by apple desk
When the shirt fell to her waist, she slid her hands beneath her hair to release it from the neck and let it fall down her back.
He could barely breathe by the time she was finished. That something so mundane had the power to make him want to go to his knees was…frightening.
Shutting his eyes for a second, he forced his pounding heart to calm. When he opened them again, he found her standing on the opposite side of the bed, staring at him.
“Jesse gave me this.” She plucked at the shirt with her fingers. “He said it’s yours. Hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not. Did he go to start breakfast?”
She didn’t answer immediately. Her head cocked to the side, watching him. Then she nodded. “Yeah. Is this going to be weird now?”
He blinked, confused. “What are you talking about?”
She waved her hand between them. “This. Us. The three of us. Is it going to be weird?”
“I don’t understand your concern.”
Her nose wrinkled with consternation as she huffed out a sigh. “I mean, I’ve never done this before.”
“I assume you mean sleep with two men.”
She gave him a haughty glare. “Yeah. You assume correctly. So I’m not quite sure of the etiquette. I just want to know if there are any rules I’m supposed to follow. I mean, am I supposed to treat you both equally? Or if you piss me off, am I allowed to be pissed at you but still able to be affectionate with Jesse? Or do you both share the same punishment?”
He wanted to smile but forced himself to contain it because she was absolutely serious. “We’re not the same men. If you’re angry at one, by all means, be angry just at that one. We’re big boys. We can handle a little feminine displeasure.”
In fact, he actually thought he might thrive on it, if it came from her. But he had the feeling he wasn’t giving her the answer she needed because she huffed out another sigh.
“This isn’t coming out right.”
“No, I’m sorry.” He held his hands out in front of him. “I’m baiting you and that’s not fair.”
“Why are you baiting me?”
Good question. “Truthfully? I enjoy riling you.”
Her lips curled. “Well, you’re pretty damn good at it.”
“I don’t mean to be. But you’re definitely up to the challenge of handling me.”
“Is it always going to be like this between us? This constant bickering?”
“I don’t think we bickered at all for several hours last night and this morning.”
She shook her head as she walked around the bed. “I guess that’s technically true.”
Damn it. She’d started to put distance between them. He felt it like a cold void between them. He wanted to rip his own damn tongue out.
“Mally.”
She stopped at the door but turned to face him, one eyebrow lifted. Totally willing to face off with him.
He’d never dated a woman before who’d been so unconcerned about pissing him off. Most women used their smiles to coerce and cajole and get their way. Mally just laid everything out.
It disconcerted the hell out of him. And he loved that she felt she could.
“For the length of our agreement, I want you to treat me however the hell you feel like treating me. If you want to express your displeasure with me, you go right ahead. If you want to kiss me, I’m all for it. If you want to kiss Jesse for any reason, you go ahead and do it. But don’t be surprised if I expect the same. But I’ll never take something you don’t want to give.”
Her haughty look was back and his cock throbbed with lust. Damn it, how the hell was he supposed to keep his emotions detached if she kept looking at him like that?
Why do you want to do that anyway?
“And how will you know I don’t want to give it to you if you don’t ask?”
“Hey, guys! Coffee’s ready.”
Max heard Jesse call from the kitchen but never turned his focus away from Mally.
“You’ll know when I’m asking for something, Mally. I will make it perfectly clear.”
Did he imagine the shiver that ran through her? He didn’t think so.
“Fine.” The haughty tone of her voice made him smile. “Just so we’re clear.”
“We’re clear. And for the record, just because I’m not bending you over the bed right now and fucking you doesn’t mean I don’t want to. It just means I have a little self-control.”
She blinked up at him, her lips parting as a flush painted her cheeks bright red. Bending, he kissed her, smashing their lips together until he had to let her up for air.
“Now, unless you want me to follow through on that threat, I suggest we go downstairs.”
Her head tilted to the side, her eyes narrowed. And her stomach growled.
“I’m not sure I’d consider that a threat. But I think I need a little food before I do any other…strenuous activities.”
Smiling, he waved his hand at the door. “Then by all means, let’s eat something. I wouldn’t want you to starve.”
Following her down the stairs, he held onto his grin. And tried not to overanalyze every last little detail, including how happy Jesse looked this morning.
Not that the guy smiled outright or anything. Max just knew him well enough to know how Jesse felt.
And damn if breakfast wasn’t the most amazing meal he’d ever eaten.
The three of them held a conversation that didn’t revolve around business. They actually held a discussion about that stupid movie they’d watched when she hadn’t known they were there. She’d been surprised they’d seen it. Neither he nor Jesse had enlightened her about the fact that he’d been stalking her that night.
Then she and Jesse had talked about some television show Max had never heard of, which allowed him to watch the two of them interact until Mally drew him back into the conversation with a pointed remark about how Max needed to increase his pop culture IQ.
He’d told her maybe she’d have to become more knowledgeable about local politics. She’d wrinkled her pretty nose and declared politics off the table then she’d insulted his lack of interest in sports.
He wasn’t really the kind of guy to waste three or four hours sitting in front of a TV yelling at the screen. If he was going to watch a game—football, hockey, or baseball—he was going to have damn good seats at the actual game. Football and baseball were okay but they went too slow and the games could last for hours. At least hockey kept moving.
Of course, Mally was a die-hard Eagles fan. He made a mental note to get tickets for a game this fall.
If she’s still in your life this fall.
Considering it was only June, the answer to that should be yes. Which didn’t mean a damn thing. Yes, they had an arrangement but—
“Max? Earth to Max? You went away.”
He blinked and found her giving him that look. The one with the raised eyebrows.
“No. I didn’t. I’m right here.”
He barely gave a thought to his answer, but Mally’s expression made him bite back a grimace. She was right. He’d been gone when he should be right here. With her and Jesse. Because this wouldn’t happen every day. It couldn’t.
Hell, he didn’t want this every day. He’d never considered having a woman in his life full-time. Not with the life he lived.
The life you’re trying to leave behind. So why are you fighting so hard?
Damn good question. One he didn’t want to examine too hard.
“Are you planning to stay for the day?”
She blinked at him and her lips parted but nothing came out.
He’d taken her off guard. Nice to know he still had the power to do that. He felt like he’d lost some footing in this relationship. Which wasn’t a relationship. It was a business deal.
Yeah, right.
Then her head tilted to the side. “Do you want me to stay?”
He and Jesse should spend the day trying to figure out who was sabotaging them. He had two sets o
f books for one of the clubs to continue to go through and he had a meeting early tonight with a couple of other business owners to discuss collaborative ventures.
“Yes.”
She smiled. “Okay.”
He smiled back.
His day was looking up.
* * * * *
“Jesus Christ, Jesse. Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty fucking sure. Someone got into Shivers sometime this week and messed with the gas lines. If we hadn’t been keeping an eye on things, the whole damn building could’ve gone up.”
“Sonuvabitch. When can we get it fixed and how long will the club be closed?”
“At least until tomorrow. Maybe longer if we can’t get an inspector to come out and okay the fix.”
“We’re going to have to double-check every goddamn building again.”
“I know. Already on it. I’ll call you if we find anything else.”
Max nearly threw his phone across the room after hanging up with Jesse. For the first time since Sunday, four days ago, he’d woken up in a decent mood. He and Jesse were supposed to see Mally tonight. He hated to admit he’d been looking forward to their date but just the thought of it had kept him from tearing out his hair a few times.
This week had been a bitch. He felt he hadn’t had a spare second to breathe while he and Jesse tried to put out one fire after another.
One of their chefs had handed in his two-week notice Monday. Max had known it was coming. The guy hadn’t liked the fact that Max and Jesse now owned the restaurant and he hadn’t been quiet about it. Max wasn’t upset the guy was leaving, just the fact that they only had two weeks to fill the position.
On top of that, one of the managers at Ivy Brown, another of their clubs, had turned in her notice Tuesday. Max hadn’t seen that one coming. She’d seemed excited to continue working for them when they’d talked after he and Jesse had taken over. Hell, they’d even talked about her future with the club and some of her plans, which had been good. So he had to wonder if something or someone had deliberately poached her.
And now this.
Max wanted to put his fucking fist through the wall. He should call Mally and tell her they had to cancel tonight. He should join Jesse and go through the buildings with him. Then they needed to figure out who had it in for them.
That list was long and it’d take them awhile to go through it, and until then they shouldn’t—
Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Last weekend had been amazing. He’d been hoping they could spend this coming weekend the same way. But even as he’d thought about it, he’d known it wasn’t going to happen.
Because Jesse had been right. Back before they’d made this agreement with her, Jesse had said this wasn’t the right time.
Max had just been too fucking arrogant to listen.
Sucking in a deep breath, he picked up his phone and punched in her number.
“Sorry, can’t talk right now but leave me a message and I’ll call back.”
He considered hanging up but she’d know he called. And he wasn’t fourteen, for Christ’s sake.
“It’s Max. I believe we’re going to have to cancel for tonight. Something’s come up. I’ll call you later.”
He hung up before he could add anything or babble. That’d just be pathetic.
Then he got off his ass and headed for Delia’s desk in the front room.
Her head swiveled away from her monitor as he stopped behind her. Long, silky brown hair rippled down her back as she turned to stare at him. Her eye color matched her hair almost perfectly but he could barely see them now because they narrowed when she saw his face.
“What’s wrong?”
Somehow, she always knew. He didn’t know whether it was because they’d known each other for so long or because she actually did have a little bit of the “gift.” She claimed to have a little Romany in her blood and had a sixth sense about things. Max thought she was just that good at reading people.
“Another incident at Shivers. Jesse and I need to go back through the other buildings, see if we missed something or if someone got in and fucked us over again.”
“Damn. Someone’s actually coming after you.”
Delia shook her head, though she didn’t look surprised. She looked resigned, as if she’d expected this.
He probably should have. But, goddammit, even though he was the most pessimistic person he knew, he’d hoped—
“So what are you going to do?”
Delia’s question made him snap back to attention. “We’re going to figure out who’s behind it and put a stop to it.”
“And how do you plan to do that?”
With her eyebrows raised like that, Max knew exactly what she wasn’t saying. That was the blessing and curse of knowing someone so well.
With a sigh, he walked around to the front of her desk and fell into the chair across from it.
“With whatever means necessary.”
She didn’t look surprised. Delia had grown up on the same streets as Max and Jesse. “Do you want me to call my cousin?”
Delia’s cousin, Mike, fixed things. Not like broken pipes or cars or people. Mike fixed problems. Usually with his fists and a whole shitload of intimidation.
“I’m trying to avoid that solution.”
“And how’s that working for you?”
He let his lips quirk into a sarcastic smile. “Not so great, apparently.”
“Aww. Did someone kick your puppy?”
Now he gave her mocking reply a suitable response. He shot her the finger.
She smiled. “Now there’s the Max I grew up with. Suck it up. You knew this wasn’t going to be easy.”
“True. I just thought…” Hell, he’d been an idiot. “Yeah, well, that doesn’t matter. Guess it’s time to get my hands dirty again.”
“Or it’s time to let someone else handle the dirty work.”
For years, he and Jesse had been the ones to handle the dirty work. Together. Always. To think about handing over control of even a small part of their operation made this teeth clench.
“Then again,” Delia said when he didn’t reply, “maybe not.”
“Do you think that’s how we should handle this?”
Delia looked so surprised, he couldn’t contain his grin. “Are you seriously asking me for advice?”
“It’s not like it’s the first time.”
She shrugged. “Actually, it pretty much is.”
Seriously? He leaned forward. “Well, shit. I guess I’m an asshole.”
Delia laughed, something he didn’t hear from her often enough. Christ, they were all fucked up, weren’t they? “No, well… Okay, sometimes you can be an asshole but never to me. And you already know what I’m going to tell you. If you really need help, let me call Mike. The man knows how to keep his mouth shut. He also knows I’ll take him out if he says anything.”
She’d do it too. Delia wasn’t afraid of anything. And they might just need the help.
“I’ll let you know, okay?”
Delia nodded, as if that was the exact answer she’d expected. “Wanna tell me what else has got you looking like you wanna do murder?”
“What? Someone trying to sabotage our businesses isn’t enough?”
“Yeah, that’s more than enough. But I know there’s something else and I figure it has to do with the woman who spent the weekend at your house.”
Max huffed. He should’ve known she’d find out. But Delia wasn’t the problem. “Does anyone else know?”
Delia shrugged. “I didn’t actually know until you just confirmed it. But it wasn’t that hard to figure out. You guys didn’t exactly try to hide the fact that you went out Friday night.”
“True. And I’m regretting it now.”
“Regretting the date? Or regretting the fact that people saw you?”
He couldn’t answer that because he wasn’t sure he had an answer.
“So it’s like that?” Delia’
s grin softened. “You really like her, don’t you?”
He didn’t have to answer. Nothing in the world could compel him to answer anything he didn’t want to. But Delia was one of four people in his life he considered a friend, which was pretty pathetic, if he stopped to think about it. Jesse, Delia, and Alisa, who’d probably be surprised to find herself included in that group…and now Mally.
Christ, now he felt sorry for himself.
“Yeah, I like her. But I have a feeling Jesse and I are going to be bad for her.”
Delia snorted. “I don’t think I’ve met a man yet who isn’t bad for some woman. That doesn’t mean she wants you to make that choice for her.”
Since that’s just about exactly what Mally had said, he shook his head. “So you’re telling me I shouldn’t stop seeing her?”
“I’m telling you you should do what you want. Just make damn sure you can keep her safe when the shit hits the fan.”
And the shit would hit the fan. No doubt about that.
Possibly sooner than later.
“You think too much sometimes, Max. Sometimes, you just gotta let go and enjoy yourself.”
But at what cost?
Chapter Five
When her phone rang, the number on the screen surprised her.
She’d gotten Max’s earlier message and had spent most of the day talking herself out of calling him back. Now Jesse’s number made her heart stutter a little.
“Hi.”
“Hey, Mary Alice. How are you?”
“I’m fine. And you?”
He didn’t answer right away and her stomach clenched. Was this how it would always be? Would she always be worried about them? Worried about them being hurt?
“I’m fine. We’re fine. Look, I know Max called you earlier to cancel tonight and I know he didn’t get a chance to talk to you. But I thought you should know what’s going on.”
Her stomach twisted. “Did something happen? Are you okay?”
“Are you still at work?”
“Yes. Jesse—”
“Are Tristan and Adam there?”
“No. What’s going on?”
“Good. I don’t want them involved in this. And honestly, I don’t want you involved either but…”
Her throat had tightened with each word. “Jesse, what’s going on?”
