Best Man with Benefits (Wedding Dare, #4, McCade Brothers, #3)(47)
He held back a grin as he stepped into the elevator. Luckily, the wrath of God had not struck him down in a bolt of lightning right then and there, and Sophie had been alluringly flushed and short of breath all through the rehearsal. If he’d been a little distracted, thinking of all the ways he planned to devour her, well…nobody had complained.
His phone vibrated in his hand, alerting him to an incoming call. His brother Trevor, according to the screen. He hit talk. “How’s my nephew?”
“Asleep. Which is just how we like him at this time of night.” The response came not from Trevor, but from his other brother, Michael.
“Jesus, Trev. Doesn’t Kylie have enough on her plate taking care of Max? You really want to inflict Michael on her, too?”
“Kylie’s not here,” Trevor explained. “She, and Mom, and a passel of other women are at the cabin in Big Bear for Chloe’s baby shower. They’ll be back tomorrow morning.”
“Holy shit, and she left you—worse, the two of you—in charge of a baby? Overnight? Was she high on some kind of judgment-impairing postpartum brain chemicals?”
“We’re doing fine,” Michael said. “Had some beer and pizza. Played some Texas Hold’em, and the little guy drifted off to dreamland right there in his high chair, face down in his poker chips. Never even saw the full house waiting for him at the end of the river.”
“I’m no expert, but I’m fairly certain boozing and gambling are not appropriate activities for a kid Max’s age. I’m calling social services—I think they might be interested in giving you some advice.”
“Speaking of advice, that’s why we called you,” Trevor interjected.
“You called me for advice?”
“No, blockhead, we called to give you advice. Mom told us you’d managed to break away from building your empire long enough to catch some poor misguided woman’s attention. It’s been so damn long since you’ve romanced anything except your right hand, we figured you might have some questions, or need some pointers on how to go about convincing this Sophie girl to take a chance on you.”
Fuckers, he thought, well aware he was battling a grin. “Thanks, but I’m good.”
“Yeah, she’ll be the judge of that,” Michael joked. “Sure you still know what goes where and why?”
“I know you can kiss my ass,” he responded in a perfectly pleasant voice.
Michael and Trevor responded loudly with rude kissing noises, which promptly provoked a high-pitched wail from somewhere nearby.
“Damn it. You have to keep your big bullhorn of a voice down when the baby’s sleeping, idiot.”
“Me? That one’s on you, Mommie Dearest.”
“Fuck you, Uncle Mikey.” Trevor’s insult grew faint and Logan pictured him holding Max and doing the patented walk-bounce around the kitchen.
“That’s no way for Mommy to talk.”
“Sounds like you’re having a little babysitting crisis over there. I’ll say bye. Give Max a hug for me.”
“Not so fast,” Trevor’s voice came back on the line at full volume, which told Logan he’d picked up the phone. “This girl…Sophie…Mom got the impression you’re into her. Is that true?”
Jesus, his Mom had some kind sixth sense. All he’d said was he’d taken her climbing. “She’s fun. We’re having fun, but we’re not planning—”
“I didn’t ask what you’re planning. I asked if you’re into her.”
He intended to make a joke, but what came out instead was, “Yeah. I am.”
“Okay, then do yourself a favor and stop spending eighty hours a week on Defy Gravity. Put some time into this relationship, so she knows she rates with you. Otherwise, it might not be easy for her to see that you care about much outside of your company.”
The advice, sharply delivered, carried an uncomfortable undertone truth. “Is that what you guys think? You don’t rate with me?”
“We know we rate with you, and we know you’re working hard, which is why Mom doesn’t take offense when she calls you more than once, leaves messages, and doesn’t get a call back. I don’t take offense that you’re only a two-hour flight from L.A. and you haven’t come in to meet your nephew. Michael’s not offended by the fact you’ve met Chloe exactly once—at their wedding. We know how you really feel, so we don’t take it personally when your actions suggest you’ve put work ahead of your friends and family. But Sophie probably doesn’t know you as well as we do. She might not see past your behavior to your actual feelings.”
A brick of shame slammed into his chest. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m not trying to make you sorry. I’m trying to make you see what your priorities look like to someone who doesn’t know better.”
“I see your point, and I appreciate the tough love. I guess I have some thinking to do.” He looked at his watch and winced. “Later. This minute though, I’ve got to go.”
“Don’t tell me. Let me guess. You’ve got a conference call,” Trevor said before the line went dead.
Twenty minutes later, with his board call showing no signs of winding down, he opened his door to let Sophie in. She looked positively edible in her body-hugging dress and shiny black heels. Hoping to wrap up the call, he said, “Gentlemen, we’ve discussed the agreement. If there are no questions, can we put it to a vote?”