Falling for a Stranger by Barbara Freethy

but Brandon has a good sense of structure. He loves to work with the blocks. It keeps his attention for hours."
    "I used to love building stuff. Burke and I built almost an entire city in our bedroom one summer."
    "I remember. Then Daisy knocked it over," she said, referring to their golden retriever.
    He smiled. "I forgot about that."
    "I'm pretty sure Aiden threw something into the room so that Daisy would go after it," Emma said dryly. "He was bored with you."
    "I wouldn't doubt it. Good old Daisy."
    "Maybe you should get a dog to keep you company."
    "I have plenty of company."
    "Do you?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.
    "Yes. Speaking of company, where's your fiancé today?"
    "Max is working."
    "How are you two doing?"
    "Still happy. Still engaged. Life is good," she said, which was really quite an understatement for how fabulous her life was now with Max.
    "You deserve it after that douche bag you were with a few years ago."
    "Don't remind me." She paused, giving her brother a thoughtful look. There was a familiar weariness in his eyes. She'd thought for a while he was just recovering from his years in the Navy, but there was something else going on. "What's wrong, Drew? You look tired."
    "I haven't been sleeping well."
    "Is it that woman again? The one you thought was dead? Did you see her again?"
    He frowned. "I wish I'd never told you about her. And, no, I haven't seen her again."
    "But you're still thinking about her."
    "Mind your own business, Em."
    "You're my business. You're my brother." She cocked her head to one side as she studied his expression. "She meant something to you, didn't she?"
    "I don't know what she meant to me. She died before we had a chance to find out."
    "You've never told me what happened. Was she someone you were trying to rescue?"
    "I did try to save her, but I wasn't on duty. I was just nearby when she was involved in a boat accident."
    "I'm sorry." Despite Drew's claim that he didn't know what the woman meant to him, Emma knew that there was some kind of strong connection. Drew had been in the search and rescue business for a decade. He was hardened to accidents and even to death. He'd spent years building a hard shell around his heart. While it saddened her to see, she suspected that wall was what kept him from losing his sanity.
    "I don't want to talk about her," Drew said.
    "If you change your mind, I'm here. And I might be able to help."
    "How could you help?"
    "Well, I could help you take your mind off this woman by setting you up with one of my hot, single girlfriends."
    He groaned. "No set-ups. I can get my own dates."
    "I know you can , but you don't," she said pointedly. "You haven't brought a woman around the family in a long time."
    "For good reason. I don't need you scaring them off with the third degree."
    "I wouldn't do that."
    He laughed. "Sure you would."
    "I care about you, Drew. You've had some rough years. I know you won't talk about them, so I'm not going to ask. But I want to see you happy, maybe even settle down with someone, have a long term relationship."
    "Just because you're engaged you want everyone else to be matched up."
    "Okay, that's sort of true, but not completely."
    "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
    "You always say that."
    "Because it's true."
    "Well, if you're not going to have a social life, then I guess you'll be one less sibling who needs to bring a guest to my wedding."
    "No way. I'm not coming solo to your wedding. You'll put me at the singles table. I'll bring someone."
    "Who?" she asked with a challenging smile.
    "I don't know yet."
    "Well, you have almost five months to figure it out," she said on her way out the door.

Chapter Four

    Drew followed Aiden and Burke to the marina just after three o'clock in the afternoon. He'd opted to take his own car, so he wouldn’t have to drive all the way back to his parents house. And he'd also wanted to have a few minutes to think about what he might be about to commit to.
    It had been a long time since he'd