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“Can I take your things?” he asked, pointing to the trench I wore, and the leather satchel slung across my body.
“I won’t be here long.” My hands tightened around the strap of my bag.
“The hot water in this place is divine,” a baritone voice crooned orgasmically.
Cole scratched at the crimson rising to his neck, peering behind him as a tall, willowy man, with blond hair a shade darker than mine, swaggered toward us, head lowered as he smoothed down his wrinkled shirt. Cole had obviously forgotten he wasn’t alone. “Ah, Leland…”
“Yeah? Oh!” Leland said, startled, then brandishing what some may have called a roguishly charming half-grin. I wanted to punch him in it, whoever he was, and I didn’t dare dissect the reasons why. “You’ve got company.”
“This is my stepbrother, Jasper. Jasper, myassistant,Leland. He was just leaving.”
“Ah, yeah. Sure was. Nice to finally meet you, Jasper.” He snatched up the jacket slung over the oval table in the foyer. “I’ll see you in the office, Co—er, Mr. Kincaid.” The elevator doors closed, taking him down.
“Is following HR protocol below your paygrade?”
“Are you asking me if I’m fucking my assistant?”
“Are you?”
“Do you care?” he asked.
“Only as far as using your answer to build my case on your character—or lack thereof—goes.”
His nostrils pulsed, signaling his upset, but he spoke with the utmost patience. “We were up late going over contracts and logistical matters related to the move from Seattle.” He ambled toward an arched entryway leading to the living room. Folders and stacks of paper littered the coffee table and the white shag area rug. “He showered in the guest room.”
I stopped a few feet past the room’s threshold as Cole headed for the wet bar. With his back to me I released a quiet breath. I’d been jealous.I’m still jealous.Because although his explanation made sense, it didn’t explain Leland’s level of comfort with him. Cole and fucking weren’t mutually exclusive. If he wasn’t having sex with Leland, he was having it with someone else, and I hated that I cared.
“Answer me, Cole. Was this deal premeditated?”
He twisted the cap off a bottle of water, taking a leisurely sip before setting it down. “The move was imminent. We’d already signed the lease on office space, and most of our personnel were making arrangements to transfer here. Leland relayed Daniel’s message to me, and I looked into his firm before getting back to him. As it happened, we were in the market for new attorneys.”
“Nexcom is a big pond, and I’m not saying Parker & Mitchell are little fish, but they’re not worth the trouble you’re going through to get them.”
“You’re worth all the trouble, Jasper. And I needed a way in.” The sunlight beamed down on him through the balcony doors at his back, removing all shadows, highlighting the raw honesty in his eyes. He wanted a place in my life, but I wanted to maintain what my life had been without him. Safe in its predictability. Reliable in its boredom.
“You could’ve knocked on my door—”
“And you would’ve turned me away,” he argued.
“So you hired Daniel as a way to tether us together. You decided to make it impossible for me to get rid of you,” I said around the lump of terror lodged in my throat.
“Impossible for you to ignore me,” he amended without remorse. “I’m not here to make your life hard.”
“Then why has it suddenly gotten harder? Why does it feel like it’s about to implode?”
Cole inched closer, and I instinctively skittered back, shaking my head. “I’ll play whatever role you want me to play, Jasper. I just can’t take being a stranger to the man who knows me best any longer. Please, let me in.” His eyes pleaded with me.
My mind traveled back to a different time. A time when those three words had been innocent.
“Let me in. Cole, let me in!”I’d banged on his bedroom door again and again, my knuckles chafing, but I’d refused to give up until he answered. My persistence had paid off.
“What do you want?”he’d growled, face set in a hard scowl as he glared down at me through red-rimmed eyes.
“Why won’t you play with me? We’re brothers now.”
“No, we’re not. Leave me alone.”
I’d slid my little palm into his much bigger hand, surprising him.“No one wants to be alone.”
