Time for a change of subject. “How’s the investigation going?” I asked.

“As well as could be expected.”

Vague much?

My cell phone rang. I dug it out of my purse. “Hello?”

“Hi, Kathleen?”

I didn’t recognize the number or the male voice. “Yes. Who’s this?”

“It’s Luke, ah, from the grocery store?” He huffed a nervous laugh. “Wow, that sounded awful.”

And it clicked. “Luke, yeah, from the produce aisle.” Luke with the sun-kissed surfer blond hair and blue eyes.

“Oh, good, you remember,” he said, sounding relieved. “You said to give you a call, so I was hoping, if you aren’t busy, that you might want to have dinner tonight? I know it’s last minute…”

My instinctive reaction was to say no, especially with Blane standing there staring holes into me. His arms were crossed over his chest now and I glanced away. But a night out sounded like just the thing, especially with a cute guy who knew nothing about my life and had no prior relationship baggage with me. Maybe I could just relax and have a good time.

All this went through my head in the span of a second or two. “Absolutely,” I said, making a decision. “I’d like that.”

“Great! Can I pick you up?”

After a brief hesitation, I gave him Blane’s address because, obviously, he couldn’t pick me up at my place. We decided on a couple of hours from then and I said good-bye.

“What was that about?” Blane asked as soon as I hung up.

“I, um, have a date tonight,” I said, giving him a sideways glance as I brushed by. “That guy from the grocery store, remember?”

“Yes, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go out with him,” Blane said, clearly irritated.

“I’m not dating anyone, Blane,” I said. “So I fail to see the problem.” I headed upstairs.

“You don’t even know his last name,” Blane called after me, and now I could hear anger in his voice. “Do you really think you should be going out alone with him?”

I paused, retorting, “Who are you, my father?”

“No, I’m your brother, remember?” he bit out.

This time, Blane got the last word, disappearing back into the den, the door slamming behind him with enough force to shake the house.

* * *

I crept by the closed door of the den when I came back downstairs. I really wanted to avoid another confrontation with Blane. We were over. There was no reason why I shouldn’t have dinner with a nice guy.

Right.

But it might be a good idea to wait for Luke outside.

My relief at Blane’s absence was abruptly crushed when the door to the den flew open just as I neared the front door, startling a cry from me.

“You scared me!” Surprise made me snappish and I held a hand to my chest as though to get my hammering heart under control.

“Sneaking out, Kat?” Blane asked, one brow raised.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I spluttered. “I just didn’t want to… distract you.”

“Is that what you’re wearing?” he asked, nodding at my clothes.

I had on a strapless dress, backless except for laces that crisscrossed my back to hold it on. It was made of a filmy aqua material, the skirt fitted to a couple of inches above my knees and with a short slit up one side. My hair was up in a ponytail.

“Aren’t you pushing the whole ‘father’ thing a little far?” I quipped. “It’s creepy, even for you.”

Blane was in front of me in two long strides. I gasped, automatically retreating until my back hit the wall. Blane followed, pressing his palms against the wall on either side of my head. He leaned down.

“Let’s get one thing clear, Kat,” Blane said, his voice low and dark. “I’m not your brother, or your father. I love you and want you”—he paused before adding—“to be safe.”

“Your version of me being safe feels an awful lot like controlling every move I make.”

The doorbell rang and neither of us moved, our gazes locked. It rang again.

“I’d like to get that,” I said.

Blane eased back but didn’t go far. I pasted a smile on my face and opened the door.

Luke looked as good as I remembered—slightly better, actually—and he was dressed in khakis and a polo.

“Hi,” I greeted him, holding the door to hide Blane. Unfortunately, I felt Blane moving the door inexorably out of my grip, opening it wide.

Luke’s smile faded a bit when he saw Blane and I winced, guessing Blane had put on his best I-could-crush-you face.

“You remember my… brother?” I asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Luke said. “Nice to see you again.” He directed his attention back to me. “Are you ready?”

“Yep!” No one was more chipper than me. My cheeks hurt from smiling. “Let’s go.”

Luke settled his hand on the small of my back as we walked to his very shiny black pickup truck. It took a little doing to get into the cab with the short dress I was wearing, but finally Luke just picked me up around the waist and gave me a boost.

He took me to a little restaurant that was small and cozy. I found out Luke had graduated from IU with a finance degree and was working at a place downtown, doing something with money and the stock market. I was a little fuzzy on the details, but that may have been because of the wine.

“So,” he began once we’d ordered, “your brother seems like a, ah, real protective guy.”

I was glad politics must not be Luke’s thing, since it seemed he hadn’t recognized Blane.

“Yeah. A little too much, if you ask me,” I said.

“You live with him?”

I broke off a piece of the bread the waiter had brought. “Just for now. My apartment is being repaired from some… water damage.”

The lies were kind of stacking up and I covered my discomfort by asking for another glass of wine.

Luke liked to talk about himself. A lot. So not much was required of me except to smile and nod every once in a while. But he was real pretty to look at, so I didn’t mind. It was relaxing, in a way. I had to be so on guard with Blane, not to fall under his spell again, not to give in to how easy it would be to go back to the way things were.

And Kade. Being with him was bittersweet. I loved when he opened up to me, when I got an inkling of his feelings and thoughts. But there was no possibility of a future with him, even though it seemed he was coming closer each day to remembering what had happened between us in Vegas.

What would I do if and when he did?

Well, he just couldn’t remember, that’s all. It had been a mistake. One that should never and would never be repeated.

Which was too bad…

Whoops, that was the wine talking. I tuned in briefly to Luke again, just to get a feel for where we were in the one-sided “conversation.” He was recounting his achievements on his high school’s swim team.

Nod. Smile. Have a bite of salad. Tune back out.

I was feeling pleasantly tipsy and started mentally comparing Luke to Blane and Kade, which was a bad idea but one I couldn’t help. Luke was an attractive, normal, nice guy with a normal, boring, nice-guy job. I should like him. He wasn’t a public figure, apparently had little to no interest in politics, judging by his monologue—and he didn’t kill people for a living. Always a plus.

He also didn’t have the raw edge to him that both Blane and Kade had, more apparent with Kade because he didn’t bother to disguise it, as Blane did, under a veneer of civility.

Both Blane and Kade were older than Luke, and both carried an air of maturity, though maybe it was more an air of don’t-fuck-with-me. I wondered if Luke carried a gun or had a knife strapped to his leg. I considered asking, then thought better of it.

Luke was built, though, the muscles in his arms and chest filling out the polo shirt he wore in a very nice way. Blane and Kade had incredible bodies, too, each with strength that I relied on, took for granted. And they were smart. Luke was smart, too, obviously, since I couldn’t even understand exactly what he did for a living.

But he’d never been a Navy SEAL, and had never hacked into a government agency or Swiss bank.

I sighed a little as I ate a mouthful of angel hair pasta, murmuring in agreement at something Luke had said.

“So,” he said, finally coming up for air, “what do you do?”

That yanked me out of my pasta and wine-induced lethargy. “Oh, well, um, I go to school right now, and bartend.”

“What are you studying?”

“Criminal justice.”

He smiled. “That’s cool. So what are you going to do with that?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet,” I answered honestly. “I just know I want to put bad guys behind bars. Maybe as a cop.”

A look of skepticism crossed Luke’s face and his smile turned indulgent. “You’d be the most beautiful cop I’ve ever seen,” he said.

My smile was tight. I knew when I was being patronized. Suddenly, Luke didn’t seem quite as attractive as he had been before.

And that was the extent of the questions about me. My career choice launched Luke into another story, about how he’d been pulled over by the cops but had gotten out of a ticket, blah blah blah.

I abruptly decided I was spoiled, spoiled by Blane and Kade. Yes, Blane was overprotective and controlling, and yes, Kade confused me utterly with his going hot and cold on me, but they listened to me when I talked. They’d never made me feel like an ornament who was supposed to sit in silent adulation at their awesomeness.

I passed on dessert. Luke suggested we go to a bar for a drink and a dance or two, but I pleaded a long day so he took me back to Blane’s house. He walked me to the front door.

“I had a really nice time tonight,” he said, taking my hands in his. I hadn’t been quick enough getting my keys out of my purse.