My brother leans back in the booth, stretching his legs under the table. “I don’t know. It justis.You’re the bossy firstborn, always taking more responsibility than you need, trying to save the world like that’ll somehow earn your place in it.” He puts a hand to his chest. “I’mthe delightfully charming second son, the hometown protector, serving the people of this fine town out of sheer civic duty.”
“You’ll never forgive me for being ten years older, will you?”
Bennett is a carbon copy of me, a decade delayed. Same dark hair. Same gray eyes. Same love of being right, of being in charge, of swooping in and saving the day.
He regards me with a sad shake of his head and tips his beer to his lips. “I should have been bossing Gideon and Grayson around. Instead, I got bossed right along with them. Probably why I joined the force. Some subconscious desire to right that wrong.”
“That must be it.”
“Wow.” Bennett draws his lips down in a frown. “Youdidn’t even fight me on that. Old age must be softening you.”
“I’m thirty-six,” I remind him dryly. “Fully willing to show you how soft I’mnot.”
“There he is. The authoritarian brother I know and love.”
“Again…says the cop.”
I shake my head, but there’s a low hum of affection under the sarcasm. Bennett’s good people. Always has been. Out of all the Kincaid brothers, he’s the one with his head screwed on the straightest, though that may not be saying much.
He takes a drink and glances back up at the screen. The segment’s shifted to distracted driving awareness, the reporter now standing at the corner of Main and Baybreeze, talking about a young woman who narrowly missed being struck while crossing the street.
Bennett follows my gaze, then sits up straighter. “Yeah! Did you see that? I wasn’t the officer on scene, but the woman who almost got clobbered wasLucy Calder.”
My stomach tightens like I missed a step going downstairs.
While the name doesn’t immediately ring a bell, the situation does. Bennett’s talking about my patient from the other day. The twenty-something Talia wanted me to ask out. How she thought that was a good idea is beyond me. I need a date with a young woman in the middle of a crisis like I need another reason for Admin to climb up my ass.
“How do you know Lucy?” I ask, frowning into my glass.
Bennett’s eyebrows launch into his hairline. “How doIknow Lucy? We were best friends when we were kids. She basically lived at our house and Mom pretty much adopted her as an honorary daughter.” He laughs softly. “Last I heard, she moved to Los Angeles to get rich and famous.”
Rich and famous.The bastardized dream of the modern age. Narcissism wrapped in self-importance, with a side of performative altruism.
“Hold on a sec though,” Bennett says, cutting through my thoughts. “How doyouknow Lucy? You were in college when we were attached at the hip, so it’s not like you remember her.”
Oh, I remember her, all right. Those clear blue eyes locking onto mine, the delicate fingers gripping the edge of the hospital bed, her sharp inhale of fear when I ordered the tests.
The total lack of hesitation when she shamelessly hit on me.
Andthe totally unprofessional reaction on my part.
I liked it. I shouldn't have, but I did. I wanted more of it. More ofher.
Worse? I wanted to protect her. From what? Couldn’t tell ya. I got the sense she needed someone on her side, and I wanted that someone to be me.
All of which is bad news for Dr. Nash Kincaid.
Rubbing a hand across my mouth, I refocus on mybrother. “I was her doctor the night she almost got clobbered.”
Bennett lets out a low whistle. “At least I know she was in heroically good hands.” He leans back, propping his arm along the back of the booth. “How is she? Still sweet? Or did that awful Stella Beauford ruin her like she ruins everything else?”
I clear my throat, taking another slow sip of my whiskey. “She told me I had the jawline of a Greek god.”
Bennett chokes on his beer, coughing out a laugh. “Lucy?She used to be so shy.” He shakes his head, looking half-impressed, half-baffled.
“In her defense, she was medicated at the time.”
“Poor Lu. I bet she was mortified.” He chuckles, but there’s something in his expression that shifts, something quieter, less teasing. “You know… I had a crush on that girl for most of my childhood. She’s just so bright and happy and easy to be around. Pretty, too.” His voice is more thoughtful now, like he’s just remembering it himself. “Kinda sucks we drifted apart. I’d love to run into her.”
