Page 338 of The Romance Adventure

Baby still in arms, Ryan pulls her to her feet, their lips nearly grazing from the momentum. “I still flirt with you.”

“Okay, newlyweds. None of that here,” Royal barks.

Isla points at the biggest and possibly oldest brother. “Also, that’s Magnus. He’s a stoic retired Navy pilot. I count how many minutes, sometimes hours, between him smiling. The record is four. He and Lally run Boo’s Battle Bros.” Isla goes on to tell me about the program.

“Nice to meet you all,” I say when I get a word in.

Out of habit, I memorize details in addition to what they told me about each of the brothers’ personalities.

Royal has neat hair and wears a button-down dress shirt, no tie.

Magnus seems to be having a debate with facial hair. To shave or not to shave, that is the question. He wears dark jeans and an olive-green T-shirt. Given his military history, that’s probably something of a uniform for him.

Ryan dons athletic clothing. I’m guessing when he’s not in workout or dad mode, he wears slacks and various styles of shirts that intentionally showcase his muscular physique.

Notably, Magnus doesn’t smile.

More notably, Isla wears sandals, likely because her feet are swollen from pregnancy. Harley sports checkered Vans, practical for chasing her baby. And Lally has utility boots. Interesting choice, but they could be a practical choice. I have an identical pair upstairs.

Isla beams. “And of course, you must know CJ. He’s the baby of the family.”

“What about Emmie?” I ask.

Ignoring me, Magnus says, “CJ is the wild card.”

Royal adds, “The rogue.”

“What happens in CJ’s life stays in CJ’s life,” Ryan finishes.

He doesn’t refute any of it.

“Care to introduce us to your friend?” Royal asks.

CJ only has eyes for me. They’re soft and sparkly as if we’re going to pick up where we left off when I was still sitting on the counter. It would be so easy to lean in, to give in. To let him capture my mouth with his lips. To wave goodbye to my career, forget my secrets, and only focus on us, on our future.

But then reality lands in my head with a thud like a stack of case files on a dusty desk.

My first mistake was coming back here. My second one was agreeing to go to Barbados. The third is thinking that I can resist this man. I can’t. I tried to keep him at arm’s length. Put up barriers between us. Pretend like I’m not hopelessly in love with him.

Resistance is futile.

But he can never know my true identity. I have to admit I got nervous when he questioned my background. I was worried he found my other passports. But no, CJ is just the goofy, fun-loving brother—they left that out when introducing him.

But he doesn’t hold back. With pride and affection in his voice, CJ says, “Meet Jolie. She’s my wife.”

The sound of deep, rumbling laughter issues from the chests of the three McGregor brothers. The women smile but don’t join them.

Ryan slaps his leg. “That’s a good one.”

Royal clutches his stomach. “CJ, married? That’ll be the day.”

“Can’t imagine my little brother getting hitched,” Magnus says.

Arching an eyebrow, to him, I say, “Maybe you’re not as stoic as everyone thought.”

As if regretting that he went along with the laughter, he goes quiet.

There are two ways I could play this—defend our relationship or ignore them. But this is CJ’s family, so it’s probably best to let him handle it. Plus, my expertise is in curtailing espionage and eliminating threats to life, liberty, and property, not family dynamics.