“I know what I need,” I murmur, and kiss her head.

“What?” She pulls back to look into my eyes. Her hazel eyes get me every time.

“You,” I whisper, and kiss her forehead. “You, curled up with me on the couch, pretending to watch a movie while I seduce you.”

She raises her eyebrows and smiles softly. “Do I get to pick the movie?”

“Since neither of us will actually be watching it, yes.”

Chapter Nine

CARA

I stretch lazily, enjoying the way the soft white sheets shift over my naked body, still sensitive from a night of incredible lovemaking. Without opening my eyes, I reach to my right, searching for Josh, but his side of the bed has gone cold.

I love that he lets me sleep in, but I’d love to wake up with him once in a while.

I’ll have to request that sometime soon.

I roll to my back and take a deep breath, registering the smell of coffee. Has he come back to the house to make me coffee again?

A girl could get used to this.

Excited to see him, I jump from the bed and pull on a pair of yoga shorts and a skimpy tank top and shuffle out to the kitchen quietly while I rub the sleep from my eyes. I turn the corner from the hallway to the great room, and there he is, with his back to me, facing the coffeepot, waiting for the last of the coffee to brew.

Something about him seems to be different this morning, something in the tenseness of his shoulders, and I wonder if everything is okay. Did something happen with one of the animals?

I move up behind him and wrap my arms around his waist, bury my face in the center of his back, just as on the other day when we took Seth to get his puppy.

“Good morning,” I murmur, just as I realize that he smells . . . wrong.

“Well, that’s one way to welcome Zack home,” a familiar voice mutters behind me.

I jump back, my heart hammering and my face flushing as the man that I just had my breasts pressed against turns and grins down at me. His face is exactly like Josh’s, aside from that small bump on his nose where he broke it his senior year in high school. “Good morning, Carolina.” He laughs at my stunned expression.

“Zack!” I wrap my arms around him and hug him close, happy to see him after all this time. “I’m sorry.”

“You’ll never hear me complain about a gorgeous woman pressing herself against me first thing in the morning.”

“Watch yourself, Brother,” Josh warns him, and pulls me out of Zack’s arms.

“So that’s how it is?” Zack asks with a raised brow.

“That’s how it is,” Josh confirms, and earns another big grin from his brother.

“How what is?” I ask, narrowing my eyes on the sexy identical twins.

“It’s a guy thing.” Josh kisses my forehead and then frowns down at my outfit. “What are you wearing?”

“Seduce-Josh-in-the-kitchen clothes.” I shrug and laugh when his eyes glass over. “I guess I got the wrong brother.”

“Go away,” Josh orders his brother, and buries his face in my neck and wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me into him, making us both laugh. I pull away and pour myself a cup of coffee.

“You made good time, Zack. When did you get in?” I ask as Josh leaves the room and quickly returns with one of his oversize sweatshirts and pulls it over my head, his eyes hot with lust.

“I don’t share this beautiful body with anyone, sweetheart, even my brother,” Josh whispers in my ear, then pours himself a cup of coffee, leaving me slightly breathless and a whole lot turned on.

“Weather was good.” Zack shrugs, sits at the kitchen table as we join him. “Got in around three a.m. Crashed in J’s spare bedroom for a few hours.”

“Have you seen Seth?” Josh asks quietly.

“No.” Zack shakes his head and takes a sip of coffee. “I just got up not long ago. Thought I’d wait for him here.”

“It’s Saturday,” I remind him. “He might not be down here for quite a while, especially now that he has a puppy to get into trouble with.”

“Lost track of my days.” Zack gulps down the rest of his coffee. “I’ll go find him. Thanks for teaching him, Cara. Josh tells me you’ve been great with him, even when he’s had a piss-poor attitude.”

“He’s a good kid, Zack.” I grip his forearm in my hand soothingly, earning a glare from Josh.

What a caveman.

“Thank you,” Zack repeats with a deep sigh. “I’ve missed him.”

“If you missed me, why were you gone for so long?” Seth is standing just inside the front door, his eyes wide and angry, his hands in fists at his side and his pup whining at his feet.

“Seth.” Zack stands and walks to Seth, who steps back angrily.

“Don’t touch me!”

“Seth, I was in Afghanistan. You know that.” Zack’s body is tight with anger, but his voice is completely calm.

“Mom said you didn’t have to go, but you wanted to be away from us. You don’t care about me.”

“That’s not true.” Zack’s brown eyes are blazing with anger now. “The army didn’t give me a choice.”

Seth frowns and looks at Josh and then at his dad. “You never wanted to talk to me.”

“You refused to take my calls, not the other way around.” Zack is still standing back from Seth, but his face is lined in anguish. Clearly, he desperately wants to pull the boy to him and reassure him.