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As Wyatt approached Zane, his half-brother's goofy grin grew.

"What are you smirking at?" Wyatt scowled, not in the mood for any shit, courtesy of Ashlin bamboozling him to the point he couldn’t think straight.

"You." Zane slugged him on the arm. "Very entertaining, watching you crash and burn with Ashlin."

"By choice, smartass."

Zane's eyebrows rose. "You knocked her back?"

"She's not my type." Wyatt expected a lightning bolt to strike him down any second for that monumental lie.

Zane guffawed as he jostled him. "So you're a fibber as well as an idiot."

"Quit it."

Wyatt didn't need Zane reiterating what he already knew: he was a dumbass for not taking Ashlin up on her offer or at the very least, reciprocating her interest.

Zane's grin faded, his expression turning somber, but he couldn't hide the mischief in his eyes. "You know dancers are extremely flexible, right? So it's probably a good thing you didn't hook up, what with you being a computer geek, you could've done yourself an injury—"

"Shut up," Wyatt said, joining in Zane's chuckles. "Is Steele here?"

Thankfully, Zane bought his change of subject. "Yeah, entered not long after you did, got waylaid by the yoga instructor."

"You Aussie Harrisons don't waste any time, do you?"

Zane squared his shoulders. "I'll have you know it took me a good month to get Chantal to realize she couldn't resist me."

"For a CEO of her own company, hooking up with you is a dumb move."

Zane's perpetual grin broadened. "Don't forget I'm bigger than you, squirt. I can take you."

Before Wyatt could respond, a guy behind him spoke. "He's been trying that line on me for years. Bullshit trying to baffle brains as usual."

The guy stepped into view and held out his hand. "Steele Harrison."

Wyatt struggled to hide his surprise. His other half-brother was a blonder, blue-eyed version of himself. Six foot. Lean. Wiry. With a vague hint of a frown line between his brows.

"Wyatt. Pleased to meet you." He shook his half-brother's hand, not surprised Steele tried to squeeze his down to the bones.

Zane had clued him in that Steele was a control freak and had to be in charge of every situation, from the boardroom to a party. Guess that's where their similarities ended. Wyatt preferred blending into a crowd any day.

"We look alike." Steele studied Wyatt’s face, as if looking for clues to a mystery he wasn't sure he wanted to solve.

"Yeah, could be worse." Wyatt jerked a thumb at Zane. "We could look like him."

Steele let out a bark of laughter. "I reckon we're going to be mates."

"Yeah, brains trump brawn any day," Wyatt drawled, secretly thrilled to be swapping banter with his half-brothers.

He'd never been close to Kurt, his NFL star brother, for the simple fact they had little in common. Plus he wouldn't be human if he didn't resent Kurt for their father's obvious favoritism.

Christopher Harrison, the doyen of sporting goods in America, valued strength and courage on a football field. He didn't think much of talent in the IT arena.

"If you two are going to gang up on me five seconds after meeting for the first frigging time, I'm outta here," Zane said, an obvious bluff, considering he looked immensely pleased Steele had accepted him so easily.

"He won't leave," Steele said. "Chantal has his balls in her back pocket."

Wyatt laughed. Thank god Steele had the same dry sense of humor as his Aussie brother.

"You two losers are jealous." Zane snapped his fingers. "Hey, speaking of hot women, what's going on with you and Miranda? I saw her bail you up at the door."

"That yoga chick is crazy." Steele made loopy circles at his temple. "She deliberately trod on my toes in the corridor before we entered and then she went ballistic."

Zane's eyes narrowed. "What aren't you telling us?"

"Nothing." Steele's expression, a mix of guilt and angelic, made Wyatt snicker.

Since he'd been working here the last few weeks, he'd gotten to observe most of the girls firsthand. People didn't notice him because he worked in the background. He liked it that way. It enabled him to make people-reading an art form.

Pity he couldn't get an accurate read on Ashlin.

From what he'd seen, Chantal, Ashlin and Miranda were tight. Where Chantal and Ashlin were tall, lithe, blonde and redhead respectively, Miranda was a petite brunette who looked capable of packing a punch. Whatever Steele had done, he would've paid money to see her take him down.

"So Zane tells me you're updating the IT systems here?" Steele said.

Wyatt nodded, admiring Steele's change of topic, something he'd used to great effect earlier. "Yeah. Some of the stuff is pretty archaic so it's an upgrade."

"We should talk shop one day," Steele said.

Wyatt would like nothing better. "You run your own digital marketing company?"

"Uh-huh. Promote businesses worldwide."

Zane snorted. "He's underselling as usual. Think of every major brand and he's probably marketing it online."

"Impressive," Wyatt said, his admiration increasing because of Steele's modesty. Some of the guys he knew in IT would spend endless hours boasting about their success. He preferred the quiet achievers.

"No idea why you're blowing smoke up my arse, Zane, but quit it." Steele leaned over to Wyatt and jerked a thumb at Zane. "He's the superstar in the family and thinks I have a hang-up because of it."

"Know the feeling."

Steele nodded. "So Kurt's a big deal in football, I hear?"

"A superstar ten times over." Wyatt kept the bitterness from his tone, but he must've let slip a tell because his half-brothers eyed him with speculation.

"Bet that comes at a price," Zane said. "I should know."

"Yeah, must be tough beating models and actresses off with a stick," Steele said, with what Wyatt was fast recognizing as his signature dry humor.

Zane rolled his eyes. "I'll leave you nerds together while I go hang out with my gorgeous girlfriend."

Steele pressed a thumb to his forehead. "Yep, under this, and balls in her pocket."

"Fuck off," Zane said, without a hint of malice. "Catch you later."

As Zane wandered off in search of Chantal, Steele turned back to him. "Is the redhead your girlfriend?"

Wyatt liked Steele's bluntness but talking women with a guy he'd just met, albeit his half-brother, felt plain weird. "Nah, she's a choreographer here."

"You seemed pretty tight?"

"She asked me out," he blurted, sounding like an idiot. He never shared personal stuff with anyone but Steele was different. He sensed a kindred spirit, a guy who'd prefer getting lost in his work than socializing. Then again, he knew next to nothing about the guy so maybe he was off base.

"And that's a bad thing because?"

Wyatt shrugged. "Not sure what her angle is."

Steele frowned. "She has an angle?"

"Girls who look like her don't usually go for guys like me."

Steele's mouth quirked into a wry smile. "Considering we look alike, I beg to differ."

Wyatt chuckled. "So you pull a lot of babes in Oz, huh?"

"I do okay."

By the way Steele straightened his shoulders and puffed his chest out, Wyatt reckoned he did better than okay.

"Steady girlfriend?"

Steele shook his head. "No one special. You?"

"Same."

Truth was Wyatt had never had a girlfriend. The occasional fling at conferences was so far from a relationship it wasn't funny. He preferred it that way. But watching Zane with Chantal, he had to admit to a twinge of jealousy.

Steele beckoned to some barstools nearby and they sat. "So you don't know her that well?"

"Not really. We met in the office once and then she waylays me the second I walked in here."

"Maybe it's the Harrison charm?"

Wyatt snorted. "My charm works fine on software. Elsewhere? Not so much."

"What about your brother?"

Wyatt bit back his first retort, 'don't you mean
our
brother'. Zane had clued him in that Steele visiting the States was a big deal, that he was willing to meet his half-brothers but didn't want Christopher mentioned, that he was wary of his US family in general.

"Kurt has more women than he knows what to do with."

"Lucky bastard." Funnily enough, Steele made him sound far from lucky with the right amount of derision. "Do you guys hang out much?"

"Rarely. But he'll want to meet you."

"Yeah?" Steele looked pleased for a moment before he schooled his expression into an inscrutable mask that Wyatt guessed was his version of a poker face.

"He likes to suss out the competition."

"Competition?" The furrow between Steele's brows deepened. "I don't get it."

"Christopher's company is worth millions. Kurt thought he was the eldest so he'd inherit. Then you come along."

"I don't want that bastard's money." Steele scowled, his eyes flashing fire.

"Ditto, but Kurt doesn't know that, and considering you're the eldest Harrison, he'll be nervous."

Steele cocked his head. "You call him Christopher?"

"We've never been close."

Understatement of the year. Thinking about his father made Wyatt want to rub his chest to ease the ache that flared with anything remotely connected to dear old Dad.

"At least he was around," Steele said, resentment twisting his mouth.

Wyatt understood Steele's bitterness all too well. Christopher may have abandoned his Australian sons to start a new family in the States, but their father had never been around for him either. Not in any real way that mattered.

"Physically, maybe, but that's where it ended." Wyatt shrugged like it meant little when in fact he despised his father for how callous he could be.

Steele opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say more, then closed it again, his lips compressed into a thin, angry line.

Wyatt felt obliged to fill the silence. "You know he'll want to meet you too."

"Tough," Steele said, anger evident in his rigid neck muscles. "I don't give a flying fuck what the old man wants."

"My sentiments exactly, but a word of advice?"

When Steele remained silent, Wyatt continued. "Christopher will never change. He's a selfish, narcissistic bastard and even the ever-optimistic Zane realized it damn quick. But you don't want to head home filled with regret and that's what'll probably happen."

"What do you know about regret?" Steele snarled, before tempering it with a tap on the shoulder in silent apology.

"I know enough." Sometimes, it felt like regret had become Wyatt's middle name.

He regretted not bonding with his family as a kid. He regretted not following his dream of being a game app designer. Most of all, he regretted shutting himself away as a teen, losing himself in a virtual world to the point he had no idea how to interact with women in the real world.

Women like Ashlin.

"Sorry, mate." Steele slapped him on the back. "As you can see, Christopher's a sore topic for me."

"Don't blame you," Wyatt said. "The way he left you and Zane in Australia to start a new life over here and never got in contact again? Unbe-fucking-lievable."

"You got that right."

Wyatt glimpsed pain—the type of soul-deep pain that makes your bones ache—in Steele's eyes.

"But let's not waste another second talking about him." Some of the tension drained from Steele's face. "What are you going to do about the redhead?"

What Wyatt wanted to do with Ashlin couldn't be articulated in public.

"Nothing."

Steele's eyes narrowed, as if he was thinking hard. "Why don't you call her bluff?"

"How?"

Steele sniggered. "Sometimes beautiful women who are super confident enjoy toying with shy guys. It's a game to them. Maybe you should call her on it?"

"I don't think Ashlin's like that—"

"How well do you know her?"

"I don't."

"Then how do you know she's not playing you?"

Wyatt didn't have a frigging clue why Ashlin had asked him out but if what Steele said was true, he'd be pissed.

Was she toying with him because she could? Expecting him to run because he had 'social outcast' or 'computer geek' tattooed on his forehead?

"Do women really do that kind of thing?"

Steele chuckled. "Mate, women who look like that stunning redhead are capable of anything."

The more he thought about Ashlin goading him for her own amusement, the angrier Wyatt got. Who the hell did she think she was?

"Call her bluff, huh?"

Steele nodded. "Yep. You be the aggressor. Take her up on her offer. Push the envelope. See how she reacts."

Steele's plan sounded good. Except Wyatt wouldn't have a clue how to push Ashlin to do anything.

"Think about it," Steele said. "I'm outta here, but maybe we can meet up for a drink tomorrow and you can tell me how you got on?"

"Sure." Wyatt shook his brother's hand. This time, Steele didn't try to fracture every bone. "That'd be great."

"See you then." Steele jerked a thumb over his shoulder, where Zane was cozying up with Chantal. "Say bye to the dickhead for me."

"Shall do."

"No worries." Steele paused. "With the redhead? Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Wyatt's nervous chuckle belied his nerves.

Because what the hell would he do with Ashlin?

"See that guy who's leaving?" Miranda elbowed Ashlin in the ribs. "The one by the door?"

Ashlin craned her neck, catching a glimpse of dirty-blond hair and a designer suit. "Yeah, that’s Zane's brother, Steele."

"
That's
Zane's brother?" Miranda's eyes widened. "Uh-oh."

"Why? What happened?"

Miranda gnawed on her bottom lip. "Uh…I may have called him an uptight prick."

Ashlin winced. "Ouch."

Miranda groaned. "How was I supposed to know the guy's practically Chantal's family?"

"Chantal and Zane aren't married," Ashlin said, knowing it was a matter of time, her friend was that smitten with the hot Aussie.