Damn, had it really been college since her last relationship? Where the hell had the time gone? She admitted, she was more than ready to find someone who could help her take the edge off. And what better place than Las Vegas to start getting with the program again?
Erin knew the guy was dangerous, but with curiosity overcoming her common sense, she studied him again and saw right away that he didn’t have a ring on his finger. Why the hell had she even looked for a ring? Just because he wasn’t wearing one didn’t necessarily mean that he wasn’t married—a real bastard would have removed a wedding band.
Married men weren’t on her agenda, absolutely not. She wasn’t about to get involved with any messy shit. All she needed was a single man for casual dating. It was true that she wanted a fairytale love story someday—just like the next girl—but she had to figure out her professional life first. After that? Then it would be time to start a serious search for a husband.
No, she wasn’t ready for anything long term, at least not quite yet. True, she wanted wedding bells someday—and she wasn’t going to settle. At twenty-five, she had plenty of time—of course she did.
Watching all three of her brothers over the last few months, seeing them finally finding happiness with The One hadn’t made Erin jealous, exactly. More like envious. Truly, Damian, Nick and Garrett couldn’t have picked better women, and Erin loved all three, especially Courtney, who’d already been like a sister to her. But even Angie and Maria were women she’d grown to love and respect. Watching from the sidelines as all three women had—how should she put it?—transformed her arrogant brothers—men who weren’t exactly known to be gentle and kind—and made them into the ideal mates had really shaken her up, albeit, in a good way.
Erin had grown up knowing that her brothers loved her, even if she had been mostly an afterthought to them. That was understandable, of course, because she’d been younger, the little sister. It was just the way life happened. But as much as her brothers had gone about the daily business of their own lives, she’d never doubted their love and affection—it was just the typical, distracted love and affection for a younger sibling. She respected and loved them, too—though as she’d grown older it became apparent that all three of her brothers were driven to succeed, to a point that made them almost unapproachable. Of course, some of that drive had been forced upon them when their father unexpectedly suffered a massive, fatal heart attack, a devastating loss that had bonded her brothers and brought them closer together in an endeavor to succeed financially—so they could take care of the family.
They’d succeeded admirably and she respected them for it. The Rule Corporation was a conglomerate that, by her estimation, knew no rival. Unfortunately, her job with the company, in her eyes at least, had been mostly manufactured for her sake. She’d figured out after the first week that the Rule Corporation didn’t need an interior designer on staff—so she theorized that her job was simply a means for her brothers to keep tabs on her. It was understandable, she supposed, because she knew they worried about her, and since they didn’t have time to worry about her, what better way to keep her safe than to stick her in a nice office with no windows? Her brothers had made more than one enemy in their climb to the top and having their little sister tucked safely away inside an interior office, performing an unneeded job with little responsibility for a ridiculously high salary, was their way of protecting her from the real world.
She loved them to distraction but she was so bored and tired with her everyday, humdrum existence. She knew in her heart it was time to move on, to find her own place in the world, even though she knew it would shake up her siblings. To that end, she’d been watching out for different openings online, but so far, she hadn’t jumped the hurdle of actually applying for another job, even though one had been so tempting that it seemed to be almost unbelievable—as if it had been designed with her in mind—it had been too spooky.
One thing that working in the Rule Tower had allowed her to do was to get to know her siblings better. And at first, before they’d settled down into their relationships with Angie, Courtney, and Maria, all three men had possessed rough edges—rough edges that had contained a dangerous, controlling bite. In essence, all of her brothers had been supremely driven, keenly intelligent, mercilessly imposing, and so over-the-top arrogant that they’d almost reeked with it.
And although the rough edges were still there, they’d been polished somewhat by domestic bliss. Erin had watched, flabbergasted, as one by one, her brothers were transformed from ruthless, cutthroat businessmen to protective, loving husbands. Of course, being in the family fold and having such a close relationship with Courtney, Erin had seen firsthand how that particular relationship hadn’t been angst-free.