“She used you to get to Archer?”
“Got it in one, girl. She used me to get to big brother. Only Archer didn’t want her. I went to his place one night, dropping something off. I can’t even remember what. Found her in his bed, naked. With him standing over her.
“Oh my God.”
“I didn’t want to hear his explanations. I just jumped to the conclusion that they’d been having an affair. I stormed out. In the space of a week, I’d quit my job, put my shack on the market and taken a job at JSI.”
“JSI?”
“Jensen Security International. Kent Jensen hires mostly ex-military. I’m their resident doctor.”
“Why does that sound familiar?”
“Don’t know. They’re a big firm. Best in the world.”
She shook her head, uncertain where she would have heard about JSI before. “So what happened after that?”
“After that? Well, I’ve barely spoken to my brother in three years. Over the years he’s tried to explain what happened. I wasn’t willing to listen. Until now.”
She sucked in a breath. “All this time you’ve been angry at him?”
“I was angry. Then I was hurt. Then I became kind of bitter. And then he convinced me to come on a weekend away with him and I said yes, because I miss him, and I got sick of him moaning at me. Turned out to be the best thing I ever did.”
“How did she get in his bed?”
“She talked her way into his apartment, then while he was in the bathroom, she stripped off and climbed into his bed. When I got there, he was trying to get rid of her but I just saw my naked girlfriend in his bed.”
“What a bitch.”
“Total bitch.”
“I feel so sad for you and Archer, all those years wasted.”
“I know. My fault.”
She shook her head. “I get why it was hard for you to trust. I feel the same. It’s hard when you’ve been rejected by people meant to love you.”
“Yeah, seems we both have something in common.” He kissed her forehead. “I wanted you to know that I know what it feels like to be rejected because of your desires and needs. And that I’d never do that to someone else. Especially not someone I was meant to protect and care for. You’re safe with me, baby doll. Your Little is safe with me, when you’re ready to show her. I just thought it might be easier, if I told you my secrets for you to trust me.” He sat her on the sofa. “Now, I better go get Archer before he takes off a finger.”
“It’s dark out. He’s not really chopping kindling, is he?”
“I doubt it. I don’t know if he even knows how to wield an axe properly but he’s probably freezing his ass off.”
17
She slipped quietly from the bed. She’d stopped using her body pillow with Doc in the bed. She didn’t need it. She’d been awake for around half an hour. Since he’d been in her bed, this was the first time she’d woken and been unable to fall asleep again.
He rolled over and she froze. She knew he’d said to wake him, but she couldn’t do that to him. He needed his sleep. They shouldn’t both be sleep deprived.
With a yawn, she moved out of the bedroom, wishing she’d been able to find her slippers. Luckily, there was a blanket on the sofa. She picked one up and carried it into her office.
She drew it around her as she started up her laptop.
She blinked at the screen blurrily. She needed to get her brain moving. She started doing some spell-checking, which didn’t really require her brain to work.
“What do you think you are doing?”
She screamed as she jumped out of her seat and turned. Doc stood in the doorway, glaring at her.