“Get back on the couch,” Ben demanded. “The only way you’re spending the night is if you’re on that couch in five seconds, or else I’m kicking you back out.”

Jamie merely blinked at this threat and said to me, “Did he tell you I’m the fuck-up brother? The one that’s incapable of simple shit like exchanging briefcases under some bridge in plain sight –”

Ben suddenly shoved him back. “On the fucking couch, Jamie, and keep your fucking mouth shut.”

He listened, albeit with a gleeful look on his face. He collapsed back onto the couch and not a moment later passed before his snores sounded out.

“I’m sorry for this,” Ben told me, staring at his brother with a look of wild bitterness. “He’s worn out his welcome with somebody. When he does this, he usually crashes here, until he’s back in their good graces.”

“He’s a bit of an asshole, isn’t he?”

Ben’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Jamie can be the nicest person you’ve ever met, or your worst nightmare. Sometimes he’s both. Don’t take anything he says to heart. He likes to see how far he can push someone.”

Turning to face me, he took a step back and really looked at me. “You’re in just a shirt.”

I shrugged. “I thought it was just you down here, and then I forgot about… this.” I motioned to the shirt that was barely skimming my upper thighs.

His body tensed. He closed his eyes and breathed through his nose. “I’m feeling incredibly possessive right now, and I’m not sure that’s normal.”

I bit my bottom lip to keep from smiling. “Why are you feeling possessive?”

“Because I hate that you were half naked in front of somebody else, particularly my douchebag brother who will have without a doubt put his moves on you if I wasn’t here.”

“Then that’s normal,” I reassured him softly. “And I’d never have let him work any kind of moves on me.”

“He has a habit of being very charming.”

“Then it’s good I saw his asshole side first.”

He stepped to me and wrapped his arms around my waist. With a soft kiss he said, “I’m going to grab him a blanket. Be right back. We’ll grab some munchies before we get back to bed. I’m wide awake now.”

“Me too.”

He hurried back up the staircase and disappeared from view. I watched Jamie sleeping for a few moments before I wandered to the window. There was no life stirring below. No cars roaming the streets. It looked eerily black, even for this hour.

I pressed my forehead against the glass and was lost in thought when he said, “I’m not surprised he likes you.”

I turned around, narrowing my eyes at the brother who appeared wide awake now. Had he faked sleeping?

“Why aren’t you surprised?” I asked him, feeling incredibly distrustful of him.

Jamie stared about my face, and his lips curved up. “He likes broken things.”

My heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean?”

He didn’t answer. Just kept staring at me with an intensity that was unnerving. Then when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching, he shut his eyes and parted his lips and pretended to be asleep again. Just like I thought.

He was a snake.

A very intriguing one.

Ben threw a thin blanket over his asshole brother’s body. I thought about telling him the shady bastard was awake, but for some reason I didn’t. Ben took my hand and led me into the kitchen. I turned my head back before we disappeared just in time to see Jamie’s lips forming a cheeky, closed lip smile.

*****

The next morning I made sure to be appropriately dressed for breakfast. I had bagels with cream cheese while Ben cooked up bacon for himself. Jamie joined us after the food was done (conveniently good timing) and grabbed himself a plate.

I watched him take a seat across from me, loading his plate up with the bacon Ben had left in the centre of the island.

“How are we this morning?” Ben asked with a hard voice. “Sober, I hope?”

Jamie looked like a mess, his hair even shaggier and all over the place than Ben’s. His white plain tee was ruffled, and I spotted some heavily tattooed arms now that he wasn’t wearing his jacket.

But regardless of his messy state, he smiled apologetically and said, “I am, and I sincerely apologize for my ill conduct to you and your girlfriend, Benjamin.”

Bloody hell, these Costigan boys sure had manners. Their mother may have raised them well, but that didn’t stop me from looking at Jamie suspiciously. He could be genuine, or he could be laughing at us too. It was hard to tell with this one.

“And may I formally introduce myself.” His hand reached out over the table. “I’m James Costigan – Jamie for short.”

I glanced at Ben’s equally wary face before shaking his hand. “Claire.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Claire.”

“You too.” I guess.

“How long have you two been seeing each other?” he then asked curiously.

“A few months,” I answered.

“That’s very nice,” he remarked, eyeing Ben carefully.

For a minute they just looked at each other, some kind of unspoken communication going on. I felt like I was interrupting something, and was about to sneak off when a cell phone erupted from the kitchen counter.

Ben stood up and retrieved his phone. He briefly glanced at the number on the screen before picking up with a snippy, “What?”

He listened for a few moments, his brows knitting together. “Got it.”

He got off and slammed the phone down on the counter heatedly and gripped the counter with one hand so hard his knuckles whitened.

“Is everything alright?” I asked him.

His head dropped, and he looked at the tile floor for a moment. “I um… have some business to get around to. I’m going to need to fly out tomorrow morning.”

I didn’t reply because I knew this had something to do with what he wanted me to be oblivious about. He infrequently went away. Sometimes it was for a night. Sometimes it was two. But never had I seen him so bothered by it until now.

“Is everything alright?” Jamie tentatively asked. It was said in a different manner to mine, sparking an equally different reaction this time.

“I don’t like the people I’m dealing with at the moment,” Ben answered, before he glanced at me and stopped himself from saying more.