The Brothers Rule - Carolyn Faulkner Page 0,7

nervously. "I know, so I'm just going to spit it out. You're dating me and two of my other brothers."

Her head jerked back at an odd angle. "I'm what?"

"You're seeing two other men—at least. Adam and Ryan?"

"Holy crap!" Laurie put her hand to her mouth. "I am! Th-they're related to you?"

"Myself, Adam, Ryan, Nick, and Tanner, in that order. We're the Rule brothers."

She looked shocked and a bit horrified for a long moment.

Then she laughed, but he wasn't sure whether or not that was a good thing.

"This is bizarre! My father was always after me to learn everyone's last name—which I so do not care about—so that he could make a connection and see if he knew the parents of any of the kids I was hanging around with. I never pay any attention to last names whatsoever—I'm always very happy if I can come up with someone's first name!"

She didn't seem to be angry about the situation, which was good, but that didn't really tell Jace anything about what she was going to do about it.

"Of course, you're brothers! I can see the resemblance now that I'm looking for it! How could I not have noticed? This is just so strange!"

"I'm—we're—right there with you, believe me."

"When did you realize?"

"Last weekend. We were grilling on Sunday and watching football. We're very close, and my brothers have always been my best friends. Then all of us started talking about this wonderful woman we'd met."

She blushed brightly. "Aw, that's so sweet!" How often did a woman hear that multiple men were talking her up to other men, rather than running her down?

"Yeah, sweet."

He sounded endearingly unhappy with the situation.

"Well, I guess I definitely have a type!"

"Lovely."

She couldn't help but smile, but he looked too pained for her to keep it up and she became serious. "So, where do we go from here? Any of us?" she corrected.

Jace's head came up. "That's what I meant about the shoe being on the other foot about breaking up. It's entirely up to you. You say the word, and any or all of us will back off."

"Oh."

"Do you mind if I ask you a question—that you are, of course, not obligated in any way to answer?"

"You sound like you're the lawyer in the family."

He smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes, which was unusual for him. "No, I just don't want you to feel pushed or pressured in any way about this. We have all agreed not to contact you until your decision is made, so as not to influence you."

Laurie shrugged. She didn't have anything to hide at all. "Ask away."

"Are you seeing anyone besides the three of us?"

Her answer allowed him to relax—a little.

And it was very vehement. "No." She laughed a bit nervously. "I've never dated three men at the same time in my life, frankly. I…it's just not my style. I don't judge anyone else, but I know me, and I have never been comfortable doing that.

She met his eyes while she answered. "But I met three men in a relatively short space of time, and I found them all so attractive—in many different ways—that it was impossible, obviously, not to want to date all of them."

Jace took her hand. "I want to reassure you that there's no judgment about this on our end, either. And that we are all very interested in you."

"The feeling is very mutual," she admitted without hesitation.

"Then you have a decision to make."

"I do, but would the three of you be against me continuing to date all of you?"

He looked a bit taken aback at that. "I think I'd have to ask them about that. It wasn't something we discussed, because we figured you'd want to pick one of us and not continue with the others."

Laurie bit her lip then shrugged. "Well, it's what's been going on without you knowing about it. Or does the knowledge make it unacceptable—which I perfectly understand—to you? To any of you?"

"I don't know," he answered truthfully.

Laurie sat up. "Well, I'd like to know the answer to that question before I give you my answer."

"I'll talk to the guys and get it to you as soon as I can."

Laurie turned toward him. "So, I don't suppose you're allowed to influence me, either, huh?"

She looked so disappointed that he had to smile. "No, I don't think that would be good form."

"Damn. You didn't influence me on our last date, either."

That got him to laugh, which she loved, because she sensed that he