Axel craned his neck toward the door as Natalie walked past and headed toward the copy machine. He patted Galen’s shoulder. “She’s cute and actually smiled, which was more than your last girlfriend did.”
Tightness grew in his stomach. The last thing he needed was more competition especially from his siblings. “I didn’t ask you here to talk about Natalie.”
Axel leaned forward, hugging his right leg. “So you don’t want my band singing at your wedding?”
A small laugh escaped his throat as he relaxed. “Raincheck on that one.”
Axel’s astute gaze sharpened, and he pushed his long blond hair behind his ear, then tapped the handles of his chair. “Well that’s interesting. I thought you were anti-marriage.”
The redhead who’d filed for divorce after one discussion with his father and ten million dollars, had taught Galen not to trust anyone. However, his father was dead now and couldn’t hurt him like that again. “Alison soured me. So what’s this I’m hearing about a divorce for you?”
Axel nodded. “News travels fast. I’d like to see her again before I sign anything.”
None of them had heard a word about any wife, ever. Everyone knew Galen was divorced so there was stigma. He crossed his arms. “Who exactly do you want to see?”
Axel again bopped his head. “Rossie. She just left without a word one day and I’ve wondered what happened for years.”
One woman being on his brother’s mind made no sense. Galen leaned forward and pressed his hands into a fist and catcher’s glove, like he played baseball in his chair to himself. “You’re a rock star and former child TV star. You’ve had more women than the rest of us.”
Axel glanced up, but then did that stupid smile that had all the girls swooning on that show as a kid. Galen, also offered a part, had refused—even as a kid he’d known that fame was for other people, and Galen didn’t need the world to know his every move. Axel having such a huge secret didn’t fit with his character. “True, but Rossie struck at my heart years ago—no big deal, I just want to know where she is and how she’s doing.”
Perhaps Galen had misjudged the situation. He sat back in his chair. “I married Alison at eighteen because our father would never approve. Why did you marry your Rossie?”
Axel lowered his voice. “Possibly the same reason, though Rossie wasn’t like other girls I met.”
Seriously? But then Natalie wasn’t either. Galen shifted his chair to stare directly at his brother and asked, “How?”
Axel gave him that far off look he did when he was thinking about a song or something else. “She spoke to me like I was a normal person and then she was gone.”
Galen noticed when Natalie left the copy machine and headed back to her office. She made him feel normal too. Galen glanced at his brother again and gave him the reason he called him down. “Mom is worried about you.”
Axel leaned forward in his chair and confided, “I just want to know what happened—did our father get to her? I honestly don’t know.”
There was solace in that Galen knew and never wondered why Alison had walked away. Money was more important. Galen relaxed. “That sounds fair.”
Axel grinned and shrugged off the questions. “Now let’s talk about your Natalie. I know Mom met her this morning and she’s hoping to see her again.”
Yes, their families talked too much sometimes. Galen felt the weight of rejection on his shoulder. “That’s up to Natalie really.”
Axel drummed his fingers along his chair. “You sound disappointed.”
The last thing he needed was to be called out, by his brother. He tightened his tie. “No, just figuring out how to go after what I want. Once I have my plan, then I’ll execute it fully.”
Axel laughed. “Maybe I can help. Want me to write her a song for you?”
That wouldn’t work. Galen shook his head no but smiled. “No. I want to keep her in my life, but I don’t want to scare her off if I press too fast.”
Axel’s eyes grew wider. “You want to marry her?”
Had he said that? Galen stilled and narrowed his gaze. “Yeah.”
Axel smoothed his rock star hair. “That’s heavy. Why get married again?”
This wasn’t the intention of this conversation. Galen stood, crossed his arms, and saw that her office door was open. “Natalie is different.”
Axel came behind him. “You knew her for a year and didn’t think that.”
Galen turned back and uncrossed his arms. “I felt it, though you’re right, I didn’t see it. Now that I see I need to figure out my plan to keep her.”
