“Right. That’s because we’re over,” Lucy admitted.
Both women gasped in startled surprise. “What happened?” Amanda asked. “I mean, he looked preoccupied…”
“And I saw him sitting in his car on the phone earlier,” Isabelle added.
“Max kissed me, I kissed him back, and nothing’s been right since,” Lucy said in one big confessional rush.
“No way!” Amanda said.
“It’s about time,” Isabelle said pointedly.
Lucy frowned at her. “Really? You’re going to side with him? First he all but called Lucas a jackass—”
“Which he is.” Before Isabelle could say more, sweet babbling noises sounded from the baby monitor hooked to her waist.
“Do you need to get to Noah?” Lucy asked hopefully. She adored her nephew, even if he did have his daddy’s stubborn tilt to his chin and determination to get his way. He’d be a true Dare man, Lucy thought.
Isabelle grinned. “No such luck. That’s his happy, I’m talking to my giraffe, don’t bother me sound. Now is Max the reason Lucas left?”
Lucy rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “I asked Lucas to come back inside and really get to know my family, my brothers and both of you…”
“You wanted him to get to know me?” Amanda asked.
“Of course. You’re going to be my sister, and you make my brother so happy. You’re family.”
Amanda studied her through suddenly damp eyes.
Lucy blinked. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s just that since we met, you’ve kept yourself apart from us. From me. I thought maybe you didn’t like me or think I was good enough for your brother.” Amanda’s voice trembled as she spoke. “I tried to get to know you, to push a little, but it’s hard for me. And… I’m so glad I read you wrong.” Amanda wrapped her arms around Lucy.
The hug reinforced the guilt Lucy was feeling. She’d been so worried about keeping her own emotions safe she’d made Amanda feel bad about herself and neglected the people she cared about the most. Decklan had explained to Lucy about Amanda’s insecurities thanks to her bitch of a mother, and the last thing she wanted to do was reinforce any of them.
“I’m sorry,” Lucy murmured. “It’s not you. I’m really not as together as I like people to think.”
Isabelle laughed. “None of us are, which is why Amanda and I understand you better than you realize.”
Lucy nodded. She knew both women had their own issues, their own stories as they’d struggled through falling in love with her brothers.
“So what happened?” Isabelle asked, her pit bull nature coming through.
Lucy leaned against the desk, easing one hip down. “Lucas took a look at me, realized I wasn’t as put together as I was when we arrived, and I confessed.” She waved her hands in the air as she explained. “He called me a whore and a tramp, Max stepped in and threatened to spread his teeth across the street, and Lucas took off.” Lucy managed a shaky laugh. “It has been one hell of a day,” she muttered.
“And then Max offered you a job,” Amanda said, summing up her newest problem. “Are you going to take it?”
“I think you should at least consider it,” Isabelle said, surprising Lucy.
“Seriously?”
“At least the part about coming home. You don’t have to work for him if you don’t want to—although there’s so much potential for you if you do take the job… in more ways than one.” She wagged her eyebrows in an obvious reference to Lucy and Max hooking up.
Lucy shot her a dirty look.
“She didn’t say take the job, she said consider it,” Amanda added in an attempt to be helpful.
“Right. Consider it. Then accept.” Isabelle grinned. “Don’t you want to be around to see your nephew grow up? And on that parting note, I hear my baby calling me.” She patted the silent monitor on her hip.
“Liar,” Lucy muttered.