Take Me Again (The Knight Brothers 1)

“Wait,” Ethan said.

She looked back and paused.

“I’m going to be fine,” he told her.

She couldn’t help the small smile that pulled at her lips. “I know that. You’re strong.”

“I also already knew.”

She narrowed her gaze on his. “Knew what?”

He placed the paperweight he’d still been holding down on his desk. “I knew that Mandy was cheating on me. The marriage had been shit for a long time, and she was stretching out her time in San Francisco. She didn’t even try to hide the late-night phone calls, when she’d slip out onto the terrace.” He rolled his shoulders, the burden of what he’d been carrying big and painful. Hurt washed across his expression. “Things were a mess for her and between us. And I couldn’t fix it.”

And Ashley knew how much he’d wanted to. That was Ethan’s MO. He liked to make things better for the people he loved. And at one time, he had loved his wife.

“I’m sorry,” she said for lack of anything wiser or better to add. She spread out her hands. “You deserved better.”

He blew out a long breath. “It hurt,” he admitted. “Still does.”

She walked over and took his hand. “I don’t have anything to offer but clichés. Like, it’ll get better with time.”

He let out a low chuckle. “I didn’t know she was stealing from the business, but I knew something wasn’t right. I needed you and Sebastian to figure out the details. Thank you for going with him.”

She nodded. “It’s all settled now.”

“And you’re going back to London soon?” he asked.

“Next week.” She swallowed the lump in her throat at the thought of leaving. “Unless you need me longer? I can talk to my bosses–”

He shook his head. “You’ve done plenty. Thank you.” He studied her for a long while, until she was squirming beneath his stare.

“What?” she asked.

He braced a hand on the desk and said, “He’s going to miss you, you know.”

At his stark, unexpected words, she blinked in surprise.

“Sebastian,” he continued before she could play dumb, because she didn’t want to talk about her relationship with Sebastian, and Ethan knew her well enough to understand that.

“We’ve made peace with the past,” she said, hoping he’d take her explanation for the vague one it was.

“You did more than that and you know it.” Ethan paused, then said, “Parker told me that he called Sebastian one morning and he woke you both. Together.”

Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. She’d never discussed her love life with Ethan, and she didn’t intend to start now. “That’s none of your business.”

A flush rose to his face, telling her he wasn’t any more comfortable with the direction of this conversation than she was.

He cleared his throat. “I never thought I’d have to say this, but it is my business if you hurt my brother.”

His words came like a painful blow. “I wouldn’t hurt him,” she said, trying not to be offended by the insinuation. But coming from Ethan, a man she considered her older brother, it hurt. “How could you suggest such a thing?”

Ethan grasped both her hands in his and met her gaze. “I saw how he looked at you, Ashley. And my playboy brother, the man who’s never had a relationship that meant anything to him other than fun, he’s fallen for you. Hard.”

She opened her mouth, then closed it again. Last night Sebastian had been trying to cajole her back into bed. He’d also alluded to the fact that they both had feelings for each other, and she’d known he was right.

“He’s in love with you,” Ethan said.

Her heart began to race in triple time. “No,” she said, panicking at the thought. “He doesn’t do love or relationships. We agreed when we started that we were both the same. We understood each other.”

Ethan sighed. “Well, something’s changed for him. And I suspect for you, too, but you’re fighting it. Afraid to trust because everyone in your life has always let you down.”

At the stark truth and painful reminder, tears welled in her eyes and threatened to fall. “You never let me down,” she whispered, holding on to the one truth that helped her through so many otherwise lonely times.

“And maybe Sebastian’s grown up enough that he won’t do it again.”

“I live in London,” she said, fighting him because she didn’t know any other way but to be self-sufficient and independent … and across the ocean from the first man who’d broken her heart.

No matter how much she felt for him now, could she really uproot her life? Not that he’d even asked her to. Surely Ethan was reading too much into a few glances between them.

“There’s always a job here for you. A place here.” Ethan touched his heart.

Her thoughts went immediately to how badly he’d been hurt. “You’re such a good man. I’m sorry about everything you’re going through.”