"I'm making room for the painting I'm buying. At the auction," Bryce said, a pointed reminder that he had somewhere to be.
How like Bryce. Not only did he know exactly what he planned to bid on, he'd already decided he was going to win. Hell, maybe he would. He wasn't the family screwup.
Sean took a deep breath. "It's about a woman."
"Tara?"
"No, we broke up last month." Although Sean didn't speak directly to his brother often, their mom tried to keep everyone updated on family gossip. But she'd been busy preparing for an eleven-night cruise to Hawaii. They wouldn't be back until the end of the week. "It's actually a woman who works in your building. Danica...um, about yea tall? Gorgeous brunette, real-estate agent down the hall from you."
"Oh." Bryce nodded. "Right. I know who you're talking about."
His brother's offhand tone made Sean angry on Dani's behalf. What had she said when she thought he was Bryce? I've been thinking about you all week. She'd noticed Bryce, wanted him. As much as the idea of her desiring his brother put Sean's teeth on edge, it was almost worse that Bryce had barely registered her existence. She was stunning, special. She deserved a man who-
Who what? Lies to her? Cold reality sliced through his righteous indignation. Last night, he'd wanted to take a swing at her ex-fiancé, wanted to sock the guy in the nose for hurting her. Congratulations, now you're the guy hurting her. He was in the mood for a fight, but it was difficult to kick one's own ass.
Maybe after he admitted to Bryce what he'd done, his big brother would take care of that for him.
7
BRYCE GRAYSON WAS having trouble following the conversation. He was still trying to adjust to the surprise of finding Sean on his doorstep.
In the entire time Bryce had lived in the loft, his brother had never once dropped by out of the blue. Why would he? Sean had plenty of friends to call when he wanted to hang out; it had been that way since grade school. Bryce, as the twin their parents had always relied on to follow the rules, was more successful in relationships with clear protocols-it was one of the reasons he'd joined a fraternity. From pledging to initiation, there were conventions to follow.
Sean didn't need convention. And he'd never needed help with women before, either, so Bryce doubted his brother was here to ask for an introduction to the brunette he'd mentioned.
He fastened a cuff link, hoping Sean reached his point soon. Punctuality was one of those social conventions Bryce respected. "What does this Danica have to do with anything?"
"I met her in your office building yesterday. We went out last night...but she thought I was you. I, um, didn't correct her."
"What?" Bryce jerked his head up sharply. "You let her think she was on a date with me?"
"It's complicated."
"It's identity theft!"
Sean rolled his eyes. "It's not like I took your credit cards to Vegas."
No, this was far worse! As a kid, Sean had been the type to throw a football in the house, then have the nerve to look shocked when something got broken. Although Bryce no longer knew his brother well, it seemed as though Sean hadn't changed. He was still charismatic, impulsive and heedless of consequences.
Bryce had been the worrier. In younger years, he'd worried about his brother getting hurt doing stupid stunts. But by the time Bryce got tested into gifted classes in middle school, their formerly laconic father had given him new focus for his worry. His dad's favorite conversational theme became the opportunities that would be available if Bryce worked hard enough. Bryce began to feel as if he was shouldering the weight of his family-his mom had never gone to college, and his father only had a vocational degree. While Sean spent his high school years making out with cheerleaders, Bryce was studying for Advance Placement exams, obsessed with not losing his GPA lead to the salutatorian right on his heels.
"I didn't set out to lie to her," Sean defended himself, as if that somehow made anything better. "It happened fast. She was supposed to get married yesterday, but the cheating jerk bailed on her. She was looking for someone to... You would have been all wrong for her! It's like Tara used to say-"
"Tara your ex?" His brain hurt. Had his brother descended into daytime drinking? This exchange was making less and less sense.
Nodding, Sean glowered. "She made a point of frequently mentioning that you're the successful one, the college-educated architect with the bright future."
"So you picked up a woman in my name out of some kind of petty resentment?"
"Of course not! You don't understand-"
"What sane person could? You've done some reckless shit, but this borders on criminal." The thought of trying to make small talk with Danica after his brother's inexplicable fraud made his stomach tighten. Sean might never have to deal with her again, but Bryce crossed paths with her on a nearly daily basis. "I have to face this woman! Did that even occur to you?"
"No. I admit, I wasn't thinking about you while staring into a beautiful woman's eyes. But I figure it balances out, since you think about yourself enough for the both of us."
Bryce's fists clenched at his sides. "What the hell does that mean?"
"It means, you're a lot more concerned about climbing the ladder of success than the people you left behind. Like our parents-"
"I'm the one who paid to upgrade their cruise!"
"Yeah, you threw money at them," Sean retorted, "like one of the charities you support in the name of networking. How many times have you backed out of family plans because of something 'important' like this damn auction?"
Bryce had never been closer to hitting a person. "It must be so easy to stand in judgment when you weren't the one expected to succeed." How dare his jackass brother accuse him of not caring about their family? Why did Sean think he'd come back to Georgia? The problem with Sean is, he doesn't think.
"No," Sean said softly, "I guess I wouldn't know what that was like." He raked a hand through his hair. "I didn't come here to fight. I know I screwed up, and I figured I owed you the truth."
"And Danica? She deserves the truth, too." Bryce sure didn't want to be the one to explain the whole mess to her.
"I told her first thing this morning."
First thing? "Are you saying you spent the night with her?" Bryce asked, appalled.
Sean didn't reply, but the guilt in his gaze and tic in his jaw were answer enough.
Another question occurred to Bryce as his brother reached for the door. "What were you doing at my office in the first place?"
"Birthday surprise." Sean flashed a grim smile over his shoulder. "Believe it or not, I walked into that building with the best of intentions."
He'd somehow turned a token birthday gesture into a sex scandal? Only my brother. "In the future, do us both a favor and just send an e-card."
* * *
DANI'S MONDAY DID not get off to an auspicious start. After a fitful night of tossing and turning, only managing to drift off an hour before dawn, she overslept. Then she lost more time applying heavier makeup than normal in an attempt to cover the dark circles beneath her eyes. Naturally, she hit every red light possible on her way to work. She arrived at the office twenty minutes late. Which, for her, was like an hour late.
"Aw, sweetie." Behind her retro cat's-eye glasses, the receptionist gazed at her with blatant pity. "Tough weekend, huh?"
Crap. So much for the concealing power of cosmetics. "Didn't get a lot of sleep," Dani admitted. Saturday night, she'd been too busy having enthusiastic sex. Last night? She'd lain in bed plagued by memories of the enthusiastic sex. And it wasn't as if she could escape the mental replay by sleeping on her couch. Hell, she'd even thought of Sean while standing in the shower this morning, recalling the way he'd-
"Hon, you want me to hold your calls for a little while?" Although Judy was barely forty, nowhere near old enough to be Dani's mom, she had a naturally maternal air. "Give you a chance to get your bearings?"
"Thanks, Judy, but I'll be okay."
"You sure? It must be hard, being here when you're supposed to be on your honeymoon right now."
A brittle laugh escaped Dani. She kept forgetting people expected her to be upset about the wedding. She'd done some soul-searching after Meg left yesterday and had reached an epiphany. If she and Tate hadn't been on separate continents, they would have broken up much sooner. The geographic distance between them had allowed them to ignore the personality clashes and the small, grating ways in which they weren't compatible. She still thought he was slime for being unfaithful before ending their relationship, but she could honestly say he'd done her a favor by calling off the wedding.