her replacement, instantly. Margot’s voice did not grate. It was low, rich and smoky, like fine Scotch. Margot glided, swayed, sauntered like a female panther. No bouncing.
He slammed out of his truck and stalked into the house. The open door swung in the breeze. Every light in Sean’s path towards the fridge had been flipped on and left burning. A murmur of voices from the back porch indicated that Miles, their protégé, student and future employee, was out there too, helping suck down Davy’s beer.
He slapped the porch door open. “The next time you pull a shit parking job like that in my driveway, I’m slashing all your tires.”
Sean froze in the act of lifting the bottle to his lips. “Shoot, Davy, that would be really counterproductive of you, being as how it would take that much longer for me to move my truck and park it according to your rigid specifications.”
“The delay would be worth it if I actually managed to make an impression in your thick skull, smart-ass.”
Miles put his beer down and got awkwardly to his feet. “Uh…should I, like, go? I’ll go take the bus, if this is a bad time—”
“Sit down, Miles,” Sean said. “This is business as usual.”
Miles dropped back into his chair and hunched down into his habitual vulture shape of which they were both trying to break him.
Sean studied his brother, a frown between his eyes. “You’ve got that puckered-butt, hollow-eyed look of a guy who hasn’t gotten laid in months. For God’s sake, grab a beer, and chill. We brought Chinese.”
“I already ate.”
“Where?” Sean demanded. “You haven’t gone out in ages.”
Davy let the screen door slam loudly as he grabbed a beer out of the fridge. As a rule, he didn’t rely on chemicals to change his state of consciousness. Fuck it. He put the beer back, grabbed a glass, and pulled out his emergency bottle of single malt.
Sean was still waiting for an answer to his question when Davy stretched out in one of his deck chairs. His eyebrows quirked when he saw the whiskey in Davy’s hand. “Mr. Pure, imbibing strong spirits? How depraved. So? Where did you eat? With who? Let’s have it.”
He inhaled, and braced himself. “Margot Vetter.”
Sean’s dimples came and went as he struggled not to grin. “Oh! Awesome. Guess we’re going to have to start calling before we drop by. It’s about time, man. I was starting to worry about—”
“Why didn’t you tell me about the stalker?”
Sean blinked. “From the tone of your voice, I take it you haven’t gotten lucky yet. Guess we can’t all be as slick as I am at seduction.”
“Focus,” Davy snarled. “Just answer the goddamn question.”
“I didn’t want to give you a chance to think it to death,” Sean said bluntly. “And I thought it would be a hell of a lot more effective if she asked you in person. Dewy eyes, long lashes going blinkety-blink? Full, trembling lips? Heaving bosom? And it was, wasn’t it?” He studied his brother, and repeated in a sharper tone. “Wasn’t it?”
Davy studied his brother over the rim of his glass. “Just how well do you know her, anyway?”
Sean’s tilted green eyes were unusually cool. He waited a very long time to reply. “You mean, have I put the moves on her?”
Davy waited to inhale. Seconds ticked by. Miles looked worried.
Sean stretched out his long legs and propped his boots up on the porch railing. “I tried, sure. Any straight guy with a pulse would try. Except for you, of course, but we all know that you’re, ah, special. She just wasn’t into me. It’s like when I got that crush on my high school French teacher. She just sort of pats me on the head while I pant and drool.” His shrug was elaborately casual. “I think it’s you she likes.”
Davy’s chest jerked in a convulsion that vaguely resembled laughter. “Hah. Not.”
“Really. I’ve seen her scoping you. God knows why a woman would prefer your charms to mine, but babes are unfathomable.”
“Stop busting my balls,” Davy growled. “What did she tell you?”
Sean heaved the heavy sigh he always affected when Davy refused to play along with his bullshit. “I ran into her in the parking lot the other day. She’d locked her keys into her car. She was crying.”
Davy was taken aback at the thought of Margot crying. “Her? Over car keys?”
“I thought it was weird, too. She looks like the type that would kick the tires and yell at the car. Anyhow, I galloped to the rescue with my Slim Jim, but when I got the car open, she just gave me this blank look, not responding to my devastating charm. I asked her what was wrong, and she said, ‘Oh, nothing,’ you know the way women do when they’re about to go sit in the dark and eat a half gallon of ice cream?”
“Actually, Sean, I’ve don’t know that I’ve ever inspired a woman to eat a half-gallon of ice cream,” Davy said, with rigid patience.
Sean rolled his eyes. “Little do you know. You just don’t pay attention. Anyhow, I coaxed it out of her. The burglary, the dead dog, yuck. It sounded creepy, so I told her to talk to you. I know you’re phasing out the P.I. stuff, but she’s scared. Broke, too, but you’re not hurting for money, and it’ll keep you from getting bored and stealing hubcaps on the street until we get our business launched. You could hold off on billing her. Or better yet, do it pro bono. That would be righteous and studly of you. Women dig that.”
Davy regarded his brother with slitted eyes. “Are you trying to fix me up? Don’t.”
Sean looked disgusted. “Self-absorbed prick. You think this is all about you. I was just trying to make Margot stop crying. She’s afraid this sick fuck is going to hurt her little dog.”
“Great,” Davy said sourly. “Heart-wrenching.”
“Yeah, actually. It is.” Sean scowled at him as he took another swig of beer. “And what if I was trying to fix you up? What’s the crime? You’re not making discernible progress on your own. You haven’t shown signs of life since the Ice Princess gave you the boot. The chick with the blonde bun who never let her hair down, what was her name?”
Davy winced. “Beth. She wanted a ring.”
Sean pantomimed wiping sweat from his brow. “Thank God you bailed. I always felt like I had my foot shoved into my mouth when that woman was around. Oh, and speaking of girlfriends, I talked to Connor. He said it’s in your best interests to bring a date to the wedding, because Erin’s got a flock of man-eating bridesmaids, and Erin’s mama likes to matchmake. If you go alone they’ll be unleashed upon you. A tornado of jewel-toned taffeta. Watch out. They see you in a tux, man? You’re dead meat.”
Davy hissed in dismay. He’d deliberately avoided thinking about his brother Connor’s impending wedding, but it was bearing down on him now like a runaway train. “Fuck me. You bringing someone?”
Sean’s grin was gleeful and wicked. “Hell, no. Bring ’em on, six, eight, ten at a time. My idea of paradise.
