Page 127 of Three Reckless Words

At first glance, this guy could be Archer’s twin, minus the thinner dark shadow around his jaw that isn’t quite a beard. He’s handsome enough and younger, with nearly identical piercing blue eyes that shine out from a distance.

He’s also just as well-dressed as Archer usually is.

Archer also turns, giving me a view of his sculpted back.

I’ve seen him naked plenty of times, but I swear I will never get over how good this man looks shirtless.

“What are you doing here?” Archer grumbles, his face darkening.

The stranger approaches, pausing to give me a wicked smile before shifting his attention to Archer. Now, he’s closer, and I see his hair looks a tad more rusty and he’s certainly younger. “Is that any way to greet your favorite brother?”

Archer snorts. “I can’t believe you think that’s you.”

“Well, we both know it isn’t Dex. Mrs. Potter said you’d be here.” The man’s posture doesn’t change, unaffected by the snarl in Archer’s voice. It’s amazing how he flips from warm and teasing to hard and tense in a heartbeat.

A muscle jumps in Archer’s jaw. “What’s the point of having a receptionist again if she gives away my location to every asshole who asks?”

“Manners, for one. They never hurt anyone, Arch. And you know the office would suck without her.”

“Like you’d know. What’re you doing here, Pat?” Archer folds his arms, flexing his biceps. I snap my jaw shut before I get caught in a dogfight between brothers.

“Two things. First, I wanted to see the place for myself. You said there were bees, but I didn’t know how many.” His gaze lands on me again. I get the feelingI’mwhat he wanted to check out the most. “Also, I wanted to talk about the St. Louis numbers. You’ve been avoiding my calls.”

For the first time, Archer glances back at me. “This is my brother and business partner, Patton Rory. He’s a complete jackass, so you won’t be seeing him long.”

“Pot and kettle,” Patton says, totally unruffled. He strides forward on his long legs and offers me a hand. “Nice to meet you. Wynne, is it?”

“Winnie or just Win,” I correct. Wynne is my birth name, but I’ve always hated it. “Nice to meet you.”

“Right back at ya.” He gives me another once-over, smirking.

“Leave her alone, Pat. She’s working,” Archer growls.

“Yeah, okay. So, if she’s busy playing beekeeper, do you have a minute to talk about the figures? You pulled the report at least, right?”

The way Archer flexes again tells me he doesn’t want to waste another second on this.

But he also has no choice.

I bite back a smile. There’s something adorable seeing the two brothers interact.

There’s a wedding ring on Patton’s hand, too, so I shouldn’t have to worry that his interest is anything but curiosity.

“I skimmed. Regrettably, I haven’t had time to give it a full read-through,” Archer admits.

“Wait, what? You?Youhaven’t had time to read a business report?” Patton rubs his eyes in disbelief.

“Did I fucking stutter? You heard me,” Archer throws back.

“Man, are you feeling okay?” Patton presses his hand against Archer’s forehead before Archer jerks away. “You got a fever orsomething? Replaced by an AI clone to simulate what it would be like if you were nice?”

“Fuck off, Pat.”

“I’m serious. It must be bad for you to stop working. Is Colt sick? Where is he? Like, what the hell else could break your focus?” Patton looks at me with a knowing smile. “He’s a workaholic freak. This just isn’t him.”

“Prick,” Archer spits.

“Your favorite prick, yes. Well,secondfavorite.” He looks pointedly at Archer’s crotch as Archer curses him roundly. I press a hand against my mouth as I watch, trying not to giggle.

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