“I...” Knox trailed off, eyes wide as he contemplated Linc. “Why are you trying to fix me up with Sawyer?”
“I know you’d treat her well.”
“What makes you assume that?”
“Because you know how protective I am of her and that would make you work damned hard to be sure she’s the happiest woman on the planet.”
“That is exactly why I’d never get involved with your sister. You are such a jerk to every guy she dates. No one is ever good enough. If she is seeing someone, it’s no wonder she’s keeping it a secret.”
“I hate secrets,” Linc said, thinking about how his father’s unwillingness to come clean about his bad business deals had caused him to sink deeper and deeper into trouble. “Nothing good comes of keeping the truth hidden no matter how bad it is.”
“You should talk,” Knox said, his tone loading the words with significance.
“What do you mean?”
“Your housekeeper?”
The sharpness of Knox’s tone penetrated Linc’s good mood. “What are you talking about?”
“Tonight at dinner. I saw the way you looked at her.”
“How was that?” he asked lightly as if he didn’t want to grab his best friend by his lapels and shake the answer out of him.
“Like you couldn’t wait for the rest of us to get the hell out of your house so you could be alone with her.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Linc made a scoffing sound to throw Knox off but saw that his friend wasn’t to be deterred. “Claire works for me. That’s all there is to it.”
“And if she didn’t?”
“She’s still hung up on her dead husband.”
“Are you so sure about that?”
“Yeah.” Linc doubted his drawl gave anything away. “Why would you think otherwise?”
“Because there’s the way she gobbles you up with her eyes.”
Although Linc’s heart stopped at Knox’s observation, he’d spent enough time in the public eye to keep his expression under control.
“She doesn?
?t.” Linc frowned. Did she? The thought appealed to him. “You’re making stuff up to mess with me.”
“Only partially. I wanted to see your reaction.”
“And?”
“You might not be sleeping with Claire, but you want to.”
“And what’s so wrong with that? She’s beautiful, sweet, and we get along great.” Wait...where was he going with this? Linc was supposed to be coming up with reasons why he didn’t want to sleep with Claire.
“She’s also your housekeeper,” Knox pointed out unnecessarily.
“Men have been known to fall for their secretaries and nannies. Why not a housekeeper?”
Knox’s eyebrows shot up. “Fall for?”
“Figure of speech,” Linc said with a careless shrug. “Sounds better than ‘sleep with.’” He rubbed his face. “Damn. I’m back in Charleston only a few weeks and my Southern manners kick in.”