Time to Pretend (25 page)

Time to Pretend

191

“Great.” She pushed open the screen door to let them in. “I’m not quite dressed. I wasn’t expecting anyone.” Daniel grinned as he brushed past her. Her nipples were apparently more awake than her mind. They pebbled and swelled, straining against her too-big shirt in a vain attempt to get closer to a man who had worshiped them so well.

Evan stepped over the threshold and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“Did you have fun last night?”

The question whispered across skin that was suddenly oversensitive. Alaina shivered and thanked God she had showered before going to bed. “Yes. Sophia’s friends are an interesting bunch.” Alaina blushed uneasily as she remembered how they all assumed she was Daniel’s girlfriend.

Daniel offered his opinion. “Ellen takes some getting used to, but she has a good heart underneath all that Dominatrix crap. Ginny’s pretty friendly, though.”

Daniel stood in the center of the room with his hands on his hips.

He looked around the room. Alaina had no idea what he was looking for. She was just glad he hadn’t seen Evan kiss her.

“Yes, well, I’m going to go change. I’ll be down in a few minutes.

There’s coffee in the kitchen.”

She fled to the relative safety of her bedroom and coached herself through some breathing exercises. Was having them here to move heavy furniture worth risking the heart attack or stroke she was sure awaited her from the vast amount of stress those two were sure to generate?

Some of Zach’s things were already boxed up. Perhaps she could have them start there while she packed things in her office. A careful plan took shape in her head as she tugged on a pair of jeans and dug through a pile of unfolded laundry to find a suitable shirt. While she didn’t want to look too fat or scrubby, she also didn’t want to wear something provocative.

192

Michele Zurlo

With a frown, she wondered if her attire mattered. Both men had seemed to find her bland work clothes attractive.

At the very least, she needed a bra with a good amount of padding. If her traitorous nipples were going to point the way to Danny, she needed something to hide them.

Lastly, she wrangled her wild hair into a tight braid.

When she breezed into the kitchen, she found both of them leaning against different counters, laughing and holding steaming mugs of coffee. They stopped chuckling when she entered the room.

She headed to a nearby cupboard and extracted a toaster-friendly breakfast. “I haven’t had breakfast. Why don’t you two head up to Zach’s room and start moving stuff to the room across the hall? I need his furniture set up. He stays over a lot once school starts back up.” Daniel set his cup on the counter and exchanged a glance with Evan before turning his attention to Alaina. “You okay, Lainie? You seem a little on edge.”

“Fine.” The stiffness of her response belied her intention to assure him she wasn’t on edge. She broke a corner from her cold pastry and popped it into her mouth. “I just need to eat something.” Daniel’s mouth softened into a relaxed grin that made Alaina want to launch herself at him and wrestle him naked. “I can make you some French toast if you want.”

The memory of their postcoital argument refreshed itself in the form of heat on her face. She shook her head. “If you haven’t had breakfast, you can make something for yourself.” Evan chuckled. “We’ve had breakfast and lunch, little lady.” With a quick jerk of his head, Evan urged Daniel from the room. “C’mon.

Let’s get started.”

The sounds of thumps and scrapes telling her they were doing as she asked did little to calm her nerves. They were both entirely too relaxed to have disclosed the events of the past week. How long would it be before one of them spilled the beans to the other?

Time to Pretend

193

Alaina crumpled the foil wrapper from her breakfast and tossed it into the trash. It was time to head upstairs and face the music.

Turning around had her smacking into Daniel’s chest. He reached out to steady her, but that move morphed into an embrace. He pulled her close and tickled her senses with the scent that was uniquely him.

He leaned down to kiss her, but she turned her head and pushed him away. She was only partially successful in eluding him.

“Danny, this isn’t appropriate right now.” He traced his thumb from her temple to her chin. She closed her eyes to focus the sensation.

“Afraid Evan’s going to see? Are you shy, sweetheart?” At her brief nod, he laughed. “Don’t worry. He’s gone out to the truck to get some more boxes.”

Before she could tell him she had plenty of boxes in the basement, his mouth closed over hers, devouring her in a hungry kiss. She melted against him, pressing her swollen breasts into his chest. Heat raced along her spine. A whimper, equal parts need and protest, escaped.

He cupped the back of her head with his huge hand, and she was grateful he refrained from pulling out her careful braid. His other hand squeezed and kneaded half of her ass. Need pulsed through her body and moistened her pussy.

The metallic slam of the screen door had her pulling from Daniel’s embrace with lightning speed. He let her go without protest.

“Dan, come get these boxes.”

Guilt welled inside Alaina. She closed her eyes and turned away from Daniel. With extraordinary care, she rinsed her mug and set it on the counter next to the sink. She tried not to think about the hurt that would darken Evan’s eyes if he found her kissing his best friend.

“Alaina?”

She jumped at the unexpected closeness of Evan’s voice.

Clapping a hand over the heart pounding in her chest, she whirled to
194

Michele Zurlo

face him and hoped he couldn’t see the guilt seeping from every pore in her body. “Evan. I thought you went upstairs.” One side of his mouth quirked up in a lopsided grin that set her heart racing for a different reason. He parked one hand on her hip and cupped her cheek with the other. His kiss was slow and inviting, a good morning or a welcome.

Moments ago, Daniel’s lips had claimed hers, and she thought she had died and gone to heaven. Evan kissed wholly differently, equal instead of dominating, and yet he elicited the same response from her body. She sighed and pressed closer, gripping the front of his shirt with tight fists.

When the kiss ended, Evan released her and reality crashed through. Half of her wished Evan had dropped that piece of plywood on her. Maybe it would have knocked some sense into her. What if Daniel had come in while Evan kissed her?

How in the world had she come to be in this predicament?

“Why don’t you come on upstairs and tell us where you want everything, honey. You’ve got two strong men willing to do your bidding, and we’re yours for as long as you want us.” Alaina’s knees weakened at the picture he unwittingly painted.

She wanted both of them, together, at the same time, exactly as he described. Unfortunately, that wasn’t what he meant.

Her nod was a tad unsteady, and words failed her, but she managed to follow Evan up the stairs without the world collapsing around her.

The afternoon progressed no differently from the way it began.

Whenever either man had a moment alone with her, they stole a kiss, sometimes two. By the time their stomachs growled for a dinner break, Alaina’s nerves had reached their breaking point.

She fled to the bathroom to wash the dust and dirt from her hands and face. Until now, she thought she’d kept a fairly clean house.

Moving things revealed vast deposits of dirt she had missed while vacuuming or dusting. It took some time for Alaina to convince
Time to Pretend

195

herself to head to the kitchen. Given the heavenly smells emanating from that direction, she half expected to find take-out from the Italian place in town.

Shockingly, she found only Daniel. He stood at the stove, stirring something in a pot. He turned one of those smiles on her, the kind that turned her knees to jelly and made her want to collapse in his arms.

Now that she knew the flavor of his kisses, the need was even more acute.

She tried to respond with a friendly smile, but she wasn’t sure if she succeeded. “Smells good. That’s not from a jar.” He chuckled and shook something else into the pot. “This recipe has been handed down in my family for generations. It has won awards all over Italy and Brooklyn. Drew is still trying to get my mom to spill her secrets.”

Alaina wondered why Drew didn’t just ask Sophia. Perhaps she was making him wait until after the wedding.

Waving her closer, he lifted the spoon and blew on the small puddle of sauce. “Taste this. Tell me what you think.” Flavors exploded on her tongue. Alaina couldn’t have identified them all if she tried. Her awareness of Daniel was temporarily diverted. “Wow. You really can cook.” He lifted a brow and set the spoon on the counter. “I’ve cooked for you before, Lainie. You still doubt me?” She shook her head. All doubt about his abilities in the kitchen fled. Daniel was a man of many layers. Part of her wanted to peel them back and get to know him in ways no one else ever had. The rest of her was divided between being afraid he would reject her once he knew the truth about her relationship with Evan and the fear of losing Evan.

Words stuck in her throat. There were so many, and yet none were appropriate. Tears burned behind her eyes. This was all too much to handle.

196

Michele Zurlo

Confidence fled from Daniel’s stance. He pulled her close, surrounding her with his arms. Alaina lost her fight with the tears, and they leaked from her eyes. She gripped at his biceps, worrying them with desperate clenches.

“Hey, Lainie, don’t cry. Oh, shit. I’m sorry. I never meant to make you cry.” Daniel pressed urgent kisses to her forehead. He tried to tilt her face up, but she wouldn’t move away from where she buried her face in his shirt.

She wanted to tell him it wasn’t his fault. She knew he had been teasing. Their fight over their misunderstandings had been resolved before they parted ways two mornings ago. She wasn’t the kind of person who carried groundless grudges.

When she lifted her head to tell him those things, he captured her lips in a tender kiss that only brought more tears gushing from her eyes. This one simple act communicated his feelings so clearly, just as Evan’s kiss had done two nights ago.

She was trapped in a hopeless, helpless situation.

Gentle hands trailed along her hips. Heat seared her back as those hands traveled upward and moved her braid out of the way. When a second set of lips seared her neck, she realized Evan was behind her, kissing her neck while Daniel claimed her lips.

With a startled gasp, she jerked away from both of them. Her actions bordered a little on the violent side, but she didn’t care if one or both of them suffered bruised lips.

Anger made her body and her voice shake. She pointed an accusatory finger at both men. “You did this on purpose!” Daniel held his hands up in a supplicating gesture that managed to also be condescending. “Lainie, there’s no need to get upset.”

“No need? You lied to me!” Her gaze bounced between Daniel and Evan. “You both lied to me. You used me, and you lied to me.” Evan took one step forward, but he checked himself when she took another step backward. “Alaina, honey, we didn’t use you. We aren’t using you, and we didn’t lie to you, not really.”
Time to Pretend

197

“Not any more than you lied to us.” Daniel turned off the sauce boiling on the stove and crossed his arms over his chest. The popping sounds from the boiling concoction slowed and stopped.

Alaina’s sharp intake of breath should have been warning enough, but Evan shot Daniel a warning look just the same.

Daniel ignored them both. “Lainie, we wanted you to get to know us separately before you had us together.” Her wildest dreams were coming true, but she was too angry to take solace in that fact. “Did it ever occur to you to let me in on your little plan beforehand, Daniel? You go on and on about hating women who play head games, yet this is exactly the kind of thing you bitch about.”

He took a step toward her, but she backed around the island counter. He stopped, letting her have something between them. “This is different, Lainie. We’re both in love with you. We both want a relationship with you, and I think you want a relationship with both of us, too. Why don’t you just calm down now?” The world exploded in red as Alaina’s fists came down on the counter. She wasn’t the kind of person who yelled, but she definitely had the lung capacity when she needed the volume. “Calm down?

Damn it, Daniel! You both used me for a one-night stand, and then you both came back for another night. I’ve been out of my mind, confused by the fact I was falling for both of you and afraid of hurting either of you and afraid of damaging your friendship, and you expect me to calm down when I find out you planned this all along? I’m a woman, not a blow-up doll!”

Daniel’s face had taken on that ruddy undertone it got whenever he lost his temper with her. Curiously, Evan seemed completely unaffected by their angry outbursts.

Planting his hands firmly on the counter opposite Alaina, Daniel leaned closer. “So we went about this the wrong way. It’s not like we’ve ever done something like this before. Cut us some slack.” He
198

Michele Zurlo

glanced at Evan before focusing his gaze back on Alaina. “Or at least cut me some slack. You don’t seem pissed at Evan.” She growled, a snarling sound she’d never made. “He didn’t even know me when you invited him into my bed. At least he fell for me honestly. He treated me with dignity and respect. I’m sure this wasn’t his idea.”

Evan’s shadow fell between them, diverting the flow of anger that seemed to amplify between Alaina and Daniel. Needing to know his place in all of this, she lifted her face to meet his gaze.

“It wasn’t my idea, Alaina, but I wasn’t against it. After I met you, I was all in. I’ve never shared a woman with anyone, not even Danny, yet the idea of the three of us together just seems so right.” His blue eyes searched hers for something. “I know you’re angry. You have every right to be. Maybe we went about this the wrong way. We’re sorry we hurt you. But we’d like to ask you to put that aside for now and seriously consider having the both of us in your life.”