Page 11 of One Night With You

When they flipped a coin, I wasn’t quite sure if it was who wanted to stay with me, or who wanted to leave, but then Oliver was the only one left, and he pulled out his book and settled in the chair in front of the TV.

“Are you just going to read all night in the chair in your clothes and not do anything else?”

“I figured I’d go take your bed later and sleep since you’re going to be out here.”

“You’re so giving,” I said dryly, while Oliver winked in reply. We looked just alike, dark hair, blue eyes, with that strong jaw that came from both of my fathers.

At the moment Oliver was still in school, and I knew he was figuring out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. He was completing his gen eds, and finding his path, and that’s what I liked about our family. There was no pressure to figure out what you wanted to be when you grew up, when you were only sixteen or seventeen. You had time to make it work. The fact that Oliver could ace all of his exams and his gen eds meant that he had many paths he could choose. He justneeded to do it. And we Montgomerys would be his net in case he wanted to fly and didn’t make it the first round.

I had gotten lucky by finding what I wanted. I had thought about joining the military, maybe even trying for the Air Force Academy, but in the end, I had gone for business, with a few other specialties. We had worked for other security companies, ones that had ended up not being a great fit for us. Mostly because a few of the guys had been former mercenaries, and that hadn’t been the path we wanted. Our Uncle Border had built a company from scratch, and so we had relied on him to help determine our paths, and I would be forever grateful we were never alone in any of this.

I loved my job, even the danger that came with it. I liked the adrenaline.

I just hated failing.

There was a soft rap at the door, and I rolled my eyes.

“Will you make sure that whichever family member is there knows that I’m fine and I’ll see them tomorrow?”

Oliver grunted and went to answer the door. I didn’t even bother looking at the camera considering I had some of the best security out there. Oliver would deal with it and had already looked at the screen.

When he winked over his shoulder at me, I wasconfused as to who it could be on the other side of that door. “Well, hello there,” Oliver said, as he drawled out the words, and leaned against the doorway. He did that pose we had all seen once in a movie, and I knew for a fact that Oliver practiced in the mirror.

Who the hell was on the other side of that door?

“Oh, you’re Logan, right?” a very familiar, very sultry voice asked, and I sat up too quickly, letting out a harsh groan.

The pain came out of nowhere because I was an idiot for moving like I had, so I couldn’t even relish the fact that she had gotten the wrong brother’s name.

“I’m actually Oliver. Come on in.”

“Oh, I just wanted to drop this off.”

“No, you should totally come in,” he said. And as the stars finally faded from my vision, I looked up to see Claire standing there, a tin container in hand, and worry on her face.

She was so fucking beautiful.

And that was something I needed to stop thinking.

“Are you in pain? Oh my God, are you hurting?” she asked, and I shook my head.

“No, I just sat up too fast. I’m glad my brother let you in.”

“Well, since I see you’re in good hands, I’m going to head over to the bedroom. You know, just to read orsomething. Have a good night.” And then Oliver grabbed his book and ran away.

Very subtle, my little brother.

“Hi,” Claire said, and I swallowed hard again.

“Hi.”

I just stared at her face, those beautiful cheekbones, those long lashes, and I wasn’t quite sure what I was supposed to say.

Claire was in my house. The person that had been avoiding me for weeks, months, was in my house.

And I was sitting here on the couch, with my ginger ale and crackers, not feeling like the normal guy I should be.

“Thanks for coming. I didn’t even know you knew I’d been in the hospital.” I paused, realizing she hadn’t said anything about that. “Unless you’re just here for something else?”

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