“Wow, really living on the edge,” Jenna drawled from where she was assembling a salad.

Sophie shot her sister-in-law a look. “Believe me, for Brynn, this is the equivalent of a tattoo.”

Brynn nearly fumbled the wine bottle and Sophie looked at her sharply before her mouth dropped comically open. “You didn’t!”

Sophie pounced in Brynn’s direction, already reaching for the hem of her shirt as though to disrobe her then and there, looking for a mark.

“A tattoo? Mom and Dad will freak!”

“Mom and Dad aren’t going to find out,” Brynn said, grabbing a wineglass and using it to fend off her sister. “And if you want some of this delicious red, I suggest you promise to keep your babbling mouth shut.”

“Fine, fine,” Sophie said. “But I want to see it.”

“It’s not for public consumption,” Brynn said primly as she poured three wineglasses. “It’s for me.”

“Just you?” Jenna said, smoothly plucking a wineglass out of Brynn’s hand and giving her a long look.

Brynn narrowed her eyes just slightly on this gorgeous woman who was her brother-in-law’s baby sister, her sister’s new best friend, and…Will’s houseguest.

She should like Jenna. She didn’t have any reason not to like Jenna.

But she didn’t have to like that Jenna looked like a Victoria’s Secret model and was sleeping down the hall from Brynn’s man.

Nor was Brynn crazy about the fact that Sophie and Jenna were so buddy-buddy. It had always been just Brynn and Soph, and now there was a newcomer who had New York written all over her designer clothes and smug attitude. And did the woman even have pores?

The sad fact was, Brynn was jealous. Brutally so.

Not just because everyone in Brynn’s life seemed to be a card-carrying member of the Jenna fan club (to which Brynn hadn’t even been invited), but because Jenna was so damn confident.

Brynn wanted that.

But then, Jenna probably hadn’t ever sat alone at a lunch table, or been asked by the popular kids to hand out party invitations to a party she wasn’t invited to.

Jenna probably hadn’t had to transfer schools because some immature jerk spread rumors that she’d made a “fat sex tape.”

Kids could be cruel.

But she bet they hadn’t been cruel to Jenna.

“So how long are you staying with Will?” Brynn asked, taking a small sip of wine and deliberately avoiding Jenna’s question as to who else might have seen Brynn’s tattoo.

“I fly out Tuesday morning. Just came in to check up on the brothers, and escape the wretched summers in the city.”

“Ah yes, New York,” Brynn said, helping herself to some of Sophie’s dip. “You’ve lived there awhile?”

“A few years. I’ve moved around quite a bit, but New York seems to be the one that fits. For now.”

“But all your family’s here…You must have a boyfriend there?”

Brynn hoped nobody would notice that her knuckles were white around her glass.

Just tell me you haven’t slept with Will. Tell me he didn’t lie to me.

To Brynn’s surprise, Jenna’s features softened slightly for a moment, and she went from edgy sexpot to vulnerable girl.

Sophie gave a little cackle. “Jenna’s in love with a New Yor-kah and she hates to admit it.”

“Your New York accent is terrible,” Jenna said. Her feet shifted imperceptibly, almost as though she was nervous. “He’s just…he’s a good guy. I don’t know that I’m in love.”

Ah. Jenna’s eyes flicked to Brynn for a moment, and for some reason something clicked between them, as though they were on the same page. Somehow Brynn knew that Jenna was in love. But she didn’t know if the guy was in love with her.

And without that validation, she wasn’t admitting anything. Not even to herself.

Brynn couldn’t blame Jenna. Especially not after what had happened with James. Although in hindsight she was thinking she reaaaaallly should have been more upset about that. Instead it had taken her all of a haircut, a new pair of pants, and sex with an enemy to snap her out of it. In about a week.

“I’m sleeping with Will.”

Brynn immediately slapped her hand over mouth as soon as she said it, her eyes automatically flying to sister. Sophie slowly straightened, the chip she’d been dipping forgotten. Brynn searched Sophie’s face, but while her already big eyes were extra huge, she didn’t look completely surprised.

She looked worried.

“How long has this been going on?” Sophie asked, fixing a fake smile on her face.

“Since, you know…this,” Brynn said, waving a hand over her hair and her uncharacteristically skimpy attire.

“Is it serious?”

“No. God no. It’s Will. I don’t even think it’s safe, it’s just…”

“Hot?” Jenna volunteered.

Sophie winced. “Sick, it’s like you’re talking about my sister and brother.”

“Says the woman who’s banging my brother,” Jenna said. “And they’re totally hot for each other. I’ve seen it in action. It’s like…well, I bet you guys have great angry sex, don’t you?”

This last question was directed to an off-balance Brynn, who was rapidly regretting sharing what was supposed to be her ultimate secret. Although her reasons for insisting it be a secret were getting harder and harder to remember. Particularly when she was talking to his best friend, and a woman who apparently knew and liked him well enough to stay in his house.

Especially when it was getting harder to remember why she didn’t like the guy.

Still, Brynn hadn’t lost total perspective. The guy might have surprised her recently, but he still was the antagonist to nearly every single item on her life list.

He didn’t believe in commitment.

Didn’t believe in settling down.

He’d never had the same job for more than two months or stayed in the same city for more than a couple years.

He never even kept the same car for more than six months.

Brynn Dalton was all about stability.

Will Thatcher was not.

“It’s just a fling…thing,” Brynn said after catching the knowing look Sophie and Jenna exchanged. “I think it’s pretty much over anyway.”

Sophie tapped her fingernails on the counter thoughtfully. “You know, Gray tried to tell me from day one that you and Will’s dislike of each other was really sexual tension, and I ignored him. I mean he’s not exactly an of-the-people type of guy.”

“Hear, hear,” Jenna said.

“But he was right, wasn’t he?” Sophie asked Brynn. “All the bickering was just foreplay.”

“No,” Brynn said vehemently. “I can assure you that the bickering was, in fact, bickering, which was based on dislike. The sex stuff…that’s just extra. And recent.” Kind of.

Jenna topped off their wineglasses. “You could totally be the main character in one of those girly self-discovery movies, you know? I can see the trailer now…good girl gets dumped, chops off her hair, falls for the bad boy, and learns what an orgasm is.”

“I knew what an orgasm was well before Will, thank you very much.”

Jenna wiggled her eyebrows. “But I bet he’s better.”

Sophie made a gagging noise. “Enough. I refuse to let you ruin my delicious cheese dip with details. But Brynny, in all seriousness…where is this going?”

Brynn took a deep breath. “It’s going nowhere. That’s kind of the point.”

A strange, unreadable expression crossed Sophie’s face. Sadness? Disappointment? “So it’s really all about an itch that he’s helping you scratch? You don’t care for him? Not at all?”

The question sent a little jolt in the direction of Brynn’s heart, but she forced herself to keep the question and answer at the head level.

“Soph, I know he’s your friend, but we’re horrible for each other. And while he’s not quite as miserable as I always thought, he’s not a good long-term prospect.”