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Chloe wrinkled her nose as she removed a plastic pitcher of tea from the small refrigerator in one corner of the crowded room. “She fusses about it, of course, but Grace does love to fuss.”
He chuckled. “I’ve noticed.”
“And she is not happy that one of your men is following at a discreet distance while she runs her errands.”
“Tough. Fussing won’t do her any good when it comes to her security—not while I have anything to say about it, anyway.”
Grace poured tea into two glasses she had removed from a cabinet above the minifridge. “Daddy used to call us Sissy and Sassy. I was Sissy, of course.”
“Of course.”
“Anyway, he stopped calling us that when we were about twelve. Grace threatened to run away if he didn’t.”
“And, knowing her, she would have followed through on that threat.”
“Daddy must have thought so. He dropped the nicknames.”
There had been a time when Bryan had considered Grace’s mercurial, temperamental tendencies annoying. Yet the better he got to know her, the more he enjoyed being with her. And the better he understood her. If from early childhood she had been known as the “difficult” twin, it was certainly understandable that she’d gotten into the habit of living up to the reputation.
There was something else, too. Some hidden part of Grace that he hadn’t quite figured out yet. He was becoming more determined all the time to try.
“What about you?” Chloe asked, handing him his glass of iced tea. “Are you growing tired of the charade yet? You know, of course, that you can stop anytime if it’s becoming too uncomfortable for you. You’ve already diffused a great deal of the gossip that was upsetting Donovan so badly a few weeks ago.”
“True—but there’s no need to risk having it resurface before your wedding. Besides, I’m rather enjoying keeping the tattle mongers guessing.”
“I know you love playing practical jokes, especially on the tabloid writers, but you’re spending a lot of time with my sister—who, you have to admit, has not been your biggest fan in the past and isn’t shy about expressing her feelings.”
He sipped his tea, then spoke lightly. “I don’t mind spending time with Grace. She’s certainly…challenging.”
Chloe laughed. “She is that. Grace is rarely boring, you have to give her that.”
“Grace is never boring,” he corrected with a smile.
Studying him speculatively over the rim of her glass, she murmured, “You sound as though you’re starting to like my sister.”
“Of course I like your sister. I’ve always liked her—even when she fantasized about hiring some big, beefy guy named Vinnie to make me conveniently disappear from your life.”
Chloe giggled. “Now you’re exaggerating. She was simply concerned that we were acting impulsively when we discussed the possibility of marriage—and it turned out she was right. You know full well that you would have changed your mind if I hadn’t. You probably had already changed your mind, but you were polite enough to let me be the one to put it into words.”
Bryan had asked himself several times if he would have actually married Chloe had she not fallen in love with Donovan. It had seemed like a good idea; they had both been eager to find partners and have children. He had finally convinced himself that a marriage of minds, rather than emotions, was the only solution. Maybe his background had left him unprepared for anything else.
His own parents’ marriage had been a profitable merger between two business dynasties. Once they’d done their duty and produced an heir, they’d been more than happy to pretty much go their own ways. Divorce had never been an option; since neither interfered with the other, there’d been no need to put an end to their partnership. The marriage had actually been a convenient excuse for both of them, since neither had been interested in marrying again. Bryan had grown up knowing that his parents were quite fond of him, in their own busy, distracted ways, and tolerated each other when it was socially necessary.
The telephone on Chloe’s desk rang suddenly, interrupting his reminiscences. She answered with her professional voice, but then her tone warmed. Bryan knew immediately who was on the other end of the line. He’d never seen Chloe react this way to anyone but Donovan.
She’d never felt even remotely the same way about him.
“I can leave as soon as Grace returns,” he heard her say into the phone. “It should be no more than half an hour.”
Bryan stood, intending to leave her to finish her call in privacy, but she stopped him with a motion of her hand. “I’ll see you in half an hour,” she told her fiancé, then disconnected the call.
“Donovan just called to see if I’m free for lunch,” she explained to Bryan after returning the receiver to its cradle. “You don’t have to rush off.”
He remained on his feet. “I’ve kept you from your work long enough. I just wanted to say hello. Thanks for the tea.”
She rose and moved closer to him, smiling. “I enjoyed the visit. I have always considered you a good friend, Bryan. I’m glad we’ve been able to maintain that relationship.”
“I will always be your friend,” he replied immediately. “And since the man you’re marrying is like a brother to me, we’re almost family now.”
Her smile deepened prettily. “I like that.”
“So do I.” Feeling rather as if he was officially sealing the new status of their relationship, he leaned over to brush a kiss against her cheek.
“Sorry. Am I interrupting?”
Grace’s dry question drew their attention toward the doorway. Chloe had left the door partially ajar, so neither she nor Bryan had heard Grace push it open. She stood in the doorway now with her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed as she looked from him to Chloe and back again.
Moving a step away from Chloe, Bryan nodded. “Hello, Grace. How’s it going?”
“Fine. Chloe, Justin needs you at the counter. Something about a special order for Mrs. Crothers?”
“Oh, right. I’ll go take care of that before Donovan comes to take me to lunch.”
Still giving Bryan a look that made him feel as though he should shuffle his feet and apologize for something—anything—Grace moved out of her sister’s way. She stepped back into the doorway before Bryan could follow Chloe out. “What are you doing here?”
“It’s nice to see you, too. You look lovely, by the way. I’ve always liked you in green.”
Grace’s reaction to his flattery was just the opposite of her sister’s. She seemed to grow even more suspicious of him. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Why am I here? I had a couple hours free—okay, actually I ducked a meeting that seemed both pointless and much too boring for such a nice day. I took a walk through the River Market district and ended up here. Chloe poured tea for me and we had a nice chat. Would you like a transcript of our conversation?”
She didn’t respond to the lame jest except to glare even harder. “It doesn’t look right—you kissing my sister when she’s engaged to someone else.”
“Jealous?” he shot back, holding on to his patience with an effort.
Her cheeks flamed—a response he found quite interesting. “Don’t be a jackass, Bryan. I’m just thinking about what the