by Terry Towers
kitchen. “Awful slow.”
He grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze and regaining her attention. “Don’t change the
subject. Explain yourself.”
The pink hue in her cheeks deepened, but she lifted her gaze to meet his, a smile touching her
lips. “Stop. You know what I mean.”
He cocked his head to the side, waiting for her to continue, having too much fun at her
expense to allow her off the hook.
“You’re of formidable stature in all ways. Is that good enough for you?”
Graham leaned back in his chair, but kept her hand in his. “That’ll do. And I’m pleased you
think so.”
She growled, her eyes narrowing at him. “You’re so...”
“Handsome, witty, charming.”
“I was thinking incorrigible.”
“So you were the chicken parm,” the petite waitress assigned to their table said as she placed
her plate in front of Genevieve. The aroma drifted to him; it looked and smelled incredible.
Graham’s stomach grumbled as his eyes took in the sight of his chicken and ribs.
The waitress turned to face him, her smile widening and her eyes drinking in the sight of him;
her flirting while taking their order hadn’t been missed. If he’d been alone he’d have been
flattered, but with Ginny sitting across from him it only made him uneasy. He feared he was
walking the line with her right now and desperately wanted to get in her good graces and perhaps
see her again. He didn’t want anything to jeopardize that.
~*~*~*~*~
~ Genevieve ~
“I think the waitress liked you.” Genevieve’s grin was wide as she looked up at Graham,
while they walked down the sidewalk back to her boutique and their vehicles.
“What?” Graham let out a dismissive huff. “If she did, I didn’t notice.”
“Bullshit! How could you not?” She leaned into him, pressing her breasts against his arm as
she reached across him. “Here’s your ribs, Sir. I really hope you enjoy them, Sir.” She attempted to mimic the voice of the waitress, but failed miserably.
Graham slipped a hand around her waist and kept her tight to his side as they continued to
walk. “I never noticed. My attention was completely focused on you.”
“Oh, now I know you’re a bullshitter.” Mischief danced within her eyes when her gaze lifted to meet his. Instead of pulling away, she kept herself close to him. Over the course of the dinner, she’d begun to realize there could be much more between them than that one-night stand.
Staying away seemed an exercise in futility.
“All right. Maybe I noticed.”
Her eyes narrowed at him, but her smile didn’t fade.
“But her boobs were right in my face.” He placed the palm of his hand a foot from his face.
“Right there. How could anyone with a dick not notice that? At least give me kudos for admitting
it.”
“So are you and your brother always like this? Joking and whatnot.”
She thought she noticed his smile fall, but she blinked and the grin was back. “Not really. If
you’re into funny guys then I’m much funnier than my brother.”
“I’m not into funny guys.”
“Oh, in that case, I’m not funny at all. Barely crack a smile normally, this whole date was a
façade.”
They reached her car and stopped walking. She was having a good time with him and sad to
see it had come to an end so soon. “So this was a date?” She attempted to keep her expression
blank, but it was hard; it seemed she’d been wearing a goofy smile on her face from the moment
they’d sat down at the restaurant.
Graham paused, his eyes searching hers seeking the correct answer. “Well, if it was a date
then it should be ending with a kiss.”
The humor within her faded as their eyes locked. They’d spent the past couple of hours
joking and laughing, keeping the atmosphere light and fun. Would they have the chemistry they
had in Vegas? There was only one way to find out.
“I think this could be considered a date.” She stepped into him, closing the distance, but
keeping far enough away that he’d have to make the final move.
His blue eyes grew dark as he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her against him.
“I’m glad you decided to let me feed you.”
Genevieve’s hands slid up his chest and fingers locked around the back of his neck. “Thank
you for coming to see me. I know that may not have been easy. Especially after how we left
things.”
They stood staring into each other’s eyes while pedestrians strolled past them, none of them
paying much mind to the potential lovers. With each second she waited for him to close the
distance and meet her lips with his, her anxiety increased.
When he finally bent and his lips touched hers, she breathed a sigh of relief. But instead of
being the deep, passionate kiss that she was expecting his lips merely teased hers. He teased just long enough to ignite the fire between her legs, before he ended the kiss and straightened,
leaving her longing for more.
Her body screamed out in frustration, remembering vividly and longing to feel him more
intimately. Closing her eyes she forced the thoughts of his beautiful, naked body from her mind.
He has it right. Take it slow. No mistakes. If we do start seeing each other we don’t want to blow this by getting too physical too quick.
“So if I were to stop by the boutique in a day or so and ask you for another dinner?”
She swiped her tongue along her lower lip, forcing his eyes to follow the travels of her
tongue. “I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.”
“Good.” He stepped back and opened her car door for her. “Have a good night, Ginny.”
Chapter 8
~ Genevieve ~
Genevieve couldn’t concentrate. The entire day went by in a blur and now that she was sitting
home alone, she couldn’t keep her mind from thinking about her “date” with Graham the
previous day. Admittedly, she was disappointed he hadn’t shown up at the boutique today. Each
time the door chimed, signalling a customer, her mood would perk up and she look up at the door
with teenaged excitement. But it was never him.
Dressed in a pair of jogging pants and sweatshirt, she flicked on the television and began
surfing the channels, hoping for a show interesting enough to keep her mind occupied. She’d just
found a semi-interesting reality television show when there was a knock at her door.
She frowned. How the person at the other side of the door got past the security lock front
door was beyond her; must have been a neighbour knocking. The only time they came to her
door was to bitch about something. She didn’t want to deal with a bitching neighbour, but
considering her television was on and easily heard into the hallway she could hardly pretend not
to be home.
On tiptoes she peered out through the peephole and her heart skipped a beat. Graham. A
smile spread across her lips. Taking a deep breath in she attempted to calm her excitement as she opened the door to greet him.
“Hey Gra - ” She stopped herself when she noticed the man opposite her didn’t have the scar
on his jaw. “Wow, Dane. Ummm…” Her eyes lowered to his hands. One carried a four-pack of
beer and in the other was a brown takeout bag.
“Hey. Can I come in?” Not waiting for a reply he walked around her and into her tiny one-
bedroom ap
artment on Manhattan’s West Side. Walking over to her sofa, he placed the food and
beer onto the coffee table and made himself at home on her sofa. “I hope you’re hungry.”
“Ahhh. Yeah. I guess.” She closed the door and spun around to face him, not sure what to do
or say to him, so she voiced the one question that was nagging on her mind. “What are you doing
here? Did you guys find out who broke into my store?” She knew that wasn’t why he was there,
but hoped the store was the reason.
He grimaced and ran a hand through his blonde hair. “No, I’m sorry. I’m doing all I can, but
there’s no leads.”
“Oh.” She hesitantly made her way across the room and sat next to him on the sofa. “Then
can I ask why you’re here?” Her nose crinkled at him. “And how did you find out where I
lived?”
His face flushed as he pulled Chinese food from the paper bag. “I hope you like Chinese.”
“Yeah. Yeah. It’s fine.” She wasn’t concerned about the food.
“I sort of grabbed your home address from your police report.”
“Is that legal?”
He shrugged and turned to face her. “I’m here because after I left your store the other day I
did some thinking and I feel I owe you an apology. My cold behavior around you yesterday was
uncalled for. And we should have a discussion about what happened last month.” As he waited
for her reply he twisted off the cap of a beer and passed it to her.
After her discussion with Graham the previous day she felt better about what happened. She
really didn’t have a desire to rehash it, which made her wonder if Graham told Dane about his
going to see her and their having dinner. She suspected he didn’t. But why?
She took a long drink from her beer. She hated beer but didn’t want to hurt his feelings and
she had the feeling she was going to need to have a few in her to deal with the conversation Dane was going to insist on having.
Would it be rude if I cut him off, told him I didn’t want to talk about it and bid him a good night? she mused. As much as she wanted to do just that, a part of her was glad he’d shown up.
At least his company would keep her mind from thinking about his brother. Well, sort of.
He twisted off the cap of the beer he had in his hand and took a long drink, drinking down
close to half the bottle before placing it back onto the coffee table.
His eyes locked onto hers and she saw the sincerity in his blue depths. When she gave it some
consideration she was as much to blame for the night as he was. She’d responded to his
advances, she welcomed them. And the next day when he’d suggested something she’d never
even considered before, she was reluctant at first, but by the time her body was sandwiched
between the striking, muscular bodies of the two brothers she didn’t care anymore – she
welcomed the feelings. And she doubted she’d ever feel such intense pleasure again that the two
of them gave her.
She could see him trying to decide the words to use to begin his apology and she found
herself softening to him. “Just let me speak first, okay?”
His brow furrowed at her request, but he nodded.
“I have just as much to apologize for as you do. I shouldn’t have taken off like I did. I had a
lot of fun with you at the musical and after…” She felt butterflies begin to flutter in her stomach as memories of him pleasuring her in the shower skirted through her mind. As she looked at him
she found she was becoming uncomfortably wet. This was bad.
“After?”
“I realized that what I had with Alex, especially the sexual aspect, was well below par. A part
of me was concerned that there was something wrong with me.” She felt her face flush as she
considered admitting her insecurities, but Dane’s expression was one of concern with not an
ounce of judgment in his eyes. “You made me realize it wasn’t.”
Dane chuckled as he caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. “You were amazing.” He
dropped his hand and lowered his gaze. “But I shouldn’t have shared you, or even suggested it,
and I’m sorry. It was a stupid and impulsive idea.”
“No. No.” She placed a hand on his leg, just about his knee. “I enjoyed it. I’ve never felt…”
She couldn’t finish her sentence. It was her turn to flush and lower her gaze. She snatched her
hand away from his leg and she felt her face beginning to grow warm. Discussing Vegas wasn’t
going to do either of them any good.
He placed a paper plate in front of her and opened a little box. “Sweet and sour chicken?” He
began to empty half of the carton without waiting for her response. “You left Vegas because of
me and I regretted that I wasn’t able to spend more time with you. I fucked it up, but after seeing you again, I want to make it right.”
She focused her attention on the plate of food he’d dished out to her, scooped up some rice
and popped it into her mouth. Anything to avoid having to comment on his last statement. She
watched him eat out of the corner of her eyes as she began to devour the food in front of her,
surprised she was as hungry as she was.
“Wow, big Chinese fan I see.”
Genevieve smiled, looking at her plate, which was almost empty compared to his; he hadn’t
even gotten halfway through. “It was a long day.”
“How are you doing on getting new inventory?” He speared a chicken ball and plopped it
into his mouth.
“Bad. I had the largest collection of pre-owned Birkin bags in the city. And it’s hard to get
them used for a good price since they resale for so much and in such high demand.”
“So how much would one of those Birkin purses cost?”
She shrugged. “Depends on the condition, but usually people who buy Birkin keep them
pristine. A used one can range from ten grand to thirty or forty – sometimes more.”
Dane’s eyes went wide as he began to choke on his rice.
She was used to Dane’s exact reaction from people. Tourists visited her boutique often and
would leave outraged at her prices. “Depending the type of leather. The cheaper ones would be
in the ten to fifteen range, but crocodile, ostrich, the exotic leathers come into the serious
money.”
He cleared his throat and took a long swig from his beer. Dane reached across her and
grabbed the bag she had sitting on her end table. Straightening back up, he placed the bag on his lap and inspected it.
The faint musk smell of his cologne came drifting to her nose. Oh dear God, it smells so
good! It was amazing to her how a scent could lure someone to someone else so easily. It would be so much easier to deny her body’s reaction to him if he didn’t smell so damned good!
“So this one here. What is this?”
“It’s a Chanel quilted caviar leather double-flap bag,” she answered and the response she got
from him was a blank stare. She didn’t expect anything different. Men never knew the
difference. One of the only men she knew who knew the difference was Alex, but he had come
from a well-to-do family who lived for luxury brand goods. Alex was the one who gave her the
idea to open the shop and his mother and his mother’s richie-rich friends had helped to stock it –
initially that is.
“And how much would one of these cost new?” He opened the first and then second flap,
peering inside at the contents of her purse. One of the items on the top was a
tampon, in its bright pink wrapper.
Mortified, Genevieve snatched the handbag from his grasp. “Geez, nosy much?” She placed
it back onto the end table. “And almost five thousand.”
His mouth dropped and he leaned over her again, to get another look at the bag. “Five grand.
For that?”
This was getting embarrassing.
She shrugged. “It’s what it costs. I don’t pay that when I buy them, however. I pay about half
that – sometimes less, depending on the condition.”
“Why?” Dane finished his plate and placed it onto the coffee table.
She frowned.
“I mean, why do people pay so much? I could buy a car for five grand. Not the best car, but
an okay one.”
“Because they can.”
He puffed out a loud huff of air, falling back into the sofa and draping an arm along the back
of the sofa. “It’s hard to comprehend.”
Done with her plate, she folded her legs under her and cuddled closer to him, not really
meaning to, but his body seemed to be a magnet to her. She seemed unable to stop herself from
wanting to be close. The space between his arm and torso begged her to settle into him and she
didn’t want to resist.
What about Graham? a voice at the back of her mind chimed in.
Nothing with Graham was for sure. One dinner and a partial kiss didn’t make a relationship.
He hadn’t even called her. He’d simply left it up in the air. She was doing nothing wrong getting to know Dane, nothing at all.
~*~*~*~*~
~ Dane ~
Genevieve had been on his mind since she snuck out of their room in Vegas. He’d brushed it
off to his brother as no big deal; another chick to add to his list of conquests. But he was a lying son-of-a-bitch and he knew it. He pretended the threesome was cool – an experience to scratch
off his bucket list. But it hadn’t been for him. After the fact, after he woke up and grasped the full ramifications of what had happened, it made him feel a feeling he’d never felt before –
jealousy.
He didn’t want to share her. He wanted her to himself, but she hadn’t given him the
opportunity to voice his feelings. She’d left without a word.
Dane’s first call after leaving her shop was to call Graham to let him know he’d found her
