Xander saw Jacob wag his tail from his position on the sofa as if he knew they were talking about him.
‘What were you doing there then?’ Logan said.
‘I was there to save the woman that lived there.’
‘I knew there would be some woman involved,’Logan said, rolling his eyes. ‘Pretty stupid thing to do if you ask me. You should have waited for the fire brigade to arrive and do their job.’
‘Oh, don’t give me that crap. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t have done the same thing if someone was in trouble.’
‘Yes but I don’t have a daughter. You need to think about how your actions impact on her. What if you hadn’t made it out of there, then she would have lost both of her parents.’
Xander sighed. Logan probably had a point but he wasn’t going to admit that. ‘The flat wasn’t on fire. The fire in the shop had only just started. I was in and out in less than thirty seconds. I wasn’t in any danger.’
‘A lot can happen in thirty seconds,’ Logan said.
‘Who was the woman?’ Archer said, trying to steal a slice of toast.
Xander smacked his hand away. ‘None of your business.’
‘I’m just saying, there’s quite a lot of toast there. Did she reward you for your heroism with a night of passion?’
‘That’s definitely not any of your business,’ Xander snapped.
‘I’ll take that as a yes.’
There was a noise from the bedroom, inadvertently proving Archer’s point.
‘Well, I’m alive, as you can see. You two can go now,’ Xander said, gesturing for them to follow him to the door.
Unfortunately they didn’t move.
‘Which shop was it?’ Logan asked.
Xander sighed. Logan didn’t live directly in the town so he might not know the shops and their owners too well.
‘The sweet shop opposite.’
‘Immy’s,’ Logan said, concern creasing his face. ‘Is she OK?’
Well, that hope was dashed rather too quickly.
‘Yes, she’s fine.’ Xander chewed his lip while he deliberated over whether to tell them about the baby. They’d have to know at some point but maybe now wasn’t the time. He looked at Logan’s worried face and a stab of jealousy spiked through him. ‘Why are you so concerned about Immy?’
‘She’s family and that’s exactly why you shouldn’t be messing around with her,’ Logan said.
Xander guessed she technically was family or would be once his cousin, Quinn, married her sister in a few months. What was the technical term for your cousin’s wife’s sister? Cousin-in-law maybe. Certainly not a reason for him to stay away from her. ‘I’m not messing around with her.’
Archer stood there eating his apple, looking between them as if he was at a tennis match.
‘A series of one-night stands and then treating her like she doesn’t exist afterwards. What would you call it if not messing her around?’
Xander winced. It was like being told off by your dad, except his dad had never taken any interest in hislife. Probably why Logan had stepped up into the role. Xander didn’t even want to know how Logan was aware the details of his sex life. Logan always knew when his brothers did something wrong.
‘I’m not messing around with heranymore.’
‘Good, I’m glad you’ve put that behind you. She’s a nice girl, she deserves better than to have you mess her around like that. You just need to stay away from her now.’
‘Hang on,’ Archer said, throwing the finished apple core in the bin and clearly wondering if he could get away with stealing a banana too. ‘If you’re not messing around with Immy, who’s in there?’ He gestured to Xander’s bedroom as Immy started singing the first verse of, ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow?’
