The door opened, and Callie stepped out. “Oh, there you are. We need you for pictures.” She smiled at Vanessa before retreating back inside, leaving the door open for him.

“Pictures for the website?” Vanessa asked. “I’d like to be in them. It’ll be good for my business.”

“No, wedding pictures. Gray and Knox just got married.”

Her features froze, and she stared at him in confusion. “Your brother got married? Just now?”

“Twenty minutes ago, but yeah.”

Stepping around him, she peered inside, scanning the room from one side to the other. “You didn’t invite me.”

“I didn’t invite anyone.”

She gazed up at him, those brown eyes searching, and he realized he was looking into the eyes of a woman. Not his architect.

A woman he’d hurt.

“Brodie…” So much accusation in her tone. “Why didn’t you tell me about it?”

He didn’t know what to say. It hadn’t occurred to him to invite her. His brothers liked to joke that he was clueless about women. That he only found out he was in a relationship when they asked him to meet their parents or expected him to go to a work party.

Is that what’s happening now?

Does she think I’m her boyfriend?

Not once had he asked her on a date. On the rare occasion he sent a text, it was business-related. Sure, they’d slept together, but that was when they’d both had an itch to scratch. They’d be working on house plans, ordering food in, and then they’d get naked. But, after, they always went their separate ways—either back to work or home. They’d never spent the night at each other’s places, never…held hands or whatever couples do.

So, what had he done to mislead her? He honestly wanted to know, because he didn’t like seeing her hurt. “We need to talk about this, but right now I have to get back in there.” He held her gaze a moment longer, long enough to see that she very much wanted to be included in the family photos. “I’ll call you later.”

As soon as he joined the wedding party, Callie said, “Where’s your girlfriend?”

“Vanessa’s my architect. Not my girlfriend.”

She gave him a look that said, Here we go again. “Brodie, you’ve been dating her for months.”

“I’ve been working with her. On my house and this atelier.”

She searched his eyes, as if checking to see if he was serious. When she found he was, she gave him a pitying look. “Sometimes you need to get your head out of your ass.”

Chapter Four