“Copacetic?”

“Yeah, copacetic,” Chip responded, bouncing on his feet with a mixture of impatience and eagerness to get going.

Chance looked him over. He wasn’t particularly fond of the anxious look in his brother’s eyes. “So what are your plans?” he asked as casually as possible.

That’s when the curtain dropped and Chip’s eyes lost their bright-eyed sheen, mellowing into a cool look he shot Chance’s way.

“Are you my mother now? Makin’ sure I’m a good little boy for the next two weeks?”

Chance didn’t have time for this shit. Chip wasn’t the only one with plans while off the rig. And no, Chance wasn’t Chip’s mother. Chip was a big boy and could handle himself. He knew the consequences if he didn’t.

“You know what? I don’t care what you get up to out there. Enjoy yourself, little brother.”

Chip gave him a suspicious look as if waiting for the catch.

“Fine, I’ll see you in two weeks,” he said slowly, then he gave Chance a defiant look and added, “who knows, maybe you won’t even have to give me this copacetic shit when I get back.”

Chance didn’t like the sound of that, or more importantly, the way Chip looked at him. “What the hell does that mean?”

The curtain came down over Chip’s face again. “Nothin’,” he said with a sour twist of the lips. Then he quickly walked off before Chance could read him or say anything else.

Chance watched him go. Any other day, he would have followed up on that little conversation. At least Chip hadn’t given Chance the usual earful of protests, no doubt eager to hit up his favorite strip club.

Today, Chance let it go. He had bigger issues on his mind, namely: Would Juliet be at the butterfly center today?

* * *

He wandered around the butterfly center. Even the butterflies seemed to sense his internal tension and stayed well away from him.

He shouldn’t be here. It wasn’t fair to Juliet or, frankly, to himself. The last thing he needed was a relationship, and if Juliet showed up today, that was exactly what this would turn into. San Antonio? Her family? Their damn anniversary party no less.

There was also his conversation with Chip, reminding him of priority number one. Now here he was feeling like a damn hypocrite.

Hell, maybe she wouldn’t even show up, thus saving him the problem of whether or not he was up for something serious with anyone. It had been one date. He had no claim on the woman. If she couldn’t handle him complete with all his issues, then maybe she wasn’t the woman for him after all. The thought made him irrationally upset.

“Well, hello there stranger.”

He turned to see Juliet cocking her head at him with his favorite smile on her face.

* * *

“So you have one more year?”

They were walking the same path they had last time, his hand around her waist. He had promised to answer truthfully any and all questions she had about his situation.

“The way things are going, maybe a bit less.”

She stopped and turned to him. He could read the nagging question all over her, but he waited for her to actually ask it. “So this is just a debt right? Once it’s paid, your only involvement would be playing poker?”

“Actually, I think I’ve had my fill of organized crime and the underground scene.” It was true. Finding someone who could quite possibly fill an empty void in his life had changed his perspective. He certainly didn’t want to end up like his father, leaving a family behind over some stupid game.

That seemed to calm her a little, then her eyes sparkled with some new thought. “What if you don’t pay it off?”

“That’s not going to happen,” he said firmly.

“I know, but what would happen if…?”

He brought his hand up to her chin, lifting it to face him. “It’s not going to happen.”

Her brain wouldn’t let the “what if’s” go. He could read it all over her expression.

“If you’re worried about yourself, you don’t need to be. Think of my situation as nothing more than a business transaction. Yes, the people involved are…dangerous. But in the end it’s just business. If I don’t pay up, the only one on the line is yours truly.”

“It isn’t me I’m worried about.”

“Your family will be fine too,” he said with a slightly confused look.

“It’s you I’m worried about,” she said, as though that was obvious.

That one went straight to his gut like a punch. The only other selfless person he’d known in his life was his own mother, and even she had too much Russian pragmatism to be one hundred percent altruistic, no matter how much she loved her sons.

Yes, Juliet was definitely a distraction worth holding on to.

“Hey,” he said, pulling her in close. “Before I met you, I had every reason in the world to pay off this debt. You’ve just given me a reason to double down on that. Frankly, these past two weeks were torture waiting to see you again. Does that answer your question?”

She gave him that smile he loved. “Yes.”

“So, am I still invited for your family weekend up in San Antonio?”

She laughed. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”