Best Man With Benefits (McCade Brothers 3)

“Wonderful. You know, the bra has matching panties. I could have them up front, waiting for you.”

You can’t possibly wear that bra with any of the underwear you own. “Sure,” she mumbled and avoided Kady’s sharp eyes as she ducked back into the fitting room.

By the time she stood outside the shop again, Sophie was two bags heavier and almost five hundred dollars lighter. The panties—and that was a generous word for a triangle of silk and lace dangling from three strategic strips of elastic—set her back another sixty bucks. Certain parts of her actually clenched at the notion of wearing them, but she told herself they couldn’t possibly be as uncomfortable as they looked.

“What are you doing now?” Kady asked.

Calling Visa to assure them there hasn’t been any fraud on my card. “Nothing, why?”

“A good pedicure is mandatory with the shoes you just bought. Come on.” She hooked her arm through Sophie’s. “I know just the place.”

Oh, God, some poor nail technician was going to have her work cut out for her, dealing with a pair of unpampered feet that had been shoved into running shoes all morning. She shuddered at the thought of sharp implements digging into her tender toes.

You survived a bikini wax. You can survive anything.

…

Logan headed downstairs after a grueling afternoon of conference calls with only one objective. Sophie. He stepped out of the elevator and nearly shoved his phone into a potted plant when the damn thing buzzed. A quick look at the screen had him engaging the call.

“Hi, Mom.”

“That’s funny. You don’t sound like you’re in jail, the hospital, or the morgue.”

“Why would I be in any of those places?” He tried to sound confused, but he knew where this was going.

“I left you a message two days ago. Where’s my call back?”

Yep. That’s where it was going. Guilt tried to dig a wormhole through his good mood, but he blocked its path. If she’d really needed to reach him, she would have asked his assistant to track him down. “Sorry. I just now got out of jail. Just this minute.”

“Sure you did. A jail called Defy Gravity. You’re working too hard.”

“Mom—”

“Don’t ‘Mom’ me. You looked terrible at Michael’s wedding. Pale. Exhausted. I can’t believe I’m forced to say this is someone who spent the better part of his formative years listening to me scream, ‘Get the hell down from there!’—but you need to go outside and climb something.”

He propped an elbow on the concierge desk and got comfortable. “As it happens, I went climbing today.”

“Hallelujah. Where?”

“Right here at Beaver Creek.”

“Did you and Colton do a climb for old times’ sake? What’s to climb around there? Sounds more like a hike to me.”

“They have a rock wall here at the resort.”

“Rock wall? I know you’ve been deskbound for a while, but that doesn’t seem like much of a challenge for the two of you.”

He considered his next words, and figured, what the hell. “I wasn’t with Colt. I took his little sister Sophie climbing.”

“Sophie…Sophie…I remember her. We met at your graduation. Adorable little thing. Goodness, she’s probably all grown up now.”

“Yes, she is. All grown up.”

“Amazing how that happens.”

“Yep.”

“A man with a reasonable amount of free time could give chase when something amazing crosses his path.”