Magic of Three (10 page)

Julian’s heart swelled in his already tight chest at the sight of her sparkling smile. Lisa Harrington. His Third.

She laughed, tossing her head back and letting the joy spill from her lush mouth as the silky silver curtain swished around her shoulders. Seeing her so filled with bubbling happiness after years of being haunted by the image of pain and betrayal shining in her eyes melted Julian’s frozen soul. Where Tim had chiseled a place for himself through the ice, Lisa thawed the final shards.

Their Catalyst, the loyal and loving woman to fill those empty nooks and crannies in their lives, stood close enough to touch.

His jaw clenched as he watched other men avariciously eyeing the two making their way to the treadmills. With two such perfect specimens of scantily clad womanhood, he couldn’t blame them for staring. But no one had the right to look at her with such lust. She belonged to him and Tim, as she had so many centuries before.

He simply needed to get her to admit to that, to come back to them.

But to start he had to get to know her, this new version of her. Lisa Harrington. With a loud metallic thunk, he dropped the bar of the machine he’d been working for the last twenty minutes. He turned, wiping the sweat off the bench and snagging his water bottle before making his way to the aerobic machines. He slid onto the treadmill next to Lisa as she started a brisk, eye-catching jog.

He faked a double take as he programmed his own routine into the machine. “The owner of CM,” he said with just the right mixture of surprise and pleasure. “No annoying customers to deal with today?”

With a start, Lisa missed a step in her stride, her treadmill giving a protesting, mechanical cough. On the other side, her friend leaned over, looking him over with a flirtatious grin.

After her friend reached over to nudge her and give her a pointed look, Lisa finally met his gaze. Julian smothered a smirk as a deep red blush blossomed across her face and neck before she jerked her head forward. “Uh, no,” she managed to mutter. She clicked up the speed, taking a quick swig of water as her feet stumbled into a swift gait.

“Good to hear,” he replied. For a fleeting moment he wished he were more like Tim, wished he knew at least what she was feeling if not what she was thinking. He couldn’t let Lisa bury herself in her routine, ignoring him. But he couldn’t read her or project his feelings at her, forcing her attention. How could he make her acknowledge his presence? “I’m glad we were there, though. I hate it when people like that get away with throwing their weight around and intimidating people into giving them what they want.”

“Yes, thank you,” came Lisa’s clipped reply.

Julian relaxed into his stride. It seemed he and Tim had made an impact, if only in rendering her speechless. Her vibrant friend, on the other hand, had no such speech problem.

“Hi, I’m Janice Thompson,” the feisty tricolor-haired woman called out across her friend. Her smile brightened the room, not unlike Tim’s effect. A woman who knew her power and wasn’t afraid to use it. “How do you know Lisa?”

“Julian Stern,” he nodded, straining to hear her over the sound to the machines and music. “I ran into her yesterday at her restaurant. She was having trouble with a customer. A friend and I stepped in to help.”

He watched Janice’s expression morph until her smile threatened to overwhelm her face. “Oh, so you and another friend helped her out yesterday.” She gave a pointed look to Lisa, who kept walking and ignored them both.

She
’
d been talking about them
,
girl talk
.
Another good sign
.

“Did she offer you and your friend anything as a thank you?” Janice asked, smirking, still staring at a rose-red Lisa.

“A dessert, but not the one we would’ve preferred,” he teased in reply, watching the total concentration Lisa gave to the digital counter on her treadmill. “A decadent, fluffy chocolate mousse, rich and sweet, but not as tempting as what I really wanted.”

Janice laughed, a joyful if piercing sound. “I’m sure it wasn’t,” she added with a toss of her head, curls bouncing. “Bet she even turned you down for drinks or anything else you offered.”

Julian smiled in return, enjoying Lisa’s expression, eyes glued straight ahead and lush lips pursed. Every word increased her concentration. With Janice on his side he had a chance. A teasing conspirator. He developed an instant liking for Lisa’s friend. “Yeah, she shot down both Tim and me. But she did it in such a nice way. Almost encourages a guy to try again.”

“I think you should. Every girl deserves a second chance.” She gave Lisa a pointed stare, was met by a soft, almost inaudible growl. “Who knows? Maybe she’ll be a good girl and take you up on your offer this time.”

Ah, a definite ally. Lisa glared at her friend, ice practically forming in the sweaty, humid air. Janice mouthed the word “promise”, smirked and kept on walking.

Julian forged ahead, not above using whatever pull Lisa’s friend had with her. He appreciated any help, whatever the motivation. “Well, I was planning on asking her out for dinner sometime,” he said, jerking his head in her direction with pleading puppy eyes, hoping Janice would get the hint. “Maybe even bring Tim along if it made her feel better. He’s more comforting than me.”

Janice’s eyes sparkled, her lips twitching. “I’m sure she’d love to go out with the two of you. It sounds like a blast, don’t you think, Lisa?”

“I can arrange my own social life, thank you very much,” she grumbled between gritted teeth. But she didn’t say no.

Curiouser and curiouser. What had these two women been talking about?

“Yes, you can and you will, remember?” Janice needled.

Lisa grabbed the side bars of her treadmill and sent her friend another smoldering glower. Her hands clenched and unclenched against the black foam padding. Julian chuckled as Janice gave her a wide-eyed, innocent look. A less innocent woman he’d never met.

Responding to his snicker, Lisa turned her glare on him. “You know, it’s not nice to set up a date through a friend when the woman’s standing right next to you.”

Julian gave a wide-eyed who-me stare while internally he gloated.
Almost there
. “You mean you would’ve said yes without being egged on?”

“Maybe,” she answered, blowing a loose piece of hair out of her face. “Probably. Who knows?”

Time for the final push. If he didn’t say it now he’d lose his nerve. Gods help him if he had to tell Tim he’d chickened out at the last moment. Julian braced himself, sending up a brief prayer to the Powers-That-Be. “So you will go out with me?”

“You know, you haven’t even asked me my name yet,” she replied, an obvious stalling tactic. “Are you sure you don’t want to go out with Janice instead?”

I don
’
t need to ask your name
,
but you don
’
t need to know that
. “I’m sure I want to go out with you. And I wasn’t certain you’d talk to me, much less tell me your name. You all but ran away from me at your restaurant. The way you scurried out, I got the feeling I made you uncomfortable.”

Lisa wiped a drop of sweat off her brow, one he wouldn’t have minded licking off her and enjoying the salty flavor. “I know, that’s why you’ll bring your friend if I want.”

“Well, it’s one of the reasons. Not the only one.” Julian smiled at her curious look.
Let her wonder
.
It
’
d do her good to keep the two of them connected in her mind
.
Let her active imagination play with the pictures
,
maybe even remember distant pleasures
.
Sex had never been their problem
. “And if you went out with me, or the both of us, then I’d have a chance to ask you about yourself, get to know you.”

“Lisa Harrington,” she gasped between pants as her treadmill sped up, forcing her feet to move faster. “And maybe I will go out with you two. As long as we meet in a public place.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Julian answered, nodding thanks to a beaming Janice. “How about tomorrow night, around seven? You choose the place and I’ll make the reservations. Wherever you want.”

“Take her to Cajun Delight in the Golden Goose,” Janice piped in. Somehow she managed to lean around her friend without losing her balance or slowing down. “It’s her favorite restaurant, next to her own. She hates going there by herself.”

Julian looked at Lisa, cutting off his ally. As much as he appreciated the support, this needed to be Lisa’s decision. She couldn’t use the pressure as an excuse later. “Is that where you’d like to go? Like you said, it’s bad enough I worked through Janice to get you to say yes. You should choose the place.”

Lisa shot a pouting glare at Janice, who concentrated on watching the music video playing on the TV hanging above her. She snorted as a barely repressed smirk danced across the other woman’s lips. “I was just about to say the same thing before someone butted in. Yes, Cajun Delight would be wonderful.”

Julian picked up his own pace, staggering for a second as his machine sped up and increased incline. Unlike the women, he didn’t lose his breath. The military got him in shape and the discipline stayed with him, even without a large, close-shaved man yelling insults at him. It hadn’t been that much different from the home he grew up in, just directed more on keeping his body prepared to fight. “Then I’ll make the reservations. We’ll trade numbers on the way out, in case anything comes up.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Lisa replied, turning her concentration back to her own workout, cutting him out.

Janice leaned over and gave him a triumphant thumbs-up. A strange friend, not who he would’ve pictured for Lisa but a nice person to have on his side. He’d have to take a look into her life, see how much of a help she could be when it came time to reveal everything to Lisa and make sure nothing ugly waited ahead for her.

Deciding to leave well enough alone for now, having achieved his small victory, he concentrated on running. He’d make sure to follow Lisa out, trade numbers and talk some more later.

* * * * *

Lisa’s hair dripped with sweat, hanging lank around her face. Her t-shirt stuck to her body and she didn’t even want to think about the sweat spots growing on her shorts and shirt. And here was tall, dark and handsome personified walking her to her car.

Fate had a sick sense of humor.

Still, she gave him a bright smile as he held open the door for her. He might believe that his friend Tim made a woman feel at ease, but he was no slouch. Traditional manners practically dripped off him. Her stomach might be taking turns churning and tying in knots but it had nothing to do with nerves. More to do with hormones, and both guys could pull that out of a woman. Just the mixture of sweat and rich cologne sent her imagination flying.

And she was going out on a date with not one but two gorgeous men at the same time. The kind of men that made her fingers itch and her panties wet. She wondered how Julian would bring it up to Tim. Did the threesome thing just fall into place, nothing said, everything understood? She didn’t think she’d misread the situation, but how did you ask a guy you’re going out with if he has a boyfriend? And how were you expected to treat the boyfriend when he goes out with you both?

Maybe she would need some info on ménage etiquette after all.

As she walked out of the gym she heard a sharp whistle pierce the air, followed by what sounded like, “Whoa, baby, like to get me some of that.”

A group of college-age guys hanging around the entrance preened and leered. All strong and cocky, they were intimidating in a mob mentality sort of way. Had Julian not been with her she’d have given them a wide berth, maybe even crossed the street. It was the type of group that reeked of trouble. Instead she only took a step closer to Julian as they passed.

The guys said something, eyeing her and another woman entering the gym. She couldn’t quite make out what was being said, but Julian stood straighter and glared with a scalding fury in their direction. The other men laughed and raised their hands in the air, playing off whatever it was as fun and games.

Eyes narrowed with contempt and a muscle in his jaw twitching, Julian didn’t look amused.

“What did they say?” she asked, letting her curiosity get the better of her. She knew it wouldn’t be anything good. No way those jerks were saying nice things. Call it morbid curiosity. Also, she wondered what it took to piss him off.