by Opal Carew
She heard the patio doors open again and glanced up.
Her heart stuttered.
Blake and Evan stood there like two perfectly sculpted statues. Thick, well-defined biceps, washboard abs, and broad chests her hands longed to glide over. Especially Evan’s, which had a lion tattoo covering the entire right side of his chest. She would love to stroke that big mane.
God, it had been months since she’d been with a man and seeing the two of them dressed like that—or rather, undressed—was enough to trigger thoughts of erotic adventures.
Wild and sensuous.
Like her with both of these sexy men.
“How’s the water?” Blake asked.
“Perfect,” she murmured.
They laughed, both well aware of her perusing their bodies. Surely seeing the hunger in her eyes.
She was surprised a puff of steam didn’t rise from the water at the heat sizzling between her legs.
Blake walked to the diving board and dove into the pool. His body glided under the water, then his head popped up through the surface. He shook it, water droplets scattering from his dark, wavy hair in all directions.
Evan dove into the water, too, and soon stood beside Blake, water dripping from his sandy-brown hair and his close-cropped beard.
Blake’s hair was darker and longer on top and he was clean shaven, but he was just as buff and sexy as Evan. Looking at them both together was mesmerizing.
“Aren’t you coming in?” Evan asked as they walked toward her.
She tried to pull her attention from the men, standing up and wading deeper into the water. As they watched her, she became intensely aware of her nipples hardening as the water eased over her breasts. She pushed herself forward and swam to the deep end, then began to tread water.
“So you said you just moved in. Where were you before?” she asked.
“San Diego. But we’re doing more business here, so we decided to make the move. How about you?” Blake asked. “Have you lived in Philadelphia long?”
“Yeah, my whole life. My dad grew up here and he and a friend started a construction company after they finished school. Sometimes when I was a kid he’d take me out to the work sites with him. I used to love wearing the special hard hat he got me and I’d pretend I was building things. Sometimes he’d let me help out. When I was in high school, he let me work with him on weekends and summer vacations to earn extra money.”
“Do you still work for your dad?” Evan asked.
She frowned and shook her head. “Dad died about six years ago.”
She still ached at the loss.
After that, her mom sold Dad’s half of the company to his partner.
“I’m sorry to hear that. It sounds like you were very close.” Evan’s eyes were filled with sympathy.
“We were. It was really hard.” Her lips compressed. “My mom’s remarried now.”
“And you clearly don’t like the guy,” Blake observed.
She glanced at him questioningly.
“The asshole comment,” he said.
“Right. Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
“It’s okay that you feel that way about him,” Evan said.
“Oh, I know. I just shouldn’t say it.”
Blake laughed. “Okay, so what don’t you like about him?”
“Nothing specific. He’s just a controlling, conniving, manipulative kind of guy.”
“Is that all?” Evan grinned.
She frowned. “And he thinks I’m a total loser. He’d be happy if I just disappeared from the face of the earth. Then he wouldn’t have to contend with a stepdaughter who embarrasses him by her very existence.”
“Is that because you work in construction?” Blake asked.
“Yeah. He tried to talk me into taking some office job in his company, but I wasn’t interested.”
“Doing what you do makes you feel closer to your dad,” Evan observed.
Her gaze darted to his. “That’s true.”
All she’d ever heard from her family and friends was that she could do better for herself. This was the first time someone seemed to get it.
“He taught me how to do this kind of work, and to do it well,” she said. “Every day as I do my job, I remember what it was like working with him. When he would show me how to do a task or improve my skill. It’s like he’s always there, just over my shoulder.”
Even her mother didn’t really understand it.
“I think it’s great that you’re doing what you love,” Blake said.
“So you don’t think I should pull myself up? Strive for something better?”
Blake shrugged. “What could be better than doing what you love? And with all those memories tied to it, I don’t see why you’d ever give it up.”
She tipped her head. “I’m surprised. I really thought the two of you would think differently.”
“You mean that we’d be just another couple of wealthy assholes like your stepfather,” Blake said.
She bit her lip. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have judged you.”
Blake smiled, an adorable dimple appearing on his clean-shaven cheek. “It’s okay. It’s not like we aren’t assholes sometimes.”
Evan chuckled. “Speak for yourself.”
She swam to the walk-out steps in the deep end and sat on the lowest one, still up to her neck in the water. These two men were not what she’d expected. It made her feel warm inside that they understood how she felt.
Evan swam over and rested his hand on the pool’s edge beside her so he didn’t have to tread water.
“You look deep in thought.”
The warm feeling inside Danni flared, turning into a rippling heat. She rested her hand on his shoulder, drawing him closer, then kissed him.
Immediately, her body blazed to life. Exciting tingles frayed the edges of her nerve endings as her lips moved on his. She pushed herself from the step and wrapped her arms around him, deepening the kiss. His mouth responded as his free arm encircled her waist, pulling her nearly naked body tightly to his.
Oh, God, the feel of his hard body against her . . . of being held in his strong embrace . . . made her melt inside.
When their lips parted, she stared at him in a daze.
“That was . . . nice,” he said with a warm but almost stunned smile.
When she felt a hard ridge growing against her belly and realized he was as turned on as she was, her excitement shot through the roof. It was all she could do not to squirm against him.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, and his hard bulge nestled right in the cradle of her legs. Pushing against her steamy, hot, intimate flesh.
“You two look cozy,” Blake said.
Her breath caught. She was here with two men, not just one. Would Blake quietly slip away or . . .
He moved in behind her.
His lips brushed the back of her neck and she tipped her head to give him better access. His hand glided down her side, then he pulled himself closer to her, sandwiching her between his and Evan’s hot, hard bodies.
Oh, God. They both wanted her. Her heart stuttered at the feel of the two masculine bodies tight against her. And they seemed to be willing to share her.
Could she really do this?
Blake arched forward and both their hard cocks pressed into her. Arousal blazed through her like an inferno.
Oh, God, she wanted to feel their hands on her. To feel them both inside her. The intense attraction burned through her until she thought she’d go up in flames.
But she just couldn’t.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to . . .” she said breathily. “I just can’t do this.”
Blake’s lips brushed against her ear in a soft kiss and he immediately eased away.
“Of course, sweetheart,” Evan said. “We won’t do anything you’re not comfortable with.”
* * *
Danni sat down at the table as Blake poured a glass of wine for each of them. Her first reaction after turning th
em down in the pool was to flee, but the men had done everything they could to make her comfortable about what had happened. They’d insisted she stay for dinner and she’d finally relented.
She knew they’d only moved forward the way they had because she’d encouraged them.
It wasn’t like her to make a move on a man like that—let alone two men—especially when she’d just met them, but the fact that they seemed to understand her and accept her for who she was had touched her, making her feel intensely close to them.
But that didn’t mean she should have a wild threesome with them.
As they’d sat on the deck enjoying the warmth of the early evening, she couldn’t help but enjoy the sight of their lean, muscular bodies stretched out on the lounge chairs, wondering if she’d let the opportunity of a lifetime slip by.
“What kind of food do we want to order?” Evan asked.
Blake had wanted to take her out somewhere special, but with Danni dressed in cutoffs and a plaid shirt, they couldn’t go anywhere dressy. She was even underdressed for a casual place.
She sipped her wine as the two men started a grand negotiation about what they’d eat. Blake insisted on a gourmet meal delivered from one of the finest restaurants in the area, but Evan insisted on pizza or Chinese takeout.
Blake said he wanted to treat Danni to something really special and takeout didn’t fit the bill. Evan pointed out that Emilio’s pizza was the best in the city and as far as he was concerned their house special was a gourmet delight.
Although it was amusing watching them make their case to each other, Danni’s stomach was starting to rumble. Finally, she stood up and walked into the kitchen, found a flyer for Emilio’s, and ordered a pizza. She carried some plates back to the dining room and set them on the table, then sat down and sipped her wine, watching the men as they continued their discussion. They were no closer to a solution.
The men were still arguing when the doorman called up to say their pizza had arrived. Their gazes turned to her and she smiled.
“The pizza sounded good, so I ordered it.”
Evan laughed.
“Okay, you win. Pizza it is,” Blake said.
Blake went into the kitchen and returned with a big platter. When Evan let in the delivery guy, then set the box on the table, Blake transferred it to the platter and disposed of the box, obviously trying to make this dinner more upscale.
When Danni bit into the pizza, the warm cheese melted in her mouth and the aromatic seasonings delighted her taste buds.
“This is a real treat,” she said, then sipped her wine.
“You see, Blake. She likes it.”
Blake nodded. “I concede. Emilio’s was a perfect choice.”
Once they finished dinner—which didn’t take long since they were all hungry after a long day in the sun—Danni helped clear the table and wash up the few dishes. When they returned to the living room, she sat on the couch and the men sat on either side of her. Evan refilled her glass.
As she sipped her wine, she noticed their mail sitting on the square coffee table. She could tell that one of the envelopes in the slightly scattered stack was the same ivory linen used for the invitations to the fund-raiser her stepfather and mother were insisting she attend. As she looked closer, she recognized enough of the partially visible return address to know that’s exactly what it was.
Blake noticed what she was staring at and she tensed, not wanting a repeat outburst like they’d had before. But instead he smiled and reached for the envelope.
“You looking at this?” he asked with a smile. “So did you really mean it when you said that you’d rather we didn’t attend this gala event to spite your stepfather?”
She pursed her lips and sighed. “That wasn’t really fair of me. I was mad and I misspoke. He and I might not get along, but I wouldn’t want to sabotage him.”
“So would you like us to go?” Blake asked.
Chapter Three
“I didn’t say that,” Danni said. “But it doesn’t matter. You said you have an important meeting in San Diego. Even if you didn’t, I wouldn’t want to influence you either way.”
“You don’t have to say that just to appease me, you know,” Blake said. “What I said earlier . . .” He swirled his wine in his glass. “Well, I was being an asshole. I never should have accused you of what I did. I’m sorry.”
She stared at him in shock. In her experience, rich, powerful men like him didn’t apologize.
For anything.
“Thank you. I . . . was a bit of a jerk myself,” she conceded. “I’m sorry, too.”
Evan laughed, his fingers stroking his close-cropped beard. “You are a sorry pair. How about we put on a movie and enjoy the rest of the evening?”
“I’m game,” she said.
“But first I’d like to know,” Blake said, “are you going to the event?”
“Unfortunately, yes. Mom and Jerrold want me to go. They’re quite insistent. If it was just Jerrold, I’d ignore him, but . . .” She shrugged. “It’s really important to Mom.”
Blake took her hand and raised it to his mouth, then kissed it. The feel of his lips on her skin, brushing lightly, sent quivers along her spine.
“What if we could arrange for one of us to go with you? As your date?” Blake asked.
She smiled. “One of you? And break up such a great set? I don’t think so.”
It wasn’t that she didn’t want them to go. But Mom was hoping she’d meet a man there. Some rich, eligible bachelor who would lift her from her sad, lonely life. Ugh.
Having one of these very eligible men on her arm would make the evening more bearable. There’s no way Mom would try to thrust her on other unsuspecting men when she was with Evan or Blake. Jerrold wouldn’t let her. If he thought she was dating either of these men, he’d be over the moon.
But she wasn’t dating them. So why complicate things?
“I think she might be embarrassed being seen with us,” Blake said.
Evan laughed. “Or maybe she really wants both of us to come. That would really shock her stepfather.”
She couldn’t help herself. “It’s true that if one of you comes then I’d like the other to come, too.”
Oh, God, she couldn’t believe she’d said something so wicked and suggestive. When their gazes darted to hers, a little wide-eyed, she simply blinked innocently.
“So what movie do we want to watch?” she asked.
* * *
Two hours later, at the end of the romantic comedy they’d let her choose, the closing credits scrolled up the screen of the huge, high-def TV. Over the course of the movie, she’d relaxed and enjoyed the feel of their warm, masculine bodies so close to hers. That warmth started to heat up her insides, making her long to be closer. A lot closer.
As if sensing her mood, they’d eased in a little and she’d found herself snuggled between them. And loving it.
Now she was quite cozy between them, her head leaning against Evan’s shoulder, Blake’s arm curled around her waist.
The credits finally ended and Blake let out a sigh.
“I don’t even want to move,” Blake said, his arm tightening around her.
A slow burn had been building inside her and she longed for exactly what she’d turned down in the pool earlier. The chance to experience an exciting, illicit sexual escapade with both of them.
Especially with these two men, who were so warm and understanding.
She drew in a slow breath, knowing she couldn’t just let this opportunity slip away.
“I know how you feel,” she said, “but there is one thing that could motivate me to get up.”
“And what’s that?” Blake asked.
“A dip in the pool. I think the idea of swimming in the dark is”—she grinned—“sexy.”
A slow smile spread across Blake’s face. “I’m game.”
Evan laughed. “Count me in.”
Danni stood up and walked toward the patio doors, her stomach flutt
ering. The men followed close behind. She stepped onto the dark deck, the only light a soft wash of moonlight on the wood. Evan turned on a switch and the pool lit up a deep sapphire blue.
“Ohhh. It’s beautiful,” she said.
As she walked toward it, she realized the color was slowly shifting through jewel tones.
“I put it on a subtle setting,” Evan said. “I hope you still consider it dark and sexy.”
She turned around and smiled, continuing to walk backward.
“Does this answer your question?” She unbuttoned her shirt, letting it fall off one shoulder seductively as she continued unfastening it. She let it slip to the ground and unfastened her shorts. They dropped to the deck, and she left them behind as she continued moving.
She turned, and with a soft laugh, ran in a slow, long-legged stride to the pool’s edge, then dove in. The water was perfect. Warm and welcoming. She broke the surface and turned around to see Blake diving into the pool as Evan tossed his jeans aside, then dove in after him.
She swam to the shallow end of the pool, the two men right behind her.
Oh, God, she longed to feel their hands on her.
As soon as she felt the bottom against her feet, she turned around. They had caught up to her and were standing watching her. Waiting for some cue from her, she realized. Because they wouldn’t want her to feel pressured into anything.
They were so sensitive. So thoughtful of her feelings.
She drew in a deep breath, overwhelmed by her need for them. She stepped to Evan, the large lion tattoo on his chest attracting her to him, and slid her arms around his waist, finding his lips. Their mouths merged in a delicate, surprisingly tender kiss. The feel of his raspy beard on her face was exciting. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, his large, solid body an anchor she needed with the feelings spinning through her.
Feelings that swelled through her with an unexpected poignancy.
She wanted to be with these men. To give herself to them completely.
