Page 67 of About Last Night

"Steve's wife." His long-lost brother wadded up his napkin and banked a perfect shot into the trash can.

Derek walked over to his own desk and straightened a pile of papers that didn't need to be straightened. "She's... nice enough, I suppose."

Jack wagged his dark eyebrows. "Nice enough to do what?"

His neck suddenly felt hot. He loosened his tie a fraction, then undid the top button of his shirt. Images of Janine consumed him during the day, and at night he would take long runs to exhaust himself enough to sleep with minimum torment.

"Derek," Jack said lazily, "nice enough to do what?"

The innuendo in his brother's voice ignited a spark of anger in his stomach that he'd kept banked since his argument with Steve. "Just drop it, Jack," he said carefully.

But he'd only managed to pique Jack's interest. "Brunette? Redhead? Blonde?"

"Um, blonde."Long and silky.

"Tall, short?"

"Tall... ish."And graceful.

"Curves?"

Derek shrugged. "Not enough for Steve, but plenty for—" He stopped, mortified at what he'd been on the verge of saying.

"You?" Jack prompted. Then his jet eyebrows drew together. "You got the hots for this woman or something?"

"Of course not." He shuffled the stack of papers again, but wound up dropping several, then hitting his head on his desk when he retrieved them. Cursing under his breath, he didn't realize that Jack had moved to sit onhisdesk until he pushed himself to his feet.

"Did you sleep with her?"

Derek tossed the papers onto his desk. "What kind of question is that?"

"You sly dog. How many times?"

He looked into the face of the younger brother who could read him like a label, then sighed and dropped into his chair. "Twice."

"And?"

"And what?"

"And there's more to this story."

"Besides the fact that she was Steve's fiancée?"

Jack scratched his head. "Wait a minute, where was Steve when you were breaking in his bride?"

Derek lunged to his feet and pulled Jack close by the collar of his shirt. "Don't say that!"

But Jack didn't even blink. "Oh, hell, she was avirgin?"

Stunned, he released him. "Did you pick up mind reading, too?" He wouldn't be a bit surprised.

Jack laughed, clapping him on the back. "Man, you're about as transparent as a wet white bikini. So you dig this girl?"

"Woman," Derek felt compelled to say.

"Well, yeah, since you deflowered her."

He closed his eyes. "I think it's time to change the subject. She's a married woman, and I don't fool around with married women."

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