by Leah Brooke
After a brief pause, one in which she could hear Ryder moving around, he spoke into the phone again. His deep, low tone held an underlying tension that had her shifting her feet.
“Just because I haven’t been as hard on you as Dillon, don’t think for one minute you’re going to get away with lying to me. I don’t see why you feel you have to lie about buying bras, but I’m going to find out. If I’ve learned one thing, it’s that lies have no place in a relationship like the one Dillon and I want with you. I won’t lie to you, and I sure as hell won’t tolerate lies from you.”
Tapping her bag against her leg, Alison smiled sarcastically.
“Is that why you told me the attorney was working for free?”
A string of harsh curses followed.
“Erin needs a spanking. I never told you that and neither did Dillon. The attorney did.”
“But you knew and didn’t tell me. Isn’t that lying by omission?”
“You want to talk to me about omission? Let’s talk about the way you avoid talking about anything past Friday.”
Alison opened her mouth, only to snap it closed again, inwardly cursing. She heard a shuffling on the other end of the phone as though Ryder had put his hand over the receiver.
After a few seconds, he came back.
“Are you almost home?”
Thankful that he’d dropped the subject, Alison nodded, forgetting momentarily that he couldn’t see her. Damn, he shook her up, and she hated like hell to lose an argument. “About a block away.”
“We’ll be home soon. Lock the door when you get inside.”
“I was going to take a bubble bath.”
“Good. Then you can put on whatever you bought to show Dillon and me when we get home, and we can talk about whatever has you so upset.”
“How did you know—”
He disconnected, cutting her off abruptly.
Staring at the phone, she frowned. “How the hell did he know I bought something and that I was upset? Hell, I’m never going to get used to this.”
Chapter Nineteen
Sitting on the sofa with her legs curled under her, Alison looked up when the back door opened. Not sure of their moods, and more than a little nervous about what she had to do, she pulled the shawl she’d wrapped around herself closer.
She heard both of them in the kitchen, comforted by the familiar sounds they made as they took off their jackets and boots. Staring at the doorway, she waited.
Ryder came through the door first, his eyes searching hers.
“Are you okay?”
The tenderness in his smile relieved some of the knots in her stomach and brought a lump to her throat. Not trusting herself to speak, she nodded.
Not looking at all convinced, he nodded once before heading to the bedroom. “As soon as we get all the grime washed off of us, we’ll talk.”
Dillon came out of the kitchen, bare chested, drying his hands and arms. “I like the new nightgown. It suits you.” He started toward her, reaching for her, but cursed and straightened.
“I’m too grimy. Stay put.” He went into the bedroom, and a few seconds later she heard him banging on the bathroom door, yelling at Ryder to hurry up.
Alison sighed and pulled her knees to her chin, wrapping the shawl around her cold feet.
Trust wasn’t easy for her, but she trusted Erin’s advice, trusted her own heart, and more than that, trusted Dillon and Ryder.
Blowing out a breath at the enormity of what she was about to do, Alison leaned against the back of the sofa and closed her eyes.
She hadn’t realized the weight hanging over her until now. She didn’t know how they would react to what she had to say, but all she could do was, as Ryder said, lay her cards on the table.
She owed them that.
Dillon and Ryder were like no men she’d ever met before. They lent their strength when she needed it and had never been intimidated by her own.
She grew stronger every day, but she knew she still had a long way to go, both physically and emotionally.
Smiling to herself, she thought about Dillon and Ryder dealing with the Alison she knew she could be. If nothing else, it would be a hell of a lot of fun.
But would they like that Alison?
Sighing, she tucked her legs under her and folded her arms over the back of the sofa, propping her chin on them, listening to the sounds coming from the other rooms, trying not to picture them naked as they showered. She’d watched them dress and undress many times now, and it never ceased to fascinate her.
How the hell could men be so sexy and erotically decadent, and still maintain such old-fashioned views?
Amazing men. Men she would love to spend the rest of her life getting to know.
They both oozed masculine dominance, something she found exciting in the bedroom but, she could imagine, would cause innumerable skirmishes in the years to come.
In the years to come.
God, she wanted this so badly she could almost taste it, the dream of it so breathtaking she was afraid to hope.
After several minutes of water turning on and off and a hushed conversation, both men emerged.
Facing the bedroom with her hand perched on her fist on the back of the sofa, she watched them approach, their tall, imposing figures so comforting and stable.
Taking a deep breath, she lifted her head and said the first thing that came to mind.
“I’m scared.”
Their response to her admission proved to be more than she’d bargained for and convinced her more than anything that she was doing the right thing.
The panic on Ryder’s face disappeared almost as soon as it appeared, leaving him frozen in place for a second or two before leaping forward.
“I won’t let anything happen to you, I swear.”
He lifted her over the back of the sofa, pulling her into his arms and burying his face in her hair.
“I won’t let it. Everything’ll be fine. I promise. I swear I’m going to kill that son of a bitch for putting you through this.”
Dillon’s warm hand settled over her back and began to caress her.
“Just what she needs, Ryder. Violence.”
Alison lifted her head and smiled.
“Actually, it makes me feel better to imagine Ryder pummeling Danny’s face.”
Ryder grinned and patted her bottom. “Just say the word, darlin’.”
Dillon reached for her. “Give her to me.”
Ryder turned away, rounding the sofa and sitting with her on his lap. “I’ve got her.”
A look passed between them before Dillon nodded and lowered his big body to the sofa, sitting beside her and drawing her legs across his lap.
“I know you’re worried. I can see it’s been eating at you, and it’s been frustrating as hell that you wouldn’t talk about it. No more, okay?”
Nodding, Alison placed her hand in his outstretched one. “Okay.” Leaning against Ryder, she blew out a breath. “I didn’t want to talk about it. I just wanted it to go away.”
She held up a hand when Dillon started to speak.
“I know. It’s not going away. It’s been such a nice fantasy to be here with both of you. I just wanted to enjoy every minute of it. I didn’t want that other stuff to intrude on what we have here.”
Dillon lifted her hand to his mouth and placed a warm kiss in her palm, sending a shiver up her arm.
“And what do we have here, Alison?”
Sucking in a breath, Alison let it out slowly and stared at his hand resting on her knee.
“I think I’ve fallen in love with both of you.”
Before either one of them could speak, she jumped off of Ryder’s lap and around the coffee table, putting several feet between them. She couldn’t sit anymore and couldn’t think when they touched her, and she needed to get this right. Pacing back and forth, she waved off their outstretched arms.
She couldn’t look at either one of them, afraid she wouldn’t be able to say what she needed to
say if she looked at them.
“I know you think we haven’t known each other long enough. I feel the same way. I didn’t want to say anything because, number one, this was only supposed to be about sex. I needed to get some of my self-confidence back that Danny destroyed. Number two, I thought it was stupid to get you involved in my problems. After all, they’re my problems. Not yours. I still don’t know what’s going to happen at the trial. I might end up in jail.”
She ran a hand through her hair, and stopped her pacing. With her hands on her hips, she turned to face them.
“How the hell can I promise anything to anyone when I might not even be free after Friday?”
Ryder sat forward. “Ally, your attorney has all he needs to deny any claim that Danny might make.”
Alison whirled, throwing her arms in the air, and started pacing again, fighting the urge to throw herself in their arms and make them promise that everything would be all right.
“You don’t know these people. They’re crazy. Danny’s not going to go to jail peacefully. When I go there, they’re all going to come at me. They’re trying to scare me so I don’t testify. They’ll do anything!”
Dillon stood and stepped around the coffee table, his quick movement enabling him to grab her before she could avoid him.
“Damn, you’re riled up. Come here.”
Lowering himself to the sofa, he tightened his arms around her when she would have stood again.
“Settle down before you hurt yourself.”
Fighting the urge to lay her head against his chest and beg him to make it all go away, she pushed at him.
“Stop coddling me!”
Dillon nudged her back over his arm and laid a hand on her belly.
“Get used to it. Baby, I plan to spend the next fifty years or so doing just that.”
Alison stilled.
“Fifty years?” Her breath hitched when the endearment registered. “You called me baby.”
Running a hand over her thighs, he frowned.
“You have a problem with me calling you baby?”
Shrugging, she slid a glance at Ryder as he moved closer. “No. It’s just that you never call me that except …well, you know.”
“Except when we’re having sex?” He looked thoughtful for a minute, his hand moving in circles over her knee.
“You may be right about that. Interesting. I hadn’t really paid attention. Maybe it’s because I feel closer to you then and consider you mine.”
Her breath caught at the bubble of happiness that started to form inside her.
“Yours?”
“Ours.” Ryder lifted her foot to his lips and placed a kiss in the arch, smiling when she shrieked and tried to pull her foot back.
Laughing, she kicked at him with her other foot, only to have it caught in his other hand. “Stop! That tickles.”
Grinning, he leaned toward her, parting her legs and making a space for himself between them.
“It seems I’m learning more about you all the time. I wonder what else I can discover.”
Leaning against Dillon, she reached out to touch Ryder’s long, damp hair, wishing she could give them more.
“I’m scared. I’m scared that Danny’s going to win. I’m scared that I want you both so much and won’t be able to have you. I’m scared that even if Danny loses, you won’t want me. I’m scared that when I get stronger again, you won’t want the real me. I’m scared that the relationship you want with me won’t work. I know it works for some of the people here, but will it work for us?”
Sitting up, she looked at each of them in turn.
“I’m scared because I love you.”
Both stilled, their slow smiles filling her with joy.
And fear.
Dillon smoothed back her bangs, bending to kiss her forehead.
“It’s about damned time. I love—”
“No!” Scrambling off of his lap, she took several steps backward before turning and moving to the other side of the room to stand behind a chair.
Meeting their almost identical looks of confusion, she dug her fingers into the soft material.
“I don’t want you to say anything. I’m not ready for this. Please try to understand. I left home to find the person I was before. I’m still recovering both mentally and physically. I need to get this trial behind me and get this weight off my shoulders before I can think about anything else.”
Dillon held out a hand for her.
“Come here.”
Ryder frowned. “We sure as hell don’t want to push you into anything, but it made me mad as hell that you wouldn’t talk to either one of us about this. Why the hell did you keep this all bottled up?”
With a sigh, Alison stepped forward, sitting on the arm of the chair.
“Erin made me realize that I wasn’t being fair to either one of you. I love both of you, at least, I’m pretty sure I do. I want to come back here to both of you if I can. If you want me to.”
“Of course we want you to.” Dillon stood. “Now are you going to come here, or do I have to come get you?”
She stood and took another step forward.
“I just wanted you to know how I feel. I felt that I owe you that.”
Dillon cursed and lunged for her, lifting her high against his chest and striding back to the sofa. He sat, settling her on his lap with a warning glare.
“Stay where the hell I put you.”
His glare softened as he ran a hand through her hair.
“Now, about these fears of yours—”
“I know. I hate them. I was never like this before, but being with Danny changed me. I want to be me again. I was never—”
Ryder slapped a hand over her mouth.
“Good God, she’s wound up, isn’t she? Ally, no one is criticizing you. We just wanted to know that we meant something to you. Do you want to come back here after the trial?”
She nodded, unable to speak with his hand still covering her mouth.
Ryder removed his hand and bent to touch his lips to hers. “That’s all we needed to know.”
Dillon put a finger over her lips when she would have spoken.
“I understand your fears and we’ll all get through them. We’re in this together, baby. I know you won’t believe me until you see for yourself, but Danny’s not going to be able to prove it was self-defense. If your attorney is as good as he seems to be, Danny will probably get laughed out of the courtroom if he even tries. He’ll probably go to jail, at least for a little while. We’ll know when he gets out, and if he decides to retaliate, we’ll be ready for him. The entire town will be on the lookout for him.”
Thinking about what Erin said, that several people from Desire would be going to the trial, Alison sighed. “That’s a lot to expect from people who hardly know me.”
Dillon tucked a strand of hair behind her ear in a gesture so tender it brought tears to her eyes.
“You’re a part of this town now, Alison. We all watch out for each other.”
“I thought I was part of a town before. Then they turned on me. What happens if I fight with you and Ryder? Would the people here turn against me?”
Ryder laughed. “Some of these people are married now. They fight. We stay out of it, and I have to admit, that up until now, I thought it was funny as hell. But if any of the men in this town, even ones who are my friends, mistreated their woman, I’d be mad as hell. We protect women here, Ally. We live by that. I have to admit, I didn’t really understand how important it was until now.”
Dillon smiled. “In other words, if anyone thought we mistreated you, we’d have our asses handed to us. Feel any better?”
Still skeptical, Alison nodded hesitantly.
Dillon pulled her close, tucking her head beneath his chin.
“As for your other fears, we both love you, Alison. We want you here with us. We want to marry you.”
Easing her back, he lifted her chin. “But we’ll wait. When you feel safe with us and feel like yours
elf again, just let us know.”
Ryder ran his hand up her leg. “And let us know if we can do anything to hurry it along.”
Dillon hugged her close again. “In the meantime, you’ll live here with us, sleep between us every night, let us love you, and help us design the house we’re going to build next door.”
Pushing against his chest, Alison sat back to stare at him. “What house?”
Ryder grinned and pulled her across to sit on his lap. “The house we’re going to live in with you and make babies. Dillon insisted that we buy it when we bought the garage. I have to admit, I never thought we would ever have the kind of relationship this town was built on, but now I’m looking forward to it.”
“Babies?”
Dillon kissed her hair and frowned. “Of course. You do want children with us, don’t you?”
Thinking back to the day she arrived, she giggled. “Then I’ll be the one pushing a baby stroller and having strangers look at each other and ask which one of you is my husband!”
Ryder tumbled her back over his arm, his fingers already busy on the row of pearl buttons.
“No one is going to doubt for one minute who you belong to.”
* * * *
The day of the trial came far too soon, and not soon enough. She’d ridden with Dillon, Ryder, and Devlin Monroe, the man she’d met in the bar in what seemed a lifetime ago, to a hotel outside her hometown the night before.
She’d been shocked to learn that Dillon and Ryder had hired Devlin and his partners, Lucas Hart and Caleb Ward, as her bodyguards until they got back to Desire.
Staring out the window of the hotel room, she met Caleb’s eyes, waving when he lifted his hand in greeting.
“This is crazy. I don’t need bodyguards. I’m here with you two.”
Ryder came out of the bathroom, one towel wrapped around his waist while he swiped his hair with another.
“I agree. No one is going to get past Dillon and me to hurt you, but Dillon felt you’d feel better with more protection.”
Going to the window, he acknowledged Caleb’s wave with one of his own, gesturing that they’d be out in a few minutes.
“Plus, Lucas, Devlin, and Caleb make a hell of a presence when they want to, and the attorney agreed that it would look better for you if you look like you’re afraid of Danny.”
