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“And you’re here because?” I tease Alice.
She shrugs, answering with a serious expression. “You need some female supervision. And I am catching up with them later. I saw photos of Nadine’s new collection. It’s to die for, especially the ones with lace around the waist.”
That sounds like pig latin to me, and by the confused looks on my brothers’ faces, I’m not alone. I judge dresses by their length, amount of curves they show, and ease of removal.
“She’s very talented and hardworking,” Logan says proudly. It occurs to me that for the first time, I’m not tempted to throw a witty retort at him for walking around like a puppy in love, with the obsessive need to tell the world how great his woman is. In fact, I understand where he’s coming from. Another first. Emilia Campbell, what have you done to me? The desire to discover everything there is about her hits me hard. This woman makes me feel things I didn’t know existed. From the first time I was buried deep inside her, I realized I‘ll nev
er want anyone else. Better not mess this up.
Blake is still Blake, though. “Logan, we all know how great Nadine is and that you’re happy and yadda yadda yadda. No need to hear it for the hundredth time. Same goes for you, Sebastian.”
Logan and Sebastian flip Blake the bird, while Alice and Christopher look at me with shit-eating grins. Oh, hell no. No way am I throwing myself to the wolves.
“Anyone have time to go over to our parents’ next weekend and help them redo the fence?” Sebastian asks. “Ava and I are going to Lake Tahoe with these two.” He motions to Logan.
“I can do it,” I say at once.
“I’ll go too,” Christopher adds.
Even though more than ten years have gone by since Sebastian started providing for our parents, they still haven’t adjusted to having money… or free time. As a result, they constantly find something to repair or renovate, and do it themselves. They live with the mantra Why pay someone if you can do it?
Since my dad’s accident last year when he fell off the roof, my brothers and I pitch in whenever they have a renovation project. Leaving my parents alone for too long is dangerous. They get… ideas.
Currently I’m not in my parents’ good graces because I convinced my brothers to buy a company jet, which I admit was a splurge, but what the hell? To Mom and Dad it was a waste, but they’ll come around eventually.
“Great,” Logan says.
We chitchat for another half an hour before Sebastian, Logan, and Christopher leave. Blake, Alice, and I are the only ones left.
“I’m going behind the counter,” Blake informs us. “My bartender looks like she could use some help.”
Alice and I raise our eyebrows in unison. His bartender, a beautiful blonde, is mixing drinks for the three customers waiting at the counter, clearly not needing help. By the lustful look on my brother’s face, he’s referring to another kind of help.
“Blake!” Alice says sharply.
“You’re sleeping with her?” I blurt out. “Don’t be stupid. Stay away from your employees.”
“I’m not taking this shit from you, Max,” Blake says simply.
I straighten up in my seat, now genuinely concerned for my brother. “Blake, I’m not just giving you shit. You’re opening a can of worms for sexual harassment lawsuits. It’s not worth the risk. You’ve done a great job with the bar, and it has a great reputation. Do you want to drag that in the mud with scandals?”
He shrugs, but by the creases on his forehead, I can tell he’s not dismissing my warning.
“You know how to play the big brother card with Blake,” Alice says after Blake leaves the table. I grew up watching Sebastian and especially Logan play the big brother card, and I had time to observe what works with each of us. Logan leads by example—he does what he preaches, which means we listen to him… mostly. Blake and I have a different type of relationship. He pushes me to try reckless things, like skydiving, I try to keep him from doing too many stupid things. What works with Blake is pointing out what he has to lose, which in this case is the bar’s reputation.
“I hope he’ll stay away from that girl,” Alice says. “Speaking of girls—”
“No. You don’t get to question me about Emilia.”
Alice grins, leaning in over the table. “I was about to say I’ll be going too, so I still have time to stop by Nadine’s shop.”
Ugh… talk about setting myself up.
“So?” she presses.
“So what?”
“Anything happen? And don’t think I haven’t noticed that you went radio silence all weekend and ignored my three calls.”
