“Just leave me alone, Brooks.”
“No.”
“Why not?” she asks as she stomps her foot in exasperation.
“Because you don’t want me to, not really.”
“You’re delusional. Maybe I need to hit you again to knock some sense into you.”
“I’ll take you any way I can. Now go up to your apartment and ice your hand. It’ll be swollen in the morning.”
“So, what?” she inquires as she looks down at her blush-colored knuckles.
“I care about you too much to see you hurt. I’ll wait here until you get inside.”
He holds the door of the stairwell open until she reaches the top, watching her hips sway with each step.
“You know that kiss rocked your world.”
“God, do you ever stop?” she questions as she places the key into her apartment door.
“Nope.”
“Good night, Brooks.”
Bringing him back to reality, a few finger snaps break him of his musings and he notices that his booth at Angie’s begins to fill quickly. First, Nikki slides into the vinyl bench across from him, followed by Sydney, her sister-in-law. Cassidy, a world-famous designer and a member of the Connelly clan pulls a chair from the table next to them and tucks herself in at the end of the table. Avery finally slides into his booth, pushing him with her hip until he moves towards the inside.
“Well, ladies, it’s a pleasure, but unexpected. What can I do for you?” he asks as he unleashes the smile he has been told could make any woman lose their mind.
This time is no different.
“Turn it off, Brooks,” Avery demands, immune to his charm. “We have a mission and I need them coherent.”
He laughs, but brings the sandwich up to his mouth, effectively breaking the spell.
“Damn, I thought only Harlan could render me speechless,” Cassidy explains as she shakes her head, looking like she was coming out of hypnosis.
Her sisters nod in agreement, but then they turn their attention back to him and he officially begins to worry.
Wiping his mouth with his napkin and taking a sip of water, he leans back into the booth, stretching his muscled arm behind Avery, and gives the women his full attention.
“I’m sorry, ladies. What is this mission you speak of?”
Avery turns towards him, the woman not appearing as if she had twins two months prior.
“We want to help you.”
Sydney finally chimes in and he turns to glance at her, her hair pulled back into a messy bun on her head, looking the most like the sister he is infatuated with.
“Our sister can be…well…stubborn. She buries herself in work so that she has something else to focus on instead of focusing on herself. Something happened when she left high school. She isn’t the same sister I used to climb trees with or swim with in the creek behind the house, and we want that sister back.”
Brooks nods, knowing that Everleigh doesn’t show her true self to anyone. He has only seen it once when her friend Tequila paid a visit. He liked Everleigh however he could get her, but the Everleigh that had been uninhibited is the one he craves.
“And you like her even though she goes bat-shit crazy around you,” Nikki chimes in. “And really, we all think she likes you too. I mean, what’s not to like?” Nikki gestures towards him, moving her hands up and down.
Brooks cocks an eyebrow at their perusal and asks, “Should I tell your husbands?”
The girls motion their shoulders in unison as Nikki speaks up, “Austin knows that I love him. He also knows I’m not blind.”
