“Can I date her then? We’ve always had similar tastes in women. I took one look at her tonight and had to bite my tongue not to flirt. Did you see that plump ass?—”
Before I realized it, I’d shoved him. He landed against the wall, hard enough to rattle a framed piece of art.
“I said, stay away from her.”
He snort-laughed. “I knew it. You got it bad for her.”
“Is everything a game to you?” I marched straight over to my bar.
“Hello, look what family we come from. West Games.”
“Can you leave now? With a stiff drink or two and I might be able to forget this conversation happened.”
“So you fucked her one night? Big deal,” he howled.
“Can you keep your voice down?” I pointed down the hall. Where Theo hadn’t emerged from the bathroom yet.
“Where’d you meet her?” He stepped closer to the bar.
“Up in Holly Creek this summer. I never expected to see her here in the city. She just showed up yesterday out of the blue.”
“Oh, shit. Maybe that’s by design.” His face fell, devoid of the previous jokester he had displayed.
“How so?”
“Have you taken a good look at yourself? A handsome, wealthy, virile man steps into a small town upstate and you don’t think women notice? Some might do anything to take advantage of you.”
My stomach knotted. Was she capable? No. “Not her. She wouldn’t.”
“You fully trust her?”
“Of course. I let her watch over my son, didn’t I?” Crap. Doubts multiplied in my head that hadn’t been there before. I pumped the brakes on the whole fake marriage plan.
All of a sudden, he broke out into a laugh. “I’m just messing around. You should see your face. Pale and worried.”
“Asswipe.” I brushed him off, debating about throwing my good glass of Macallan in his face. “How much longer do I have to suffer your being in town?”
“Until I get bored. And right now my ex is making it worth my while to stay.” He winked. “I’m on my way to her place now.”
“Wait. Is this the chick who had mild success in that family sitcom, and then broke up with you so she could appear on Celebrity Love Islanders?”
“Yeah. I figure a few more blow jobs from her and I might forgive her for pretending to fall for a douche canoe on TV.”
“What are we talking about here? Is she potentially Mrs. Atlas West?”
He guffawed. “Hardly. She’s Miss-A-Lot-of-Fun-Right-Now. That’s it.” He slipped his shoes and hoodie on.
“Well, it’s been fun tormenting each other.” I opened my front door for him to leave. “Can you keep Miss-A-Lot indoors tonight? Sam will have a stroke if another photo surfaces of you from anywhere in the tri-state area with a woman on your arm.”
“Sam can go to hell. Last I checked, he worked for you. Not the other way around. But yes. For you, anything. See ya later.” He saluted me and shut the door behind him. How on earth did we become total opposites? We grew up in the same household, with the same father.
I sauntered down the hall wondering whether Atlas would ever settle down. Hell, at the rate my brothers were going, Theo might be the only member of the next generation to carry on the West family legacy.
Speaking of which, his bathroom door was still shut.
I knocked. “Kiddo, are you okay in there?”
“No,” came his very weak reply.
