The next morning Aubrie sat glumly in the kitchen, sipping coffee, when Mike entered. He was in an irritatingly good mood.

"Morning, sis."

"Yes it is, barely."

"What?"

"Morning. At least for another"—she checked her watch—"six minutes."

He shrugged cheerfully. "So sue me. I was out late."

"I'll say. Three fifteen, to be exact."

He poured himself a cup of coffee, then turned to her and leaned against the counter. His hair was still wet from the shower. "Since when do you keep tabs on me?"

"I wasn't keeping tabs. I just couldn't sleep."

"Bad date?"

"Horrendous."

"Why? I always thought Cena was a pretty decent guy."

"I thought you barely knew him."

The coffee mug stopped halfway to his lips. He flushed a little. "Well, it's just that…when you told me you had a date with him, I had to check him out."

"You checked him out."

"Hey, you're my little sister."

"Who is perfectly capable of taking care of herself?"

"Give me a break. You haven't been out on a date in God knows how long. And when you finally go on one, you look like…like…"

Aubrie's eyes narrowed. "Like what?" She asked ominously.

"Well, just not yourself." He waved. "So what was so bad about it? Did he try to get fresh? Because if he did—"

"No, not at all." She rushed to assure him. "In fact, he was almost too much of a gentleman."

"Excuse me?"

Aubrie shook her head. "It wasn't like I wanted him to get fresh exactly. But he could have at least acted like he was thinking about it." She rested her chin in her palm. "Even as a blond bombshell I can't spark any interest in a man."

"Oh come on. I watched the other men in the restaurant. They were practically drooling."

"Old lechers and young boys. I mean a man like…"

"Cena?"

"Well, like him, not necessarily him."

"I'm not a huge expert, but he appears to be a fairly good-looking guy."

Oh wasn't that the truth. The man was simply mouthwatering. She sipped some more coffee, trying to figure out what was really bothering her and how to explain it so Mike would understand. "There's just something not quite right about him."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think he's what he appears to be."

"Excuse me?"

"Sometimes he acts dumb as dirt. But if you look in his eyes, there's intelligence there. It's like he's putting on an act."

Mike practically washed the floor with the coffee that came shooting out of his mouth. He grabbed a paper towel and wiped his mouth, then the floor. When he looked back up at her, his eyes were watering, but he was laughing. "Honey, do you hear yourself? Who were you last night?"

She had to concede that Mike had a point, but she was just grumpy enough to argue with him. "That's just an experiment." She said her voice defensive.

"And yet you're willing to judge someone else who might be experimenting just like you?"

"Why would he be experimenting? I can almost guarantee the man isn't going for his PhD in sociology."

"That isn't what this is all about, and you know it."

"I do?" She scowled at him. "Okay, so this is going a little far afield of scientific analysis. But that's how it started."

"And now you aren't liking the results."

No, she wasn't liking the results. But for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why. "I think I'm going to cancel my date with him tonight."

"Why? Don't you want to see how he treats the real you?"\

She pointed a finger at Mike's nose. "You know what he told me last night?"

"What?"

"That he found brainiac boring."

Mike laughed. "He was probably trying to make dumb Candi feel better."

"Maybe. Or maybe he does dislike intelligent women."

"Why would he ask Aubrie out if he did?"

She blushed. "Actually, I asked him out."

Mike blinked. "You've never asked a man out in your life."

"Experiment." They said in unison.

"I think you should go out with him. You might be surprised."

Unfortunately, she really did want to go with the idiot. And if she was honest with herself, the experiment took a backseat to just spending time with him. He might be infuriating at moments, but in a stimulating way. The night hadn't been horrible because of him. Not really. It was more a function of her expectations. She'd expected him to flirt shamelessly and to try to put the moves on her. She wasn't about to allow that to happen, not with the Pump You Up pumping her up, but he could have at least tried.

"I don't know." She said.

Mike came and sat at the table, and once again Aubrie was amazed at how handsome her brother was. He was such a catch. She couldn't believe that no one had claimed him before now. And a bit of guilt seeped in, because she knew part of it was that he hadn't wanted to abandon her and Gramps.

"Aubrie." Mike said softly. "What's one night? It's not like you have anything more pressing to do. And if he was a perfect gentleman to a woman who all but had advertising on her chest, you can bet he's going to be on his best behavior for Aubrie, the lady."

That was what she was afraid of. But enough of that, she didn't want to examine her emotions and behavior too thoroughly.

"So." She said. "Let's talk about you."

He looked down into his mug. "Let's not."

"Oh, but I insist."

He frowned. "What about me?"

"How was your date?"

"It wasn't really a date. Just a sort of business meeting."

"Right."

"It was! Don't forget, she's the enemy." He took a breath and exhaled slowly. "I think."

"Oh boy. She's gotten to you."

He shook his head. "I don't know. She seemed so sincere."

Aubrie thought back to the encounter in the restroom. "She's certainly beautiful."

"Is she?"

Aubrie laughed. "Last I checked, your eyesight was pretty good."

"Yeah, I guess she is."

"That wouldn't be coloring your thinking, would it?"

He sat up straight, indignation written all over his face... "You know me better than that."

She sat silent for a moment. "You want to hear something?"

"What?"

"I tried to get a pulse on her in the bathroom last night."

"And?"

"It was almost the worst part of the evening."

"Why?"

"Because she's so tall and elegant and beautiful. Not to mention successful. And there I was having to pretend I'm this idiot."

"She'll meet the real you someday."

Aubrie thought that comment was intriguing, because she couldn't see any reason why she and Nicole Miller would ever have a reason to make each other's acquaintance, unless…

"Did she say anything worth hearing?" Mike added.

"She pretty much despises you." At his pained expression she added. "I mean Michelle. She doesn't like Michelle."

"News flash, dear sister: I'm Michelle."

"You are also Mike. And if she kept you out until the middle of the night, I'd say she likes Mike okay."

"Or she's just trying to sucker me."

"Only one way to find out."

"What's that?"

"Keep seeing her."

"Ha! The only reason she wanted to go out last night was to convince me that Apple Day is innocent."

Aubrie thought back to her encounter with Nicole Miller. Not that Aubrie was a perfect judge of character, but the woman hadn't seemed like the scheming type. Her eyes weren't shifty, and she didn't appear to have a coy bone in her body. She was too self-assured without being a snob about it. And this was the most interest Mike had shown in a woman that she could remember. She hated missed opportunities. And Mike needed a life.

"I'll tell you what." She said. "I'll keep my date with Cena if you asked Nicole Miller out again. At worst you'll be keeping the enemy in close sight. At best you'll find out she's not stealing a thing."

Mike hesitated. "Okay, it's a deal." In a gesture they'd had ever since they were kids, they hooked and snapped pinkies. Aubrie smiled. Mike smiled. And if her smile was any reflection of his, they both were happy with the agreement. Which was scary and a little exciting all at once.

Just then Gramps strolled in from his usual morning walk. He looked at both of them, then crossed his arms. "This is the same expression you two wore when you were kids, and you were up to no good."

Mike and Aubrie donned their most innocent expressions.

"Didn't work then, isn't working now." Gramps said. "What kind of trouble are you two planning? And am I going to have to start raising bail?"

"He's been watching Court TV again." Mike said.

"We're not up to anything, Gramps." Aubrie said. "Have some coffee."

"Dr. Phil say—"

Mike and Aubrie both jumped to their feet.

"Gotta go" Mike said.

"Late for my run." Aubrie said.

"You think I won't get to the bottom of this, you're wrong. Communication is key."

"Mmmm—hmmmm." Aubrie said, sidling toward the doorway.

"Or you can stay and I'll make some blueberry pancakes."

Mike and Aubrie looked at each other. "That was low." Mike said.

"And effective." Aubrie griped.

They both sat back down. No one in his or her right mind would miss Gramps's blueberry pancakes.

Gramps grinned, then moved to the cupboard to pull out ingredients. "Okay, now let's take this from the top."

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