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asked you to leave it behind.”
    Scott nodded slowly. “Let me give it some thought. But I’m interested.”
    “Not too long. I’m going to take this job and with the business growing, I need you. As far as Greyson… If he shows up around Lola, we can tag-team him,” Tyler said, tacking it on as added incentive.
    “Oh, you two better stay out of Avery’s business,” Olivia warned them.
    They both shot her a look. If someone hurt either woman, they’d have to answer to a Dare brother.
    “I’ve got to get going. Call me,” Tyler said to Scott. He paused to kiss Olivia on the cheek. “You feeling okay?” he asked their pregnant sister.
    That was something Scott hadn’t wrapped his head around. His baby sister married and expecting a baby. At least her husband, Dylan Rhodes, treated her right. Now to get someone decent for Avery.
    Olivia poked Scott in the arm. “You and I need to talk. Come to my office?” she asked.
    He rose and grinned. “Am I in trouble?”
    She pinned him with a warning look. Uh oh.
    She waited until they were settled in her private office, she in the chair behind her desk, he in the one in front. “What’s up, Liv?”
    “That’s what I want to know. I had dinner with Meg. I mentioned your name, and she said she ran into you at Mel’s this weekend.”
    “And?” He stared at his sister, not knowing where she was going, and not jumping in with anything more before he knew what had her so on edge.
    “You spent the night with her!” Olivia said it like an accusation.
    Scott folded his arms across his chest. “She told you that?” Because Meg didn’t strike him as the gossipy type.
    Olivia blew out a long breath. “Not in so many words. But I could tell from the hemming and hawing she did … from the way she blushed and couldn’t look me in the eye, then asked selective questions … I just knew.”
    He inclined his head. “And?” he asked his nosey sister.
    “And what were you thinking? I know there were sparks when you met her, but she’s coming off a really shitty relationship, she’s pregnant and vulnerable, and you’re…” She trailed off, her gaze darting away from his.
    He stiffened. “Don’t stop now,” he told her.
    “You’re you ! All controlling and alpha.”
    “So you think I’d hurt her?” he asked, offended.
    Olivia wrinkled her nose. “Of course not. Well, not on purpose, anyway.”
    He frowned. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
    She rose from her seat and came around her desk, sitting in the chair next to him and leaning in close. “Scott, do you remember what happened with Leah? She gutted you when she had that abortion. You haven’t had any kind of relationship with a woman since.” Olivia held up a hand to make sure he didn’t interrupt. “And I’m not talking about sex.”
    “Me neither and not with you,” Scott muttered. Nor did he need the reminder of how wrong he’d chosen when he’d married Leah Jerome.
    Having seen firsthand what his father’s cheating had done, not only to his mother but to him and his siblings, Scott hadn’t believed he wanted a family. Leah definitely hadn’t. And then she’d gotten pregnant … and the reality of a baby had changed his mind. He’d thought he could change hers. He’d been wrong. And Olivia was correct. He hadn’t trusted another woman since.
    Then he’d met Meg. “I’m not going to hurt her. You know me better than that.”
    “Of course I do.” Olivia laid a hand on his arm. “But all your women lately have been one-night stands or close to it. I don’t understand how you can cavalierly sleep with a pregnant woman and walk away. Or think it’s okay to have an affair with her like she’s just a woman you picked up in a bar.”
    “Whoa.” This time he held up his hand. “I’m not sure where you’re getting these ideas, but trust me, Liv, you have no clue what I’m thinking, feeling, or planning.” Unfortunately, neither did he. But it was the early days…