“You think I couldn’t?”


    “I think you’d have to get up earlier than ten in the morning if you do,” he says, eyeing my robe.


    “You could at least try to keep the judgement out of your tone,” I tell him, but my voice isn’t the least bit offended. This is my role in the family. Cole is the sessful, responsible one. I’m the social butterfly. He swam for the school team in high school. I was on the prom nningmittee.


    “I’ll try,” he says. “Did you have fun yesterday?”


    “Yes. The opera was beautiful, although I’m not sure how I felt about all the modern changes.”


    “Me neither,” Cole says. “At least they took a risk with it.”


    “ssics are ssics for a reason.” I pat my hands on the carpet and the puppy looks up immediately. He stares at my hands with an obvious thought in mind. A challenger?


    He pounces and we roughhouse a bit, Cole joining in. “He reminds me of Pratt.”


    Iugh. There’s absolutely nothing about this little puppy that is reminiscent of the pug our mother had when we were teenagers. “No, he doesn’t.”


    “They’re both dogs,” Cole points out. “But yeah, that’s perhaps the only simrity.”


    “What did Skye say when you left this morning? She wasn’t suspicious?”


    “She thinks I’m swimming.” His hand stills over the puppy’s stomach, fingers scratching. “ir, how has working with Nick been? Really?”


    I smooth my fingers over the dog’s soft ear. How soundproof is the door to my office?


    “I’ve enjoyed it,” I say. “We don’t see each other a lot at work, actually. We sort of have a separation of church and state going on.”


    Cole nods, and when he speaks, his words are measured. “I asked him the same thing the other day, and he said that it had worked out all right but that he wouldn’t renew your consulting contract. That it had run its course.”


    I’m grateful for the puppy between us, not to mention the door between Nick and me. My reaction is mine alone. “Oh? He did?”


    “Yes. Surprised me, to be honest. I’d gotten the same impression as you. That working together had gone all right, at least on the professional front. You still can’t seem to stand each other socially.” His voice turns teasing. “Did you speak a word to each otherst night?”


    “Well, maybe he feels differently,” I say. My voice is impressively casual. Someone nominate me for an Academy Award, stat.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    Cole’s voice softens. “I want you to find your passion again, you know. I thought maybe hispany could help you with that.”


    Wow. What can I say in response? Even if I felt ready to show him my new brand, there’s a six-foot-two beast of a man hiding in that room. One who happens to be Cole’s best friend.


    “I will,” I say. “I’m doing an interview for the Seattle Tribune just next week about styling winter outfits.” The response sounds weak, even to my own ears. For the first time, I almost want to tell him about my lingeriepany. Had Nick’s punching tactic worked?


    “That’s good to hear,” Cole says. “You’ll let me know if you need anything from me, right? I was the one who talked you into working for Nick in the first ce. I can get you out of it if you want.”


    “Thank you.” Keeping secrets from my brother isn’t amon thing for me, not since we both grew up and out of the usual teenage tension between siblings.


    What would he think about Nick and me?


    The puppy gets to his paws and continues his exploration. When he gets to the closed door of my study, he whines slightly, pawing at the door.


    I pick him up. “Perhaps you should get this little guy home to meet the rest of his new family.”


    “Perhaps I should.” Cole epts the wriggling puppy from my arms, tucking it into his. “Now, we have a ten-minute car drive. Can you handle that?”


    The puppy licks his chin.


    “That was a yes,” I supply. “Now scram. And make sure you take a ton of pictures, okay? Of Skye’s reaction, of the puppy settling in…”


    “I will.”


    “And you know this means I’ll being over to your house even more often.”


    Cole grins. “Timmy said the exact same thing. He’s there now, in on the secret and keeping Skyepany.”


    “I bet he’s very excited.”


    “Oh, ecstatic.” Cole lifts one of the puppy’s paws in a tiny farewell before he closes my front door behind him.


    Despite the information just revealed-the conversation I know is waiting behind me-I give myself a second to just smile. This would never have happened before my brother met his wife. He would have been working today, on a Saturday of all days, as he did most days. He would have scoffed at the idea of getting a dog.


    How the times have changed.


    Behind me, the door to my office swings open. Nick is fully dressed now. “Was there actually a puppy in here?”


    “Yes. Cole bought him for Skye.”


    A hint of a smile on his lips. “Your brother ispletely whipped.”


    “He’s happy.” I cross my arms over my chest. Nick won’t distract me from my question, not even if he gives me one of his rare smiles. “He told me that you’re not nning on renewing my contract. I thought my work with B. C. Adams was going well?”


    He sighs. “Damn it. Thanks, Cole.”


    “So it’s true? And you told him before me?”


    “He asked. I answered.” Nick shakes his head, looking away from me. “It’s not a good idea for us to do… this, while we work together.”


    I blink. That was not the answer I’d been expecting. Hope, already blooming in my chest from the closeness we’d shared yesterday, grows with his words. “Oh. I totally understand that,” I say. “Being involved and working together isn’t a good idea.”


    “No, it’s not.” His eyes narrow a tad. “That was too damn close of a call with Cole. Does he swing by unannounced like that often?”


    I wrap my arms around his waist. He looks out of sorts, like the close encounter had rattled him to his very bones. Someone else might think he looked imposing or closed off, but I see it for what it is now. He’s uneasy.


    “Sometimes,” I say. “But isn’t it fun to sneak around, at least for a little while?”


    He reaches up and pushes back my hair. “That excites you?”


    “A bit, but it’ll feel much so better when he knows,” I say, remembering the closeness we’d shared yesterday, the conversation without words. “And if you don’t want me to work for you anymore, if you see this going somewhere… well, then it doesn’t have to be a secret.”


    Softness had been the wrong tactic.