“SHERRY!” IT WAS Friday afternoon and Logan had been pacing his office for the past forty minutes. He glanced at the clock on the wall for the hundredth time, and was just about to call out his PA’s name again when the door opened and Sherry stepped inside.

“You rang?”

Logan stopped where he was behind his desk and placed his hands on the back of his leather chair. His morning had been insane. With three hearings on the schedule, he’d gone from one courtroom to the next until he’d finally finished up and been set free. And now…now he was left with nothing to do other than sit around and wait for Cole so he could finally tell someone about the absolutely brilliant idea he’d had last night. “Is he back yet?”

Sherry let out a put-upon sigh. “No. Mr. Madison has not arrived since you last asked me”—she paused for a second, checked her dainty wrist watch, and then looked back at Logan—“seven minutes ago.”

“Well, when he is—”

“I’ll be sure to jump out from behind my desk, block his path, and crash-tackle him if necessary.”

“Are you mocking me, Sherry?”

Sherry placed her hand on the door handle. “I wouldn’t dream of it, Mr. Mitchell.”

At the use of his last name, Logan narrowed his eyes. “Okay, that’s enough out of you. Get out of my office.” As she went to shut the door, Logan called out, “But if you see Cole—”

“I’ll personally drag him in here by the collar. If for no other reason than to have you stop interrupting me every seven minutes. Use that,” she said, pointing to the small red stress ball on the corner of his desk. “I have a job to do.”

As she shut the door behind her, Logan grabbed the ball she’d given him the second time he’d called her in there, and started to pace again, tossing the damn thing in the air and squeezing the shit out of it when it came back down.

Where the hell was Cole, anyway? Logan had been counting down the hours to see his brother since he’d come up with his plan, and now, of course, he’s nowhere to be found. Typical.

Last night when he’d been eating dinner with Tate and they’d been talking about the movers this Saturday, he’d been struck with the perfect idea. It was fucking genius. And the more he’d thought it over, the more it made sense. This was it. This was how he was going to ask Tate to—

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Logan froze as the door pushed open, and when Cole stuck his head inside, Logan’s palms started to sweat.

“I have been told I am not to leave your office until I have done whatever is required to ‘calm you the hell down.’”

Cole came inside and shut the door, then put his briefcase on the couch and took a seat. As he unbuttoned his jacket, he looked up expectantly to where Logan stood frozen and unspeaking. “Well? What’s going on?”

And finally, Logan said what he’d been dying to say since he’d woken up this morning: “I’m going to ask Tate to marry me tomorrow.”

* * *

LAST NIGHT TATE had suggested that he and Logan stay at the loft, since the condo resembled a storage unit for now. They’d pretty much finished with packing their stuff up, and all that was left now was moving it out and disassembling some of the bigger furniture pieces for tomorrow’s move.

He’d just finished getting showered and changed for work, and was coming down the stairs to head into the bar when he spotted Rachel through the narrow glass of the window by the private entrance, with Lila on her hip.

Tate headed over to the door and opened it, and when he came into view, they looked up at him and smiled. “Hey there,” he said, stepping aside so Rachel could get inside out of the cool wind that was whipping around.

“Hey,” Rachel said as he kissed her cheek and then straightened.

“’Ello, Unca Tate.” Lila waved at him as Tate locked the door, and then he tickled under her chin, making her giggle.

“Hello, little miss.” And before she had to demand it, Tate gave her a kiss on the cheek, just like he had her mother. “What can I do for you lovely ladies today?”

Rachel hitched Lila up her waist and shook her head. “No, silly. It’s not what you can do for us. But what we can do for you.”

Tate walked over to the door that led into The Popped Cherry, unlocked it, and pushed it open. There was something peaceful about being in a place that was usually so crowded and loud when it was empty.

“Do you want a drink or anything?” Tate asked as Rachel headed straight to his favored booth. “Juice? Soda? Coffee?”

“I’d kill for a cup of coffee.”

“No murder necessary. Just give me a minute.” Tate winked at her and then turned his attention to Lila, who was standing on the seat of the booth while Rachel unbuttoned her puffy coat. “What about Lila?”

“Oh, she doesn’t drink coffee.” When Tate laughed, Rachel smiled over her shoulder at him and then unzipped the huge bag she’d put on the table. “I have hers in here. She’s set.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back.”

A few minutes later, Tate headed back with two coffee mugs and the half-empty carafe. As he slid into the seat, Lila looked up from the paper Rachel had put down in front of her and pointed at the scribble across the page.

“Dog,” she said, and when Tate tilted his head to try and get a better look, Rachel chuckled.

“Trust me. This is one of those occasions where you have to use your imagination.”

Tate looked back to where Lila was busy coloring again. “And what noise does a dog make, Miss Lila?”

The crayon stopped on the paper and Lila quickly glanced at Rachel before turning back to Tate. “Woof!”

“That’s right,” he said, and when Lila clapped her hands together, Rachel said, “We’re learning all about animals and the different sounds they make right now, aren’t we, missy?”

When Lila nodded, Rachel ran her hand down the back of her hair. “Last week Cole brought this book home about a little girl who can’t fall asleep and all the animals she goes to for advice. It’s become the new favorite.” She leaned across the table and said in a mock whisper, “But don’t ask to meet the bear—it’s too scary.”

Tate grinned and turned his attention back to Lila, who was ever so carefully coloring in her…dog. Then he sat back in his seat and crossed his arms. “I’m not scared of bears.”

Lila’s little head whipped up, and she dropped the crayon, forgotten on the table, and pinned him with a fierce look that was so out of place for her that Tate had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.

A soft little grrr started, as Lila slowly brought her hands up with her fingers curled into tiny claws, and when they were by either side of her face, she let out a very cute—but ferocious—growl.

She snarled at him with her nose scrunched up, as she scratched her hands through the air, and Tate couldn’t help it then—he totally lost it. Rachel did also as she reached over and tugged Lila onto her lap in a huge bear hug, kissing her temple. “Ooh, you’re so scary.” Lila wriggled on Rachel’s lap and growled again. “Soooo scary. Look, you even scared Uncle Tate.”

Tate covered his mouth to hide the smile, but nodded. “Mom’s right. That was very scary. I think you need to show Uncle Logan next time you see him.”

As Lila settled down, Rachel looked over her head at Tate and grinned. “I’m pretty sure Logan’s seen his fair share of bears over the years.”

“No doubt,” Tate said around a broad grin. “But not for some time. She might be able to scare him.”

As Lila rested her head back, she put a thumb in her mouth and looked sleepy. Rachel kissed her on the cheek, and as mother and daughter snuggled with each other, Rachel said, “Speaking of scaring Logan, I’m here about his birthday.”

Shit. With everything that had happened over the weekend, and then getting the condo packed up, he’d totally forgotten to call Cole and Rachel back about what he wanted to do next month for Logan.

“What day does his birthday fall this year?”

“A Thursday, I think,” Tate said. “November ninth. But we’ll just do the weekend anyway.”

“I figured. So what’d you have in mind? You need some ideas where to have it?”

“Yeah, about that. Sorry. I meant to call but I got kind of caught up with everything that happened last weekend with Jill and then packing… But I have a few ideas I’m trying to decide between. Can I get back to you?” Rachel gave him a skeptical look, and Tate rolled his eyes. “This time I promise I actually will.”

“Okay. But since I’m here, how about you tell me what you had in mind for him?” She paused and waggled her eyebrows. “I’m good at keeping secrets.”

Tate studied her mischievous expression. “Got a lot of them, huh?”

She shrugged and made a show of zipping her lips before pointing to Lila, who was now sleeping. “I better keep quiet now. You know, to let her sleep.”

“Sure…” Tate said, but narrowed his eyes on her, and when Rachel winked, he couldn’t help but feel like there was something he was missing—but she was right. Lila needed her sleep, and he had a bar to get ready to open.

* * *

COLE SAT UP as though someone had pinched his ass, then scooted so far forward on the chair that Logan thought he just might fall off. His mouth was hanging open in what Logan could only assume was shock, and if any other conversation was about to be had, he would’ve found the entire situation hilarious.

“Cole?” Logan said, and snapped his fingers in the air between them. “Did you hear me?”

Finally, Cole shut his mouth, and as Logan stood there waiting for some kind of response, a smile hit his brother’s lips. “You’re serious.”

Logan tossed the stress ball at Cole, and when he caught it and held it up to inspect its mangled sides, Logan said, “What do you think?”

Cole squeezed the ball and looked at him. “I think you’re fucking serious.”

That was what finally had Logan’s grin threatening to break his face.

“Holy shit,” Cole said, and sat back in his seat. “You said tomorrow.”

Logan nodded and came around the desk to sit in the chair beside Cole.

“You’re going to ask Tate to marry you? Tomorrow?”

Logan started to chuckle. “Yes. I feel like you used to be smarter than this.”

“So do I.”

That really made Logan laugh.

Cole shook his head and put the ball on Logan’s desk. “You’re really going to do it?”

“I am.” And as those two words left his mouth, Logan realized how happy the prospect made him.

“Well… Shit.”

“You already said that.”

Cole’s smile dropped and he shot Logan the finger. “Shut up. I’m in shock over here. I figured you’d take months, hell, maybe years to talk yourself into actually doing this.”

You and me both, Logan thought, but then he remembered the past weekend and how connected he’d felt to Tate after it. And the other night, when they’d made out in the study like a couple of teenagers… I’m not waiting any longer to make him officially mine. “What can I say? I love him. I fell in love with him four years ago. That’s not going to change.”

Cole sat back in his chair, and the two of them stared out the windows. There was a reflective moment of silence, and then Cole turned his head to look at Logan. “You’re going to tell me how, right? That’s why you asked me in here. You want to run your plan by me and make sure you don’t screw it up?”

That was exactly what Logan wanted, but before he poured his heart out, he needed something. “It depends.”

“On?”

“Did you replace your Macallan yet?”