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“I...” He cleared his throat, scratching at the back of his neck. “I just wanted to say... don’t wait up for me. I might stay out tonight.”

He could have punched me and it would have hurt less.

20

Fletcher

Liv arched an eyebrow. “So it’s okay if Knox stays the night?”

My gut turned over, and I thought I might be sick. Coming over here was a mistake.

Knox dating Liv was one thing... but sleeping with her?

And now I couldn’t say no to him staying in the guest house with Liv because I’d be an even bigger hypocrite. So I said, “It’s your place. You’re free to do as you wish.”

She looked like she wanted to say something, but after a moment, just smiled and nodded. “Have a good night, boss.”

I shook my head at her, already in a sour mood. “Don’t call me that.”

She recoiled slightly, seeming hurt and confused. “Okay? Sorry, Fletcher. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Just don’t do it again,” I said, then I turned and walked away, feeling like the biggest piece of shit in the world. I’d gone over there to ask her not to go on the date with Knox. Tried messing up my own brother’s relationship for some unrequited feelings I couldn’t act on even if I wanted to.

So I’d made up some dumb comment to make it seem like I hadn’t knocked on her door for the reason I was and then she hit me with that?

And my reaction, the visceral way my stomach ached at the thought of her with someone else... it just proved how far away from her I needed to stay. Even if she’d always be as close as my backyard.

I walked to my truck, shutting the door a little too hard, and then took off down the dirt road. Just a couple miles from the house, my brother drove by, smiling and waving at me through the windshield.

Liv’s face as she asked me if he could stay the night flashed through my mind, and I almost drove into the ditch.

Shit, I needed to focus.Focus.

I could perform surgeries, give stitches to a wiggling child, tourniquet a bleeding wound, but I couldn’t handle the thought of my nanny sleeping with my brother? They were both adults, and so was I. I just needed to focus on what was possible instead of what I couldn’t have. And Morganne was available to me, at least for the evening.

I slowed at the main road in town and glanced at the text Morganne sent me earlier with directions to her house.

Morganne: The yellow house at the end of Oak St. One block past the bank.

I set my phone back in the cupholder and drove down Main Street, turning a block after the bank. As promised, her house sat on the corner, faded yellow siding, a big oak tree out front with a tire swing.

It looked like Mayberry.

And I knew I should be excited for a date with her, but I... wasn’t.

I should turn around right now. Tell her how I was feeling and go home. But backing out at the last minute would just be cruel. Besides, we could go out to dinner together and not pursue a relationship, have a friendship.

I parked, rubbing my hands over my face, and let out a groan.

My head was all mixed up.

The front door opened, and a little girl peeked her head out. She had to be three or four, a few years younger than Maya. Someone came to pull her back, and I recognized Morganne. Light blond hair in waves, snatched waist, big blue eyes, and a wide smile.

It took all I had to smile back. What the fuck was wrong with me?

Shouldn’t any red-blooded male be into this?

I was in a funk. That was it. Once we got on the date, I’d settle my mind and gain some perspective. I got out of the truck, walking toward her house.