Bad in Bed (10 page)

“That’s how it works.”

Amber remained silent as she met Ethan’s eyes.
She wasn’t exactly sure what she felt most right then. A tad shocked of course,
but perhaps more curious, maybe even a little envious. “Was it the same woman?
You said you did it once, technically twice? With the same woman?”

Again, he ran his hand over his mouth and
around the back of his neck. “Yes.”

As Amber stared at him, she felt heat rise in
her cheeks…and between her legs. God. That was so incredibly hot. She’d never
given it much thought before, but now that she did, it seemed so amazingly
sexy. Perhaps it was because it involved Ethan…and Marco, two really delicious men.
She was barely able to digest the result of her night with Ethan and how she’d
responded to his every touch, let alone that he’d responded so readily to hers
and come back for more—and more. Never in her wildest dreams had she expected
to keep a man as sexually adept as Ethan satisfied through the night. She
couldn’t even begin to imagine how it would be with two men at the same time.

She experienced a tiny flash of jealousy at the
thought of any other woman enjoying Ethan’s skilful lovemaking, but hot on that
came the image of being
shared
by
Ethan and Marco, the beautiful, sexy Italian. That would be one lucky woman. Hell.
Where had that come from?

“You okay?”

“Fine.”

Since Ethan watched her carefully with a slight
frown, Amber wasn’t quite sure how to openly react. Did she simply shrug it
off, or did she question him further about the dynamics of the situation? She
wanted so much to know more, despite the niggling doubt that she might live to
regret it. It was hard enough to imagine Ethan with another woman. Did she
really want to know the details?

Damn it. Yes. She was intrigued.

With his eyes on hers, he reached for her
coffee and handed it to her. “I’ve shocked you.”

“Perhaps a little. I wasn’t expecting it.”
Thoughtfully, she sipped her drink, then looked up at him. “She must have been
some woman to have kept the two of you interested. At the same time.”

He hesitated, obviously uncomfortable and still
looking a little sheepish, except for the slight frown as he studied her. “It
wasn’t planned, exactly.”

She took a longer sip of her coffee, suddenly
wanting to be away from his penetrating gaze and the odd feelings that settled
in her chest as she continued to imagine him having sex with another woman.
Perhaps some things you were best not knowing about. “You don’t have to explain
anything. It’s up to you what you indulge in and with whom.”

Slowly, deliberately, he took the cup from her
hand and placed it down on the worktop. He reached for her hands. “Just so you
know, I’ve enjoyed indulging in you more than twenty women. At the same time.”

Despite the shaky feeling in her chest, she
laughed. “Not sure how that would work, technically, but thanks for the
sentiment.”

He squeezed her hands. “I want to see you
tonight. How about I cook supper and then we head for Papa Niko’s? One of my
employees is playing in the band tonight. Piano.”

“I’ve got one more question.” Amber wasn’t quite
ready to drop the subject, despite his skillful sleight of hand and the myriad
thoughts still vying for her attention. “Didn’t it place a strain on your
friendship? I mean, there must have been tension between you afterward.”

He made a sound low in his throat and dropped
her hand to run his through his hair. “We’ve been friends too long for that to
happen. We both saw her in the bar at the same time, she seemed up for it, so
it happened.” He grated out the words, as if he was getting pissed with the
whole conversation.

Too bad. “What about afterwards?”

“What about it?”

“Did you see her again? Either of you? Both?”

He scrubbed a hand across his mouth. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Shit, Amber.” He reached for his coffee and
took what she suspected was a fortifying swig. “It was a one-off, okay? No big
deal.”

“Seems like a pretty big deal to me.”

He sucked in an irritated breath. “Marco and I
couldn’t agree who should make a play, so we joked that maybe we should both
take a run at her and let her decide. She couldn’t, so she suggested a
threesome. End of story.”

Amber nodded, trying to accept that she
shouldn’t push any further. She failed. “If it was a one-off, the technically
twice part means you had sex with her, both of you, twice on the same night
then?”

“Correct.”

“But you enjoyed it?”

“Jesus. I’m starting to wish I never mentioned
it. Yeah, I enjoyed it.”

Well she’d started it, pushed it, so she
deserved the disagreeable twinge that pierced her chest. “Then why are you
getting annoyed? Why are you frowning?”

He gave a mocking laugh. “It’s not exactly a
topic of conversation for the morning after, green eyes.”

Perhaps he was right and if she continued to
press things might get even more uncomfortable between them. Shouldn’t she be
content with the knowledge that right now she was the woman he wanted to be
with? That they’d shared some amazing sex? That for the first time in a long
while her confidence in her own abilities had leapt several rungs up the ladder?
She moved closer to him and touched his arm. “My place is nearer Papa Niko’s.
What if I cook and we go from there?”

Since he seemed to brighten at that, Amber pressed
her lips to his disgruntled mouth. “Eight o’clock? Flat three,

“I’ll find it.” He pulled her in for a
scorching kiss, then released her to reach up and retrieve her bag from the top
of the refrigerator. He held it out, but gripped it tighter as she went to take
it. “Shall I bring my shaving gear?”

Her feminine muscles clenched and flooded with
heat. “If you want.”

“I want.” He brushed his fingers along her
cleavage. “See you at eight.”

Chapter Seven

Ethan had sensed a reserve in Amber as they’d
shared the tasty pasta dish she’d produced. He timed it from his confession
about the damned three-in-a-bed romp. Shit. Why had he told her? He could have
easily hedged around her question about Marco’s remark, put it down to his
friend’s lack of social niceties.
  

In retrospect, it wasn’t the thing to confess
to a woman whose belief in her own sexual skills had taken a battering. Though
why in heaven she’d believed that loser of an ex was beyond him. His cock had
throbbed all day at the memory of how many times he’d been inside her the night
before, how many times he’d
wanted
to
be inside her. Yet, still he sensed her reservations, her doubts. So what had
he done? Gone and mentioned that one damn occasion he and Marco lusted after
the same woman and, at the woman’s suggestion, had taken things to its logical
conclusion. If there was one thing you didn’t confess to a woman lacking in
confidence, it was how you and your buddy enjoyed a little
ménage
with another woman.

The fucking idiot she’d been engaged to had
already done a number on her. He’d been screwing her best friend, for God’s
sake. Her
male
best friend.

Shit. What did that do to a woman’s esteem?

As they sat together at one of Papa Niko’s
bench tables, Ethan decided to lighten things up, bring them back on the same
footing they’d been the night before.

He leaned closer, mostly because he desperately
wanted to touch her and partly because the noise in the bar was so loud it was
hard to hear above the din. Normally, he enjoyed the noise, the movement, the
sheer volume of people flooding the popular bar, but tonight he just wanted
Amber. “Enjoying yourself?”

She’d been tapping her fingers against the stem
of her wine glass as she bumped along to the music, but now she turned those
glorious green eyes on him. “It’s great. Simon’s brilliant, isn’t he?”

“Yeah. Keeps threatening to go full-time with
the music gig. I’d be damn sorry to lose a good engineer.”

She smiled at him, her eyes bright, face
flushed.

 
It was
so damn hot in the bar, yet she made no attempt to take off her short-sleeved
red jacket. Those scars. He hated that she was so conscious of them, hated what
had happened to her that she’d suffered them. Didn’t she realize how beautiful
she was? So beautiful that it would take more than a few scars to even begin to
diminish her appeal. What the hell had the prick of a colleague been thinking
letting her on a damn bike without protective clothing?

“Why don’t you ditch the jacket? It’s a furnace
in here.”

She smiled again, a little apologetically, and
it hiked up his annoyance levels.

“You think they’re worse than they are,
gorgeous. Most people won’t notice them.”

“I know, but I feel a bit self-conscious.”

He kept his eyes on hers, took the chance, and
reached for the lapels.

She covered his hands with hers, staying him. Emotion
stormed in her eyes as she swallowed. “Why does it matter to you that I take
off my jacket?”

“It doesn’t matter, that’s the whole point. I
want you to start to believe that.”

Her muscles went rigid and he thought she’d
refuse, but then she released her hands and leaned forward so he could help her
slip off the jacket. He noticed her red dress had tiny sleeves masking the
worst of the scars, but his attention was immediately diverted to the neckline
which plunged to reveal the top of her tits pushing against the fabric. Shit. His
cock hardened and his blood heated. “Do you want to get out of here?”

With a glance to where his attention was
currently fixed, she laughed. “Not sure your friends would forgive you skipping
out two nights in a row. Besides,” she said glancing at the door. “Here’s
Marco.”

Ethan turned and saw his friend striding across
the floor of the bar, heading for their table.

Marco acknowledged the greetings of the rest of
their group seated around the bench, then his gaze met Amber’s as he squeezed
in next to her. “What happened to the two of you last night?”

With some irritation, Ethan saw Marco give
Amber a once-over, his gaze settling on her delectable cleavage. “We’ve already
had the third degree from this bunch,” he said, indicating the group around the
table. “Like I told them, nobody’s business.”

“Touchy.” Marco snuggled against Amber and
covered her hand with his. “Have you decided to dump this loser and try me out,
bella
?”

Shit. When Marco started laying on the accent
and using endearments, he was usually interested. Beyond interested.

Seemingly unaware, Amber laughed. “Not just
yet, but I’ll be sure to let you know if things change.”

Ethan knew he should be pleased that Amber felt
comfortable enough to joke with Marco, that she genuinely seemed to like his
friends, and they her, but a flare of something hot burned in his chest. Marco
wasn’t about to get his hands on Amber.

Pointedly, he stared at Marco’s hand, then
looked up and glared at his friend.

Marco only grinned and kept his hand where it
was.

Ethan decided to take it for what it was,
Marco’s attempt to wind him up, and concentrated on enjoying the evening. It
wasn’t easy.

Thankfully, conversation flowed around the
table, the bar becoming more lively as the evening went on. Half way through
the evening, two of the women headed for the cloakroom and invited Amber to
join them.

Ethan frowned as she went to slip on her
jacket, but felt ridiculously pleased when she glanced at him, smiled, and left
it on the back of the bench. He watched her link arms with the women as the
three of them walked across the bar. When they were out of sight, he turned to
Marco. “You want to keep your fucking hands off my woman?”

Marco gave a lopsided grin and reached for his
beer. “Don’t hear any complaints from her. What’s the big deal anyway? You’re
screwing her. She seems happy about it. Where’s the problem if I have a little
touchy, feely? Never bothered you before.”

Christ. Would that damn threesome ever go away?

“Well, it bothers me now. Lay off.”

Obviously aware that he’d rankled his friend,
and not in any rush to stop pushing, Marco’s grin intensified. He leaned back
against the bench and laid his arm along the back of Amber’s empty seat. “And
here I was hoping for a little action. It worked before.”

“That was a one-off. And why mention it now?
You haven’t been the least interested in any woman I’ve screwed since.”

“You’re right. I haven’t been interested in any
woman you’ve screwed since. Same as you’ve not been interested in any woman
I’ve screwed. Now I’m interested.”

His throat suddenly parched, Ethan took a swig
of beer. “Not going to happen.”