“Good.” She turned to Katie as she rejoined us. “You can go out with this one. He seems cool.”

“Thanks for your approval.” Katie rolled her eyes and then smiled at me. “So, shall we? Cute puppies await.”

I moved forward, placing my hand on her lower back as we walked towards the door.

“Want to jump in my truck?”

So there wasa reason why I would never have chosen a road trip as a first date. It was over an hour’s drive and that meant I had a problem. I could break down a door, carry someone almost twice my bodyweight out of a burning building, but a conversationalist I was not. I looked over at Katie for the tenth time since we got into the car and knew I needed to say something.

“So how was your…”

We both broke off and she flushed prettily, because we’d said almost the same thing simultaneously.

“You first,” I said.

“How was your week?” she asked. “Save any damsels from distress?”

For once I wished we’d had a big fire to attend. Not due to the death and destruction, but then I’d have a suitably manly story to tell.

“Not really. Well, if you count getting Millie some lollies to help with her nausea, then maybe.” Katie stared in incomprehension. “She’s pregnant and…” I wasn’t sure how this was going to go over, but it had to be said. “Noah, Charlie, and Knox are the dads.”

“A baby?” Her voice got all squeaky as she bounced in her seat. “Oh my god, Charlie will be the most amazing dad, and Knox has been dying to settle down. Millie’s the girl that Noah was pining over for ages, right?”

Pining. I knew a thing or two about that. Noah had me beat, though, holding a candle for his girl for over ten years.

“Yep. It looked like it could get a little awkward there for a bit because all three guys were into Millie…” I shot Katie a sidelong look, trying to get a read on her response. “But they figured that all three of them working together would be better for the baby, and so they’re all together now.”

“Right.”

Katie went quiet, studying the road ahead.

“But what about you?”

“What about me?”

I saw that she had misunderstood me because Katie’s eyes went wide, her cheeks burning bright red as she stared at me. She thought I was asking about how she felt about a polyam relationship. I couldn’t help but smile as I turned back to the road. The thought of sharing her with the guys I counted as brothers was delicious, but right now I needed to work out if I could talk to the girl, let alone have group sex with her.

“How did your week go?”

Her sigh of relief was music to my ears, right before it was ripped away again.

“Pretty boring. Difficult clients, sick dogs and cats. Oh!” My hands tightened instinctively around the steering wheel, because some part of me knew I wouldn’t like this. “You’ll never guess who walked into the clinic.”

Not him, I thought furiously. Not fucking Dave.

“Dave.” Her word was like the whistle of an axe, right as it came down on the back of your neck. “He’s got some girl now.” Of course he fucking did. That was one of life’s little mysteries. Guys like that seemed to get the girl with shocking ease, whereas I struggled to make even small talk. “Didn’t stop him from coming over and getting stuck into me.”

“He did what?”

That came out as a harsh bark and the car veered sideways as I turned to stare at her. Forced to take my foot off the accelerator, I slowed the car down and then came to a stop on the shoulder of the road. I was too angry, too fired up, and in no state to be talking to a girl, but I couldn’t help but twist in my seat to face Katie. She smiled then, a little wistful thing.

“It wasn’t enough that he walked into my workplace with a dog called Fifi,” she said and I saw the pain disguised by a smile. “Harsh words were exchanged and he… made clear how pathetic he thought I was, helping out with Bronson.”

Chapter31

Katie

I had not meant to share this information. Talking about your ex on a date was universally acknowledged as a terrible thing to do, and yet if I had to, Rhett was the perfect man to share it with.