“I guess I didn’t actually propose.”
Lucas’s eyebrows rose. “What did you do then?”
“Told her we were getting married.” Out loud, it sounded even worse than it did in his head. “It made sense, you know? You marry a woman you get pregnant. Instead, she’s talking about lawyers and custody arrangements.”
“Geez, are you that clueless?” Lucas huffed out a disgusted breath. “No wonder she dumped you. You don’t have a romantic bone in your body, obviously. How in the world did you score with Eva?”
That bristled the hair on the back of Matthew’s neck. “I didn’t score with her. It wasn’t like that. We had something—” Special. Meaningful. Unexplainable. “I don’t know. Different.”
“Different than what? Amber?”
Matthew’s throat burned, and he almost used it as an excuse to clam up. But once, he and Lucas had been close. That their bond had deteriorated was totally his fault. He wanted it back. And the first step was being honest.
“Different than anything I’ve ever experienced. Amber fit me, fit my plans. Evangeline...doesn’t.”
But she fit Matt comfortably, like a second skin. Evangeline was different—sexy, arousing, provoking and flat-out frightening.
“So? Life is what happens when you’re making other plans.”
If only it was that easy.
“Since you’re so smart, you tell me. If everything you thought you knew about yourself got flipped upside down, what would you do?” Yeah, asking what would Lucas do had gotten him into this mess. Why break tradition?
A perceptive light crept into his brother’s eyes. “Well, now. That very thing happened, as a matter of fact. When it did, I looked to my older brother and said, that’s who I want to be.”
Matthew flinched. “Me? Which part of dumping all my responsibilities in your lap did you aim to replicate?”
“Nobody blames you for that. You needed a break. But I guess you forgot the rest of that conversation the afternoon Grandpa died. You said I could be you, and you were going to go be me. I took that seriously. I stepped up because I wanted to be as successful as you.”
“I took it seriously, too.” Matthew had to chuckle at the irony. “You want to know how I got Evangeline’s attention? I pretended I was you. It worked.”
Lucas grinned. “I’ve never seduced a pop star.”
“Neither have I. I didn’t know that’s who she was at the time. All I wanted was to feel something again.” And he’d done a stellar job. He felt stupid, frustrated and out of his element. “Then bam! There she was, like an answer to a prayer, only I hadn’t prayed for that. I didn’t have any idea what to do with her.”
“Well, you must have had some idea since she’s, you know, pregnant.” Lucas ducked, but Matthew hadn’t been planning to smack him. Not right this minute, anyway.
“Yeah, I’m not going to kiss and tell. Hope you get over your disappointment real soon.” He flopped back against the pillow, exhausted. “Now she doesn’t want anything to do with me, and my kid is going to be living in Europe while I’m here. Mama is going to be so disappointed.”
“Mama? What about you? Aren’t you disappointed in yourself?”
“I didn’t need you to point that out.”
Of course he was disappointed. He’d dreamed of a family for a long time. Instantly, the image of Evangeline holding his child, her beautiful face luminous as she smiled at the bundle, popped into his mind, and the sharp stab to the gut nearly doubled him over.
“I don’t know what to do.”
“You’re going to figure it out.” Lucas put a brotherly hand on Matthew’s shoulder. “I’ve never seen you fail at something you put your heart into.”
He eyed his little brother with new respect. Lucas had stepped into the role Matthew formerly occupied, and with more success than probably anyone had expected, thanks in no small part to Cia. Never underestimate the power of the right woman.
Lucas excused himself so Matthew could get ready for dinner.
When he arrived downstairs, everyone was already at the table. Conversation ground to a sudden halt—obviously because they’d been discussing him—when he came into view.
“Hey, son.” His dad, who looked tan and fit, jumped up to give him a brief manly hug.
“Playing a lot of golf lately?”
His dad nodded. “Lucas is running the show at WFP, and I’m enjoying life. Care for a round?”
Matthew agreed without really intending to, but he was home. Home meant doing all the things he used to. Might as well reestablish the routine right away.
Cia glanced up at him and flicked her long, dark hair from her shoulder. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t get up.” She pointed to her huge stomach, and he quickly averted his eyes. Pregnancy was a sore subject.
“Cia.”
He kissed his sister-in-law’s cheek and smiled at Mama, then proceeded to suffer through a long discussion about the strategies Lucas was working to drive Richards Group back to Houston where their competitor belonged. It was staggering to hear Lucas spit out such cogent, well-thought-out plans.
More than once, his attention wandered back to Venice, only to snap back to the present when someone said his name. Matthew. He’d been called that more times today alone than in all of the past few months.
It felt weird to answer to it.
Afterward, he flopped into one of the wicker chairs on Mama’s porch, across from Lucas and Cia. They giggled and nuzzled each other until he thought he’d throw up.
“Get a room.”
“Hey, just because you screwed things up with your woman doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy mine.” Lucas ducked as Cia smacked him.
“Leave him alone,” she said with a conciliatory kiss to her husband’s jaw.
Matthew did a double take. His sister-in-law had never liked him. “Defending me? What is the world coming to?”
But she shot him a mellow smile instead of flaying him alive like she’d have done in the past. “You tell me. What has your world come to, Matthew?”
“Disaster,” he muttered. Louder, he said, “Lucas spill all my beans?”
“No, the internet did. It was quite the discussion at the shelter for a week. Did you at least come home with an autograph or two?”
Yeah. Evangeline had taken a Sharpie to his insides all right.
Matthew grimaced. “I came home with nothing.”
“I see your attitude hasn’t improved. Shame.” Cia clucked. “Now I owe Lucas something that’s going to be very hard for me to do in my current state.”
The smoldering glance she skewered his brother with said she’d figure out a way to pay up or die trying. They seemed blissfully happy, even almost a year into their marriage. Who would have thought?
“Did you lose a bet?”
“Yeah.” Lucas answered for her. “The second she saw the pictures of you and Eva, she swore you’d never come home. So I won.”
Matthew shook his head. “I don’t know how you could make such a bet over a picture.”
Coolly, Cia evaluated him. “You haven’t seen