Page 1 of Actually Yours

PROLOGUE

Jake

Twelve months earlier

She’s here to meet my brother.

The words reverberate around my brain and I stumble through the crowded restaurant, bumping through the rowdy after-work crowd, to get back to my dimly lit table where Steven, my best friend is waiting for me.

“Hey man, sorry I’m late.”

I shake my head at him, willing myself not to look back towards the bar. Towards her.

“Jake? Are you OK?”

Am I OK?My world has just tilted off its axis and I’m unsure whether it will right itself again.

“I’m fine.”

I manage to get the words out from my clenched jaw, my temples throbbing with the intensity of what had just occurred. This sort of thing doesn’t happen to me. I’m never driven to act by emotion, byneed. But that’s exactly what had happened eleven minutes ago when I’d looked up and seen her walk into the restaurant. She’d appeared in the restaurant's doorway, the evening sun setting behind her, giving her an ethereal halo andmaking her red hair glow, and floated to the bar while the eyes of every man in the place followed her. Mine included.

And everything’s been hazy ever since.

“Hey, isn’t that your brother?”

Steven nods towards where I know Robby is now sitting with Amelia.Amelia.I let her name linger in my mind and stifle a groan.

I have to get out of here.

“Yes.” My tone is terse and my friend sends me a concerned glance. “He’s on a date.”

Date.I’ve never hated a word more.

Steven whistles. “He’s got a beauty there. She’s gorgeous.”

I want to scream at him, “I know!” She’s so beautiful it almost hurts to look at her. It’s why when she’d sat down at the bar stool, my feet had taken me to her. Like they were guiding me to exactly where I was supposed to be. Only to find she’s here to meet my brother. For a blind date, of all things.

“Man, your brother is a lucky guy,” Steven interrupts my internal turmoil to state the obvious, sitting back in his chair and taking a long sip of his whiskey. “He’s got no job, no ambition, no personality and he ends up with someone like her.”

I feel every syllable from my friend’s mouth like a bullet. And it’s all true. Though he may be my brother and I love him, I also know that he’s a spoilt, self-involved brat. And now he’s dating Amelia.

No, scratch that. He’s on afirst datewith her and after meeting the two of us at the same time (what are the chances?), she chose to be with him. And I let it happen, because that’s the story of my life. I’m the giver in our relationship; the older brother willing to do anything to keep his undeserving younger brother happy.

Even this.

These thoughts sink like lead in my stomach as the leather seat behind me bites into my back, adding to my growing discomfort. “Can we just get out of here?”

Steven's mouth drops open. “But we just got here.”

I fish a wad of cash out of my wallet—more than enough to cover our drinks—drop it on the table and stand up, not caring whether he follows me.

“Jake? What’s wrong?”

Cutting the distance between our table and the exit, I wave away his question. It feels too ridiculous to even voice. “I just need to get home.”

He follows, not asking any more questions, shooting me looks out of the side of his eyes. I ignore him, steeling myself to glance one last time at my brother. He’s still at the bar, leaning forward, his face alight with laughter as he charms Amelia. Just like I knew he would.

I force myself to look away and step out into the rain, the bleakness of the blisteringly cold weather matching my mood. Frigid raindrops run over my face as I jog to my car, running away from the restaurant, away from where my brother is on a date with Amelia.

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