Page 17 of Devoured By You

“Blaize was drooling over a woman on his phone, but he won’t tell me who she is.”

“He’s entitled to a private life, Nolen. Leave him alone.”

“Ha.” I jabbed a finger at my brother. “Listen to your wife. She knows best.”

“Although…” Marlowe released a slow smile that built. “I’d like to know who’s piqued your interest, Mr. One-Night Stand.” She held out her pinkie to Nolen, who hooked his around hers and laughed.

I groaned. “Will you two quit it?”

“Sure. No problem.”

Nolen leaned his elbows on the table. The glint in his eye should have warned me of his intentions, but the lack of sleep and the stress over tomorrow made me a second too slow. He grabbed my phone before I could and leapt to his feet.

“Ooh, J. T. Rowe. An author, no less.”

“Give me the phone.” I tried to snatch it back. He whipped it out of my reach.

“How do you know the lovely Miss Rowe?”

A lifetime of living with Nolen told me he wouldn’t stop bugging me until he’d gotten answers. I returned to my seat. “I met her on the flight from London. That’s all.”

Nolen sat down, too. He gave my phone to Marlowe. “And was that ‘met’ in the biblical sense?”

“There is no ‘met’ in the biblical sense.”

“You know what I mean. Did you…?” He waggled his eyebrows.

“For fuck’s sake. I thought marriage and fatherhood would have forced you to grow up a bit. Makenna’s more of an adult than you are.”

“Stop teasing him.” Marlowe passed me my phone. “She’s lovely. You should call her.”

“I don’t have her number.”

“But you have her bra size, I bet,” Nolen drawled.

A laugh burst out of Marlowe. Great. I’d hoped my sister-in-law would side with me.

“What makes you think I behaved in any way inappropriately?”

“Because I know you.”

The truth in that statement coaxed a chuckle from me. “Fine. We hooked up. It was pretty spectacular, and yeah, I admit, if I’d gotten her number, I’d probably call it. But I didn’t. So can we just stop now, please?”

“Check her website,” Marlowe said. “Most authors have a website with a contact form.”

I gestured dismissively. “I’ve got enough on my plate with the launch.”

“Any insurmountable problems?” Nolen asked.

Apart from my rapidly waning self-belief? “The usual snagging, that’s all.”

“Well, we’re really looking forward to it, aren’t we, Nolen? A much-needed break.”

Wish it was a break for me. Still, in fifteen days, I’d be sitting back here with the maiden voyage behind me, and celebrating a job well fucking done.

I hoped.

Chapter 7