“How long has this been going on?” Army exploded.

She tightened her mouth and her eyes shifted. “Awhile.”

“Christ.” Army ran a hand through his hair. “Jesus Christ.”

“It’s okay, Duncan. I’m fine. I wanted this.”

“And what Lovey wants, Lovey gets.”

Her face instantly tightened and Marc’s gut clenched. “Why don’t you go put some clothes on, baby,” he said quietly. “Then we’ll talk more.”

She nodded, eyes wounded. “Yeah. Good idea.” She hitched the towel as she turned to walk out.

When she was gone, Marc turned to Army. “Look, man. I’m really sorry. This is not the way you should have found out about us. Yeah, we both kind of lost our minds. We shouldn’t have been in your tub.”

“Never mind the tub! You shouldn’t be together at all! Were you going to tell me?” Army demanded. “Ever?”

“We hadn’t talked about it, but yeah, I planned to.”

“When?”

“I’m not sure. I wanted to discuss that with her. Listen, Army.” He hesitated, because he hadn’t even really admitted this to himself. “You know that stupid rule, about a guy’s sister being off-limits forever? Well, the rest of that rule is, unless you marry her. Truth is, I’m in love with Lovey.”

Army’s eyes popped open. “What!”

Marc held his gaze steadily. “You heard me. I love her. I think I realized it tonight. Or maybe it was the night we had the party. Or maybe it was…Never mind.”

“Jesus.” Army shook his head, looking like he’d been whacked in the face with a hockey stick. “Seriously?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “I’m not gonna hurt her. I love her.”

“Does she feel the same?” Army looked confused at the idea of his sister being in love.

“We haven’t said it,” Marc admitted. “But…there’s something there between us. I think she feels it too.”

Army dropped his hands, paced across the room, and stared out his bedroom window at the glittering Chicago skyline. He shook his head. “She’s my little sister.”

“She’s twenty-four. She’s an adult. She makes her own decisions.”

“But not good ones.” Army grimaced. “I told you, she changes jobs, changes boyfriends, moves to Chicago on an impulse…then she hooks up with my best friend.”

“Just what do you have against me?” Marc folded his arms across his chest and fixed a look on Army.

Army had the grace to look ashamed. “It’s not you, man. Nothing wrong with you.”

“Then what’s the problem?” He narrowed his eyes. “Because if you think Lovey’s not good enough for me, then that is fucked up. She’s amazing.”

Army lifted his chin. “I didn’t mean that either.”

“Then seriously…what’s the problem if we’re together?”

Army sighed. He looked away. He looked back. “I don’t know. I guess I don’t want her to get hurt. I want her to grow up and be responsible.”

“You think I’m the kind of guy who’d hurt her? Who’d screw her over?” Marc shook his head. “You should know me better than that. When have I ever treated a woman badly?”

Army grimaced. “Never.”

“Exactly. I’m serious about Lovey. I’m not just screwing around with her. I want a future with her.”

Army was silent. “Wow. Hell. I don’t know what to say.”

“Maybe you could just apologize for whaling on me.”

Army gave him a lopsided smile. “Not sure yet if I’m sorry about that. Okay, okay. Sorry, dude. Heat of the moment and all that. We good?”

“Yeah. I get it.” Marc frowned. “Where the hell is Lovey? I thought she was getting dressed.”

They both started to the door. Marc exited the bedroom and looked toward the other bathroom. Door open, light out. Her bedroom door was closed. He looked back at Army. “I’m going in there. I have to make sure she’s all right. Deal with it.”

Army nodded, looking torn. “Okay. Yeah. Your girl. Make sure she’s okay. She fucking better be okay.”

“She might need an apology from you too. Tomorrow will do.”

“Ha. Fine.” He turned to go back into his bedroom.

“Hey, Army.”

“Yeah?”

“Why’re you home so early?”

“Melissa had a headache.”

Marc pursed his lips. “Sucks for you.”

“Again, ha. See you tomorrow.”

Marc nodded and paused at Lovey’s door. Christ, he’d really never been in her room. They always ended up in his. He knocked.

“Go away.”

He pressed his lips together and went in anyway. Lovey was in her bed, in the dark, huddled under the covers. He crossed to the bed and sat on the side, laying a hand on her hip. “Lovey. You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Bullshit. When women said they were fine, that meant they were so not fine. “Come on. Talk to me.”

“Not now. Really. I’m embarrassed. And I feel terrible.”

Well, yeah. He got that. Never mind that Duncan didn’t know anything about them, being caught half-naked with a guy by your older brother was definitely embarrassing.

“We’ll talk tomorrow, yeah?”

“Sure.”

He wanted to climb into bed with her and spend the night with her in his arms. And now that things were out in the open with Duncan…nah. They needed to let Duncan come to terms with this before they started openly sleeping with each other in front of him. Out of respect for his friend, he’d sleep in his own room. Alone.

“Okay.” He patted her again, then stood and left.

—

Lovey huddled under the covers, trembling, her insides so tight she felt like she might barf.

God! What had she just heard Marc say? She’d padded down the hall, pausing outside Duncan’s room to listen to them talk, hoping they weren’t still fighting, and her jaw had damn near hit the floor at what she’d heard. He was serious about her? He wanted a future with her? What the hell did that mean?

No, no, no! This wasn’t supposed to be something serious! They were having sex and having fun. She wasn’t ready to settle down in a long-term relationship! Hence the breakup with Richard, who’d wanted marriage and babies…she was too young. Not ready for that. No way. She was just starting her new business and she wanted to see if she could do this. She wasn’t giving up a career that was going to prove to everyone, including herself, that she had something she was good at, that she wasn’t just a flighty screwup who couldn’t stick with anything longer than the length of a TV sitcom.

What had happened? How could Marc have said those things? Did he want to get married and have kids?

God, she’d even thought about the fact that he needed a wife. As team captain, it would help him have someone to organize social events that brought the team together on a different level. He needed someone like…like…

She flopped onto her back and stared at the ceiling in the dark. Okay, she didn’t know anyone she would want to see Marc with. But it couldn’t be her.

She was not the woman for him. He had big responsibilities. Big commitments. He was always in control. He was serious about his career. And this wasn’t just any career. His career was huge. There were a lot of people counting on him—his teammates, coaches, team owners, sponsors, millions of fans. He was in the public eye. He had to be aware of everything he said and did. How could someone like her fit into that kind of life? She was starting to get it together, but clearly, based on what had just transpired, she had a long way to go.

She had to put an end to this now. She didn’t know what he was anticipating. She was moving out in a few weeks and she hadn’t thought about what would happen between them after that. She supposed she’d just assumed that once they were no longer living in the same condo, the attraction would fade away. They wouldn’t be seeing each other on a daily basis. They wouldn’t be fighting that powerful chemistry between them.

Her stomach rolled with nausea and her hands curled into fists. She should never have slept with him. She hadn’t known he was going to get all serious.

Oh yeah. Captain Codger. She should have known.

His last relationship had lasted over two years. He wasn’t one to screw around. He was just as serious as Richard. God. What had she done?