Bad Boys Do (Donovan Brothers Brewery 2)

“I do, but that doesn’t mean you have to get along with yours.”

“That’s a relief.”

“So were you an overachiever in school?”

“Oh, boy. Was I ever. I was too busy for parties and

boys. Being involved in a dozen after-school clubs tends to suck up a lot of time. What about you? What were you like?”

“Exactly what you’d expect I was like.”

“Hmm.” She studied him as if she really had to think hard about it. “I think you skated by with C’s. You were popular. Really popular. You went to all the parties. Got drunk a lot. Went to school late. But you were always respectful of your teachers. Always polite.”

He inclined his head in acknowledgement. “All true, except for the drinking. I didn’t do that very often.” He said it as if it meant nothing, and Olivia took it that way.

“You? The heir to a brewery throne?”

“Well, beer is more like food. As long as you’re not doing keg stands.”

“Keg stands?”

He waved his hand. “Never mind.”

“And your brother took care of you?”

“Yeah. There was tension, though. Needless to say, I didn’t think I needed taking care of. I thought I’d be fine on my own. Of course, I wouldn’t have. We lived in my parents’ house. My sister still lives there.”

“When did you buy this place?”

He told her all about his house. The changes he’d made. The plans he still had. He loved this place. It belonged to him in a way nothing else in his life did. Hell, even his family was growing apart. He fought with Eric more than ever, and Tessa was in love and moving on.

“I’ve always been fascinated by siblings,” she murmured, pushing some noodles around on her plate.

“Yeah? You can borrow mine if you like.”

She laughed. “You know you love them.”

“I do, yeah. But the relationships are insanely complicated. The thing is…you think you know each other better than anyone else in the world. You grew up with these people, so you should, right? But it’s not that simple. Sometimes they know less about you than anyone else.”

Olivia set down her fork. “Like what?”

Oh, no. He wasn’t going to go there. He shook his head. “Nothing. Just little things. Like how I thought my sister was a sweet, innocent girl and now she’s shacking up with a jaded cop.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

“You thought she was sweet and innocent? Why?”

Jamie groaned. “I don’t want to talk about it. As far as I know, they’re sleeping in separate bedrooms every night.”

“Oh, my God, you’re so cute. How old is she?”

“Twenty-seven.”

Olivia shrieked with laughter.

“Hey. She’s my baby sister.”