Time to Pretend (11 page)

Michele Zurlo

pressed between theirs as their mouths explored her neck and shoulders, pausing to nibble at her lips every now and again.

Alaina shook her head, chasing away the fantasy she knew would fuel her next date with her vibrator.

As if he could sense her trouble, Daniel dried his hands on the dish towel she had hung over the top of a lower cupboard door and crossed the room. He stopped just behind where she stood. Her body faced the table, but her face turned toward him. The image of the two of them bent over the table, Daniel grasping her hips to hold them still as he thrust into her, clouded her vision. He had insisted she watch in the curio’s mirror. Did he know the vision would haunt her and make her wet with remembering?

He rested one hand lightly on her hip, the suggestion of a caress in his touch. “Did you want to yell at me before you eat?” Alaina swallowed, suddenly aware of the silence in the kitchen.

Evan didn’t bother to disguise his interest in her response.

“How about we go into my office?”

His nod was barely a movement. He caught Evan’s eye. “Go ahead and eat. We may be a while.”

Heat flooded Alaina’s cheeks as Evan’s knowing gaze settled on her. “Okay, but I’m not promising to leave any shrimp for you.” The heat still burned her skin a minute later when Daniel closed the door to her office. She whirled to face him. “A phone call would have been nice.”

He grinned. “You would have said no.”

“You don’t know that.” She frowned because he was right. While she would have followed up with Evan based on his recommendation, she wouldn’t have let him make the arrangements.

“You told me to stay out of it, Lainie. If I asked you to let Evan take a look at your house, you would have yelled at me for not staying out of your attic. Then it would have come out that I was in your basement and all the other rooms in your house looking for more damage.”

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It was a good thing he didn’t try to touch her right then. She might have hit him. Angry words swirled through her head, dozens of ways to point out all the things he had done wrong. Yet she bit her tongue.

He knew she wouldn’t want him to do the things he had done, and he had done them anyway.

She rubbed a hand down her face, trying to erase the stress pressing the inside of her skull.

“Aren’t you going to yell?”

He sounded upset and a little afraid.

Alaina dropped her hand and folded her arms across her chest.

She pinned him with the full weight of her resignation. “No, Daniel, I’m not going to yell. There’s nothing I can say that will make a difference at this point. You completely disregarded my wishes and disrespected me, but I can’t see that you actually care about any of that.”

And it didn’t matter. It wasn’t like they were developing a long-term relationship here. One more class, and she wouldn’t have to see him again. Camilla would take the boys to karate lessons if Alaina asked.

He approached her, a mulish set to his jaw announcing his reaction to her accusation. One hand lifted to lightly touch her hair. “I love it when you wear your hair down. I almost never get to see you like this.”

Shivers ran down her spine, and he hadn’t really even touched her yet. She batted his hand away when she really wanted to turn her cheek into his palm. “Don’t change the subject.”

“The subject, Lainie, is that you think I don’t care about you.

You’re wrong. If I didn’t care about you, I wouldn’t have been over here to check out your roof in the first place.” His voice was soft and deep, washing over her in waves, wearing down her resistance. She wanted to look away from the sincerity in his bottomless brown eyes, but she couldn’t break free of his spell.

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Daniel wrapped his hand around her upper arms, massaging from her shoulders to her folded elbows. “I trust Evan more than anyone in the world. He’s been my best friend for twelve years. He’s honest, and he does good work. He’s the only person in the world I trust to do right by you.”

She realized he felt responsible for her because of their previous relationship. Her voice wanted to lodge in her throat, but she forced it out anyway. “Daniel, just because we slept together doesn’t mean you have any obligations toward me.”

“I realize that,” he said. His hands continued their trek, stroking more and more longing into her. “I didn’t come over here yesterday with the intention of wrangling an invitation into your bed. I came over here because I was concerned about you. I had every intention of calling Evan no matter what happened between us.” He moved a lock of hair from where it curled over her temple.

“Danny—”

He cradled her face in his hands and brushed his lips over her eyelids, temples, and cheeks. His lips grazed across her skin, setting every synapse to firing. “You’re stressed, honey.” His mouth closed over hers, claiming what he wanted. One arm snaked around her waist and held her body against his. Delicious heat rose from every place they touched. Clothing didn’t seem to matter.

Her nipples pebbled, and her breasts swelled, pressing closer to him, begging for his caress.

Danny didn’t disappoint. His palm closed over her breast, and he kneaded one soft globe through the fabric of her lacy bra and the thin, green cotton blouse. Unable to control her reaction, she moaned into his mouth.

His kiss moved to explore her neck, unerringly finding those small spots that sent tremors racing through her body. “Let me take care of you, Lainie.”

Before she could think what he meant, he fisted the material in her skirt. Without seeming to move, his hand slid under the black poly-Time to Pretend

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blend and found her wetness. She hadn’t been able to find a clean pair of hose without a run that morning. Since it was August, she reasoned that it would be all right to forego the nylons today. Thank goodness she hadn’t done her laundry in a while.

Daniel tugged at her panties. They fell to her knees. Alaina didn’t want to risk narrowing her stance to get rid of them on the chance he might stop. Air hissed from between her teeth when he ran his knuckles along her slit.

“Like that, honey?”

She curled her fingers, grabbing handfuls of his shirt in her hands.

With her head thrown back and her body arched into Daniel’s, he was the only thing keeping her upright. Her answer came out on a breathy whisper. “You have to ask?”

He nibbled at her collarbone, and he parted her lips with his fingers, running them along her folds. “I like hearing you talk.” She wasn’t much of a talker during sex. She gritted her teeth together. “Yes, Danny. Please don’t stop.”

“Not a chance.” Two fingers probed her entrance, taking their time about sliding in when she wanted them faster and harder. “I like the way you scream when you come.”

Alaina didn’t answer. She couldn’t. Those fingers finally did what she wanted them to do. However suave Daniel was when it came to picking up the ladies, he was a beast in the bedroom, and she really liked that about him. He made her feel possessed, owned, and cherished all at the same time. It wasn’t something Alaina ever thought she would enjoy, but she was finding she couldn’t get enough of the way he handled her.

His fingers thrust inside her so deep his knuckles pummeled the sensitive tissues around her entrance. Sparks exploded behind Alaina’s eyes. The tiny convulsions that preceded an orgasm made her pussy quiver. She bit his shoulder as she buried her face in it. He might like to hear the noises she made when she climaxed, but she
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didn’t want Evan to hear them in the kitchen. How could she face him afterward?

He pumped into her, and she ground against his hand, urging him to move faster.

* * * *

Small squeaking sounds escaped from the place where Alaina bit into his shoulder, causing Daniel to grin. His dick was so hard it hurt.

He wanted nothing more than to spread her over the top of the desk and tell her to hang on for dear life. He wanted Evan to be in there with them to help hold her in place, not out in the kitchen having dinner. Evan’s mouth should be leaving damp trails of kisses across her exposed breasts. Maybe he would kneel up on the desk and thrust his dick into her mouth as Daniel pounded her pussy. Lainie liked it rough. Whenever he lightened his touch, she whimpered in protest.

Her nails dug into his arms, and her whole body tensed. He slowed the rhythm of his thrusts, circling his fingertips on the place where her smooth walls roughened. He tightened his hold on her waist, knowing she needed the extra support. She jerked and cried out. His shirt and shoulder absorbed most of the sound. He fought the urge to fist his hand in her hair, tilt her head back, and let Evan enjoy the loud, throaty cries she made when she climaxed.

He held her while her body spasmed and shivered as waves of pleasure washed through her. When she quieted, he pulled her face away from the warmth and safety of his embrace. He trailed kisses across her temple, and he captured her lips in a long, slow kiss. She melted against him, completely boneless. God, how he wanted Evan to see her like this.

Daniel had no trouble seeing that Evan found her attractive. Now he needed for Alaina to develop feelings for Evan. In order for that to happen, they needed time together. He needed to disappear.

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He motioned to a digital display on a small end table in the corner of the room. “Is that clock accurate?” Alaina lifted her head and glanced to where he indicated. Her eyes took a moment to adjust, never losing the dreamy quality that told him she still felt the effects of her orgasm. “Yeah.”

“Shit. I have to go. I promised my dad I would help him put up a new garage door.” He set her back, making sure she could balance on her own before releasing her completely. Daniel wanted nothing more than to stay, but he needed this to work. He knew he couldn’t have a successful relationship unless Evan was part of the equation.

Plus, he owed his father for helping repair the roof over his studio.

She frowned, and he knew she wasn’t happy with him. She fixed her clothes. He had no idea where her underwear had gone, but he was reasonably certain she hadn’t put them back on. The idea of her wearing nothing beneath her skirt only made him harder. He would definitely be stopping by Evan’s condo when he finished at his parents’ house.

“I’m sorry, Lainie. Have dinner with Evan and listen to his proposal. Let him take care of you, honey. If you don’t want to hire him, I understand. Neither of us expects special treatment from you.” Her mouth opened and closed. The frown returned, and then it disappeared on her sigh. “Daniel, I really wish you would just talk to me about things like this before you act. I don’t have an issue with hiring Evan. I just wish you would have gone about it differently.” God, he loved her. The words popped into his consciousness and nearly fell out of his mouth. He pressed a hard kiss to her lips to keep it all inside. “Thanks, Lainie. I’ll see you tomorrow night, right?”

* * * *

Evan checked the time on his cell one more time. There was no way he was going to eat without her. Daniel could be such an asshole sometimes. Several times in the course of the day, he had called Dan
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and told him to call Alaina. This wasn’t the right way to surprise a woman. Flowers, chocolate, and mowing her lawn were good surprises. Undertaking major repairs on her house without her permission was not. Once again, Evan would be in charge of damage control.

Daniel burst into the kitchen, and Evan recognized the unsated sexual energy pouring from him. Alaina followed him. Her demeanor was much calmer, and the frown she had been wearing was mostly gone.

Evan derived a special glee from the fact that Daniel had been denied. Tonight was a pivotal moment for the three of them, even if Alaina didn’t yet realize it. He agreed wholeheartedly with Daniel that she needed to have feelings for them both separately before she would consent to being with them together. Though they had been offered the chance, they had never before shared a woman. Both of them were too afraid that their feelings for one another might show.

That’s why this presented the perfect solution. If they both developed feelings for Alaina, she wouldn’t think anything of an accidental touch or a look of love. Hopefully, she would be too wrapped up in keeping up with both of them that she would never notice. They would make her the happiest woman alive, and they would be able to snatch moments with one another until they were sure about her.

Evan didn’t exactly love their plan. It presented obstacles that could be avoided with simple honesty. Daniel was vehemently against it. The problem seemed to be Dan’s perception of his sexuality. While Evan frequently found other men and women attractive, Daniel maintained that he had never wanted to sleep with another man.

Women were another matter. While Evan had enjoyed some serious relationships with persons from both genders, Daniel went through women rather quickly. He’d never once called a halt to their affair in order to be faithful to one person, and he’d been hostile to all of Evan’s boy or girlfriends whenever Evan stopped sleeping with him.

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Alaina represented a last-ditch effort to save his relationship with Daniel. While he would never turn his back on his friend, Evan would not continue to sleep with Dan if this fell through.

Evan didn’t mind sharing. He also craved a woman’s touch.

However, he hated watching Daniel deny what was between them while he stuck his cock into any wet pussy. Daniel had referred to Alaina as their fate.

Evan reserved judgment. Alaina was certainly attractive enough.

She was tiny, much smaller than he thought she would be. Her light brown eyes slanted up at the corners like a cat, and her auburn hair burst with red where the sun glinted from it.

It had been pulled back in a braid when she arrived home from work, and now it fell freely around her face. Either way, she was incredibly hot. She cast an uncertain smile at him, and he knew she was about to apologize for leaving him alone for so long.