by Various
Fuck! He sat up on the floor and pulled his phone from his pocket. Looking down at the display, Graham flashed in bright red letters. Sending the call straight to voicemail, he turned off the ringer and thrust the phone back into his pocket.
As he looked up at her, Genevieve held the remote out to him. The moment was over.
Chapter 8
~ Genevieve ~
This is incredible! Grinning from ear to ear, Genevieve looked down at the array of handbags, wallets and small leather goods sitting in front of her on the front counter. She even scored a Chanel watch! She’d spent two days calling every customer in her Rolodex to find people willing to part with their treasures and it panned out. It wasn’t near the amount of stock she’d had stolen, but it was a start to rebuilding.
Grabbing the pink Versace trench coat, she pulled it on. It was snug. Disappointed, she walked over to a full-length mirror and examined the coat on herself. The seams at the shoulders strained.
Shit! So close... Twenty pounds and I might be able to pull it off.
“Going out?” The deep voice was becoming all too familiar; the question was which brother did it belong to?
She spun around to see Graham removing his hat as he came strolling into the boutique, wearing his NYPD uniform and carrying a wicker basket. Definitely sexy, with a sliver of sweet thrown in. But mostly hot – the belt with his pistol and handcuffs strapped to it gave him a dangerous feeling.
“Hey you.”
“The jacket looks beautiful on you.”
She frowned as she turned back to the mirror. “Thanks. It’s too small, though. Versace doesn’t make normal people-sized clothes.”
Graham laughed as he came to stand behind her. His frame was twice the size of hers, making her feel tiny, despite the fact the jacket was a little snug.
“Normal people-sized clothes?”
“Yeah. If you’re any more than a hundred and twenty-five pounds you can forget clothing from most of the designers I sell here, unless you’re rich enough to be able to afford to commission a piece. You can sometimes get lucky with Gucci.” She shrugged. “I settle for the bags, shoes and accessories.”
He frowned as he met her gaze in the mirror. “That’s crazy.”
“Designers feel their clothing doesn’t hang well on curvy women. In some cases that’s true.” She turned and grabbed a gold jumpsuit from the rack. “I don’t think they realize how horrible this looks on rake-thin women. Something like this should be made for women with soft curves, but…” she shrugged. “Who am I to tell the big designers what looks good?”
“I can’t imagine anything looking bad on you.”
She smiled at him in the mirror, a rosy hue colouring her cheeks. “Thank you. But you’d be surprised.” Stepping away from the mirror, she struggled out of the jacket and draped it over her arm. “So what brings you to my little nook in the city?”
He lifted the basket to her eyes. “I told you I’d be back to feed you again. And here I am.” He looked around the boutique, which was currently void of any customers. “Do you think you could tear yourself away to spend lunch with me?”
“Ass. It has been busy.” Laughing, she gave his shoulder a shove as she walked past him and motioned for him to follow her over to her front counter.
“So that’s a….”
“A yes. Of course, I’ll have lunch with you.”
~*~*~*~*~
~ Graham ~
Graham watched as she stretched out on her side, propping her head up with one hand while she took a bite out of her ham and cheese sandwich. The way the rays of sunlight shone off of her dark hair was mesmerizing to him. He couldn’t get enough of looking at her. It had been hard staying away the past couple of days, but he didn’t want to come off as too strong or pushy.
“So what’s it with you and your brother and feeding women?” She set down the sandwich to take a long drink of water. “I recall him mentioning back in Vegas that he loved cooking for dates.”
“We’re from a large, hungry Italian family.”
Her brow furrowed. “Italian?”
Laughing, he nodded. “My father is half Italian and half Irish. My brother and I took on the Irish traits, physically, but our mother is full Italian and we grew up in Staten Island. I think you’d fit in beautifully with my family. They’re pretty great. A little overbearing for the most part, but great.”
“Call me ignorant if you want, but shouldn’t you have the deep, Staten Island/Italian accent?”
He cleared his throat and decided to allow his accent free rein. “We do, but we’ve learned to get rid of the accent if we try. It sneaks in once in a while, but for the most part we can keep it from coming out.”
Genevieve’s eyes lit up and a wide smile emerged on her lips. “That is sexy! Why would you want to hide it?”
He cocked his head to the side and eyed her. “You think so?”
“Uh-huh.”
“You’ve got an odd sense of sexy, woman.”
Her eyes sparkled as she considered. “I don’t think so. I don’t think there’s a woman in this park who wouldn’t want to go home with you.” She rolled over to her back and her gaze surveyed the park around them. “In fact, I bet they’re hating on me right now.”
Graham laughed. “Not so sure about that. Dane’s the woman’s man. We’re identical twins, but he’s always been the one to get all the women. He’s a cocky bastard, but it works for him. I’ve never been able to harness his magic.”
“Maybe you have your own magic.”
He cocked a brow at her, waiting for her to continue. He had to admit he was extremely flattered. He usually wasn’t on the receiving end of compliments, or at least he hadn’t been for some time, and it felt good. Being married and being cheated on with the FedEx guy had been a humbling and ego-bruising experience.
Being around Genevieve made him feel good – carefree – unlike any woman he’d met before her. He was glad he wasn’t going to have to compete with Dane over her, but if it came to that he was willing to go head to head. Luckily it wouldn’t come to that; in Vegas Dane had been quite clear she was “just another girl” and when he’d informed Graham that he’d found her, he made no indication he had any interest in pursuing her. But if it came to a battle for her affections, then game on!
~*~*~*~*~
~ Genevieve ~
Genevieve hadn’t ever come across a man so handsome, yet so humble in her life. It was endearing. Dane seemed to be the wild and challenging twin while Graham was the sweet, funny and secure one. After her experience with Alex, sweet and secure was an extremely good feeling – although Alex seemed to be sweet and secure as well and she knew how that turned out. She saw Dane’s faults, he seemed to wear them on his sleeve – revelled in them even, which made her wonder if Graham really was as perfect as he seemed to be.
Now you’re just being paranoid Genevieve, the voice at the back of her mind chastised.
“What’s the matter?” Graham asked as he reached across the picnic basket and brushed a lock of hair from her face, breaking her from her thoughts. His touch was light, tender, sweeping across her temple and causing a soft sigh to come from her parted lips.
“Nothing. Just thinking about how different you and your brother seem to be. Not that I know either of you very well,” she shrugged, “from what I’ve experienced so far.”
She watched his reaction, wondering if he knew Dane had shown up at her house the previous evening. Maybe this was some kind of game the brothers were playing; a challenge to see who could win her over? Dane possibly, but she just couldn’t see Graham doing something like that. Then again… Alex had her fooled and Graham had let her go down on him thinking he was his brother.
“Just because we’re identical physically doesn’t mean our personalities also are. Growing up, Dane was always the outgoing one. He’d drag me into his insane schemes and I’d go along to make sure he didn’t kill himself or get arrested doing something stupid. We had different fri
ends, had different likes. Even our taste in women is different.”
Genevieve’s interest piqued, curious on what Graham’s opinion on what Dane’s normal would be like. And she couldn’t help but wonder about his ex-wife. “How are your tastes different with women?”
He took a bite from his sandwich and considered. “I love my brother and I usually try to refrain from saying negative things about him…”
“But…”
“But, he has a tendency toward the hot, wild ones. He’s never too concerned about what’s upstairs as long as they look good on his arm. Some of the ones he’s brought home over the years were plain bat-fuck-crazy, but hot.”
She cringed. She wasn’t sure if she was flattered or hurt by Graham’s statement. But she knew the score the night Dane had picked her up at the casino. She’d known – more or less – that the night would end up with them in bed.
“Why does he go for those types?”
“He’s the type who indulges in immediate gratification?” He shrugged, quite visibly bemused himself. “Just his personality. He’ll eventually see there needs to be more to a woman than her looks. He’s just not interested in being there quite yet. Maybe he figures if he finds a woman who challenges him mentally he’d feel compelled to give up his carefree lifestyle for her and settle down.”
Genevieve chewed at her lower lip, considering. Could she be the one Dane wanted to settle down with? Or was she just another amusement to him; a challenge until he moved on to the next hot thing that caught his fancy?
“And what about you?”
He took a deep breath in and slowly released it. “I won’t lie. I prefer a physically attractive woman, but then again, that’s a pretty subjective thing. Let’s use you for example.”
She cocked her head to the side and eyed him. “I’d rather you didn’t.” She was only halfway joking.
He ignored her. “If I could put together a wishlist of physical attributes for the perfect woman you’d be the result of that list.”
She was shocked at his compliment and she could tell it wasn’t being said simply to flatter her, but he genuinely felt that way, which contributed to her speechlessness. It had to be one of the most incredible compliments she’d ever received. She knew she was somewhat attractive, but to be the model of someone’s fantasy woman was a little surprising.
“I guess that’s part of the reason I wasn’t quick to respond to… when you…” He thrust a hand into his hair and sighed. “In Vegas.”
Her face grew warm and she raised her hand, motioning for him to stop, for both of their sakes. “I think I get it now.”
The look of relief in his expression was almost comical. “Yeah. So above the physical, I really want someone who’s put together. Someone who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to go after it. I’m not looking for club bunnies or short-term flings – I never have. I like being part of a couple and one failed marriage isn’t going to change that.”
“So your wife?” she prompted.
“Would’ve been better off staying with my brother. I think she wanted the wedding, but not the commitment marriage entailed. I jumped thinking she was the right one, and I made a mistake. But I’ve learned from my mistakes and won’t make that mistake again.”
“What do you mean, stayed with your brother?”
He clucked his tongue off of the roof of his mouth. “She was with Dane first. He didn’t want to be married and was very clear to her about it. She moved on with me a while later. But turns out she also wasn’t ready for that commitment, just thought she was. It was a mistake and Dane and I had issues for a while because of it. But that’s over now and we’ve since reconciled.”
“But you just said you two don’t share the same tastes in women?”
“She’s the type of woman who is whatever a man wants her to be – at first.” He looked down at his watch. “Can we not talk about Emma right now? Lunch is almost over. She puts a bad taste in my mouth.” He grimaced.
“Thank you, by the way.”
His eyebrows raised. “For what?”
She took a bite from her sandwich and swallowed, giving herself a moment to decide if she was going to finish the thought she had started. “For lunch. I wasn’t sure if I’d be seeing you again. But I was hoping I would.” She lifted her gaze to meet his.
“I told you, you would. I don’t ever go back on my word. I was just hoping you’d be open to seeing me again.” Again, there was a sincere look in his eyes. It touched her. There were no games with him. No second guessing. She liked it… a lot.
“I am.”
He frowned, his eyes focusing intently on her lips. A tremor rocked through her and the desire to pull him into her and taste his lips was almost unbearable.
“You have a little something…”
Her frown matched his. What? Where? Embarrassed, she swiped at her mouth with the back of her hand. Why do I have to be such a damned sloppy eater? Can’t even eat a sandwich without making a fool out of myself?
He reached over to her, touched her cheek and brushed the side of her lip with his thumb. A faint smile touched his lips. She closed her eyes and pressed her cheek into his hand. So nice.
“Is it gone?” She opened her eyes to see his blue eyes had flared up with an intensity that made her breath catch in her throat.
“Almost.” He leaned into her, moving so slowly that the seconds it took for his lips to meet hers felt like an eternity.
She smiled as his lips touched hers and his aftershave teased her nose. He smelt so damned good; if he wrapped her into his arms, allowing her to take in the spicy smell, she’d happily remain there an eternity. While their kiss beside her car had been but a brief taste of what may be to come, this one wasn’t. He tugged gently at her lower lip with his teeth and lashed at her lips with the tip of his tongue. She grabbed the front of his uniform and pulled him closer, parting her lips, inviting him in.
He groaned low in his throat, kissing her with more passion. His energy and need flowed through her, igniting the yearning between her legs. The way his tongue danced with hers was unparalleled in skill and finesse and so natural.
When he pulled away from her, leaving her slightly lightheaded and yearning for more intimate contact, she had to force herself from pulling him back in. A part of her was thankful they were in a park and he had to go back to work. If they’d been somewhere secluded, she doubted she’d have had the strength to let him go.
She slowly opened her eyes to see him staring at her, a sexy grin on his face. She reached out to him, once more fingering the scar, wondering the story behind it. A story for next time perhaps?
“I gotta go back to work.” The reluctance in his voice echoed what she was feeling inside. But with a sigh he rose to his feet and extended his hand to her.
She accepted his hand, allowing herself to be pulled to her feet. “So, Officer Porter, I don’t suppose you could play hookey for the afternoon?” She knew he couldn’t but figured there was no harm in asking.
Graham laughed. “Nah, Dane would rat me out in a heartbeat.”
Shit. Dane. She needed to get this situation between the brothers sorted out and find out his intentions; it appeared Graham was making his interest perfectly clear to her. She may have been a one-time-only threesome girl, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to be the girl to come between the two men.
Chapter 9
Two Weeks After The Break-in – Genevieve
“You could have just told me the news over the phone, Dane. Why make me come to Staten Island to give me the big reveal?” Genevieve shrugged off her black peacoat and passed it to Dane.
“Because if I did then I wouldn’t be able to make you my homemade spaghetti and meatballs.” Accepting the coat, he leaned over her shoulder and grabbed a hanger from the coat closet.
“You mean, homemade spaghetti sauce?”
He put the coat on the hanger. “It would be easier to hang up your coat you’d…” he motioned for her to step back.
A grin spread across her lips. “It would be. But I’m not going to.” She could have moved away as he reached around her, but didn’t. Having his muscular chest brush against her and getting the opportunity to bask in the aroma of his cologne made it too tempting to stay where she was.
He returned her grin, a brow cocked. “I can make you.”
“You can try,” she countered, placing her hands on her hips, a part of her really wanting him to do just that. His looked turned heated as his eyes locked to hers. Why she was provoking him she didn’t know. After her picnic date, she’d been on a couple more dates with Graham and thought she’d made her decision. But God help her, it was harder than she imagined to keep from tempting Dane. He was so much fun to tease.
“Is that another challenge?”
“Maybe.” Don’t start something that you can’t finish Genevieve, the voice at the back of her mind warned. She’d been on several dates with Graham already and each one made her more convinced he was the one.
Slipping an arm around her waist, he pulled her tight to his chest and lifted her out of the way while hanging the coat up in the closet. He didn’t release her straight away; he kept her locked in his arms for the span of several beats, until her heart began beating rapidly in anticipation. It looked like he was going to kiss her, but just when she thought he was going to make a move, he released her and stepped back.
She knew she shouldn’t be disappointed, that she should be relieved, but she wasn’t.
He cleared his throat. “Now back to the dinner. I mean, it’s from scratch, even the noodles. All by my own hands.” Taking her hand, he led her through the townhouse to the back where the kitchen was located.
“Wow, I’m impressed. Did you learn from your mother?” Well before they entered the kitchen the delicious aroma of herbs and spices drifted to her nose, causing her stomach to grumble softly.
