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“under Caleb’s thumb.”
    “Better than you. You probably don’t even remember the name of your date du jour ,” I tossed back.
    He chuckled in response.
    Colin was four years younger than Caleb, which meant he was closer to my age. I guessed he’d been in a fraternity during his undergrad years at Florida State but had never bothered to ask. He was the kind of guy I’d disliked in college. Tall, handsome as hell, cocky. He was in charge of the King Group’s U.S. holdings, whereas Caleb was in charge of international properties and the business as a whole.
    Colin had short, black hair and lighter, bluer eyes than Caleb. Icy blue, unfeeling. Whereas Caleb’s were a darker sapphire, like the ocean depths. Other than his eyes, Colin appeared to be a younger, snarkier version of Caleb. He did not, however, share his brother’s respect of women and that irked me.
    Sure, women loved Colin, and he loved them. But I’d never seen him with the same woman twice, and tonight was no exception. He’d brought a theme park executive to the party as his date. She seemed nice enough, but I knew I’d never see her again. I’d been with a few men similar to Colin before I’d met Caleb, which is why I knew he was the kind of man who was always searching for his next conquest.
    And he wasn’t very discerning about who he chose, judging by the roster he’d brought around in recent months. Theme park executives, doctors, waitresses—they were all the same. Charmed, then discarded. When I watched him in action, like I did tonight with his date, I felt only soaring relief I was no longer single.
    Tonight, he’d alternately turned on the full force of his sensual charm and ignored his date, leaving the poor woman grasping for more of his attention. I could tell she wanted to please him by sitting close, playing with his hair, attempting to feed him cherry tomatoes. It was excruciating to watch his hot-and-cold game.
    “Her name’s Adele.” Colin opened my book and pretended to thumb through. “Like the singer.”
    “Bravo,” I tossed back. Poor Adele , I mused silently.
    “Oh, look, here’s your story. ‘Consume Me.’ Quite an original title.”
    He started to read out loud, and I made a stop motion with my hand and shook my head. Unlike his brother, Colin didn’t understand my need to clear my mind by writing fiction. My work and my bookstore were trifles to him because they didn’t equal profit.
    “I haven’t had enough to drink to listen to you read my work.” I snatched a new glass out of the cabinet and located a half-full bottle of Pinot.
    “Wine?” I asked Colin, hoping he’d stop.
    “Appreciate it,” he replied, pushing his glass on the counter toward me.
    Sometimes I wondered if Colin resented me because he spent far less time with his brother now I was in the picture. He acted that way on occasion, and I ignored him.
    I allowed his razor-sharp wit, his behavior with women, and his smirks to slide, all because I knew he loved Caleb without question. Worshipped Caleb, even. With Caleb, he was a good man. Genuine.
    I saw it in the way he laughed at Caleb’s jokes. How he insisted on playing tennis together every Thursday night. How they bantered in the office, the good-natured barbs and wit flying almost too fast for me to keep up.
    Caleb raised his eyes from my book, grinning. “What a sentence: He touched women like he owned them. Wow. That’s how I roll.”
    Regardless of Colin’s self-important demeanor, I suspected he’d be a doting uncle. Grimacing, I grabbed my glass and swept out of the kitchen, away from his ironic jab.
    Bouncing to the terrace, I slid onto Caleb’s lap as the wind whipped around the building’s thirty-sixth floor, making the flames of the dozens of votives scattered around the terrace flicker. He’d really gone overboard for the small party, hiring the chef, a florist, and a jazz trio. The band was set up at the far end of the terrace and was playing sophisticated, sexy