“Nope?”
“You’re getting older, but I think we can thank Ms. Theresa Granville for the change.”
Adam stiffened. “She has nothing to do with this.”
“Not what I heard.”
“What do you mean?” Adam frowned. “What have you heard? And from whom?”
“I mean, the word is that the two of you are a couple.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s true.” A commercial came on and Quinn hit the mute button on the remote control. He turned to Adam. “Someone’s gotten under your skin?”
Adam understood what Teddy meant by not truly thinking through the deception angle. He’d intended to fend off his mother. He hadn’t thought that he’d have to keep the pretense up with everyone else, including his brothers. But the fewer people who knew the truth, the better. And while Quinn could keep a secret, Adam decided it wasn’t the time to reveal what he and Teddy had talked about.
“It had to happen sometime,” he answered Quinn. Adam hated lying to his brother, but if their deception was to work, only the two of them could know about it. And Adam was confused by Teddy. She seemed to tap into something deep inside him and he was unsure of what it was. Keeping it under wraps was the right thing to do, he told himself.
“This from the man who said falling in love wasn’t for him. That he intended to play the field the rest of his life. Then you meet Veronica.” Quinn paused, giving Adam a long look. “Then that didn’t work out and you find Teddy. Two out of two. Or is Teddy a rebound love?”
“Teddy is nothing like Veronica.”
“Is she more like Chloe?”
Adam tensed. His brother knew better than to bring up Chloe. But Adam didn’t want to let on that her name disturbed him. Chelsea, who he parted with on a mutually friendly basis, was never the subject of their man-woman discussions. But she had an impact on his life as did the other women. Chloe was a different story.
“She’s nothing like Chloe,” he said. He hadn’t compared them, but Teddy was her own person. Maybe that was why he couldn’t identify her. Adam thought of their kiss. For days afterward, he couldn’t get the feel of her in his arms out of his mind. He liked the way her body folded into his as if she belonged there. As if she wanted to be there. As if it was the right place for her. And he wanted nothing more than to go on holding her.
In the time since he decided to never marry again, he hadn’t met anyone who captured his mind days after meeting the way Teddy had. Pushing himself up straight on the sofa, Adam became very serious. He scrutinized Quinn for a moment before asking, “Have you ever been in love? I mean, really in love? Have you ever wanted a woman more than you’ve wanted anything else?”
Quinn pointed the remote control at the television and clicked it off. “This is going to take some time.”
For a long moment Quinn stared at Adam. The two brothers were close and rarely held anything from each other. Adam wanted to tell him about the pact, but not yet.
“You think you’re in love?” Quinn asked, breaking Adam’s train of thought.
“No.”
“Then what do you think?”
“I’m not sure. I think I might be going through some kind of phase.”
“Phase?” Quinn grunted. “You’re way too old for phases.”
“Has it happened to you, Quinn?” Adam asked seriously.
His brother hesitated. Then said, “Once.”
“With who? What happened? Why didn’t I know about this?”
“You have your own life and mainly you work after dark.”
“I work with world markets. They’re open late,” Adam said. “What about the woman you were in love with?”
“Obviously it wasn’t the can’t-live-without-you love, since I am still here. And this conversation is not about me,” Quinn countered. “Does Mom have anything to do with this?”
“Not much. She’s always meddling in my love life.”
“Well, you haven’t been seeing anyone on a steady basis,” Quinn said. “And that’s a cue for her to take control.”
“So she finds me dates. Blind dates.”