FLIRT (Dirty Brothers 1)

She holds her hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry. I just don’t want you to get hurt by them the way I did.”

She was hurt by them, deeply. I was there and I understand. But the feeling of frustration doesn’t go away. For the moment though, talking about that isn’t going to get us anywhere. And honestly, I don’t feel like rehashing what happened at the moment. We’ve done it maybe a hundred times in the last ten years and nothing has changed. Talking about it is only going to make me feel guilty about last night, and right now, I’m very pleased with last night.

“Here’s the deal,” I say. “We have two weeks to show the bakery is capable of turning a decent profit. We’re probably not going to be in the black, but if we can prove to Logan Sr. that it can actually be profitable, Thomas is sure that he can get him to extend the terms of the loan so Dad can pay it off.”

Her eyes widen, and her mouth falls open. “You got him to agree to that?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, good for you. I didn’t even think they would agree to a meeting.”

I pull out a pen and paper. “Now that they have agreed, we need to make it happen. So let’s get thinking before we tell Dad. If we have ideas ready to go, I’m sure he’ll be on board.”

She nods. “I’ll make the coffee.”

“So how are you?” I ask once we’re in the car and on the way to the bakery. We’ve got a list of ideas to help bring new people into the bakery, and we’re ready to pitch them to my dad. In the midst of all that brainstorming, we didn’t get to catch up much.

“I’m fine,” she says. I’m not convinced.

“That sounds like a lie.”

She laughs, but there’s no life in it. “Things aren’t great right now. Not like, as bad as dad, but just not great. I got moved to nights at the hospital, and my body doesn’t want to get used to the schedule. So I’m tired all the time. And I broke up with Brady.”

“Really? I thought we liked Brady.” My sister and Brady had been together for at least a year.

She shakes her head. “No, he was a dick.”

“What did he do?”

“He was just an ass. Nothing I did was good enough for him, and he wasn’t supportive. So he had to go.”

I nod. “Fair enough.”

My phone buzzes in my hand, and I can see on the screen that it’s a text from Thomas. I turn the screen down into my lap so Fiona doesn’t look over and see his name. But the text coming in makes me wonder. What if it’s about the loan or about the ‘more’ that he mentioned earlier? It buzzes again. And then again. At this rate I could use my phone as a vibrator.

Then again, knowing Thomas, that could be entirely his point. My mind flashes back to last night and the explosive pleasure of that orgasm.

“Rosie?”

I jerk out of the memory and wince. I’m annoyed that everyone keeps calling Rosie, but it’s not the time to raise the issue. “Yeah?”

“Where’d you go?”

“Sorry,” I say, shaking my head. “Just thinking about the list. What did you say?”

“I asked how you are?” she says.

I shrug. “I’m okay. I’ll be better when this is all resolved.”

“Any guys in the picture?”

I have to bite my tongue from saying yes immediately. “No, not really. Dating in New York is a freaking nightmare. Everyone is so busy, it’s almost impossible.”

She laughs. “Yeah, I can understand that, I guess. Hopefully you’re still getting some action.”

“Here and there.” I allow myself a small smile.

We pull into the bakery parking lot and that knot of dread that I’d managed to ignore last night and this morning re-appears in my gut. The parking lot around the building is empty, and I can already see that there’s nobody inside. There wasn’t anybody here yesterday either. It’s not going to be easy to show improvement if no one even stops by. But I need to clarify with Thomas just how much improvement his father needs to see. Because at this rate, if we can get even ten customers in here it will look like things have improved.

Dad comes out of the back when he hears the bell ring, and there’s a smudge of flour on his face. “My girls!” he says. “Come by to have some cupcakes?”

“If by cupcakes you mean business, then sure,” I say. “But I’ll take a cupcake too.”

Fiona and I settle at a table and pull out the list. While I’m waiting for my dad to come back, I look at my phone. Fiona can’t see the screen now.

There are three texts from Thomas.

I can’t stop thinking about you on your knees.