Blame It on the Bikini - By Natalie Anderson Page 0,34

into a pale, worried woman. A woman who worked too damn hard. Brad held the picture and looked at the smiling face, and slowly his own smile returned as it dawned on him.

It wasn’t Lauren who needed a party. It was Mya.

CHAPTER SEVEN

BRAD was lost in thought when his sister thumped his shoulder.

‘What was that for?’ He frowned, rubbing his biceps more from surprise than pain.

‘What’s wrong with you?’ Lauren asked.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean those two women just swished past you with hips and bits wiggling and you didn’t even look at them. Plus I almost beat you today, which has never happened in our whole lives.’

Seated at the tennis-club lounge, Brad felt more confused than ever. ‘What women?’

Lauren’s mouth fell open. ‘Are you sick?’

Okay, he had been somewhat distracted this morning. ‘I’ve got a tough case on.’ He offered a genuine excuse. Gage Simmons was truanting again and still not speaking to his psychologist, and the idea of his parents coping with a mediation conference was a joke.

‘Isn’t that even more reason for you to scope out some action?’ Lauren said sarcastically. ‘That’s your usual stress release, isn’t it?’

Once upon a time it had been, sure. But he hadn’t looked at another woman in days—there was another consuming his brain space. ‘Have you seen much of Mya recently?’

‘My Mya?’ Lauren’s pretty nose wrinkled. ‘Not much. Why?’

‘I ran into her recently,’ Brad hedged. Seemed Mya hadn’t told Lauren about the mis-sent photo. Good.

‘Where?’

‘At that bar she works at.’

Lauren nodded and sighed. ‘She works all the time.’

‘Mmm.’ Brad knew if he left the space, Lauren would fill it.

‘It was her birthday last month and she couldn’t even come for a coffee with me, she was so crunched between work and study,’ Lauren said.

Bingo.

‘Seems a shame for her.’ Brad hesitated, unsure of how to put his idea forward without his sister guessing what it was he’d really wanted. ‘Your birthday is coming up soon and you’ll get your mitts on all your money.’ Her trust fund would be released. ‘We’ll have to have a huge party.’

Lauren shrugged. ‘I don’t want it.’

‘The party or the money?’

‘The money,’ said Lauren.

Brad paid proper attention to his sister for the first time all morning. ‘What do you mean you don’t want it?’

‘I’m going to give it away.’

‘What? Why?’

Lauren shrugged and looked self-conscious. ‘I want to make a difference. You make a difference.’

Brad smothered his groan and at the same time felt affection bubble for his scamp of a kid sister. ‘It’s easier for me to do that when I don’t have to worry about how much I earn in my job. I can afford to take on the pro bono cases, Lauren. I couldn’t do that as easily without the trust fund.’

‘That’s what Mya said too.’ Lauren frowned. ‘But look at her, she’s so independent.’

‘Yeah, but she’s not having much fun with it. Life should include some fun, don’t you think?’

‘We all know what you mean by that.’ Lauren rolled her eyes and giggled.

‘Not just that. Some simple fun too, you know—party fun.’ Brad stretched his legs out under the table. ‘What are we Davenports good at?’

‘Not that much.’ Lauren sipped her lemonade through her straw.

Brad raised an eyebrow. ‘But we are. We’re really good at putting on a show, right? Let’s put on a show for Mya.’

‘Mya?’ Lauren breathed in so quickly she choked on her drink. Coughing, she asked him the dreaded question. ‘You’re not going to mess with her, are you, Brad?’

He shook his head. ‘No.’

‘Hmm.’ Lauren didn’t look convinced. ‘She’s not as strong as she seems, you know. She’s actually quite vulnerable.’

‘Are you telling me to stay away?’ Brad managed a smile.

‘Would it make any difference if I did?’ Lauren asked point-blank. ‘I just don’t think it would end well. Things don’t end all that well for your women, and Mya’s had enough of that.’

‘Don’t worry.’ Brad grinned, though his teeth were clenched. ‘She’s like a sister to me.’ What did she mean things didn’t end that well for his women? ‘And this is because I have a venue I need to do something with for a night.’

‘A venue?’ Lauren leaned forward, and Brad smiled for real this time. Yeah, his sister had always liked a party. ‘So what were you thinking?’

‘How’s this for a plan?’

Mya got used to the random calls and quickly got in the habit of checking her phone for texts every five minutes. They were short queries about the tiniest details that most people would never think