Page 38 of Just One More Moment

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Remy and Dexended up in the family room. The house had a slight chill and Remy immediately decided he’d be making a fire so he could sit in here and have Raven snuggled close.

“I said I’d wait and decide if you need a lecture. You do. So… another damsel in distress?” Dex asked.

Remy stiffened. There was no equating Raven with any woman in his past. “It’s not like that.”

Dex raised an eyebrow. “Then what is it like because as I recall, every woman you’ve been with since Mom died was someone who needed you in some way. You need to save them.”

Frowning, Remy glared at his brother. “I don’t have a savior complex and Raven is different.”

“Oh, so she’s not here because you’re protecting her from her psychotic brother?”

Without answering, Remy walked over to the French doors and looked out onto the rolling lawn behind, covered in light snow. Knowing Dex would give him this time to think, he took advantage.

As much as Remy resented his brother’s words, he knew Dex meant well. The truth was, their mother’s death had been the catalyst for Remy going into police work and joining up with Zach when that job became stale. True, he’d met his ex-wife when she’d been the victim of a mugging and stabbing. She’d needed him and he liked being needed. Liked knowing he could help her where he couldn’t with his mother. They were married after six months.

What could Remy say? He’d been young, out of the academy only three years, and eager to settle down. He’d come home one night after being grazed by a bullet and bandaged at the hospital. The sight had awakened Sadie from her fog, as he now saw it. She’d left him a short time afterward, unable to handle the danger inherent in his job. Why she couldn’t have realized thatbeforethey got married was beyond him, but all victims handled the aftermath differently.

Remy thought about the women he dated afterward and turned to meet his patient brother’s gaze. “Fine. So maybe I do have a complex,” he muttered. “And you and Fallon talk too much,” he said, knowing his siblings had likely discussed the situation since they were the only two people in the family who knew about Raven’s stalker issue.

“Fallon loves you and is worried about you. And frankly, so am I. When you told me you were into Raven…” He tilted his head toward the main part of the house where Raven was wandering. “I figured it’d be short term and fizzle out. But you brought her to the family compound?”

“Because I need to keep her safe and with me. And before you give me that look, the situation is different from Sadie or anyone else.Ravenis different.” He’d known it from the moment they met. Maybe she needed his help now but that hadn’t been the reason he’d fallen for her.

“So she’s not just another one of your mysteries you like to solve?”

Remy shook his head. “Dammit, Dex. Stop trying to psychoanalyze me.”

His brother merely grinned.

“Fine. Raven was a mystery, too.” But not any longer. He was drawn to everything about her.

Her beauty was one thing and wasn’t just surface deep. The more he got to know her, the more he liked what was inside. Her bond with the family she loved, Cara, Caleb, and Owen, resembled Remy’s relationship with his family. She liked to help people like Angel; they had that in common.

“Dex, if you can’t trust me when I say Raven is unlike any other woman I’ve met or been with, then I’m done talking.”

“Relax,” Dex said. “I was just making sure you were in deep for the right reasons. From the little I’ve seen, I like her for you.”

Remy’s shoulders lowered, his guard coming down. He hadn’t realized how angry Dex’s questions had made him but he realized now why his brother had pushed so hard. “I get it. When you fall, I’ll be right there making sure she’s the right woman for you, too.”

Dex’s eyes opened comically wide. “That won’t be happening. I’m happy with my life the way it is.”

Remy let out a loud laugh. “If you say so.” Dex had a traumatic past. Between losing his parents and later his second mother, it had caused him to keep women at arm’s length. But Remy had no doubt the right female would knock the playboy right out of him and make Dex Sterling a one-woman man.

“I need to bring the suitcases upstairs,” Remy said.

“And I need to get going. It’s late. Say goodbye to Raven for me,” Dex said.

“I will… but why don’t you wait until morning to make the long trip? It’s dark and the roads are empty,” Remy asked.

“Aww, are you worried about me?” Dex strode over and pulled Remy into a brotherly hug.

“I’m always worried about you, asshole.”

Stepping back, Dex yawned, mouth wide open. “That actually sounds like a good idea. But I’ll probably be gone by the time you and yourguestmake it out of bed in the morning.” His words, like his wagging eyebrows, were deliberately suggestive.

“Go away.”

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