He shifted his eyes to his silent cell phone, wondering why she hadn’t texted him yet. Again, he wondered why he cared.
“That was another reason I came by,” Logan said, bringing Heath’s mind back to the present. “I want to take Stormy to a Broadway show tonight. She’s never been, and I was offered great tickets. Any chance you can stop by Mom’s for me?” Logan was the first of Heath’s siblings to fall in love, and he’d been the most likely not to. They’d all been surprised when he’d brought Stella “Stormy” Krane to their mother’s house for dinner. Stormy had been on the run from an abusive, drug-trafficking ex-boyfriend, and Logan had helped her track down enough dirt on the guy to get him sent to jail for the next twenty years. Logan had fallen hard and fast for her, and Heath had never seen his brother look happier.
“Sure. I’m happy to stop by.” Heath and his brothers took turns stopping by their mother’s house on a nightly basis. They visited, took her out for groceries, to events and dinners. It was not only their way of making sure that losing her sight didn’t mean losing out on other aspects of her life, but it was also a way for them to ensure she was protected and safe. Heath had spent many nights driving by at odd hours to check on her, and he knew his brothers did as well. Their mother had plenty of friends she spent time with, but nothing replaced family. Heath knew that no matter how often they visited and what gaps in her life they filled, nothing would ever replace the emptiness their father’s death had left behind.
Heath’s phone vibrated. He felt his pulse quicken and noted the unfamiliar sensation as he snagged the phone and read Ally’s text.
Your body must have been burning. I had an X-rated dream about you last night.
He felt himself smile as he typed a return text.
What did you do about it when you woke up?
He set the phone down, and Logan cleared his throat. Shit. From the narrow-eyed look Logan was giving him, Heath knew he might as well have a tattoo on his forehead that said, Yup. I’ve got a secret, and she’s damn hot.
Heath pushed the files around on his desk and avoided Logan’s curious gaze. “So, what else is up? I’ll stop by Mom’s tonight after I finish rounds at the hospital, but I’ve got to get started on my patients.” He glanced at Logan, who had a shit-eating grin on his face. Heath shook his head.
“So that’s how we’re going to play this? First you show up for dinner at Mom’s last night and check your phone about a dozen times.”
“Patients.”
“Uh-huh,” Logan said. “How do you explain the smile you had plastered on your face last night? And just now, when you were returning that text, you had a look in your eye that I don’t even want to try to decipher. Unless your patients have started blowing you, I’m thinking there’s a woman involved.”
“Logan.” Heath shot him a narrow-eyed, warning stare.
Logan scoffed. “Heath, you think that look is going to stop me from asking about whoever this is?” Logan rose and paced, rubbing his chin with a serious narrowing of his eyes. “You went to a conference in Vermont, which we all know probably led to an anonymous sexual tryst.”
Heath tried to keep a straight face and shrugged.
“Stormy said you were looking at us last night with ‘puppy-dog’ eyes.”
“What the hell does that mean, Logan?” Heath rose to his feet.
“She says you were looking at us like you were thinking about what we had. Our relationship.”
Heath picked up a file and flipped through it, trying to disguise the part of him that agreed with Logan. “No thanks. I was probably looking at how *-whipped you’d become.” The truth was, he had been trying to figure out how his brother had gotten lucky enough to snag a woman like Stormy, who adored the very ground he walked on and was strong enough to give him shit in equal measure. She was perfect for him. And sure, part of Heath began wondering if he might be able to find that, too. With Ally.
“Hey, don’t knock it.” Logan crossed his arms and lowered his chin. “And don’t talk about Stormy that way or I’ll kick your ass.”
“That wasn’t a comment about Stormy. I think the world of her. You know that. It was a comment about how much you’ve changed. You’ve gone soft.”
“Only around her, and hell if that’s not exactly who I want to be. What’s wrong with you? You get a text and smile like it gave you a hard-on. Just admit there’s a woman in there somewhere. My PI skills don’t ever lead me astray.”
Heath leaned both hands on the desk and bowed his head. When he lifted his eyes to meet Logan’s again, he couldn’t lie.
“Okay. Fine. I met someone. But don’t get all sappy with me. I don’t even know her last name, where she lives, or anything, and I prefer to keep it that way.”
Logan arched a brow. “I can fix that in about ten minutes.”