The Wrong Man (Alpha Men 3)

“If he approaches me again, I’ll deal with it. Me. Not you,” she said calmly and confidently. Her answer seemed to frustrate him and he looked set to argue, but Daff cleared her throat, bringing his attention to her.

“So why are you hanging out with my sister today, Brand?” Daff asked pointedly.

“She’s showing me around town,” he said after a beat, allowing the subject change as he picked up the laminated menu.

“How exciting. There’s so much to see,” she said acerbically, and Lia rolled her eyes.

“I’ve enjoyed the last couple of days,” Brand surprised them by saying. “We’ve gone dancing, seen a bit of theater, some of the local animals.”

Daff choked on a sip of water and laughed, the sound genuinely amused. “I’m going to take a stab in the dark here and say you’ve been to the retirement home and the animal shelter. Not sure what the theater thing is.”

“The Books Are Fun campaign,” Brand supplied with a grin. “The kids act out scenes from a book.” More laughter from Daff.

“So did you and Spence have fun last night?” Spencer had visited him last night? Brand hadn’t mentioned that. Lia didn’t know why that news surprised her or why she felt a little betrayed that she had to hear about it secondhand.

“Yeah.”

“I hear you’re having another male-bonding session tonight?”

“Well, if what he tells me is true, he’ll need it.” Daff’s lips tilted at the corners at his response.

“I’m doing makeup tutorials with Charlie and a few of her besties tonight. She’s been so bored this holiday, she’s driving us a little crazy,” she informed Lia. “Want to join us? We’ll be doing facials and having virgin cocktails. Well, virgin for the girls, but I’m totally slipping some rum in my daiquiris.”

“That sounds like fun,” Lia said with a grin.

“We can have a few extra drinks because it’s a holiday tomorrow. Freedom Day, baby!”

“I completely forgot about that,” Lia gasped, and Daff chuckled. After the excitement and ups and downs of the last week, the national holiday had completely slipped her mind.

“Does this mean we can’t go and see Tyrion?” Brand asked, worried.

“His name is Trevor, and because of the holiday the shelter will have an adoption fair tomorrow. I’ll be helping them with that. I just lost track of the dates.”

“I think Tyrion is a cool name. Or maybe Drogon. Drogon is an awesome name.”

“You’re not naming him after a Game of Thrones character.”

“Why not? Game of Thrones is great. We have a few of the actors on our client list.”

“Oh my . . . which ones?” Daff asked breathily. “Jon Snow? Can you introduce me? Spencer knows I’d probably throw him over for that bite-size hunk.”

“Can’t tell you that,” Brand said with a grin. “It’s confidential.”

“The dog has a name,” Lia said pointedly, ignoring the deliberate diversion. “It’s Trevor.”

“You need to give the guy a fair shake in life—he’s disadvantaged with a name like Trevor. It doesn’t sound cool. It doesn’t suit his personality.”

“We don’t know what his real personality is yet beneath all that fear and anger.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s not that of a Trevor.”

“Cripes, you’re irritating!”

Brand paused and stared at her in fascination.

“Did you just say cripes?” he asked, and Daff chuckled. For a moment the two shared a looked of mutual amusement at Lia’s expense. She didn’t like this sudden camaraderie between them, especially not if it meant them teaming up against her.

“Right?” Daff asked on a laugh. “I told her I can’t take her seriously when she uses words like that.”

“You both think you’re so special with your f-bombs and your s-bombs and your c-words and . . .”

“Which c-words?” Daff asked curiously. “There are a few.”

“All of them. Shut up, I’m making a point.”

Daff gasped in exaggerated horror. “So rude, Lia.”

“Anyway, you both think you’re so special. But you’re not, you’re just . . . just crude. It doesn’t make you edgy and cool or anything. It just means you can’t properly express yourselves in a meaningful or eloquent way.”

“And cripes is a meaningful and eloquent word?” Brand asked, his voice low and trembling slightly. Daff laughed again and quickly stifled it behind a hand when Lia shot her a glare.

“I’m no longer participating in this juvenile conversation,” she said with a haughty sniff and ushered Suzy over to place her order.

“Chicken Kiev and salad for me please, Suzy,” she said and folded her hands primly, one on top of the other, as she watched Brand hastily pick the oh-so-manly rump steak and baked potato. Daff ordered a burger and fries. Last year, for about a minute, her sister had gone on some crazy diet and ordered only salads. Thankfully, she’d come to her senses and was eating normally again. Spencer and his insistence on feeding her properly had contributed to Daff’s return to normalcy. Lia wasn’t quite sure what had gone on with Daff last year, but all the turmoil and drastic life changes had resulted in a much happier woman. Her sister smiled and laughed more often and just looked like a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders. It pleased Lia to know her sisters were happy and settled, she just wished . . .