Read The Other Brother for Free Online Page B

attractive prospective model in a matter of minutes. Seconds, even.
    She’d just narrowed the choices to around fifty when her phone beeped.
    Yep, can do. Want me to come straight from work? I can be at your place by around six. Should I bring takeout?
    She smiled. Straight from work is fine. Takeout would be fantastic, as long as you let me pay my share. I like pretty much anything .
    His reply was immediate. Will do. Got to go, back to work now .
    He’d obviously been on a break. Melodie sighed. As much as she wanted in with the calendar, as much as she wanted to make a contribution to such a worthy cause, part of her felt like texting him again and telling him to leave her the hell alone.
    It wasn’t really an option, of course. For starters, he’d know something bugged her and turn up anyway to find out what. Plus, she didn’t really blame him for what was happening. Unless he had a Cupid up his sleeve who’d shot an arrow at her, Patrick couldn’t be held responsible for her increasing feelings for him. For years, she’d always been fond of him, but now he was sexier, more mature. She’d found trouble.
    Sighing again, she turned back to the photos. It wasn’t a good idea to start going over all this crap in her head again, because the only thing it would achieve would be to make her brain explode. And that would make an awful mess. Perhaps she should go with the flow, see what happened. Hey, maybe he’d come on to her! She could leave a little of the guilt behind, if he started it. Plus, she’d know for sure that he liked her without having to ask.
    She let out a growl of frustration. So much for not thinking about it. Come on, Melodie. Concentrate on the task at hand. Then, if you have to play online games for several hours to distract yourself until he arrives, so be it. You can explode your brain by thinking of mahjong, rather than him .
    That settled, she forced herself to focus. Thankfully, it worked, and she managed to see Patrick as another subject, another perfect photo she wanted to show to a client. And, as people are always more critical of themselves than anyone else, he’d probably reduce the numbers further. Perhaps, if she was lucky, he’d even choose the perfect one right off.
    She’d lost track of time, and when the door buzzer sounded, it took her by surprise. Scampering across the room, she pressed the button.
    “Who is it?”
    “Patrick. And I’ve got food.” He laughed.
    “Please come up. Quick,” she added, her stomach grumbling.
    While she waited for him to arrive, Melodie checked her reflection in the mirror, hoping she didn’t look as awful as she had the other day when he’d seen her. Thankfully, she’d washed her hair the previous evening, and her skin didn’t have any spots or blemishes—a miracle. Her clothes were a tad scruffy, but it could have been worse, and she didn’t have time to change. It didn’t matter. In fact, it could be a good thing—if she didn’t appear even remotely attractive, then maybe he wouldn’t find her hot, things would stay platonic between them, and she’d avoid him like crazy until she got over her silly crush.
    At the knock on her door, she forced a walk, rather than a jog, over to it. Platonic, my ass . Fixing a smile in place, she said, “Hey, you.”
    “Hey, yourself. I hope you’re hungry, I went a little overboard.” With a sheepish grin, he held up two bags. The scent wafted up her nostrils. Her stomach growled again and she laid a palm over it, embarrassed.
    “I’ll take that as a yes.” He walked past her to the kitchen area. “So, where are your plates?”
    She pointed him toward the cupboard then retrieved a couple of knives and forks. “I skipped lunch, so I’m hungry. Do you want something to drink?”
    Setting their eating utensils on the table, she shoved a couple of magazines and letters out of the way then set out two placemats. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d used the table for dining.