His face drops.
“You can have it,” I add quickly. “It’s a small one-bedroom apartment upstairs. I’ve been staying there because…it doesn’t matter. I’ll just need to grab a few things, change the sheets, and then it’s yours.”
“Thank you. I don’t want to kick you out of your own place. Fletcher mentioned?—”
“You’re not kicking me out. I have a house, but most days, it’s easier staying here.” Not to mention that apart from my bedroom, the whole place is in severe need of a good renovation, which is something I don’t have the time or energy for. Maybe with Constantine here, I can finally get the work started.
“Oh, okay. If you’re sure. I know we showed up out of the blue, and you didn’t know about Leo.”
“Your kid?”
He raises a brow. “Eesh, I know I look as tired as I feel, but I don’t think I look old enough to be my brother’s dad.”
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed.”
He waves me off. “It’s fine. He looks younger than he is and weirdly like me, considering we have different dads. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to that.”
He mutters the last part to himself. It’s a strange thing to say, but I don’t want to pry. For some reason, Constantine Galanis decided to come to Stillwater to work for me. The kid is an unexpected addition, but it doesn’t bother me. I love kids.
“The couch opens into a bed?—”
“Hey, Julius.” Harrison calling my name interrupts the conversation.
“I’ll be out in a sec,” I say, poking my head out of the kitchen door and then turning to Constantine. “That’s Harrison, Fletcher’s husband.”
He tenses, but I hold my hand up. “I spoke to Fletcher. He doesn’t know you’re here, does he?”
Constantine shakes his head.
“If you’re staying, you’ll have to tell him because he’s a regular and a friend. For now, can you put the brownies in a box? That’s what Harrison’s here for.”
I point to the pile of Bittersweet cake boxes on the shelf and go out to give Harrison a coffee to go. Hopefully, the distraction will work.
Constantine’s brother comes back a moment after Harrison leaves.
“Hey. Good walk?” I ask him.
“Yeah.”
“Your brother is in the kitchen.”
He nods, and with his hands in his pockets and his head held slightly low, like he’s trying to make himself invisible, he walks through the space next to the cooler and into the kitchen.
An almost-fire in my kitchen followed by the new kid quitting? I can’t say I didn’t expect it to happen.
Constantine and his brother Leo? One hundred percent unexpected but not unwelcome.
That feeling I got in my belly seeing Constantine in my kitchen? Well…I probably shouldn’t think about it too hard. I have the help I need and that’s that.
It’s been a long time since someone’s knocked me off my feet. Constantine is capable in the kitchen—something that will never not be sexy for me—and he’s also very much my type. Small but not breakable.
I should probably find a hookup before I do something stupid.
4
CONSTANTINE
Fletcher
