Gaynor blinked then furrowed her brow. “Archer?” Her eyes widened, and she whispered, “As in Lydia’s Archer. The woman Robert, your dad, married?”
“Yeah. I’ve been in London, so I never met her kids. It was a shock to see him at the wedding, and worse when I realized just what our relationship was.”
“Stepbrothers. What are you going to do about it?” Cain felt the heat in his cheeks and ducked his head, closing his eyes when he heard Gaynor laughing. “Oh, you didn’t.”
“We met up and talked and then went back to mine. He’s nice, Gaynor, and we clicked. I’ve never had that kind of connection with a woman.”
“Archer’s lovely, and if he wasn’t gay...” She trailed off. “But he isn’t, so no luck for me.” She glanced outside the window and sighed. “Difficult position you find yourself in, Cain. A man who seems who seems to be the one for you is now technically family. That could cause some problems. There are some people here who would have it out for you two.”
“I know,” Cain whispered. “I want him, but I don’t know if we should continue. I don’t want to let him go either.”
“Rock and a hard place. I don’t envy you, Cain, but you need to think long and hard about the possible ramifications. Secrets have a way of finding the light, and this is a big one. Sure, you could pass it off as getting to know each other as you’ve been in London, but that will only work for so long. At some point, people will ask questions. Who else knows?”
“The whole family knows about the vacation and there were a few ripples, but most seem to understand we didn’t know and have dropped it. Walter thinks it’s hilarious.”
Gaynor grinned. “Oh, he would.”
“We haven’t told anyone else about the weekend. We want to see how it goes. When you’re on vacation, you’re isolated from real life.”
“And it’s easy to get carried away by the fantasy of it.”
Cain nodded. “It is, and we had an amazing time together. The sex is just as hot now as it was then, but what if we seriously try and it fucks up? How will that affect everyone around us?”
“Oh, Cain, I’m sorry.” Gaynor sighed. “I don’t envy you.”
“I don’t know what to do. I told Archer we should keep things quiet until we know if it will work or not. I don’t want the family finding out and things fuck up.” Cain rubbed his face. “We shouldn’t be doing this, but I can’t stay away either. I’ve never had this before. All my other relationships pale in comparison.”
“It’s hard to stay away when you have a connection.” Cain stared at her, and she gave him a sad smile. “It’s obvious there are feelings involved. The look on your face when you talk about him tells me that much. You care about him.”
“I do.”
“It must have been so hard to leave when your vacation was over.”
“It was, and it was the same for Archer too. Leaving him behind when the cab drove away...” Cain rubbed his chest and realized that it didn’t matter whether they tried or not, he would always notice Archer because the man had touched something inside him. Even though they hadn’t spent a great deal of time together, Cain had developed feelings for him.
He wouldn’t be able to switch them off, and if they ended things now and he had to watch Archer fall in love with someone else? He didn’t think he would be able to cope. Seeing Archer but not being able to touch him. “Shit.”
“Are you going to try and keep it to yourselves until you know for sure?”
“It was only two weeks, the vacation. How could he have gotten under my skin in such a short period of time? I wasn’t expecting someone, and a man no less.”
“It happens like that. My parents met and married within three weeks and almost forty years later are still going strong. I’ve walked in on some things...” Gaynor shuddered.
“That’s good though.”
“It is, and they still love each other as much as the day they married. I couldn’t wait to move out. I lived in cringe city, but now that I’m older, I want what they have.”
“You’ll get it.
Gaynor scoffed. “I just divorced the loser husband who ran up a shit ton of debt and left it for me to sort out.”
“We all pick the occasional dud.” Cain arched a brow. “Remember Sandra?”
Gaynor paused then slowly smiled. “Oh my god. What a bitch. Where did you find her?”
“She broke down, and I stopped to help her out.” Cain smiled, remembering exactly how helped her out.
“With her mouth I take it.”
Cain grinned, and Gaynor chuckled. “Her mouth may have been involved.”
They both looked at each other and laughed. “The ex couldn’t find my clit if I shaved bald and had a neon sign pointing to it.”
“Ouch.”
“I faked it. A lot. And he never caught on. Idiot.” Standing, Gaynor smiled at him. “You’ll figure it out. Follow your heart and your gut. If he does tick all your boxes, then go for it.”
Cain nodded and watched her leave then swung his chair around so he could stare out of the window. He rubbed a hand over his face and sighed deeply. He wanted someone he shouldn’t but that someone made him feel emotions he never had before.
Straightening, he muttered, “Fuck ‘em. You only live once.” Archer was his, and he was going to grab the man with both hands...again. Sometimes Walter was right when he did what he wanted and not giving a damn about the rest. It was about time Cain did the same thing.
He wanted Archer, and he was going to have him...repeatedly. Cain smiled and spun back around to face his desk. Soon. He’d be able to touch Archer again soon.
Chapter Twenty
“ARCHER!”
Archer stuck his head out of his office, his brow furrowed at the urgent tone in his receptionist’s voice. “What?”
“Dog hit by a car. The owner’s just called from the car now.”
“Any details?” he asked as he walked from his office to reception.
“They can see the bones sticking out of his rear leg, and they think his breathing is funny.”
“Let’s get surgery set up. I want x-rays ready to go just in case, but depending on the severity of the break, the owners may go for amputation. If not, I can give them details of an orthopedic surgeon.”
His receptionist nodded. “On it.”
He grabbed his coat and washed up, and by the time he walked into surgery, the dog was being placed on the table. One look confirmed the owner’s suspicion. The leg was broken. Badly.
“File?” he snapped, already in work mode. Blood was pooling beneath the canine, and he quickly examined him, noting the lacerations covered one side of his body. “Anything I need to know?”
“Nothing noted.”
“Let’s get pain meds started. I will need those x-rays, but...” Archer nodded. “He’ll probably lose the leg, but I will see what I can do to save it.” He carefully manipulated the leg, feeling the crunch of broken bones. The leg was shattered. The dog whimpered and cried on the table, but Archer ignored it. The pain meds would kick in and give the animal some relief. “Do they have insurance?”