Page 94 of All Bets Are Off

“It wasn’t as if I was in love with her,” I argued. “I just started noticing her. We weren’t spending a bunch of time together or anything.”

Rex was back to drumming his fingers on the table. “You asked questions about her.”

“When?”

“All the time. You were sly about it, and I didn’t see what you were doing then. I see it now, though. You asked about her college. You asked if she was dating anybody. You always waited until I brought her up first and then just slid your questions in. You were sneaky.”

“Not sneaky,” I countered, feeling the need to defend myself. “It’s not as if I thought anything was going to happen between us back then. I just … wanted to know.” It sounded lame even to my own ears. It was the truth, though.

“Why didn’t you say something when I suggested you marry her?” Rex challenged. “I mean … that would’ve been a good time to bring it up.”

“I hadn’t seen her in a long time. I thought it would be fine. Out of sight, out of mind, right?” That wasn’t true, though, and it gave me pause.

“You’re just now realizing that you went for it because you knew that feelings were going to crop up, aren’t you?” Rex prodded.

“I…” Well, crap. Had I known? From the first moment I saw her sitting at the daiquiri bar, I knew I was interested. Sure, I shoved those feelings down—way down—and tried to pretend they weren’t there. They were, though.

They were always there.

“Ugh.” I slapped my hand to my forehead.

“You’re lucky I’m not using a two-by-four to do the same,” Rex warned. “You’re a freaking idiot. I hope you know that.”

“I’m an idiot,” I agreed.

“What’s done is done, though.” Rex blew out a sigh. He looked as frustrated as I felt. “If you’d slept with my sister before marrying her, I would be insisting you put a ring on it right about now. Since you’ve already done that…” He held out his hands.

“That’s it?” This couldn’t be it. There was no way he was just going to accept this and move on.

“What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know. I thought I would at least have a punch coming my way.”

“Oh, it’s still coming.” Rex bobbed his head. “I can’t punch you in the face when you have meetings scheduled with your father this week. He won’t like that.”

“He won’t,” I agreed. “Not even a little. You should definitely avoid hitting me.”

“Dude, if you hurt my sister, I’m going to have no choice but to beat you up. You know that, right?”

“I don’t want to hurt her. That’s the last thing I want.”

He stared at me for what felt like a really long time—perhaps looking for a lie—then nodded. “Then tell me what’s going on.”

I balked. “Um…”

“Not that part!” he practically exploded. “I’m talking about the dancers.”

“Oh.” Thank God that’s what he was talking about. I would’ve died if it was something else. “She seems to like working with them.”

“But she still doesn’t have a job.”

“No.”

“That’s not like Livvie. She enjoys working.”

“I’ve been putting her to work.” It wasn’t until the words were out of my mouth that I realized how they might sound. “On the books,” I added quickly when Rex’s face turned so red I thought he might actually erupt like a volcano. “Those department reports that don’t add up right with the overhead? She’s been working on that for me.”

“Oh.” Rex relaxed a bit, although not entirely. “That was actually a smart move. I know it’s been bothering you.”

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