Ronan knew him too well. “Nah, I’m good.”
“Liar,” Ronan countered as Carrick stepped off the treadmill. “This wouldn’t have something to do with Sadie Slade, would it?”
Carrick hid his surprised expression behind his towel. He made a show of wiping his face and only dropped the towel when he was certain his expression was inscrutable. “Why would you think that?”
Ronan lifted his dark eyebrows. “Oh, the fact that you turned pea-green and were scared out of your mind when she choked at the pre-exhibition cocktail party.”
They’d been some of the worst minutes of his life, but he wasn’t going to admit that to his brother. Carrick handed Ronan a that’s-all-you-got? look. “She’s consulting for us and she choked on food served at a Murphy event.”
Ronan ignored his explanation. “And every time you two are together, the room crackles with electricity.”
“Crap,” Carrick replied before turning his back to Ronan to head for the water dispenser. He filled a cup, downed the water and filled the cup again. Not wanting to discuss Sadie—he’d given that frustrating woman far too much of his time as it was—he changed the subject. “Have you found a nanny yet?”
“Keely suggested that Joa help me out. She’s an au pair and she’s got time on her hands.” Ronan looked uncomfortable and Carrick’s big-brother radar beeped. “You met her the other day, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.” Carrick nodded.
“What did you think about her?” Ronan asked.
Why were they talking about Joa? Carrick had no idea, but as long as they weren’t discussing Sadie, he’d go with it. “She seemed pleasant. Gorgeous as hell, obviously, but smart. She asked some pertinent questions about art and the Homer in particular. Are you going to hire her?”
Ronan shifted and shrugged. “Dunno.”
Carrick knew Ronan desperately needed a nanny. Joa was available, had experience and Keely recommended her. Why wasn’t Ronan jumping all over this?
Could it be because Ronan was finally starting to notice women again? It worried Carrick that Ronan had shown no interest in women, or sex, since Thandi’s death. Sex was a biological function, something men in their thirties needed. He’d raised the subject with Ronan and had been told to back off, that sex was a momentary release and it certainly did not have the power to penetrate grief.
He’d backed off.
But Ronan’s questions about Joa gave Carrick hope. To the world, his brother was the funny, fast-talking Murphy, able to charm birds from the trees, but Carrick had held him as he cried, watched over him and his kids as he drank himself into oblivion those first few weeks after Thandi passed away.
Ronan had regained his charm, but it was all surface; underneath he was still broken and battered.
“Are you hesitant about hiring her because she’s stunning?” Carrick asked, looking for some sort of agreement in Ronan’s eyes, and there it was, a flicker of acknowledgment and was that...possessiveness? Better and better...
“Or because she is smart and sexy?” Carrick knew he was pushing Ronan’s patience, but thought it was worth it. “Don’t you think?”
Ronan shrugged. “I guess. Not that I can look at her like that.”
Carrick sighed. In Ronan’s head, having a relationship with anyone would be cheating on Thandi, and while his brother was a rabble-rouser and a party animal—or he had been—he did not cheat.
None of them did.
“Ro, you’re allowed to be attracted to someone other than Thandi,” Carrick quietly told him.
Ronan’s stark gaze met his. “Whether I am or not is beside the point. We don’t fool around with our employees, Carrick. It’s a recipe for disaster and you, of all people, know that.”
Ouch. Carrick sighed. “Sadie and I just had one night, Ronan. And it’s over.”
Surprise jumped into Ronan’s eyes. “Ah, well, okay. And more than I needed to know about you and Sadie. Actually, I was referring to Satan’s bride, Tamlyn. You met her when you worked together on restoring that Kahlo.”
Carrick winced. Crap. He was so busted. Looking for a way out, he picked up on Ronan’s previous sentence. “At the risk of sounding reasonable, may I point out that hiring Joa as your nanny might be the answer to all your problems?”
“Or the source of a dozen more,” Ronan muttered, walking away.
Carrick watched Ronan as he headed to the rowing machine and winced. Yep, just another stunning woman causing chaos in a Murphy male’s life. On the plus side, Carrick was grateful he wasn’t alone.
Misery, after all, liked company.