“Her name is Tatiana, but in Portuguese the t and the i together make a ‘ch’ sound. So instead of Tah-tee-ana, it’s Tah-chee-ana,” he explained. “Tatchi for short.”

“Your mom’s Brazilian, right?” Understanding dawned in her eyes when he nodded. “Is that why you can’t tell her you eat black beans out of a can?”

“I wasn’t kidding when I said it would break her heart,” he said seriously. “Then she’d make me learn to make them from scratch, and I don’t wanna.”

“Lazy,” she accused, and poked him in the ribs.

“Hey, hey, none of that,” he warned, twitching away from her dancing fingers. “Tickling will get you beaten.”

“Spoilsport,” she accused but she was smiling. “Thanks for the hug.”

“You’re welcome.” He dropped a soft kiss on her upturned mouth. “Anytime.”

“Really?” She rose on her toes to kiss him again. “Anytime?”

“Anytime,” he repeated. He threaded his fingers into her braid, tilting her head to deepen the contact. “Day or night.”

“Who knew living here would come with such great perks?” she whispered against his mouth, and he chuckled.

“I’ll show you perks,” he said in the most sinister voice he could imagine, and she gave a shriek of mock fear just as the back door opened.

“Cade, Mom is riding my nerves like a Grand Canyon mule, so I’m crashing here tonight.”

Olivia squeaked, Cade groaned, and his younger sister dropped a loaded duffel on the floor and grinned. “Am I interrupting something?”

“Speak of the fucking devil,” Cade said, resigned, and held Olivia more firmly against him. She was squirming, trying to pull free, but there was no way he was letting her go, and not just because she was the only thing keeping his sister from seeing the erection trying to poke through his shorts.

“Language, menino,” Tatiana chided, and the look of unholy glee on her face had his eyes narrowing.

“You’re not staying here tonight,” he told her firmly, already knowing it was a losing battle.

“I have to,” she countered. “Mom invited Marcelo Silva over for dinner again.”

“Oh, hell.” He sighed, resigned. “Fine. One night. And I’ll talk to Mom.”

“Thank you,” Tatchi said, then raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”

“No.”

“Cade,” Olivia said, and he looked down to find her trying not to smile at him.

“If I introduce you, she’ll just try to talk to you, and believe me, that’s not a good idea.”

“Rude,” Tatchi scoffed. “I’ll have you know most people think I’m a delight.”

“None of those people have had to live with you,” he countered.

His baby sister crossed her arms over her chest and sent him a smug smile. “If you don’t introduce me, I’m calling Claud and Via.”