“I guess it’s time to piss them off.” I headed down the hall. I heard a muffled laugh from Leland as I pounded on Beau’s office door. “Get decent. It’s Dax. I’m coming in.”
“The door is fucking locked,” Beau shouted.
“You think I can’t pick it?”
“Give us a few minutes,” Corbin yelled.
“You shouldn’t have called me if you didn’t want me showing up unannounced.”
I heard scrambling as I fiddled with the doorknob. I could pick the lock, but I decided to be slightly more patient.
A moment later, Corbin open the door. His hair stood up straight. His t-shirt was on backward, and Beau’s coveralls were partly unzipped and hanging at his waist.
“I’ll get you back for this,” Beau said.
“Blame Corbin, not me. He’s the one who called me at an indecent hour and didn’t even tell me what the hell he needed.”
“What did you want?” Beau glared at his man.
“Don’t worry about it. Go back to whatever it was I distracted you from.”
Beau slapped Corbin’s ass and walked out the door, pulling his coveralls back up as he went.
“You might want to do something about that.” I gestured to Corbin’s t-shirt. He rolled his eyes and turned it around. “Why the hell did you call me here? Who wants to talk to me?”
“Last night, I took Travis to dinner, then dropped him off. Apparently, you failed to tell him you had someone watching his place, and when I waved to our guy—”
“Fuck. Travis knows?” I should never have kept it from him. “How mad is he?”
“Pretty damn mad. I told him he had to take it up with you.”
“Travis is the person you called me here to see?”
“What did you want me to do? You’re the one who gave the order. I told Travis I couldn’t do anything about it. That only you or Remy could.”
I squeezed my hands into fists. “You little shit.”
He shrugged. “I might be, but I’m also an excellent matchmaker.”
“Oh, fuck no, Corbin.” I could not have him trying to push me and Travis together.
“He talked about you a lot at dinner, and anytime I even tried to criticize you, he jumped to your defense.”
I tried to ignore the way that made my pulse accelerate. “What’s there to criticize?”
Corbin just smiled.
“Do you have any idea what a fucking mess that would be?”
“Look at me and Beau.”
I snorted. “That has got to be some kind of miracle.”
There wasn’t going to be any easy way to get out of this. “Where is he?”
“In the back garage.”
Of course he was. “Alone?”
“If not, I can arrange it.”
“No thanks. If we need privacy, we’ll step outside. I don’t need Beau pissed off at me about slowing work down as well as interrupting his morning fun. Didn’t you two just get out of bed a few hours ago?”
“Beau gets up at five.”
“Okay, four hours ago.”
Corbin smirked. “He likes me. What can I say?”
“I don’t.”
“That’s what families are for.”
I flipped him off and left to find Travis. I wasn’t a man who usually got nervous, or I wouldn’t have succeeded in my line of work. But I was nervous now. Every step I took, my heart pounded harder. Despite the heat, I felt cold sweat on the back of my neck. I didn’t want to argue with Travis.
I’d faced down men who carved their enemies into tiny bits. I’d faced down drug lords, gunrunners, and all manner of mobsters without being scared. But I didn’t know if I could deal with my friend’s little brother who I’d known since I was a kid? That wouldn’t do. I was no fucking coward.
When I stepped into the garage, I saw Travis immediately. It was as if my gaze was pulled to him and nothing else existed for me. If any of my family knew I was having thoughts like this, they wouldn’t stop making fun of me for years, maybe ever.
I watched Travis for a moment. He was concentrating on returning tools to their location on the wall hooks. When he turned and saw me, he froze.
“Dax? What are you doing here?” As soon as he said the words, he shook his head. “That was a dumb question. I mean, Corbin’s your cousin, but…”
Travis’s nervousness eased mine. I smiled as I walked closer. He tracked every step I took, and the look on his face did nothing to calm my desire for him. “Corbin said you wanted to talk to me.”
“Oh.”
“So what’s up?”
“I… um… You can’t keep spying on me. I want you to call your men off.”
“Cher, I’m not going to do that. You know better.” I took another step toward him, and he leaned back and gripped the counter.
He swallowed hard. His eyes were huge as he watched me. “Are you always this fucking difficult?”
I laughed, squeezing my hand into a fist to keep from cupping his cheek. “Yes.”