Page 246 of Steamy Ever After

She kept busy, writing orders and signing customers up for club memberships, but every few minutes, she’d sneak a look at Brodie. He smiled and talked to customers about their wine but glanced over at her as much as she did at him. When he caught her looking first, he’d wink.

“He is too,” Alex whispered and nudged her.

“Yep, he sure is,” she responded, knowing exactly what Alex was talking about.

Brodie was hot and sweet, and he seemed genuinely into her. Could she go forward with this? Would he want to have sex with her, knowing his brother had? How weird would that be? And what about her boys? They already knew who he was. Should she let him meet them? Or should she wait?

Alex nudged her a second time. “Quit chewing the inside of your cheek. You look like a chipmunk.”

BRODIE

By nine, most of the customers had left. Peyton and Alex, along with their two servers, were busy washing wineglasses.

“Can I help?” Brodie offered.

“No, thanks,” Peyton answered at the same time Alex said yes. They both laughed and tossed him a towel.

“You can dry, but be careful,” Alex instructed.

“I’ve run my own tasting room,” he informed her. “With glasses at least as expensive as these.”

“You don’t have to stay,” Peyton said in a low voice. “You and Maddox can take off whenever you’d like.”

Brodie leaned forward so Alex couldn’t hear him. “Maddox isn’t any more ready to leave than I am.” He winked.

“I noticed something pass between the two of them. I wonder how long that’s been going on?”

“According to Naughton, since high school.”

Her eyes opened wide. “Get out.”

Brodie shrugged. “I wasn’t aware either.”

“I guess you have to wait for him to leave. By the looks of it, it may be a while.”

“I drove down, too.”

“Oh?” Peyton’s forehead creased.

“Before you start accusing me of anything, it was Mad’s idea.”

“I wasn’t going to accuse you of anything.”

Brodie reached over and ran his finger across her forehead. “Oh, yeah?”

“I guess you can leave whenever you want to, then.”

He nudged her, taking any opportunity he could to feel her skin against his. “You kickin’ me out?”

“No.”

“Hey, I was wondering earlier—where do your boys hang out when you’re here at night.”

“They spend Friday nights at my parents’ ranch. Sometimes Saturday too.”

“You up for a nightcap once you’re done here?”

Peyton threw her towel on the bar and motioned for Brodie to follow her outside. “Listen, I was thinking about this earlier today, and I think it might be too weird.”

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