Chloe pasted a smile on her face and triple-checked that everything important was either covered or out of view. “Hey, Noah. What are you doing with your dad’s phone? Isn’t it your bedtime?” she asked. Noah was technically Aiden’s stepson, but Aiden had adopted him when he’d married Mya.
“He gave it to me,” Noah said slowly, a sure sign that he was lying.
“Did he?” Chloe asked. “Did he really?”
Noah looked down, and she’d bet money that he was scuffing his foot on the floor. “No… he left it on the table when he went to the toilet.”
That sounded more like her nephew. He had an adorable-yet-annoying habit of absconding with people’s phones. “So why are you calling?”
“I miss you, Aunt Chloe!” His little lip trembled. “When are you coming home?”
She was saved from having to answer by her brother’s face swimming into view. “What are you doing? Who are you talking—oh, hey, Chloe!” he said when he saw her face. He looked back at his son. “Why were you calling your aunt in America? Don’t you know it’s…” Aiden looked at her. “What time is it there? I can never keep it straight.”
“Four thirty in the morning,” she said, then yawned.
Aiden winced. “I’m sorry.”
“As you should be.”
Aiden ignored the hint and settled down into full catch-up mode. “So how are things going in the Big Apple? Are you meeting lots of new people? Not too many men, I hope.”
The door to the bathroom opened, and Chloe frantically motioned for Theo to shush before he said something and gave the whole thing away. Wouldn’t that just cause trouble?
Oh my God, what is it with big brothers thinking that they can control my sex life? She rolled her eyes for effect. “I am not going into this with you. You’re as bad as Ethan.”
Aiden’s mouth dropped open in mock affront. “How dare you say that? You take that back.”
Chloe shook her head. “Nope. Not gonna. First Ethan asked Theo to spy on me, and now you’re telling me the number of men I can and cannot date. Meanwhile, you got to ‘befriendswith’”—she was mindful of Noah listening—“half the women of Sydney until you settled down with Mya, and no one got to say ‘boo.’”
Ignoring the last part, Aiden tilted his head. “Ethan asked Theo to spy on you? I know he’s overprotective, but that doesn’t sound like Ethan.”
“Well, he did.”
“Hey, I believe you.”
By the door, Theo shifted, and the hardwood floor beneath his feet creaked loudly. He froze midshift, staring at the phone with growing horror.
“What was that?” Aiden and Noah asked in unison.
Her eyes darted to Theo for an instant before returning to the screen. “Um… rats. Huge, stinking rats. My super’s been setting traps for them. You know how New York is, yup they’ve got huge, stinking rats, big enough to haul a slice of pizza under the subway.” She’d only seen one rat since moving to New York, and it had been in a subway station. There definitely weren't any rats in her apartment. There had better not be any rats in her apartment. She’d be on a one-way flight back to Australia if there were.
“Whoa, wicked!” said Noah.
But Aiden wasn’t so easily convinced. His eyes narrowed, and he craned his head as if he was trying to get a better view of what was just out of sight of the screen. “Are we calling at a bad time?” he asked archly.
“Yes. Yes, you are. It is four thirty in the morning on a Saturday. You are absolutely calling at a bad time. Four thirty is never, ever, a good time.”
Aiden laughed. “Fair enough. Well, we should say goodbye, Noah, so your aunt can get back to having a good time,” he said in her direction, giving her a broad wink.
“Bye, Aunt Chloe!” Noah said as he waved at the screen.
“Goodbye, squirt. Goodbye, Aiden.”
“Take care,” her brother said, his voice becoming serious. “And remind any good times you might have that you have two overprotective older brothers and they’d better make sure that you are having a good time. Or they’ll have to deal with me.”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “Goodbye, Aiden.” She hung up. Once she made sure the phone was off, she placed it face down on the bedside table. No more interruptions. “Okay, it’s safe now,” she said to Theo. “Kids. They have no sense of privacy.” She paused. “Or time zones.”
“So I gathered,” he said, coming over and pulling her into his arms.
