She almost argued but then just stepped back before they accidentally touched again, and watchful Dev saw her feelings too. She went to sit with Dev at the counter. He’d opened the cookie package and was chowing down on one.
“Mind sharing?” she asked.
He slid the container toward her, taking another one out before releasing it. “Thought these would go good with the coffee. If I don’t wolf them all down before it brews.”
She laughed. She loved Dev’s fun personality. He continued to prove it was a contrast to Colin’s serious intensity, but if she had to choose a life mate it would be the serious brother. Why, she didn’t know, but she’d always been attracted to the more serious and brooding kind of guy. Like Kane. He fit that description. The crushed idealism Colin seemed to be fighting after his time as an agent drew her even more to him as he seemed to want to buck the system now.
He pressed the start button on the machine and leaned back against the counter. The pot kicked in, the dripping the only sound in the room.
“What’s bugging you?” Dev asked his brother.
“Nothing, why?”
“You’re kind of in a funk.”
“Sorry if I’m not cracking jokes like you.” He coated his words liberally with sarcasm. “Just trying to keep my mind on keeping Brooklyn safe.”
“You can do both, you know? It’s not all or nothing. You can do your job and have a life too. Take care of Mom and have a life too.”
Colin’s eyebrow shot up, and he watched Dev. “Says the little brother who had a pass when Dad died.”
“Pass?” Dev clapped his hands on the stone countertop. “He was my dad too, and I still miss him every day. No passing on that.”
Colin’s eyes creased as he ran a hand over his face. “That’s not what I mean. As the oldest I had to step up. You got to keep on keeping on. Live your life.”
Dev came to his feet and for the first time, Brooklyn saw a deep anguish in the guy. “That’s not fair. I stepped up too. At home. With Mom. When you went to college. But you weren’t there to see it.”
Colin pushed off the counter as the pot beeped its completion behind him. “I came home almost every weekend.”
“Yeah, rushing in and acting as if we couldn’t survive without you. So we let you. It was easier for everyone just to let you take over.”
Colin sucked in a breath. “Sounds like we need to talk about this, but not here. Not now.”
“Agreed,” Dev said and went to the cupboard to retrieve mugs. He held one out to Brooklyn, who felt like a fifth wheel and wished she could slink away.
Dev looked at her. “Oh, man, if you could see your face. This little argument is nothing for us. If you’re going to be around us, you’ll have to get used to it. We always kiss and make up in the end.” He slugged his brother in the arm.
Colin grabbed him around the shoulder and knuckled his head, but he was grinning now.
She’d always wondered what it would be like to have a sibling, and she was learning quickly that it was a good thing. As good as a significant other? Maybe. At least that was all she could possibly experience, and she knew for sure she wanted to look into experiencing it with the brother who was now grinning at her and sending her heartbeat in a crazy rhythm.
The night ticked by like a slow clock struggling to keep time and nagging at Colin. Not that this place had such a clock. Everything was digital, and the equipment state of the art. Still, his brain heard the tick, tick, tick as he sat on the sofa, gun on his knees, foot tapping against the wood floor.
Movement to his right caught his attention, and he spun. Rubbing her neck, Brooklyn came into the room, her eyes tight.
He lurched to his feet and holstered his weapon. “You okay?”
“Headache.” She winced. “Came in search of water and some aspirin.”
“I saw a first aid kit in the cupboard. Bound to be something in there.” He stepped into the kitchen and went straight to the upper cabinet, where he retrieved the plastic box from the top shelf. He located a packet of aspirin, handed it to her, and got a glass to fill with water.
“Thanks.” She dumped the pills into her mouth and swallowed, then started rolling her neck.
“I’m pretty good at tension massages. At least my mom says it helps. If that’s your problem, that is.”
“It is, but I’ll be okay once the aspirin kicks in.”
“Why wait?” he said, a bit disappointed that she rejected his help again. “Allow me.”
