"Since I’m sure both of you are dying to get a look at your old house," Brooke said, "how about I meet you all out there after I change into something warmer?"
Yes, that was a good idea. Maybe if he went next door, where he couldn’t see Brooke, couldn’t smell her freshly soaped skin mixed with a hint of arousal, he could get his shit together enough to make it through the night.
Less than sixty seconds later, the three Sullivans were inside their old house, standing under the one flickering light bulb hanging from the ceiling that illuminated what would be the living room once he put the place back together.
"I’m glad to see things haven’t changed much," Adam said. "I know there are some cosmetic problems, but it still feels like home, doesn’t it?"
Though Rafe was still enormously irritated at his plans with Brooke having come to a crashing halt, Adam’s clear excitement was infectious. "Can’t wait to get to work on it, can you?"
"I had plans even when we were kids," his house-rehabbing brother confirmed. "As soon as Mia told me you got the place, I pulled them back out." Adam patted his pocket. "I’ll show them to you once we’ve settled in at the bonfire."
Throwing himself into working with Adam on plans to fix the place up was likely the only way Rafe was going to make it through another night apart from Brooke without losing it. Only, he already knew no amount of going over renovation plans was going to push her whispered confession about aching for him out of his head.
Working hard to pull his focus back to the house, Rafe said, "You’re right that the bones of the place are good, but whoever’s owned it for the past fifteen years obviously wasn’t too concerned about maintenance. I was thinking—"
Mia cut him off with the loud clap of her hands over her ears. "Please, stop. I’ve just had to spend the last two and a half hours in the car listening to Adam’s plans to renovate this house. Can we please talk about something other than support beams and load-bearing walls for a little while? Like, maybe, how totally freaking beautiful it is here?"
At his sister’s urging, they turned to look out the front picture window at the moon just rising over the lake. "Still one of the greatest places in the world," Adam agreed, but he was clearly chomping at the bit to take a look over the house. He grabbed the flashlight lying on the floor by the door and said, "I’ll be back in a couple of minutes."
As soon as he walked away, Mia turned her gaze from the lake and pinned Rafe with it. "Are you and Brooke sleeping together?"
No, damn it, but only because you showed up at exactly the wrong time.
"It’s none of your business what the two of us are or aren’t doing."
Her gaze didn’t waver. "You need this house, Rafe. The lake. Some time to get away from all the garbage you deal with at work." Mia’s expression was far more serious than usual. "I love Brooke, and I’m thrilled she’s back in our lives, but do you really think it’s a good idea to get involved with her when she lives next door?"
Damn it, he hated to hear his sister echo his own concerns...especially when he’d nearly rationalized them away in the heat of unquenchable desire. "Everything’s going to be fine, Mia."
A flicker of surprise crossed her eyes. "You’re not going to listen to reason, are you? Although," she added before he could respond, "if you don’t start dating her, given how big Adam’s eyes got when she opened the door, I’m sure he’d happily step up to the plate."
"She’s not going to date Adam," Rafe told her in a hard voice. "And we’re not dating, either."
Mia’s eyebrows went up. "Then what are the two of you doing? Because it sure didn’t look like you’d been playing a friendly game of canasta when she opened the door."
"I already told you, it’s none of your business."
"You’re my brother. She’s my friend, one I haven’t seen in far too long." Mia sighed dramatically. "When you’re done screwing around, I’m going to end up having to choose sides...and of course I’m going to have to choose you just because we’re related."
"There aren’t going to be sides."
"How can you know that for sure?"
"Brooke’s an adult. So am I. Even if we have some fun together this summer, no one’s going to get hurt."
"Oh crap," his sister said on a groan. "You haven’t made some kind of crazy agreement with each other to have a no-strings summer fling, have you?"
"Mia." He said her name as a warning to drop it, but of course his little sister just ignored him.
"Let me see if I can think of a time no-strings has ever worked out for anyone." Sarcasm dripped from every word as she made a show of mulling it over. "Nope, can’t come up with a single one."
"Brooke’s a heck of a lot tougher than you’re giving her credit for."
"I’m sure she is," she said. "But has it occurred to you that maybe it’s not her I’m worried about?"
Nothing his sister could have said would have surprised him more. He and his siblings might have spent most of their lives ribbing each other, but at the end of the day there was no one they cared about more than family. Clearly, Mia needed some reassurance that he wasn’t at the end of his rope.
"You were right that I needed a break from the job for a while, but now that I’m back here at the lake, you can stop worrying. I would never do anything to hurt Brooke. And you and I both know she’s too sweet to ever hurt me."