself to focus. “Why would Sam’s father do that?”
    “Old Grady makes more money feeding tourists than he could processing fish.” The truck lurched as Matt pulled out of the parking lot. “So the fishermen lost out, and Sam took off to start up his own construction company.”
    “Then that remark about local businesses giving back to the community…”
    “Was a line.” He glanced at her sideways. “Sam’s good at lines.”
    “I thought you were friends.”
    “We are.” Matt smiled. She felt the pull of attraction deep in her stomach. “That doesn’t mean I’d let him date my sister.”
    The man had strings, she reminded herself. Connections, complications, a warm, involved family who lived and worked together on the island.
    Which sounded lovely, except Allison had come to the island to escape her family.
    “Wouldn’t that be up to your sister? Unless you don’t trust her judgment.”
    “I trust her fine. Meg’s the smart one in the family. It’s Sam I don’t trust.”
    She raised her brows. “How old is your sister?”
    Matt grinned, acknowledging her point. “Thirty-four.”
    “Where does she live?”
    “New York City. She’s vice president of marketing for Franklin Insurance.”
    Allison blinked. Okay, so the Fletcher family didn’t all live on the island. Maybe Matt was right. Maybe she reallydid need to get to know the situation before rushing to judgment.
    “But you know how it is,” he said, interrupting her thoughts. “You have a brother. Miles, right?”
    He remembered her brother’s name. He actually listened. That was something different for her.
    She twisted her fingers together, slightly uncomfortable at being the focus of his attention. “My brother isn’t…” She had to clear her throat. “It’s not like that for us.”
    “He didn’t look out for you?”
    “Never.” That sounded harsh. Unfair. All through her childhood, Miles had been the one who encouraged her to go her own way, to take risks, to experience life. To collect moments, instead of things the way their parents did. “I can take care of myself.”
    “He didn’t beat up your boyfriends? Protect you on the playground?”
    The thought made her smile. “No. Well…” She stopped, caught by a memory. “Sometimes at night…I had nightmares as a kid. Our parents said I had to get over them. But Miles…Sometimes he’d let me climb into bed with him.”
    “There you go,” Matt said. They pulled into her driveway, under the shadow of the porch. “Doesn’t matter how old or far apart you are. He’ll always be your big brother.”
    “He left,” she said, the words jerked out of her. “When I was twelve. I haven’t seen him in thirteen years.”
    “I’m sorry,” Matt said quietly.
    To her horror, she felt tears sting her eyes. She stared at her