“The Big Bang Theory.”

They both laughed at the show. “Those guys are such nerds,” Duncan said.

Lovey lifted an eyebrow. Well, she could honestly say Duncan had never been a nerd, and she was pretty sure the same could be said for Marc. “Why do you watch the show?”

“Kaley Cuoco. She’s hot.”

Lovey laughed and looked at Marc, who just shrugged. “I never saw this show before I moved in with Army. And it’s better than Duck Dynasty. Christ, he’s obsessed with Duck Dynasty.”

“Why’re you all dressed up?” Duncan asked, taking in her outfit and not denying the accusation. “Job interview?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Where?”

“Don’t want to say.” She perched on the arm of the couch. “I’ll tell you if I get the job.”

She felt Marc’s gaze on her, much more than Duncan’s brief brotherly assessment of her suit. She met his eyes and held his gaze. He looked away, back at the TV.

“What’s up tonight?” she asked.

“Nothing. We practiced today. Game skate tomorrow morning, game tomorrow night.”

“No wild single dude parties tonight?”

Duncan gave her a reproving look. “As if we could do that every night of the week.”

“I’m going to change. Uh…want me to make dinner?”

Their heads both snapped around. “Like what?” Duncan asked.

“I don’t know.” She shrugged and stood. “I’ll check out what’s in the cupboards. Should be able to come up with something.”

“Sure. That’d be great.”

She went to her room, took off her suit, and changed into a pair of yoga pants and a hoodie. She’d gotten an email back from her mom that afternoon that said her furniture should arrive Thursday. Soon she’d have a bed in her room. And a desk. Woohoo! That would be so great.

She twisted her hair up into a messy bun and returned to the kitchen to inspect the contents of the cupboard and refrigerator. After a few minutes of contemplation, she pulled out a piece of salmon from the freezer and started to thaw it in the microwave. The only fresh vegetables were the ones she’d bought, so she put together a broccoli and red pepper stir-fry. She found a box of couscous that came with a seasoning packet, and that rounded out the meal. She couldn’t find much to season the salmon with, so she mixed up some butter and maple syrup, spread it over the thawed filet, and slid it into the oven to bake. This would be decent.

She hadn’t quite counted on the size of these two men’s appetites, though. She should’ve known, from growing up with Duncan, but Richard hadn’t been a pro athlete. He worked out, but he sat at a desk all day, and a small piece of salmon, a few veggies, and a scoop of couscous would do it for him. And for her.

Marc and Duncan devoured everything, and she was lucky she got a few bites. Oookay. Lesson learned. That salmon filet would have fed one of them. She could tell they were still hungry after the meal.

“Sorry, guys. I forgot you’re calorie-burning machines.”

“I’ll go get ice cream,” Marc offered.

“Where?”

“There’s a little place a few blocks from here.”

“Can I come?”

His eyes met hers. Omigod. She never thought she had a dirty mind, but the way he looked at her instantly made her think of sex, and of the other meaning for what she’d just said. Heat flooded into her cheeks.

“Sure,” he said with a shrug. “Wanna walk? Or drive?”

“How far?”

“About five or six blocks.”

“Ha. You’ll just work up more of an appetite if we walk. But sure, we can.”

“I’ll come too,” Duncan said.

She sighed. “Okay.”

They walked to Sweet Licks and bought three pint containers of ice cream in different flavors, each of them picking one. When they got home, Marc and Duncan each ate a whole container. Lovey had a small scoop of cherry cheesecake ice cream.

They watched The Voice and when she sighed over Adam Levine, both guys got grouchy. “He’s fucking skinny,” Marc growled.

She laughed. “Compared to you, yeah, he’s lean. But he has muscles.”

“He’s short.”

“Whatever.” She waved a hand. “That has nothing to do with sexiness.”

“Is it the music? Is that what makes him sexy?”

She frowned. “Um. Well, yeah. But it’s not just music. Any guy who’s good at what he does is sexy.”

Both guys grunted at the television. Then Marc asked, “Is it the tattoos?”

She lifted an eyebrow at him. “Do you have tattoos?”

He narrowed his eyes at her and slumped lower into the couch. “Maybe,” he mumbled.

He was so fucking cute. She wanted to see his tattoos. But she knew better than to say that in front of Duncan.

Her brother was cramping her style.

She had to smile at the thought. Here she was camping out in his condo and she was bitter because he was there, interfering with her sex life. She shook her head.

“What’s so funny?” Marc asked.

“Nothing.” She met his eyes. She was pretty sure he got her message. Want to find out what’s so funny? Want to show me your tattoos? Let’s meet up in your room later.

He scowled.

She sighed.

“So you have a game tomorrow night,” she said. “On Halloween. Then when’s your next one?”

“We’re away for a few days,” Duncan answered. “We leave Wednesday morning and we’re back Sunday. We play Wednesday night in Los Angeles, Friday in Anaheim, Saturday night in San Jose. Next home game is on the Tuesday after that.”

Oh. “Awesome,” she said slowly. She was both disappointed and happy they were going on a road trip. Relieved that she wouldn’t need to worry about being in their way and that she wouldn’t have big brother and his friend breathing down her neck and pressuring her to get a job and find her own place, but disappointed because Marc wouldn’t be around to make things exciting.

Yes, Marc made things exciting. There was no denying the little zing in the air she felt when he was around, no matter how much she tried to ignore him. Everything felt more vibrant, more electric when he was there. She felt…excited. Yeah, yeah, attracted. She’d already admitted to that.

And that was the reason for the disappointment that they’d be gone for four days.

Ah well. She had a new life to start.

Chapter 10

“Thanks for making dinner last night.”

She looked up in surprise at Marc the next morning. “You’re welcome. Sorry there wasn’t more food. I’ll make you guys a big dinner when you get back from your road trip.”

“I feel I should say you don’t have to do that, but I’m not gonna. Because that would be awesome.”

She grinned at his admission. “What’s your favorite food?”

“Steak.”

“No hesitation there.” She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not great at cooking steak. But I could make a roast beef.”

“Close enough.”

She started planning Sunday dinner, even though it was only Tuesday. Ah well.

Marc and Duncan were off for their game day skate. She wasn’t going to the game tonight but planned to watch it on TV. She had work to do before then, though. She’d been contacted by another potential client. Somehow word was getting out about her and her new business. This was good. Some of it was coming from her blog, Sugar Blossom, which was increasing in popularity and for which she’d started accepting paid advertisements. This was another small but growing source of income for her.

It meant business to attend to, though—emails to reply to, invoices to send, also the research that went into putting together her posts. Her blog’s tagline was “Make life beautiful” and she posted about a variety of things—fashion, food, décor. She was no Martha Stewart, but her blog had been getting lots of attention. She’d developed a following, some of whom had turned into online friends. Some companies she mentioned on her blog, like cosmetic companies when she talked about a favorite new lipstick, or clothing or shoe manufacturers when she photographed a pair of shoes or a jacket she loved, had contacted her not only about advertising but about social media services. A mention of their product on a popular blog was great word-of-mouth advertising.