“Are you trying to get rid of me?” Tate asked, and Logan could tell from his tone that he was enjoying himself immensely.

“Yes I am, troublemaker. Have a good day with Rachel,” he said. When he turned back to see Cole frowning, he felt the devil on his shoulder. “But not too good of a day. That’s from Cole, by the way. I’m more than aware you prefer my cock to her—”

“Logan,” Cole warned.

He aimed a shit-eating grin at his brother and asked, “What? I’m just trying to reassure you. Tate’s sexy and all, but—”

“Hey, smartass?” Tate interrupted. “Stop giving your brother shit and tell him to relax. I just bought him a caramel muffin.”

“What’d you buy me?”

“I’m gonna buy you a muzzle if you don’t watch it.”

“Don’t start acting surprised now. You knew I was this way before you…” Logan caught himself when he realized he’d been about to finish with, “fell in love with me.” He was comfortable enough talking about it with Tate, but with Cole’s focus directly on him, he lost his nerve.

“My order’s up,” Tate said, inadvertently saving him. “I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Before you go, if you find a place today, does that mean you’ll tell me yes? Or do I have to wait another year before that happens?”

“Anyone ever tell you you’re impatient?”

“Just when I know I want something.”

“Hmm. We’ll see.”

“In that case,” Logan said, sitting forward in his chair, “good luck today.”

“Thanks. I’ll let you know. Have a good day, counselor.”

Upon hanging up, Logan pulled his chair in under the desk and looked at his schedule for the day. He had several meetings across town, and he’d told Sherry to let Lance Powell of LPCW Architecture know that, since he would be over that way, he’d swing by at three to pick up the forms they’d had to sign.

“Tate said to let you know he bought you a caramel muffin. So cool your jets over there, would you?”

Cole stood from the couch and walked over to take a seat in one of the chairs facing Logan’s desk. “My jets are just fine. But since we’re on the topic…how are yours?”

“Do I not appear fine?”

Cole’s brow rose. “You do, which is suspicious in itself. All last week, you were acting like you wanted to murder somebody.”

“You’re one to talk. You’ve been in a foul mood ever since—”

“Your ex-boyfriend, who we’ve both had physical altercations with, showed up? Yes, I can’t imagine why that would worry me. But you know what? Rachel told me it wasn’t my business. So I’ve let it go.”

“Have you?” Logan asked as he placed an elbow on the desk and rubbed his chin. “Don’t let it bother you. Chris is the least of my problems or concerns.”

“Really? Do you want to explain, then, why you were acting like a lion with a thorn in its paw all week?”

Sighing, Logan sat back and clasped his fingers over his stomach. “Evelyn was in town last Monday.”

“Oh shit.”

“Yeah, exactly.”

Cole knew all about Evelyn and her track record. It’d been pretty hard to hide throughout college, especially considering Cole’s father was her greatest mark.

Logan frowned at his shocked brother.

“What happened?”

“Let’s see. She showed up, charmed Tate into dinner out. I played along, hoping she would behave herself for at least one night—”

“I’m assuming she didn’t?”

“Let’s just say I’m going to be paying off the dinner and her week-long stay at The Peninsula for the next few months.”

“Jesus, Logan,” Cole said, shaking his head. “That woman never ceases to amaze me.”

“You and me both. I couldn’t believe she would pull that shit on me in front of someone I fucking care about. I knew she had no problem screwing me over, but to do it in front of Tate… I’ve never been so humiliated.”

“It’s not your fault she’s a damn parasite.”

Logan gave a small shrug. “I know, but that doesn’t really help when you’re left with the bill your ‘wife’ left you.”

Cole’s eyes widened. “Damn. I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.”

Cole was looking at him in a way that had Logan getting to his feet. The expression in his eyes told Logan he was feeling sorry for him, and he didn’t want to go down that self-pitying path again. Tate had just dragged him the fuck out of it.

“Look, I have several things out of the office today. Is everything covered here?”

Cole stood and nodded. “Yeah. I have everything under control. Rachel won’t be home until later. She’s so excited about Tate’s new ‘adventure,’ as she calls it. I wonder if he’ll be able to get away from her before the sun sets.”

Logan laughed as he picked his briefcase up and walked around the desk. “Tate’s pretty amicable for the most part. I’m sure they’ll be out until whenever Rachel decides to call it quits.”

As they both moved toward the office door, Cole asked, “For the most part?”

“Yeah. He’s only stubborn about certain things.”

“Such as?”

Logan took his coat off the rack, and as he opened the door and Cole stepped out, he decided, What the hell. “Like…moving in with me.”

Cole stopped in his tracks and pinned him with a “get the fuck out of here” look. “You asked him to move in with you?”

Logan closed his door and placed his coat over his arm. “I did.”

“Wow.”

“Why is everyone so surprised by this?”

Cole slipped his hands into his pockets and tried to fight back a grin. “You have to admit that it’s a little shocking. You’ve gone from a man who wouldn’t date one person, let alone—”

“Yes?” Logan asked, feeling perturbed.

Cole lost it then and started to laugh. Then he clapped him on the arm. “Nothing. I think it’s great.”

Logan eyed him as if he didn’t believe him. “It would be even better if Tate would hurry up and say yes.”

“Did he say no?” Cole asked.

Logan was quick to tell him, “No. He said, ‘Not yet.’”

Cole smiled, and as he turned on his heel to walk to his office, he called over his shoulder, “Give the guy some time to digest that he’d have to entertain your ass twenty-four-seven. Then I’m sure he’ll give you the answer you want.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Logan mumbled and headed for the door. “Go do some work. I’ll see you later.”

It had just turned three o’clock when Tate and Rachel walked through the doors of the final property on his list for the day. It was a corner lot with double doors that opened onto the street, and inside, there were three steps leading down to the main floor.

The space was large, and the bar was already built in, which, in his mind, was a plus. He didn’t have the extra money for major renovations, so if they could find something in relatively good shape, he could definitely work with that.

Tate wandered into the center of the room, and the realtor came up next to him, rattling off numbers and figures on square footage—this one had 4,400. But what caught his attention this time around was the mention of an additional loft included in the rent.

He turned to see Rachel’s grin as she nodded and walked over to the area off to the right, where a long wall of windows let in the afternoon sun and faced the side street where he’d parked his bike.

“The restaurant and bar scene has really taken off on this side of town,” the realtor said. She’d been giving them handy little facts about each place at every new stop. “Owners have been investing in restoring and renting out their properties, and fortunately, that means a lot of business.”

“And higher rent,” Rachel murmured as Tate made his way over to where she stood.

“Yes, yes. In the end, you get what you pay for,” the realtor told them.

Keeping his cards close to his chest, Tate remained silent as he walked to the long bar and ran his palm over the top of it. He didn’t want to let on just how much he liked the place before he got to see more of it.