Cyn just stared at Cooper, his dark-green eyes like a forest that she could get lost in. A part of her wanted to let herself get lost in them, but knew what happened firsthand when she opened her heart to these men. Why wouldn’t they just do as she asked, and leave her alone?
“I get why you’re staying in Triple. I really do,” Cyn said. “But I’m not going to be staying here. You know me well enough to know that small towns don’t suit me. I need my specialty shops and my designer stores. A Hightower needs to be in a place where money can be spent on nice things.”
“Don’t give us that bullshit, Cyn,” Brody said, finally speaking up. Resting his elbows on the table, he continued, “You might be the heiress of the Sherwood-Hightower trust, but we know damn well that money doesn’t mean a thing to you. Do you remember our first summer together? The one where we shared our dreams for the future?”
Cyn brought her hand up to her hair, making sure there were no strands loose in the updo she had fashioned this morning. It was one of her many talents, to hide behind a façade where people couldn’t get too close. Cooper and Brody thought they knew her, but being a teenage girl with fantasies was a hell of a lot different than the woman who knew what reality brought to the table. She remembered their summers well.
Cyn had been in boarding school most of her childhood, as per her parents’ will, but had been able to spend her breaks with her aunt in Indiana. She’d been allowed to be a kid, with no responsibility or sense of obligation to be the perfect child. She had been the only daughter to Scott Sherwood and Kate Hightower. The Sherwoods were known for their land development in the Midwest, while the Hightowers had their hand in the construction business. When the two met, their families urged the coupling, knowing such an arrangement would only benefit their pocketbook. The media had pounced on the merger, saying it was the union of the century. Aunt Claire, Scott’s sister, was the only one who never let money change the person she was. Cyn had distanced herself from the rest of the family, knowing she’d just get sucked into their way of life. Instead, she focused on her aunt and spent as much time as she could on Aunt Claire’s Indiana farm.
Cyn had met Cooper and Brody during those visits and had fallen madly in love, as only a teenage girl could. Unfortunately, she had also had her heart broken by them the summer before she entered college. The only good thing that had come out of the will her parents had written up was that she had been able to choose the college she wanted to, leading her to develop her friendship with Shea and Elise.
“I’m sorry, are we talking about the summer when you said you loved me? Or are we talking about the summer afterward? You know, the one where you said your career came first and that I wasn’t going to fit into your plans?”
“You know damn well that wasn’t how we meant it,” Brody snapped. His green eyes were lighter than his brother’s, and they were now shooting sparks at her. He was easily riled compared to Cooper, which was why he was the perfect target for her to set her sights on. If she made him angry enough, he might just walk away.
“Stop it, you two,” Cooper ordered, holding up his hands. “Silk, we did what we thought was right at the time. We were entering the Marines and there are certain expectations that must be upheld. It wouldn’t have been right for us to ask you to wait. Now that we are out, we are free to create the life we want.”
“And you think that life is with me?” Cyn slowly picked up her Italian designer black gloves that matched her sweater. Slipping her fingers inside one by one, she tried to make a statement that would resonate with them. “You have one thing right, and that is that I didn’t wait for you. In case you haven’t been reading my books, you should know that I don’t base my stories on inexperience. It takes real-life familiarity to put those words on paper in order to draw other people in. I’m not the woman you want. Feel free to try our dating website, though. You might have better luck.”
Forcing herself to get those final words out almost had her crying, but she bit her lip hard enough to ward off the tears. She had needed to say them, knowing Cooper and Brody wouldn’t leave her alone any other way. The words were baseless, and they were as false as her saying her bank account had a zero balance. The day they had told her that they couldn’t see her anymore ranked right up there with the day she had gotten the news that her parents had died in a boating accident. The only difference had been that she hadn’t been able to control the events leading up to her parents’ death. But she’d willingly given her heart to Cooper and Brody, loving them with every fiber of her being, only to have it handed back to her in shreds. What they didn’t understand was that this wasn’t about holding a grudge or trying to get even. It was the simple truth of her soul not being able to handle them walking away again if something were to dictate them to do so.
“I suggest the omelet, if you decide to actually have breakfast,” Cyn said, standing up with her Louis Vuitton purse. She didn’t want to give them the chance to comment on her lies. “Enjoy your day.”
Chapter Two
“I’m getting real tired of her attitude,” Brody said gruffly, pushing Cooper out of the booth so that he’d have more room. Once Cooper was situated on the other side of the table, Brody shrugged out of the stifling jacket he was wearing. It was in the high fifties, but the chill in the air warranted another layer of clothing. The nice thing about Arizona was that it wouldn’t be cold for long. He ran his palm over his shorn hair, liking that he didn’t have to mess with it in the morning. “She acts like she’s some high-class society girl and that we mean nothing to her. If she keeps this up, she’ll find herself over my knee with her designer panties around her ankles.”
“Stop with the visual, would you?” Cooper grumbled, shifting in his seat. “You know that she’s just using that as a defense against us. Shea told us at Elise’s wedding that Cyn had never truly gotten over us. We just need to be patient and prove that we aren’t going to walk away this time.”
Brody would have laughed at the pained expression on Cooper’s face if he weren’t feeling the same thing. Every time he saw Cyn, his dick grew hard. Hell, whom was he kidding? Every time he pictured Cyn, he had a hard-on that could beat nails into a cinder block.
“Are you sure you two don’t want breakfast?” Willow said, interrupting his thoughts. Brody was grateful he was sitting down, knowing the outline of his cock would be showing otherwise. “Sam’s going to feel slighted if you don’t eat something.”
“We’ll each take the ham-and-cheese omelet with sliced fried potatoes,” Brody answered, sharing a knowing look with his brother. If Cyn suggested the omelet, then they’d have an omelet. Once Willow had left them to their refreshed coffee, Brody returned to the previous conversation. “I understand why Cyn would be wary of us promising we’d never leave her again, but she’s got to cut us some slack. Our only choice at that time was to enter the military. Let’s face it, our grades weren’t going to get us into a community college, let alone an Ivy League school.”
“I think she understands that, Brody,” Cooper said, placing his elbows on the table and leaning forward. “When I spoke with her aunt a few months back, Claire said that she felt Cyn still loved us. Apparently, she kept close tabs on us while we were deployed, just as we did with her. Cyn can deny it all she wants, but she’ll eventually be worn down fighting the inevitable. Life gets in the way sometimes, and as we grow older, we understand things a little clearer. She just doesn’t want to lose anyone else in her life. We can’t give up.”
“I hear you.” Brody knew his brother was right, but that didn’t make the waiting any better. Their new life had begun here in Triple and he wanted their beginning to include Cyn. What if she decided her time here in Triple was over and it was time to head back to Illinois? He knew she still had her apartment there, although she had sold her interests in the family corporation years ago. Where would they be then? Would they follow her or continue on with their life here in Triple, knowing the one woman they loved was five states away?
<
br /> “Are you two Cooper and Brody Jackson?”
Brody looked up to find a stranger standing at their table. It was only then that he realized the diner had gone quiet and everyone’s attention was on this man who radiated authority. He was definitely law enforcement, and the way he carried himself screamed federal agent. Brody shot a quick look at his brother, whose body was now tense on high alert. Looking over at the counter, he noticed that Deputy Thornton made no pretense of not paying attention. Cooper was way more adept at handling these types of situations, so Brody leaned back against the booth and crossed his arms.
“Depends on who’s asking,” Cooper said, keeping his hands in plain sight on the table.
“I’m Agent Monroe with the ATF. We need your help.”
* * * *
“So what do you plan on doing tomorrow?”
Cyn looked up from her hot chocolate and stared at Elliott. It wasn’t the first time she’d studied him like a bug underneath a microscope. Why couldn’t she be attracted to him like she was to Cooper and Brody? Life would be so simple to just be attracted to one man. Oh, wait a second—he liked to share with his brother Mitch, didn’t he? She knew they were one of the first sets of men to sign up for their dating website.
“I’m heading over to Elise’s house. She’s excited about her first holiday dinner.”
“I heard through the grapevine that Cooper and Brody are spending Thanksgiving with them also. Are you up for that?”
Cyn gave a long, dramatic sigh, knowing it would make Elliott laugh. She heard some clinking and looked over to the other side of the garage. Mitch was working on a car that was suspended in the air. He hadn’t bothered with a uniform, but instead wore a black T-shirt and worn jeans. He was covered in grease, and didn’t seem to be paying them one lick of attention. She wondered if he was able to tune everyone out because of the time he spent in jail.
“Why are you staring at Mitch? If you think he’s going to go for your crazy scheme to make Cooper and Brody jealous, you’re wrong. Mitch doesn’t like to interfere in anyone’s business.”
“I figured that out. What I can’t imagine is how in the world you talked him into signing up for a ménage dating service,” Cyn said, licking some whipped cream off of her lips.
“I didn’t talk him into it. I just did it.”
Cyn stared at Elliott as if he’d lost his mind. “And he doesn’t know? Are you insane?”
“Probably,” Elliott answered, with that cocky smirk of his. “Speaking of intruding in other people’s lives, I’m not having any part in deceiving Cooper and Brody. Don’t get me wrong, I love our friendship, but I’ve always considered myself an honest man. Personally, I think you should give them a chance.”
“They had their chance,” Cyn snapped, then immediately regretted taking such an attitude with him. “I’m sorry, Elliott. You have been a good friend since I’ve been here. It was wrong of me to even ask you to go along with making Cooper and Brody think we were a couple.”
The phone rang and Cyn waved her hand, letting Elliott know she understood his need to answer it. Something caught her eye at the garage door and she turned to see who it was. Sam, the owner of the diner, came through the open space and walked over to speak with Mitch. It must be his car that Mitch was working on. Sam caught sight of her and gave a nod of acknowledgement. She knew what he must be thinking, with her standing against the counter in her designer dress and silk scarf tied around her neck. No one said it, but they all presumed she was a rich socialite who was killing time visiting a friend in their small town. Elise had made it known that she was a fellow author, but Cyn’s last name overshadowed anything else.
“If you keep standing there with your hand on your hip and your chin tilted up to the sky, they’ll continue to think exactly that.”
Cyn looked over at Elliott in surprise. “How did you know what I was thinking?”
“Because when you raise your eyebrow like that and pout your lip, it’s your way of putting up your defenses. I’ve seen it numerous times when you felt someone was judging you. You should know by now that we’re not like that in Triple.” Elliott wrote something down on a piece of paper, and Cyn assumed it was from his phone call. “Back to our conversation, there are no hard feelings about you asking me to be your smoke screen against Cooper and Brody, but I’m going to have to decline. Although, if you find you can’t handle spending the day with them and need an escape, you are more than welcome to come to our parents’ ranch.”
“Thanks, Elliott,” Cyn said, already shaking her head at his offer, “but Elise is like a sister to me. If I have to put up with Cooper and Brody for a day to spend the holiday with her, I’ll suffer through it.”
“Cooper and Brody? They won’t be here for Thanksgiving.”
Cyn turned to see Sam walking toward them with his checkbook in hand. The sixty-some-year-old man was still wearing his apron and his hands showed old burns from the life of a cook. As he walked up to the counter, Cyn stepped back to make room for him.
“What do you mean, Sam?” Cyn asked, sharing a questioning look with Elliott.
“I overheard them tell Elise that they had to head out of town for a few days.” Sam grabbed a pen that was on the counter and started to fill out his check. As if he hadn’t just delivered a surprise to Cyn, Sam asked Elliott what the cost of his service was and then wrote in the appropriate amount. When he finished, he tore the check out and handed it to Elliott. Closing the black leather book, Sam turned to her. “Must be something to do with that fellow that stopped into the diner yesterday. They were just finishing up their lunch, if you want to catch them before they leave.”
“Thanks, Sam,” Cyn replied.
She shared another look with Elliott, debating if she should actually leave the garage and go speak with them. Should she find out why they were leaving town? Cyn hoped that their parents were all right. Had something happened back in Indiana? Was it really any of her business? She’d certainly made it known that their lives were just that—their lives. She didn’t want to be a part of them. But she couldn’t help the nagging sense that something was really wrong and couldn’t prevent the need to find out if she could help. She knew that her feelings were screwed up, which didn’t help her with making a decision on what to do.
“Cyn, go talk to them,” Elliott urged.
He hadn’t gotten the last word out before she headed for the door. Throwing the rest of her hot chocolate in the garbage can by the door, she didn’t falter her stride as she pushed open the door and entered the chilly air. It was supposed to hit the midsixties today with clear skies, but the biting wind flew through her sweater, causing her to wrap her arms around herself. She was one of those people that hated coats, jackets, or anything that resembled an outer layer. Unfortunately, she paid the price for it on days like this. Looking across the street, she scanned the diner’s windows but couldn’t see Cooper or Brody. Not knowing why her heart suddenly started to race, she whipped her head back and forth, looking for their truck. She wouldn’t have found them if it hadn’t been for Brody waving his hand in the air at Willow as he entered his truck. They were parked on the side street, giving her a partial view of the front of their truck. Willow was walking the other way to her car.
Quickly looking both ways, Cyn made her way across the street, careful of any crevices where her high heels might get wedged. Brody was just about to close the door when she finally caught his eye. He stepped back out of the truck, motioning for Cooper to do the same. By the time she made it to them, both were standing on the sidewalk.
“What’s this about you guys not being at Elise’s tomorrow?” Cyn asked, keeping her voice light. While she wanted to make sure they were all right and that nothing had happened to their family, she also didn’t want them to mistake her curiosity for more than what it was.
“Why? Are you going to miss us?” Cooper smiled, folding his arms across his chest.
Those words brought back memories from the end of their
summers, when they would have to go back to the start of a new school year. She also remembered that they hadn’t said them the day they left for boot camp. Who would have thought that the one phrase she dreaded every year was the one she wanted to hear most that fateful day? Cyn recalled the desperation she felt as they made love for the last time. Seeing him standing before her, dressed similarly to how he was back then with his denim and boots, made her wonder if the sex would be just as good.
Cooper was wearing a black button-down dress shirt tucked into his black jeans. When he shifted his arms, she caught a brief glimpse of black ink and his chest hair. Would it feel soft and silky or rough and harsh? Maybe she should have Elise ask them to be the models for their next cover. Mentally shaking her head at images of them posing naked, she tried to focus on the conversation.
“What?”
“I asked if you were going to miss us,” Cooper replied, giving her a questioning look.
“No,” Cyn answered immediately, not wanting them to get the wrong idea. She still wasn’t sure what the hell she was doing. She was confusing herself. “I just heard that you weren’t coming. Call it curiosity, but I just wanted to know why.”
“Curiosity, huh?”
Cooper closed the distance between them until not even an inch separated their bodies. She tilted her head to look up at him, and it didn’t even enter her mind to take a step back to provide them some distance. This was the first time since seeing them again that either one of them had been forward in a physical way. She found she craved their touch more than she had known. She felt his heat seep into hers, making her want to mold her body into his.
“Don’t worry,” Cyn said, doing her best to keep her voice light. “I’m like a cat. I have nine lives.”
Cooper reached out for the ends of her scarf and fingered the cream-colored fringe. With his other hand, he reached behind her and pulled the pin out of her well-placed bun before she could protest. She felt her black hair fall, knowing it reached to the middle of her back. She saw his green eyes darken, like they did when they were younger and he was aroused. The memory brought back what it felt like to be made love to and her pussy responded, leaking fluid into her satin panties.
Opulent Match [Ménage.com 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 2
