“Well,” continued Eli, “you and Claire seem to have a thing for each other.”
Nick silently counted to ten.“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Eli glanced at Michael.“I guess he’s going to play the game too.”
“Yep,” said Michael.
“What game?”asked Nick, annoyed now.“I’m not playing any game.”
“Sure, you are,” said Eli.“It’s the game all the Zorn brothers have played at one point or another.You know, when we pretend nothing’s going on, but in reality, there’s a certain woman we can’t get off our mind.”
“Thatgame,” added Michael.“I played it with you guys when Emily came around.”
“And I played it when I fell for Bernie,” said Eli.“And now you, baby brother, are playing it because of how you feel for Claire.Boy, I really thought you might have learned from our examples.”
Nick glared.“I don’t have feelings for Claire.We’re just…helping each other get back in the saddle.”
“Whoa.”Michael held up a hand.“We weren’t looking for that level of information.How you do it is your business.”
Nick narrowed his eyes.
Eli continued.“It just occurred to us that this might not be the best time for a relationship for you.I mean, pretty soon, you’ll be in Victoria.”
“Have I told you what else is on the agenda?”asked Nick.“After Victoria, I have gigs in Seattle, Chicago and Montreal, and that’s just for starters.Who the hell knows where I’ll be after that?Eli, believe me when I say I know this is a bad time for a relationship.Which is why Claire and I aren’t labeling this thing.It’s just sex.Like, really energetic sex.”
Michael wrinkled his nose.“Again, way too much info.”
“Look,” said Eli, “we just wanted to make sure you were okay.You just came out of a bad relationship and we didn’t want to see you getting in too deep.”
“I’m fine, I promise.”
“Good,” said Michael.“Mom invited us all to dinner Sunday night.She said you hadn’t called her back yet.Are you going to come?”
“Yeah.”
“Great.Call her,” urged Michael.“We’re going to tell Mom and Dad that Em’s pregnant, but we wanted to make sure you were all going to be there.”
“I’ll be there.”
As his brothers walked away, Nick let out a sigh of relief.He wasn’t sure why the conversation had gotten up his craw, but it had, for some reason.
If forced to admit it, he had been spending a lot of time with Claire lately.It was possible that his thoughts had strayed into a zone that wasn’t emotion-free.It could hardly be helped.He liked her.
A lot.
Suddenly, a wild thought occurred.One of Claire taking a place at his parents’ dinner table at a family gathering.
Nah, he couldn’t afford a relationship right now.Not only was it a case of bad timing, she didn’t want it.
Hell, she was still thinking of Arthur.
He didn’t blame her, but it had hurt a little to hear her say she was using sex with him to drown out Arthur’s voice.
It didn’t really matter.He was helping her, and she was helping him.
They’d been clear with each other from the start.
Things were good.
