“Her wiles,” Travis said to Caleb. “He thinks we set it up so Addison would use her wiles.” His dark blue eyes narrowed. “Nobody’s used their ‘wiles’ since the nineteenth century, Jacob. And even if she had wiles, do you really think we’d ask her to use them?”
“Listen, I understand. You want me to hang around. And she’s a hot piece of—”
“She’s our friend,” Caleb said coldly. “At least, she was, until you got your nose out of joint because you realized she wasn’t coming on to you.”
Jake reddened.
“Why would I want her to come on to me?”
His brothers barked out matching laughs.
“Okay, she’s good-looking. But she was only coming on to me to get me to work for her.”
“Not even you can possibly believe that.”
Jake thought about it. And felt his belly start to knot.
“Okay. Maybe I, ah, maybe I overstated it, but—”
“Here’s how it went down, Jake. You wanted her to come on to you. And when you found out she wasn’t, you were too damned ticked off to admit that was what you wanted, so you decided to accuse her of coming on to you.”
“That,” Jake said coldly, “makes no sense at all.”
“It makes more sense than you do,” Travis said grimly.
“Hey. Just because your plan didn’t work—”
“Goddammit,” Caleb said, “she was right. You’re an egotistical jerk.”
Jake opened his mouth.
And shut it again.
His brothers had tempers. Hell, so did he. They’d chewed each other out before….
But never like this. Never with such intensity …
And maybe never with such honesty.
Were they … Could they be right?
“We owe her an apology,” Travis told Caleb, who nodded.
“That’s if she’ll accept one.”
“Let’s go,” Travis said … and Jake held up his hand.
“Wait, okay?” He cleared his throat. “So, ah, so this wasn’t a setup.”
“Lucky for you that you didn’t make that a question,” Caleb said grimly.
“Okay. Maybe I went … overboard. Maybe I read things into things—”
Travis snorted.
Jake ran his hands through his hair. “Ah, man, she’s right. I am certifiable. It’s just … it’s been a while since—a while since …” He shook his head. “You guys don’t owe her an apology. I do.”
“She won’t talk to you.”