“What about you?” she asked before they could pursue her college years further. “Did you do the whole going-away-to-college thing?”
“I did.” Nolan nodded. “Stanford law.”
“Impressive.”
Kieran sighed, rubbing his hand over his floppy, curly hair and mussing it up. “I didn’t go to college. I’m a high-school-dropout shmuck.”
His embarrassment was endearing, coming from a man who exuded confidence and charm. Lore never would have thought something like this could have such an effect on him. “There are many words I can use to describe you, but ‘schmuck’ is not one of them, Kieran.”
Nolan smiled in sympathy at Kieran, brushing some odd standing strands of hair back into place. “He also leaves the part about being an art prodigy out, but he’s modest.”
“Prodigy?”
“Kieran here is a well-known artist and even more famous photographer. He’s had shows of his photography in the surrounding cities, and one or two across the country.”
“That’s amazing, Kieran,” Lore praised, leaning forward and squeezing his hand in support. She could see his confidence and charm didn’t come from his success as an artist; in fact, he seemed modest and almost embarrassed by the fact.
“What do you shoot?” she asked, wanting to know more about these intelligent and talented men.
“People, places, things.” He shrugged, reaching to retake her hand and knead the palm in a small massage.
“So, just nouns?” Lore wanted to keep the conversation light and tried desperately to ignore the rate of her pulse as it sped up from having his hand rubbing hers.
“Mostly. Actions can be fun too, though.”
“Actions?”
“Two hands grasping. A man’s finger skimming a woman’s cheek. A kiss.” His lips touched her fingers lightly, his gaze never leaving hers. “A thigh tensing as it’s held by a lover.”
At his words, Nolan reached over and skimmed his hand along Kieran’s thigh, evoking an image of the two men entangled in one another. A dark room. A large bed. Two strong and dominant men, one light, one dark, ensnared in a sensual battle to overcome the other with pleasure. A hand tightens on a nape, demanding submission. A grunt echoes through the room as a stiff cock is brushed against a firm ass, seeking entrance. Then a new image, one with three figures instead of two, flashed through her mind. The men no longer seeking to win a sexual battle, but now basking in the pleasure of the feminine silhouette between them. They kiss and lave her body with licks and bites, cooing at her, demanding more from her as she moans her pleasure. She is lost, not knowing who gives her what sensation, just knowing she is surrounded by them. Lost in a loving so intense she no longer understands who she was or who she has become.
Lore stood abruptly, wrenching her hand from Kieran’s. To her embarrassment, she realized she was breathing heavily and felt her face flush with mortification. The men both stood, concerned.
“Are you all right?” Nolan asked, squeezing her shoulder in reassurance. His touch soothed and agitated her at the same time, only serving to ramp up her confusion.
“Yes, yes. I’m sorry. I just remembered I—”
“Have an appointment?” Kieran asked, crossing his arms doubtfully.
“Correct. I’ll see you on Sunday at class, Kieran.”
She picked up her belongings and headed toward the door, but before she moved three steps, a strong grip on her elbow stopped her.
“No chance we’ll get a yes on a dinner invitation this time? We still owe you for helping us change that tire.” Nolan’s hopeful face was almost too devastating to disappoint. But she couldn’t say yes. These men were dangerous for her emotional stability.
“Perhaps some other time. Bye.”
She didn’t look back as she headed out to her car, but acknowledged that it was getting harder and harder to deny them.
Chapter Five
It was official. Lore abhorred yoga. She told herself she endured the torture to stay limber. In reality, she’d started exercising, no matter how much she already knew she hated exercise, to go along with her whole I’m-not-the-daughter-of-an-infamous-weapons-dealer kick. She’d been told that yoga helped to purify the mind, and cleaning out her parents’ house had brought back all the old nightmares. Actually they were more like memories, the never-ending court cases, news reporter microphones being shoved in her face, and her mother staring listlessly at the TV, looking as though hope and life had abandoned her forever.
After her husband was arrested and the truth about their marriage came out, Darlene never truly saw her daughter again. Lore may as well have been a ghost to her mother. Walking through the rooms she’d haunted until she turned eighteen and left home for a new life resurrected an old, desperate need to be a normal, boring, and average citizen. She figured yoga would be an easy, stress-relieving method to stay healthy, and it was something an average gal did—one who didn’t have an embarrassing family history involving years of trials and lists of villages in far-off countries that may or may not have been destroyed by the weapons her father sold. It had taken years of therapy to move past those particular nightmares. It was a wonder she was as well-adjusted as she was.
But, c’mon, yoga as a method of stress relief and purifying the mind? What an unequivocal crock of shit.
By the end of every Sunday class, her muscles were screaming, her chest was heaving to gain any amount of breath she could gasp in, and her hair was so frizzy and disgusting with sweat it was a wonder any other human deemed her worthy to even look at.
So why did she endure the torture week after week? The fine, muscled ass bent over in front of her was why she did it. Lore never thought of herself as an overly sexual being. She had needs that were sated quite well with a glass of wine and her rumbly vibrator. She was by no means an innocent, having had many riotous, drunken evenings in her college years. But she didn’t go out of her way to have sex. And by out of the way she meant going on dates or interacting with those of the opposite sex outside of necessary day-to-day conversations. After an adolescence of having her life put on display by the media, she liked her privacy, and relationships forced her to tell the secrets she’d rather keep.
But, oh, she could imagine herself a sexually driven woman when staring at that ass. It was the only reason she recognized Nolan as Kieran’s lover during the legal proceedings. Lore had found herself paying rapt attention to anything Kieran would say to her before and after class. She soaked up his effervescent nature and basked in any amount of attention he would pay her. It was all quite pathetic, especially since he was in a committed relationship with a handsome and successful lawyer. She could never accept the odd dinner invitations the men kept offering her during their chance meetings, as she wouldn’t be able to keep herself from staring at the two virile male specimens all evening, rendering herself incapable of speech or cognitive reasoning. If spending a few minutes listening to Kieran describe the images he captured as a photographer made her flush with heat and hot moisture pool between her thighs, then seeing the two of them in a room together for a prolonged period of time would reduce her to a drooling pile of feminine mush. Highly embarrassing and never going to happen.
The instructor finally told the class to roll into a fetal position and slowly maneuver their bodies into a cross-legged, seated pose, signaling the end of the session. Thank the Lord. She didn’t think she could handle much more of the torture.
“Inhale deeply, and take this calming feeling with you into your day. Namaste.”
“Namaste,” the class echoed back to the waifish instructor. As Lore opened her eyes, she saw the instructor focus on Kieran with the same predatory stare she took on whenever the class ended and arrow in his direction for a chat without pausing to roll up her mat. This would be Lore’s cue to come to his aid and act as though they would be late for some innocuous plans if they stayed behind to chat for too long. Lore never understood why he didn’t tell the instructor he was gay. That would turn
her away right quick. After asking him that question one Sunday a few weeks back, he’d smiled, his dimples standing out against his tan skin highlighting his boyish charm, and simply stated that it would be a lie as he was bisexual. The way he’d smiled when he told her that little tidbit was almost like an invitation, a coy little dare as he waited to see how she’d react. She’d smiled politely back, as she usually did when trying to hide an overwhelming emotion, and asked why he didn’t say that. He refused to tell the instructor that information as well as it sometimes spurred the lusty women to pursue him with an even greater fervor, thinking they could persuade him back toward the fairer sex.
These women wouldn’t think themselves the fairer sex after seeing Kieran’s hot lawyer boyfriend. Good gracious, Lore had trouble stopping herself from drooling on him when they last spoke at the coffee shop, his eyes nearly yearning for her to say yes to their dinner invitation before she’d left. She’d wanted to say yes; everything inside her heart and disorderly body had begged her brain to just let her say yes. But where would it have gone? They would have had a nice dinner, and then it would have been over, the men going home with each other and Lore left alone, craving them even more. No matter how much they seemed to like flirting with her, Nolan and Kieran were in a committed relationship. It was clear as the dimples on Kieran’s face that they loved each other with their whole hearts and souls. That fact alone made them more appealing to her, yet at the same time all the further out of her reach. No, she couldn’t let herself spend any more time with them, as with each encounter she felt her heart expand and tighten with that knowing, that special ache telling her soul she had a crush…or heaven forbid, something more.
So this week Lore decided she wouldn’t help Kieran, no matter how guilty she felt about it. She was too off balance, especially after the exertion of the class, which only helped in crumbling her barriers. She needed to back away from Kieran. Maybe even stop coming to the classes altogether or find a new studio. A sexy bisexual artist and his sexy bisexual lawyer boyfriend were not part of her plan. She needed to stick to it. If she did nothing else worthwhile in her life, she needed to do this one thing to prove she was nothing like her father. It was all she had.
Kieran set his big brown eyes on her expectantly, waiting for her to rescue him from the instructor. Instead of running over to chat, she quietly rolled her mat up and sent an apologetic smile his way. He frowned and opened his mouth to ask a question right as the instructor swooped in to make her move. Lore used it as the perfect escape. She walked briskly toward the locker room, quickly showering to wash away the sweat and changing into a simple jeans-and-cami casual outfit. It was Sunday; she wasn’t too worried about what the shoppers at the local supermarket would think of her ensemble.
Weaving her damp black hair into a tight braid, she peeked outside the locker room door to make sure the coast was clear and made her way to the parking lot. To her confusing mix of disappointment and excitement, Kieran was there, leaning against her car with his arms crossed. He looked a bit put out.
“You are in big trouble, Lore Beyer.”
Oh, yes, she was in trouble. He’d showered as well and changed into a perfectly fitted pair of jeans and a simple green cotton T-shirt. His curly brown hair was the same dark chocolate color of his eyes, and it had taken on a sort of wispy, frizzy quality after the quick wash. He looked even more handsome than usual. Men always looked better with the least amount of effort put into their appearance. A fact she found inherently unfair.
“I’m sorry, Kieran,” she said, finally gathering her wits. “I have somewhere to be and couldn’t wait around. I’m sure you handled her just as well without me.” She couldn’t make the quick getaway she wanted to as he was blocking the driver’s side door. She had enough pride left to feel the need to not crawl across the passenger seat and access the wheel that way. But it was tempting.
“You’re sorry?” He placed his hands on his slim hips with an arched eyebrow. “That harpy asked for my number three times, Lore. Three!”
She mirrored his position, not letting her weakness for him cow her. “Did you tell her no?”
“You think that stopped her? I told you, telling these women no only makes it worse.”
“You should just bring Mr. Roscoe with you to your classes and have him act as a bodyguard. They’ll take the hint, then.” She reached around him to toss her yoga mat into the backseat, hoping he would take the hint that she really did need to leave.
Kieran smiled at her use of the formal tone. “Stop calling him that. Nolan, his name is Nolan. Say it with me. Sexy, sexy Nolan.”
“Kieran, who cares what I call Mr. Roscoe?” she asked with an exasperated huff, exhausted by the class and even more so by his refusal to leave her alone. “We know each other in a professional capacity, aside from the times we’ve bumped into one another.” She leaned against the car and looked up into his eyes, knowing she would need the support of the vehicle to keep her knees from melting. Damn him. “It wouldn’t be appropriate. Especially since I will most likely have to meet with him again regarding the case.”
“How is becoming friends with someone inappropriate?” He shook his head, clasping her shoulders and beginning a slow and methodical massage. Oh hell, she was gonna come just from his touch in the middle of a damn yoga studio parking lot. “How are you this tense after a yoga class?”
“I’m always tense.” Don’t close your eyes. Don’t close your eyes.
“I can see that.” His head tilted curiously to the side as one hand rose to her nape, rubbing it with the same, sensual rhythm.
“You’re not the first person to tell me I’m tense.” She pushed his hands off, knowing she was about to break and attack him with a fervor that would put the yoga instructor’s advances to shame. “Now if you don’t mind, I really need to get going.”
He grasped her hands, his warm and roughened skin encompassing her smaller hands with ease. “Come over to our place tonight. I’ll cook you my famous butternut squash lasagna rolls. The sweet yet savory flavor will make you feel so sated you’ll loosen up instantly.”
“Thank you, Kieran. That is very sweet of you. Like I said, I really do have plans for this evening.” At least she wasn’t lying about that. She had been putting the upcoming challenge off for far too long.
He bit his bottom lip playfully, detrimentally bringing her attention to his supple mouth before asking, “Well, how about we take you to dinner sometime this week, then?”
She had to laugh at that a little. His persistence was impressive if confusing. “I don’t understand this need you clearly feel to feed me. You and your partner both, apparently. Do I look like I’m starving?”
“Not partner, boyfriend, and we just want to get to know you,” Kieran said with a well-meaning shrug.
“Just your boyfriend? Skirting the commitment line, hmm?”
“Oh, no, you wicked minx!” Kieran chuckled with a poke to her ribs. “Don’t go turning the conversation around. This is about you coming to our place for dinner or letting us take you out. Yes or no?”
“Why are you so keen to know me better?”
“You fascinate us.” As if his explanation was the most natural response in the world, he smiled down at her, a simple smile that could have fed the hearts of lonely souls for eons. She straightened her posture, after realizing she’d been slouching against the car and staring at his mouth. She needed to regain control of the situation, and if this persistence was a hint of things to come, they weren’t going to surrender anytime soon. She’d give in but on her terms. She couldn’t let herself get carried away with the fantasy these two men stirred in her mind. Lord, but it had been a long time since she’d felt a naked body against hers.
“Fascinate you? Please, your charmer lines won’t work here.” She paused before giving her answer, wanting a moment to think the consequences of this choice over. On the one hand, she was being completely ridiculous, making such a big deal out of dinner with guys who just w
anted to be friends. On the other hand, would going out to dinner and risking her emotional safety go against the personal edict she’d committed herself to? The attraction she felt for both men was prodigious and odd enough, but it was currently fostered in her mind alone. What would voluntarily spending hours with the men in reality do?
No. It was just dinner, and these were men who could possibly be her friends. They didn’t seem intimidated by her distant demeanor, although, if she was being completely honest with herself, she was much friendlier with Kieran and Nolan than she acted toward anybody else of her acquaintance. She looked back up to Kieran, thinking she could perhaps muster the willpower not to faint in front of the two gorgeous men if they were in a public setting.
“Fine.” She pushed against his arm to move him out of the way. Her abrupt answer seemed to have disarmed him enough to finally deactivate the human barricade.
“Fine?”
“We’ll go to dinner.” Lore unlocked her car and opened the driver’s door, her hand resting on the frame. “Not at your place. Somewhere else and during the work week.”
“Did you find another job?” His genuine pleasure at the prospect was heartwarming. To have this man as a friend would be delightful—and dangerous for her self-control.
“No, not yet. But I’m not looking at the moment. I have a decent amount of savings to just—”
A New Resolution Page 6
