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“Cut the crap, Pat. Why are you really here?” I toss the paperwork on my desk. I can review it later. Four minutes till she’s supposed to arrive, and seeing as we’ve made a deal that she won’t be late, I can’t imagine she’ll be considerate enough to wait for Patton to show himself out. “This isn’t a real engagement and you know it.”
“Real or not, it must be intense.” He brushes something off his thighs. “Never seen you so flustered, Brother.”
“I’ll show you flustered in about ten seconds.”
“Hey, Archer said no fighting in the office. Let’s take it to the parking lot.”
“AndIsaid my office, my rules.” I raise my eyebrows. Three minutes till she’s due. “Is that what you want? A few missing teeth for your trouble?”
“Bastard,” he grumbles. “You’re just waving your dick because you know I’d win.”
“Because I win everything else.” I point at the door, which is thankfully still Juniper-free. “Go on, out.”
“But my plans for the condos—”
“I’ll review them tomorrow morning and we’ll discuss them in the next meeting.”
“So formal, Bro. You’re starting to sound like Archer.” He makes a gagging sound, slinging his arm over the back of the sofa and making no move to leave. Dickhead knows exactly what he’s doing. “For the record, I came here tohavea meeting. But I guess if you gave me a real reason why you’re busy…” His eyes light up. “Unless it’s a date.”
“Are you done?”
“Dex, if itisa date—” His gaze crawls down my suit. “Man, you need to work on your vibe. This shit doesnotscream fun or—”
There’s my limit.
Without suffering one more word of his shit, I stride over and grab him by the tie, hauling him upright.
“Out of my office, Patton. Right fucking now.”
He laughs through his teeth, flashing me a pained smile.
Same old song and dance. We’ve done this too often for him to be remotely intimidated, and he just swats at my hand.
“Get your dirty paws off me. You’re ruining my favorite tie.”
“Um,” Junie says from behind me. “Is this a good time?”
Fuck.Me.
She has a sixth sense for showing up at precisely the worst time. And what makes it worse is that she’s exactly on time today, down to the minute. Which makesmethe idiot for choosing to squabble with my idiot brother.
“Wow. You must be Juniper.” Patton’s face lights up and he barrels forward with his hand outstretched. “Pleasure to meet you.”
Of the three of us, Patton got the best people skills. This glorified brat could charm the wheels off a car and sell them back to the owner at a horrifying markup.
Archer got the dick-with-me-and-you’re-dead energy, and I got—stubbornness, I suppose.
A certain pigheaded tenacity that serves me in business as much as it hinders me with people.
Right now, though, I wish Patton had shared some of his magic, because Juniper blinks her big green eyes at him like she’s dazzled by his smile.
Jealousy knifes through my blood.
“Hi,” she says, shaking his hand. “Is everything okay with you guys?”
“Don’t mind him,” Patton announces, sending me a wide, malicious smile. “Tensions run high in this family. We still fight like puppies.”
She glances between us. “Oh, so you’re Dexter’s brother?”
