The Brat (The Playgirls #3) by May Sage Read Free Book Online

wondered whether she’d imagined the whole thing. Shane was back to normal. Kinda.
    “Here’s your coffee,” he said, passing her a warm cup.
    He’d done that one thousand times before, without brushing her skin, but today, his hand lingered on her fingers for too long; it was definitely purposeful.
    Brookes looked down, confused, wondering how such a minimal, simple contact could make her want to burn his clothes and jump his bones.
    By the time she’d resolved to throw caution to the wind, Shane’s phone rang, and he walk away to answer it in his office.
     
    Brooke forced her attention back on the website she was polishing; it was good – unique, easy to navigate and gorgeous – but she wanted it to exceed her client’s expectations; she really needed the referrals, and no one endorsed someone for giving a “good” service.
    She was completely immersed in her job when Shane snuck up on her; one minute, she’d been by herself, the next, a hunk was towering over her, looking at her work behind her shoulders.
    “You’re brilliant. You know, we could use a new website. Could you squeeze us in?”
    “Sure,” she replied.
    She’d seen their basic wordpress page and it had made her want to cry. Shane – or worse, yet: Jack – had probably done it himself in half an hour. While it had served the purpose at the beginning, seven years ago, they were in desperate need of a revamp.
    She’d offered when they’d started up, but Jack had shrugged it off, and it hadn’t mattered at the time. She should have reiterated her proposal later on, when they’d become a serious business, but that might have been perceived as a desperate way to get Shane’s attention, so she’d left it alone.
    “Great. I was thinking about something that showcase some of our best work, you know – a panorama of the renovation, some before and after shoots. I’ll write it all down, you can give us a quote after.”
    That again. Was he serious?
    “I’m not charging you, Shane.”
    Unless he’d like to pay back her by offering a few extra orgasm. If he volunteered, she was writing down every work expense and out of hour work.
    “Don’t be silly, BB. The kinda work you do is worth thousands.”
    She shrugged; sure, it was, and she did charge thousands for it.
    “Your point? I’m not charging my brother, or any childhood friend.”
    “So, we’re friends, are we?”
    That got her attention. Brooke stopped coding, glancing up towards him. He seemed annoyed, which kinda was hilarious.
    “Well, I have seen most of my friends over the last three years, so I guess you’re right, we aren’t that friendly.”
    Yes, she’d brought up that particular elephant sitting in the corner of the room; she couldn’t really believe her own nerves, and if Shane’s visible shock was any indication, he couldn’t, either.
    He looked like he was tempted to start shouting, throttle her, devour her or all of the above, so it was a relief when his phone rang again.
    His shoulders sagged and he sighed; a real, exhausted sigh, not the fake ones he reserved to her.
    She only caught a few words before he was out of earshot, but they were enough for her to understand; there was only one person on this planet with whom he’d ever used that voice.
    People have different intonation whether they speak to family, friends, work colleagues; and they generally have a voice for their lover, too.
    Shane used the family voice with her and he had always reserved that soft, suave, understanding, adoring tone to one woman.
    One woman whose ring he still wore.
    After a full minute of numbness, Brooke mechanically packed her shit and high tailed it out of there.
     
    •
    Shane
     
    Alice was going to drive him mad.
    He loved both his sisters, of course, but he’d always preferred Alice; she was smarter, for one – and normally, there was less drama attached to her.
    Key word: normally.
    She’d just banked out of twenty-six years worth of drama and unleashed it on them