little brothers were men. Capable. Able-bodied. Men. And Jamie was more delicious than any. Not that I was going to mention that in my argument. I waited for Saint to do some brother-math in his head.
“Uh, he’s twenty-two, I think. Why?” Genuine curiosity rang in his tone.
“So… your youngest brother is also a man?” Thank you for the ability to argue, Yale Law School.
“Objection. Leading the witness.” Saint smiled as he spoke then nodded. “Yes, Adrian’s a man. But what’s that got to do with Jamie?”
“All of your brothers are grown men, Saint.” I almost wanted to drop to my knees and plead with him, and my whine probably showed in my voice. “Don’t you think you need to let go of this rule now?”
He groaned and covered his face with his hands before scrubbing at his face with his palms. “You’re right. You’re right… I know you’re right. Gah!” He groaned again. “It’s just been a thing for so long, you know? And I feel like I still need to keep Jamie safe. Maybe especially Jamie.”
“I know. But no relationships with your adult brothers? Like who is it you don’t trust? Me…” Oh, shit. Code Red. Regroup. I stopped, coughed, and rephrased. “I mean, your friends or your brothers?”
He narrowed his eyes then stood and headed for my coffee maker. I usually only used it for clients because most of the time I went to the breakroom if I needed office coffee. He flicked a couple of switches and reached for a clean mug. “I don’t know why you keep this old thing in here when we have a better one in the breakroom.” But he seemed to simply be filling a silence rather than making conversation.
Then he leaned his butt against the counter next to the machine and crossed his arms. “I only came up with the rule to keep the peace between my friends and my brothers. Mostly between my brothers, really. There were too many of them in one space to all call dibs on one friend.” He seemed to think again. “Also, though, do you have any idea how annoying it was for teenage me to hear any of my brothers referred to as a potential love interest by someone I was trying to hang out with?” He made a vomit noise, and I grinned.
“So, you did it for your own personal comfort level, then?” Such a Saint move.
“My survival,” he corrected.
“Okay.” I could allow him that. “But you’ve survived. So now what?”
“Hmm?” He looked at me, his head tilted, and I sighed.
He was going to make me explain myself. But I wasn’t ready to outright declare my intentions or explain my attraction to Jamie. “I mean, your brothers are adults. Surely you can’t legislate their lives based on a rule you thought of when they were just hitting puberty, and when your teenage self couldn’t cope with the extra attention they gave your friends?”
He shook his head. “Okay. Consider the rule revoked.” Then he pinned me with his lawyer stare. “Sort of. I mean, yes, they’re all adults, and they can all make their own choices, but I still don’t want to see any of them hurt—probably especially Jamie. He has a good heart but way too much anxiety and has chosen a difficult career for that. Supersize that if he starts banging his boss. Or if the boss only wants one night and that paves the way for a lawsuit.” He narrowed his eyes a little.
He’d definitely be watching me. I nodded. I understood that. Saint finished making his cup of coffee and walked back to the chair.
He took a quick sip from his mug and made a face. “You serve this to clients?”
I nodded again. “Yeah. They don’t stay long. But that part doesn’t matter. After all, it only takes five minutes to bill for an hour.” I shrugged.
He chuckled and shook his head.
“But where were we?” I didn’t want him to lose his train of thought about his rule completely. He’d agreed to relax it, but I needed more.
“Look.” Saint sighed but didn’t pretend he didn’t know what I was referring to. “You don’t date. You’ve never really dated. You just get your quick fixes and keep moving.”
I tipped my chin, conceding his point. Hell, how long had Saint been witness to my trolling? A lifetime? Two?
“And clearly your attitude to dating hasn’t stopped you from having lots of action in your bed.”