Me: Your wife just walked out of the kitchen, singing a song about getting laid.
Bennett: Shit. Did I forget that we’re supposed to video tonight?
I make anickface at the phone.
Me: I DON’T need to hear about your video sex sessions with my SISTER!
Bennett: You can’t hear me, but I’m laughing my ass off.
Me: Blocking you now…
Bennett: Hey! Hold up. I need to check with you about something.
Bennett: You still there?
Bennett: Did you seriously block me, asshole?
Me: No, but I should.
Bennett: Nah. You love me. I’m the brother you wished you had.
Me: I already have four brothers.
Bennett: Five including me. And I’m your favorite.
Needing to hurry the text chat along since I have to finish prepping the food, then change clothes before Douglass gets here, I type:Not to be rude, but get to the point. I have something to do at seven.
Bennett: What?
Me: None of your business. What do you need?
Bennett: You know Harper will tell me.
Me: Tick tock…
Bennett: You’re in a fine mood this evening.
What I am is apprehensive. I want tonight to be special. For Douglass to see that she can trust me with her heart. I want her to let me in. To give her everything she has ever dreamed about. To see her smile and hear her laugh. To finally be able to kiss her like I’ve wanted to since the moment I turned around and saw her standing behind me at Mickey’s.
I wanther.
Bennett: I’m bringing home a surprise for Harper. Mason is coming with me. Don’t tell her. Since I have to fly back Monday night on the red eye, I wanted to make sure it was ok if he stayed at the house for a couple of days.
My chest clenches and my hands curl into fists on the countertop. Mason—here? The same Mason who was fuck buddies with Douglass. Hell no. He can keep his ass in Florida, far, far away from Douglass.
Me: Fine with me. Got to go.
It’s official. I’m an idiot who has lost his ever-loving mind. But this house is as much his and Harper’s as it is mine. And Mason is his best friend.He’s more than friends with Douglass.I’ll have to deal with that later. I could ask Douglass about it and see how serious they were. Or still are.Stop thinking about them together.
Finishing with the food prep, I place everything into containers and put them inside the rolling cooler to take outside. I’m about to curse my phone when it goes off again but don’t when I see my brother Fallon’s name flash across the screen. I completely forgot to call him back the other day. In my defense, I never know when to call him since he’s always globe-hopping from one country to the next. He makes excuses about having to travel for the family company, Montgomery Pharma, and the nonprofit he and Aurora run together, but we all know that’s not what keeps him away. He stays away to avoid Elizabeth, a woman he’s been desperately in love with for most of his life—according to Aurora. She said it has to do with some bullshit about letting Elizabeth go so she could be happy with another man.
My mind goes back to Douglass and Mason. Would I be able to do what Fallon did? Step aside and allow another man to be with the woman I want? I’m not that magnanimous.
Putting the phone on speaker, I start placing plastic wrap over everything. It’ll be nice having Douglass here, in my space, watching me make her dinner. It didn’t escape my notice how she looked at me this morning when she walked into Natalie’s kitchen. I know a good eye-fucking when I see it, and she was most definitely doing a lot of it. Her hazel eyes went smoky with lust, and her breathing accelerated. The blush that heated her pale skin when I caught her checking out my ass made me want to discover just how much of her body that blush covered.
“’S’up.”
“Oh, he’s alive. I’d have been worried if Harper hadn’t told me she sees you in the flesh on a daily basis.”
