Drawn Deep (Afternoon Delight 2)

“There is no baby.” Sara frowned. “I mean, we’ve been sort of unofficially trying, but not in any focused way. At this point, it might not happen and we’re both fine with that. Right?” she said to Brad, who nodded.

“But you’re drinking water. You’re glowing. I was set on being an aunt.” Kim sighed and shook her head. “Shut up, Kim. You’re being an asshole again and you’re only allowed one episode per night. Try again tomorrow.”

Brad laughed. “You thought we were pregnant? Nah.” He linked fin

gers with Sara and tapped their joined hands on his thigh. “Though we do have other news.”

“I did not think you were preggers, Bradley, as you are not possessing a womb. Yes, I know the typical couples’ jargon is to insist it’s a we but—huh, what?” Kim scooted to the edge of her chair. “Tell me now.”

Sara and Brad shared a glance. Even from a few feet away, Michael could see the love and longing it contained, and if his own chest tightened, he chalked it up to the heavy dinner. He’d already been in a long-term relationship and he hadn’t been free that long. How could he possibly consider more shackles now that he finally had some space?

What you had with Roch wasn’t what Sara and Brad have. Wasn’t even close.

His attention landed on Kim and the excitement coloring her cheeks. She couldn’t wait to hear the news. No matter what it meant for her, she was happy for her brother and her best friend.

“I was going to turn it down. Dream jobs don’t mean much when you’re already living the dream. I’m happy here in this house, in this town. Fairdale’s a great place. Why mess all of that up?”

“If the Stillwater Sanctuary is an even better opportunity, you can’t settle for good enough without going after what could be amazing.” Kim swallowed hard. “You deserve the best, Sar.”

“That’s what I told her.” Brad squeezed Sara’s hand. “Right before I proposed.”

Sara grinned. “And I said yes.”

Brad rubbed his thigh with their intertwined knuckles. “Which means it looks like we’re moving to Laramie…and the house will be all yours, Kiminator. As for the shop, Bob has agreed to take over as manager and I’m going to open another branch of O’Halloran’s in Wyoming. A little spread out, but we’ll make it work.” His mouth curved. “Speaking of making it work, Michael, I had another reason for asking you to dinner tonight other than my sister’s car.”

“Your sister’s other parts should’ve come into play,” Sara said with a disarming smile.

Brad shot a puzzled look in her direction. “Huh? What—”

“What other reason?” Kim interjected, cutting off Brad’s next question. She obviously didn’t want to go down that road with her brother.

“I need a new assistant manager too, since Bob is moving up. It needs to be someone I can trust who has an eye for advancement. Someone like you, Michael. Interested?”

Chapter Eight

Kim didn’t look at Michael. She also didn’t look at her brother. Instead she glared at Sara, as if this was all her best friend’s fault. Which, of course, it wasn’t. A series of both fortunate and unfortunate events had led them to this place.

Fortunate included Sara getting her dream job offer and becoming engaged to Kim’s brother, therefore officially entering Kim’s family. Sister—achievement unlocked. Also fortunate was meeting an extremely handsome younger man who claimed to only want to bang and seemed to have some native skill at said banging.

Unfortunate? Car breaking down again and again, causing awkward meetings with banging male. Banging male totally fibbing about his humping objectives, namely he really did want something more than a ride on the hobbyhorse and oh yeah, he’d never actually rode the hobbyhorse before so did she mind breaking in his saddle?

Now this. Her brother offering Michael a promotion didn’t fall under fortunate or unfortunate but it made certain that Michael would be around in one capacity or another even when her brother wasn’t. O’Halloran’s wasn’t her shop but Brad knew she’d keep an eye on things. That was what family did. And keeping an eye on Michael was already proving to be problematic, since her hands tended to want to follow suit.

She didn’t comment, however. It wasn’t her place. Besides, Michael being Michael would likely be demure and decline. At least he didn’t appear to be the type to have management fantasies.

“I’m very interested in the position, thank you. It’s flattering to be asked and I’m honored that you’d think of me considering I’ve only worked for you for a few months.”

“Excellent. You’ve shown a lot of promise and you’re great with the customers so the position’s yours. Now if we can—”

“There is one potential problem, though.” Michael smoothed a hand down his crisp navy tie. “I’m having sex with your sister. If that’s a conflict of interest, better you know now so you can rescind the offer if necessary.”

“Excuse me?” Brad shifted his attention to Kim. “Again? Really?”

Sara choked on a laugh and had to grab hold of Brad’s shoulder to maintain her balance on the arm of the chair. “I do like a forthright man.”

“He’s more forthright than Kim, that’s for sure,” Brad muttered.

“Oh no, Kim was quite forthright in the dining room earlier. You were too busy tenderizing your steak to hear her.” Sara patted Brad’s leg.