“You don’t need coffee,” he said. “You need a good night’s sleep.”
“I’ll be fine.” She could fall asleep right in this chair.
As decisively as always, Dev acted. “You’re going to bed. We can talk tomorrow. You’re done for the night.”
And with those words, he swept her up in his arms and strode to her bedroom. Quickly and efficiently, he stripped her and settled her under the covers in her underwear, tucking the comforter close around her neck.
“Will you stay?” she asked, her eyes drifting shut. The storm of emotion had rendered her boneless.
He knelt beside her bed and smoothed her hair. “I don’t dare. You need sleep.”
“You could sleep with me,” she offered, yawning hugely.
Dev chuckled. “Babe, if I’m in this bed with you, there will be no sleeping going on, trust me.” He brushed a gentle kiss over her lips and murmured against them. “But Friday night, we’re going to have a real date. In the meantime, you get some rest. I’ll turn off the coffee and let myself out.”
Lacey wasn’t sure what she mumbled as she fell headlong into sleep.
Dev swung hard at the punching bag, droplets of sweat blurring his vision. He’d given up on sleep after four restless hours and decided to burn off excess energy at the gym near Connor’s apartment, where he was staying on this trip. He’d already been training for an hour.
But nothing was helping.
You’d better not blow it, dumbass. This job was complicated enough without getting his libido involved. He couldn’t hold Maddie off much longer. Hurricane Maddie would be in Houston soon, if he didn’t give her the sister she so desperately longed to know.
He didn’t know what had happened last night, but Lacey was in no shape for a surprise raid by a sister she didn’t know she had. But he, who seldom doubted himself, wondered yet again if he were the right person to be handling the revelation.
For one second, he remembered the feel of her against him, so delicate, so ravaged. Remembered the rightness, the fierce need to protect her.
But he, and the knowledge he possessed, could do her more harm than anyone. With that thought, Dev threw himself back into his workout with the punching bag.
“Somebody get crossways with you, big brother?” Connor Marlowe’s voice broke into his thoughts a few minutes later.
Dev accepted the towel in his brother’s hands, wiping down his face and neck. “Just making up for missing a couple of workouts.” He studied Connor’s blue eyes. “What’s wrong?”
Connor raked his fingers through shaggy hair as black as Dev’s, a sure sign, if Dev had needed it, that he was troubled. “Why do you think something’s wrong?”
“I changed your diapers, buddy. Not much about you I don’t know.” He grinned. “The other dead giveaway is you being up before noon.”
Connor flushed. “I’m not a college kid anymore. I’m a contributing member of society.”
“Yeah, but you took the day off. It’s six…” Dev squinted at the clock across the gym. “Seven o’clock in the morning. What’s up?” He motioned to his water bottle, and Connor squeezed a long stream into Dev’s mouth that Dev gulped greedily.
“I really wish you’d quit acting like my father.” Traces of Connor’s teenage rebellion skipped across his features.
“I practically am your father. So what’s up?”
Connor’s jaw worked tightly. He was silent for a time. Then he looked up. “I had a fight with Kathleen last night while you were gone.”
“Over what?”
“Mom. Kath thinks Mom should move in with you or me. She’s afraid Mom won’t make it this time, either. I told her to back off. It’s easy for her to say—she’s in L.A. I mean, you’ve done enough. Mom will make it or won’t, but you deserve your freedom.”
Dev wasn’t sure he trusted his voice. He couldn’t recall the last time someone had come to his defense. He tapped Connor’s shoulder with one glove, remembering the little boy who used to crawl into bed with him on stormy nights. In some ways, Connor was the son he’d never had. “I, uh—thanks.” Dev cleared his throat. “I mean it.”
Then he forced a grin. “Tell you what—while you’re battling it out, why don’t you tell Deirdre to lay off the matchmaking?”
His brother answered with a smile and a shake of the head. “Not on your life, big brother. I’m grateful, but that’s going too far. You’re all that stands between me and serious heat.”
They both fell silent in the wake of strong emotion. Then Connor looked up, blue eyes sparkling. “Tell me there’s no candidate to take you out of the game. I’d like a few more years to play around.”