He knew Will was riding him and it felt good to have this dynamic back again. Damned if he hadn’t missed ragging on his younger brother and having the insults tossed back at him. “I’m thirty-five, not sixty-five.”
Will shrugged. “You know what they say, once you pass thirty, it’s all downhill.”
“Then hang on,” Jesse told him, “your turn for the downhill slide starts this year.”
“Some of us handle it better.”
“Like you’ve been ‘handling’ everything else lately?” Jesse asked.
Will sighed. “Damn, you’re like a dog with a bone. I already said you’re right. I was wrong. I’ll shut up and play along. I won’t be happy about it, but I’ll do it. I’ll stop worrying Mom. I’ll suck it up and be a good prisoner until we find Rich Lowell. Then,” he said, features tightening, eyes narrowing, “I’m gonna beat that bastard so hard…”
“I’ll help you,” Jesse said.
“I know you will,” his brother said. Will took a deep breath and said, “So. Change of subject. Even I can only talk about me for so long. I saw Jillian Norris was here again today.”
“Yeah.” Jesse turned for the wet bar against the far wall. Now that the storm was over, he could use his own drink.
“She get settled into the apartment all right?”
“Yeah, I took her and the little girl over there yesterday—” He poured two fingers of scotch then walked back to refill Will’s glass, as well. “Speaking of those apartments, we’ve gotta do something there. Depressing as hell. I mean, small is one thing, but I swear it looks like every jail cell in every movie I’ve ever seen.”
“That bad?”
“I thought so.” Jesse took a drink. “I offered to get her something else, but she refused. Said it would do fine for her and Mac.”
“Then it will.”
Jesse snorted and took another drink. “You didn’t see it.”
“I’ll take your word for it. We can hire someone to fix it. Hell, if it’s that bad, we’ll get all of the apartments in that building updated.” Will walked across the room, refilled his own glass and then asked, “Back to Jillian though… Had a busy day. Interview at the TCC, new apartment, then back here to watch you give her daughter a riding lesson.”
Jesse studied the scotch as he tipped the glass from side to side, making tiny, amber waves that sloshed against the crystal. “Lucy got her a job interview at the TCC day care.”
“Uh-huh.”
“And I promised Mac she could ride a horse.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Then Lucy and Jillian went shopping and left Mac here with Mom.”
“Uh-huh.”
Irritated now, Jesse snapped, “Is there something you want to say?”
Outside, the wind howled while Will affected an innocent pose that Jesse wasn’t buying for an instant.
“No,” his brother said, taking a sip of his scotch. “I just have plenty of extra time to study things now.”
“Is that right? And just what are you studying?”
Will shrugged. “Not studying so much as noticing. Like the fact that Jillian Norris is really hot.”
Jesse scowled at him. Like he needed Will to tell him about Jillian. Hadn’t Jesse’s dreams been full of her for the last few weeks? Didn’t he wake up every damn morning with his body hard as stone and his blood steaming just under his skin? And just why the hell was Will “noticing” her anyway?
“That woman’s legs must be a mile long,” Will mused. “And that’s just in her jeans. Can’t help wondering what she’d look like in a dress…”
To hell with a dress. Jesse wanted to know what she looked like naked. Stretched across his bed, wrapping those long legs around his hips and pulling him deep inside her.
“Then there’s her hair,” Will said. “Always caught up in that ponytail. Makes you want to see how long it is when it’s loose and hanging down her back…”
Or fisted in his hands, Jesse added silently. “Is there a point to this?” His hand tightened on the tumbler he held.
“No point.” A half smile curved Will’s mouth. “Just a couple of observations. But you know, maybe I should give her a call. Make sure she’s happy with that apartment. If it’s as bad as you say it is…”
Jesse stiffened. If anyone was going to be checking up on Jillian, it was going to be him. “Yeah, I’ll take care of it. If you’re so anxious to call a woman, call your wife. Let me worry about Jillian.”
“Uh-huh.” Will smothered a grin, but not fast enough to keep Jesse from noticing it.