Before either brother could react, Charlotte disengaged herself from Rick’s grasp and sauntered over to the other side of the room, far away from either Chandler brother.
“You’re lame, pathetic, and obvious,” Rick muttered.
“So are you. And it’s not like you’re interested in anything more than a good time, so keep your goddamn hands off. She deserves better.”
Rick studied his brother. “I like women’s company. All women, and there’s not one in this town who doesn’t know the score. They don’t get involved if they’re looking for more. I enjoy them, they enjoy me, and no one gets hurt.”
“Especially you?”
“Including me.” Rick shrugged, but the flicker of pain flashed in his eyes.
Roman immediately regretted the pointed barb he’d shot his brother’s way. No one deserved to be used and hurt the way his middle brother had. Especially since he had everyone’s best interests in his heart at the expense of his own.
“Rick …”
“Forget it.” He brushed away Roman’s concern with his easy Chandler grin.
Roman groaned. He knew he’d overreacted. He wasn’t worried that Charlotte wanted anything more from Rick than a friendship. But rational knowledge didn’t mean Roman wanted to watch Rick’s too-friendly touches on Charlotte’s skin.
“Any chance you could enjoy someone else’s company?” he asked his brother.
“Why? Because she’s yours?”
When Roman didn’t respond to the bait, Rick stepped back, appraising him with the cop look that said, I’m figuring things out. “You’re the one in the market for a long-distance wife, little brother. If you’re so worried about Charlotte deserving better, seems to me you’d better take your own advice.”
“No shit,” Roman muttered.
“Back off. You’re hurting her with mixed messages.”
Roman knew Rick better than anyone, and he recognized that his brother was looking out for Charlotte’s best interest, and pushing Roman in the right direction at the same time. Rick didn’t care if Charlotte went into Roman’s arms or away from them as long as neither Roman nor Charlotte got hurt. It was his brother’s protective nature at play. The same protective nature that had gotten him in trouble once before.
But much as Roman hated to admit it, Rick had a good point. Roman was sending out mixed messages. Charlotte had spent over ten years avoiding him and then, when she finally took him up on his overt signals, what did he do? He rejected her out of self-preservation—at her expense.
Rick slapped Roman on the back. “Now that we’ve cleared that up, I think I’ll set your mind at ease and check on Mom.” He turned and headed for Raina and Charlotte, leaving Roman to choke on his own words, the taste of them sour in his mouth.
After another half an hour of attempting to interest himself in the single women of Yorkshire Falls, Roman knew he was failing miserably. And all because of the green-eyed woman who’d bewitched him from day one. Then there was his middle brother, who was hanging around Charlotte, baiting and aggravating Roman—intentionally, no doubt. If Rick was looking to get a reaction, he was too damn close to succeeding.
Especially when Roman turned toward the door in time to see Charlotte and Rick walk out together, his brother’s hand on the small of her naked back. He’d worry about self-control tomorrow, while self-preservation, he decided, was way overrated.
He stormed outside and into the dark night without looking back.
* * *
Raina watched her middle son leave with Charlotte to check on Beth Hansen while her youngest ran out of town hall, all eyes on his abrupt and angry departure. Her sons knew how to make an entrance, but they had to work on their exits.
Still, she couldn’t deny the sweeping sense of relief she felt with their departures. She’d have to sit tight. Though she’d love a dance, she couldn’t afford gossip to reach her boys. They were too smart and might just figure out her scam if she wasn’t careful. Keeping up the charade of poor health was more difficult than she’d imagined when she’d concocted this idea.
She shook her head, then glanced over at the punch bowl. Samson had long since disappeared to be replaced by Terrie Whitehall, Roman’s leftovers. She sighed. Much as she adored her boys, she hated the devastation left in their wake. Raina felt particularly protective toward Charlotte. And the last thing she wanted Charlotte Bronson to be was a Chandler casualty.
A daughter-in-law, now, that was another story. “Looks like there are renewed sparks between Roman and Charlotte,” Raina said to Eric, pleased her youngest had shown emotion where Charlotte was concerned.
She didn’t put much stock in the way he’d sashayed from female to female tonight, ignoring the one who interested him most. And she knew Rick’s interest in Charlotte was purely platonic, meant to rouse his sibling’s jealousy and perhaps get him to make a move sooner rather than later.
Raina liked that idea. It just might work—if Roman didn’t kill Rick first. “Those boys will be the death of me,” she said aloud.
Eric bit into the carrots they’d loaded onto a plastic plate earlier. “You’re mothering again.”
“Do you think Roman’s gone after them?”
“Do you think he wants us speculating?”
Raina shrugged. “I’m sure the rest of the room’s doing the same. He wasn’t exactly discreet about his departure.” She tapped her fingernail against the seat of the metal folding chair. “Come to think of it, neither was Annie. Poor Charlotte. Do you think Annie’s depression is curable?”
He sighed. “Do you think I’m going to discuss a patient with you?”
“Potential patient. Charlotte said she wants you to treat her mother—assuming she has any kind of condition other than lovesickness. Charlotte’s a sweet, caring woman. She’d make a wonderful wife and mother. Speaking of babies …”
“Let’s not.” Eric picked up another carrot from the plastic plate he held on his lap, dipped it into low-fat salad dressing, and popped it into Raina’s mouth.
She would have been offended if his tone weren’t so deep and compelling and his touch weren’t so warm. A long-forgotten heat rose inside her, starting in the pit of her stomach and spreading wide.
She chewed and swallowed the carrot, giving herself time to accept and adjust. “You’re trying to distract me,” she said when she’d finished eating.
“Your boys are gone. You don’t need to act so frail anymore. How am I doing?” He dipped and held up another carrot. “In the distraction department, I mean.”
“Not bad.” She smiled, unable to believe she was flirting. Raina didn’t care if distraction was Eric’s intent, she liked the male attention and discovered she’d missed it more than she’d realized.
“Then I need to step up my game.” He dotted the carrot on the tip of her nose and quickly kissed off the bit of dip he’d left behind.
Desire she couldn’t mistake swelled in her chest. “You certainly don’t make me feel old,” she murmured, which she had been feeling lately. She didn’t even care that they were in a public place where anyone could see.