Page 63 of Greed

He does, in the chair next to mine. “I can’t drink.”

I point at the glass of clear liquid I’ve nursing for the past thirty minutes while I waited for him to arrive at the restaurant. “It’s soda water for me. I’ll get you one too.”

“Good.” He nods briskly. “Ava is at my place in case the baby decides tonight is the night.”

I motion for the waiter. “I’ll get you the water, and we can order, so you can head home early.”

His gaze scans the interior of Axel NY. I chose this restaurant because my brother likes it, and his fiancée asked me to spend some one-on-one time with him. Callie wanted some time to pull together a surprise for Sean, so I happily agreed to do my part.

The plan is for me to have him back at the apartment ninety minutes from now.

“How’s Abby?” he asks as the waiter approaches us.

I put that on hold to order us both a steak with grilled vegetables. I request lightly dressed salads on the side because Sean is all about getting his daily greens.

“Soda water, too,” Sean adds as the waiter is ready to step away. “In a very tall glass.”

The waiter chuckles. “No problem, sir.”

“Inventory control did a great job today,” I say to my brother. “You have to admit it.”

“They didn’t.” He shakes his head. “They still suck, and I know what you’re doing, Declan. Don’t change the subject. How’s Abby?”

“Fine.”

“Fine,” he repeats with narrowed eyes. “What the hell is that?”

“An answer to your question.”

That pulls a bark of laughter from him. “Is she your girlfriend yet?”

“No,” I answer without thinking. “Well, maybe?”

Unbuttoning his suit jacket, he leans back in his chair. “Maybe? Are you seeing other people or not?”

I wait to answer because the waiter is on the approach again. He places a tall glass of soda water in front of Sean. “Here you are, sir. There’s more where that came from.”

Sean jerks a thumb in my direction. “Sweet talk him. He’s paying.”

The waiter laughs and takes off again toward another table.

“Who said I’m paying?”

My brother raises an eyebrow. “You invited me, so this is on you.”

“It’s always on me,” I point out.

“Respect your elder’s desire to pay.” Sean tosses air quotes around that. “It’s a thing.”

“It’s not.” I mimic his movements with my own air quotes. “It wouldn’t kill you to open your wallet occasionally.”

He chases away the suggestion with a wave of his hand. “Explain this maybe situation with Abby.”

I drink from my glass but instantly wish I had ordered something stronger. “We agreed not to sleep with other people.”

Sean sits up straighter. “This has to be a first for you.”

He’s right. It is.

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