Pretend You're Mine (The Protectors 12.50)

“Oh, now this I’ve got to hear,” Ethan said with a laugh as he turned to look at his husband. “Honey, my brother asked you a question.”

Cain finally managed to choke out, “Huh?”

“He wants to know if you think he’s hot,” Ethan said slowly and deliberately. I hadn’t actually used that word, but I kept my mouth shut because I really wanted to know the answer. The women I’d dated over the years had said I was attractive, but maybe it was different for men. And Sebastian was beautiful. He was all perfect lines and angles and I was basically a big lump.

Cain looked between Ethan and me like he was a ball being used during a particularly rough game of tennis. He swallowed hard, then muttered, “Yeah, you’re hot.” He turned on his heel and went to the driver’s side of his truck. He looked more than a little green around the gills.

Ethan was smiling wide by the time he turned back around. He started to smooth out the fabric of my jacket. “He never lies, Devon, so if he says you’re hot, you’re hot. But you should have asked him the more important question… the one Sebastian should and hopefully will be more interested in learning the answer to.”

“Oh yeah, what’s that?” I asked. There was a pretty sizeable age gap between me and Ethan, since I’d been in my teens by the time my family had adopted him as a toddler. But my brother was one of the smartest men I knew, if not the smartest. As an ER doctor, he had a good head on his shoulders and the biggest heart of anyone I’d ever known. He would always be the little brother I needed to look out for, but I wasn’t foolish enough to dismiss his opinion. After all, he’d had to be the strongest of all of us.

“Whether or not you’re a good man.” Ethan paused with the unneeded petting of my jacket and looked up at me. “I’m going to take my husband home and take care of the headache I’m sure he has by now. But I will be calling you first thing in the morning for more details, and if I’m still able to walk at that point, I might even be coming over here.”

“Jesus, Ethan,” I muttered.

He ignored me and continued. “And if Sebastian DeVille isn’t smart enough to already know the answer to that question, then you send him my way, okay?” He gave me another pat, hugged me, then turned to go. He paused at the door of the truck and casually added, “Oh, and remember ‘the talk’ you and I had when I came out to you?”

Fuck.

Ethan nodded as if I’d said the swear word out loud. “Yeah, you and I will be having that talk.” He shot me a wink and then climbed into the car. I watched him lean across the seat and passionately kiss his husband. I was sure I was going to have to pound on their hood to get them to break up the embrace, but then Cain was throwing the car into reverse and hightailing it out of there.

In the direction of their home.

Since I didn’t need the image of my brother getting lucky in my mind for even a second, I quickly straightened my bow tie and then hurried around the truck and to my pretend date who was anything but.

Chapter 4

Sebastian

I liked the way Devon drove. Yeah, it was a strange observation, but it was true. San Francisco traffic was always kind of a bitch to deal with, but Devon easily navigated his big truck along the narrow, crowded streets. He didn’t curse or mumble shit under his breath if someone cut him off, and he never once reached for his cell phone to play around with it.

Like Rick always had.

The two men were complete opposites and the more time I spent with Devon, the more I wondered what the hell had ever attracted me to Rick in the first place. Devon was kind, patient, and unbelievably aware of things.

Like when he’d helped me down my steps.

Rick would have been waiting in his car, honking for me the whole time.

Admittedly, I’d almost backed out of this whole pretend-date thing as I’d been putting away the flowers he’d brought me, but now I was glad I hadn’t. I knew it wasn’t a real date and he was only doing all of this out of the kindness of his heart, but what was the harm in pretending it was an actual date? I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d actually been on one, so why not indulge a little? It wasn’t like Devon would try to take advantage of the situation.

“Your brother is really sweet,” I said as I glanced at Devon. He had one hand on the steering wheel and the other resting on the console between us. I couldn’t help but wonder what his strong fingers would feel like wrapped around mine. “He’s the same guy from TV, isn’t he?” I asked carefully.