Page 52 of Rex

“Find out what you can about it. That way, I won’t have to hack into it to be sure it’s adequate,” Rex states with a grin.

“I can do that. I have to go, or I’m going to be late. Thanks for letting me stay last night.”

“You’re always welcome to spend the night with me,” Rex says, grin widening.

Rex walks me to my car, gives me a quick kiss, and I’m on my way to work, but my mind is already thinking about the next time I’ll get to see the gorgeous biker with a kind heart.

Dr. Georgeanne Martello, my business partner, walks me through the security system when I explained why I was curious.She’s funny and outrageous most of the time but took this situation very seriously.

“If your friend is willing to upgrade it and thinks it needs to be tweaked, I’m all for it. Safety for our employees and patients is important to me. Let me know what he thinks, and we can make informed decisions about it together,” Georgeanne says before leaving her office for her next appointment.

I text the information to Rex but don’t receive an immediate reply, so I too leave for my next patient.

After several grueling appointments, I find myself in my office, sorting through paperwork, when my phone dings with a text. It’s from my brother.

Drew: Please tell your receptionist that I’m your favorite brother and it’s ok for me to wait for you in your office.

Me: Show her this: He’s my brother so please send him to my office.

A minute later, Drew strolls in and takes a seat across from my desk. He sets his super-sized soda on my desk and then rummages through a fast-food bag. Setting numerous items next to his drink, I watch silently until he’s emptied the bags, as in plural.

“You show up but don’t bring me lunch?” I ask with a raised brow.

“I’ll give you one taco, but that’s it. You should have planned ahead,” Drew states with a slight frown but does hand over one taco.

“One taco? Mom wouldn’t be happy with you being stingy again,” I reply while picking up the taco.

“Mom wouldn’t be happy to know that you had someone creeping around your condo, and you didn’t call me, either, but here we are,” Drew responds before polishing off a taco in two bites.

“How do you know about that?” I ask before taking a huge bite and ignoring the lettuce that falls onto my desk.

“Had to stop at the security office, and Rex was looking at pictures from your cameras. Recognized it as your condo and asked him what was up. He said you had an alarm go off, and it was some dickwad trying to see in your windows. Is there a reason you didn’t call me?”

“Blinds were down, and he couldn’t see in, so it didn’t turn out to be a big deal,” I answer while my mind whirls, trying to come up with a way to answer him and not lie.

I need a distraction. I shove the rest of my taco into my mouth and reach across the desk for another one. My hand dodges my brother’s when he tries to guard his food, and I snatch up a roast beef sandwich instead.

“Put that back, and no one will get hurt,” he growls at me.

Ignoring the warning, I rip the wrapper off and take a huge bite. Mouth full and struggling to chew, I still toss a grin at my brother.

“You haven’t answered my question, and you taking a bite out of my sandwich will not deter me from still eating it,” Drew says while standing up.

I quickly stand and shove the sandwich into my mouth for another too big bite. I move counterclockwise around my desk as my brother advances on me from my left. When he quickly switches directions, so do I. He snorts then dives across the desk, missing his large collection of food items and drink but managing to grab my wrist.

I end up on my butt on the floor, still trying to shove more of the sandwich into my mouth. Drew is standing over me, holding my wrist and grabbing for the sandwich in my other hand when Georgeanne walks through the open door. Coming to an abrupt stop, she simply stares at the two of us scrapping over a mangled, half-eaten sandwich.

Drew pays no attention to my stunned business partner and manages to grab my other wrist, raising the sandwich to his mouth. When he goes to take a bite, I release it, not willing to lose a finger over this battle. The sandwich falls, landing on my thigh, and I know a moment of fear when I watch his eyes follow it.

“Don’t you dare! You bite me over what’s left of that, and I’m going to fuck you up for life!” I shout while trying to get loose.

“Should I be dialing 911?” Georgeanne asks in a tentative voice.

“No! He’s my brother, and he’s a food addict!” I respond in a desperate voice.

“Is there even a rehab for that? Did he escape or something?” she questions, almost to herself.

“Chubs! For God’s sake, let her go, and I’ll buy you five more!” a voice shouts from the direction of the ceiling.

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