“You’re so quiet this morning,” he continued. “That’s unlike you. You really have nothing to say to me after all this time? After the way you left things?”

Nausea tightened Logan’s gut as he remembered the way he’d ended things with Chris. He’d been lying in a hospital room—one he’d put him in. Then he recalled everything that had led up to that moment and defiantly lifted his chin.

“If I hadn’t ended it that way, you would have. You’d done it before.”

Chris took another step closer and ran his eyes all over his face, which made Logan’s resolve to stay put fade real fucking fast. He wanted to get the hell out of there. Being around this guy made him feel like the weak, pathetic version of himself he used to be—not the self-assured man he was when he was with Tate.

Tate… God, what the hell did I do to deserve him?

When he stared back at Chris, he honestly had no fucking clue. He went to shove past him, but as their shoulders bumped, Chris grabbed his bicep, pulled him against his side, and lowered his mouth by his ear.

“You really don’t think about me at all? Come on, Logan. Your guard dog isn’t here now to bark at me if I get too close. When you saw my name on your invite list, how’d it make you feel? It made me…excited. Knowing that I’d finally get to see you again.”

Logan’s jaw ticked as Chris’s fingers flexed around his upper arm, and then he turned his head so they were eye to eye. “Let go of me.”

Chris jerked him closer and continued as if Logan hadn’t even spoken. “Don’t you miss the way we used to go at one another? You could never get enough. The more I roughed you up, the more you wanted it. Throwing you on a bed and pinning you to it was the quickest way to get you off.”

“Get your fucking hand off me, Chris.”

Instead of doing as he’d requested, Chris rubbed his erection against Logan’s leg as he goaded, “Make me.”

Logan was about to shove him the fuck away when a knock on the door captured their attention. Before either of them could react, the door opened, and Cole walked inside.

Tate stood in the center of Exquisite’s main dining room and let out a low whistle. The place was full-on sophisticated elegance. Cream tablecloths, perfectly folded napkins around silverware, and an array of wine glasses adorned each table, and on one side of the establishment ran a long, mahogany bar. It was very impressive.

“What do you think?” Rachel asked as she came to stand beside him.

He grinned and nodded. “This place is amazing.”

“Thanks.” She smiled and placed her hands over her swollen belly. “We like it.”

“So you should. It’s stunning and has nothing but rave reviews.”

“Except for that one about the head pastry chef going postal on a customer because they said her cake was dry. But Mase gave me a pass for that since I’m hormonal and all.”

Tate laughed as they walked over toward the bar, and then he helped her to sit on one of the stools. She was wearing a purple shirt that had F.B.I written across the chest, and underneath, it read Funky Baby Inside.

That pretty much summed up Rachel Madison, with her black hair streaked with blue and her brightly colored clothes. Funky. It always amused him that she was married to Cole, because from what he’d seen of the guy, he was incredibly serious.

“I want to hear all about your plans. I remember when Mason first came to me about opening this place. It felt so overwhelming. You have to find the perfect property, then get the loan, then—oh my God—the name. That was stressful enough on its own. Then add in all the legal paperwork… But you have Logan, who can help you with that,” she said with a wink.

Tate had taken a seat beside her and ran a hand through his hair as he thought about everything she’d just said. “Yeah, it is kind of overwhelming.”

Rachel tapped her nails on the bar and leaned in. “I know, but don’t let that stop you. You have me and Mase. Josh is in construction, Logan is good for all the licensing and legal stuff, and the others, well… They like to eat and drink. So see? You already have a whole team of people who would love to help you out.”

Tate put a hand over hers and gave it a light squeeze. “Thank you.”

“Stop thanking me. We’re practically family.”

He thought about that for a second and was surprised he wasn’t at all freaked out by it. After all, the only way he’d ever really be family with Rachel would be if he were to marry— Yeah, okay. I was wrong. That definitely freaks me out to think about.

“And how is Logan?” she asked, changing the subject. “He seemed upset the other day when he left, and Cole didn’t want to talk about it, so I’m assuming they’re both being stubborn and butting heads?”

Logan hadn’t said much about his visit to Cole’s except that his brother was pissed off about the Chris situation. But Tate was also under the impression that, some way or another, Cole had planted a seed of doubt in Logan’s head when it came to his trusting him—and that irritated the hell out of him. He did trust Logan when it came to Chris, and the last thing he needed was Cole playing big brother and screwing shit up.

“Tate?”

“Sorry. Yeah, I’m thinking they’re still being…obstinate.”

Rachel sighed and shook her head. “I swear those two argue worse than females. God only knows how they ever got their practice up and running without one of them killing the other.”

Tate agreed as he thought about the two men under discussion. He’d seen them both in action, and both were equally formidable when they wanted to be.

“I’m sure they’ll work it out soon enough. But for now, I plan to stay out of it,” she said, perusing the bottles of liquor behind the bar. “It’s a pity I’m pregnant. Otherwise I’d make you get up and mix me a drink or three.”

“At nine thirty in the morning?”

Rachel’s laugh filled the room as she nodded. “Hey, sometimes, living with Cole drives you to drink.”

“Now that I can believe.”

She bumped shoulders with him, then said with a conspiratorial wink, “I’m sure it’ll be the same when you move in with Logan.”

His mouth practically fell open as he turned his head toward her and thought, That scheming asshole. “When did he call you?”

Rachel sat up and put a hand to her chest, feigning shock. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Bullshit,” he fired back good-naturedly.

“I really don’t know what you’re—”

“He is unbelievable,” he said under his breath. Then he smiled at her. “When did he call you?”

She tried her hardest to fight back a grin, but in the end, she lost it and admitted, “Last night.”

“Of course the sneaky shit waited until he got home.”

“So you’re playing hard to get. I totally understand.”

Tate quickly stood, unbelieving of where the conversation had gone. “I’m not… What? No, I’m not playing hard to get. He already got me. Obviously.”

Still not quite comfortable sitting around and discussing his relationship, he crossed his arms and looked back through the restaurant.

“Okay. I’ll leave you alone,” Rachel relented and slipped off her stool to stand behind him. “So, when are we going to start staking out locations?”

Logan swallowed past the lump that had formed in his throat when Cole had stepped through his office door and firmly shut it behind him. Chris still had his fingers wrapped around his arm and was standing much too close for his liking—and Cole’s, if the fulminating expression that had crossed his face was anything to judge by.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” was the first thing out of his brother’s mouth, and the message couldn’t have been clearer than if he’d flat-out said, “I better not be interrupting any-fucking-thing.”

Logan tugged his arm away, and this time, Chris was smart enough to let it go. “No, you aren’t. Not anything important anyway.”