by Tara Rose
Celina unlocked her bicycle from the rack behind the building and turned at the sound of footsteps. Arizona and Dallas advanced toward her, determined looks on their handsome faces. She shielded her eyes from the glare to get a better look at them. Even at six in the evening, the sun was still high in the late-June sky.
They both had dark hair, but Arizona’s had a slight wave to it and he wore it longer than Dallas wore his. Dallas’s hair was close-cropped, but not as severe as a military cut. Arizona had gray eyes and Dallas’s were dark brown, like the color of rich chocolate. Both men moved with an easy confidence that was just as sexy as their looks. She was as attracted to their confident manner as she was their outward appearance.
“Hi there,” she said. They know. They knew she’d heard the conversation. She could see it on their faces. Why else would they come back here? They didn’t bike or walk to work, like most employees did. They drove a Jeep up the steep incline where their homes perched, side by side, overlooking this plant and office complex as well as hundreds of homes, just as if they were the kings of the castles and the people who lived below on the hillside were their serfs.
“How much did you hear?” asked Dallas.
At least they hadn’t resorted to small talk or roundabout questions. She admired their directness. There was also no point in lying to either one of them. “I came down the hall at the part where you said the girl on the book cover looked like me, and I left after Lucie told you both to suit yourselves.”
They exchanged a glance she couldn’t interpret.
“I’m sorry you had to hear that,” said Arizona. “But you know how my sister is.”
“I should know. I’ve been her employee for ten years now.”
“She still shouldn’t have said those things.”
“Thank you. Though, it must be difficult for you not to want to prove her wrong.”
Celina nearly put a hand up to her mouth. Why the hell had she said that? It just slipped out as she recalled Lucie’s cruel dismissal of her. Proving her wrong would be the ultimate way to get back at her. But what would they think of her suggesting such a thing? And where the hell had that thought come from? It wasn’t like her at all. She must be angrier at Lucie than she realized.
Arizona’s eyes widened for a second, and a huge grin slowly spread over Dallas’s face. It accentuated his five-o’clock shadow, which only served to send images of Celina rubbing her nipples across that stubble racing through her mind. She shifted her feet in an attempt to steady herself.
This visceral reaction to the two men wasn’t new, but being alone with them certainly was. She couldn’t seem to stop the erotic thoughts now, and that wasn’t a surprise. She’d been having them about these two for years.
“We would love to prove her wrong,” said Dallas, slowly, as if choosing his words. “But if you heard that much, you already know we’re not going to use someone that way. It’s not right.”
She moved closer, inhaling the combined scents of their cologne. They couldn’t leave the island, but that didn’t stop them from having things flown in or brought over by boat, including expensive cologne and clothing. They not only looked like a million bucks, they smelled like it. And now, hearing Dallas confirm that they’d never use her only spurred her on. It was as if she had no control over her body or the words about to tumble out of her mouth, but she didn’t care. She simply let it happen.
“What if the person agreed to pretend to go along with it? Lucie would never have to know, and she would lose the bet.”
Her pulse raced. Dallas nodded slowly, understanding dawning on his face, but Arizona didn’t look entirely convinced.
“It would take more than someone pretending to go along with it to fool my sister. Surely you know that. She’d demand proof of some sort. And it would take phenomenal acting skills on the part of the woman.”
Celina’s pussy grew wetter, and her clit began to throb. “What sort of proof would she demand?” Her voice came out breathy. They’d hear that. And certainly they could see her physical reaction right now. Was this real? Was she really having this conversation with the two men who had starred in her fantasies for years?
“Well, photos perhaps. Even video. She’d definitely be watching carefully. And since she knows us so well, she’d detect any hint of deceit from us.”
Dallas nodded. “And whoever helped us with this ruse would have to be on her guard 24/7 for the entire week.”
Celina smiled as every nerve ending hummed. This was really going to happen. It was too easy. There had to be a catch. A horrible thought occurred to her. What if they didn’t realize she was talking about herself? It’s not as if she’d ever flirted with them like this. What if they didn’t realize she was offering to help them prove Lucie wrong?
“What if the woman were going to be in New Orleans on Wednesday? Then she’d only have to put on a show for six days.”
Dallas laughed, but it wasn’t derisive. Instead, it conjured up images of satin sheets, candlelit rooms, and naked, sweaty bodies writhing in bed. “This woman would still have to put on one hell of a show.” Well, at least now they knew. And they still hadn’t bolted. This was too good to be true.
“And, not to be crude,” said Arizona, “but we’re only human. Sex with this woman might still happen, even if we are only trying to put on a show and convince Lucie that it did occur.”
Celina struggled to keep breathing. “I realize that.”
“Why are you offering to help us? She’s your boss.” And they were both too intelligent and too devoted to Phoebe’s Playthings to simply agree to this. Of course they’d want to understand her motivation. Both men were next in line for the CEO positions, after all. Their fathers, Asa Durante and Tim Raleigh, ran the company for now, but everyone knew Arizona and Dallas would one day take over. It made them both all the more vulnerable to women only after their names and money.
Celina stared into Arizona’s gray eyes. In this light, they almost looked silver, like moonlight. She could fall into that silver pool of light and never resurface. She wanted to do this. She had no idea why, but because it was such an impulsive decision, that only made her more determined to go through with it. Now all she had to do was convince them that she could pull it off.
“Because she threw me aside as if I meant nothing. You heard her. She believes I’ll land this job and then I’ll leave the island forever. She completely dismissed me. And what does that say about you two? She believes you’d coldly use someone you’ve known your entire lives, just to prove a point.” She’d never spoken out against Lucie like this, but once she started, she couldn’t seem to stop.
“My sister is a cold bitch. You know that. Why now? Why this?”
Celina took a deep breath. Fate certainly was a fucked-up entity. Now, after all this time, she finally had the perfect segue to tell these two her enduring fantasies. And it would mean nothing in the end.
But if they agreed, at least she’d have one week. She’d have one perfect week in paradise with the objects of her undying lust. She had to tell them. It was the only thing to say at that moment. Otherwise they’d go home and so would she, and that would be the end of her one chance.
“Because I haven’t stopped fantasizing about the two of you since I was old enough to legally do so. Because you’re the most enigmatic, handsome men I’ve ever met, and as much as I respect Lucie’s skill to negotiate and draw up a contract, she’s also a hard person to work for. And now I realize how little she actually values me.”
She licked her lips as she studied their faces. So far, so good. No signs of disgust or revulsion, and no anger. Only interest and—dare she acknowledge it—lust shone forth from their eyes. Her entire body trembled, but she finished what she had to say.
“She values hard work and talent, but she doesn’t respect people. She also doesn’t respect you two, and that surprised me. However, you both showed amazing strength of character when you turned her down. Thank you for the things you said in
her office. I’m honored that you respect me enough not to use me. You both intrigue me. You always have. And I want to help you win your bet…just to prove her wrong.”
Chapter Two
Arizona knew that Dallas felt the same way he did about Celina. Both men had always admired her from afar, but had considered her off-limits because she worked for Lucie. It wasn’t that they’d never become involved with women who worked for the company, but since so many of their family members were also department heads, they had to be careful. They wanted no accusations of favoritism to surface. It was bad for morale, and because they were so wealthy, it could lead to blackmail. Consequently, their relationships had been few, far between, and unfulfilling.
But this was different. This was something they could carry out under the radar, and it would be a huge victory to prove Lucie wrong. Rarely did anyone get the chance to do that. Still, he wanted to make sure Celina understood what she was getting into. “Are you sure about this? We’d have to make it look real not only to Lucie, but to everyone watching. Neither of us wants to hurt you. You’d have to understand this would only be a ruse. A part we’re playing.”
“I know that. You would never lead me on.”
She was so damn exotic-looking, with those golden eyes and that curly, dark hair. It never looked neat and trim, which only added to her allure. She always looked like she’d just crawled out of bed after a good, hard fucking. She had hips and curves, which Arizona found so damn attractive it made his dick hard just thinking about what she’d look like naked. He wondered now if he should tell her how often she’d invaded his fantasies as well.
This could prove to be his undoing, or the best decision he’d made in a long time. So he went with his gut. “Have dinner with us tonight. I’ll cook. I just had some fresh lobsters flown in, and I have steak as well. We can talk about this and plan our strategy.”
“I’ll bring the wine,” said Dallas. “And we’ll take you home first so you can pick up what you need to stay overnight. That way anyone watching will be able to tell Lucie the same thing. That you spent the night on the hill with us.”
Arizona glanced at his best friend, who currently looked like a dog in heat. It was easy to understand why Lucie had challenged them to do this. While he agreed with Dallas intellectually that in order for them to pull this off Celina should spend the night at one of their homes, as soon as Dallas had suggested it, hot jealousy coursed through Arizona’s body. Would he try to seduce her into his bed for the night?
This was a bad idea. They’d never fool everyone, and even if they did, Lucie was right. They’d kill each other by the end of the week.
“Okay. I’ll spend the night.”
She was the one who’d initiated this, but right now she looked apprehensive and more than a bit surprised that they’d both gone along with it. He didn’t think she was a cock tease, and he knew she wasn’t a virgin. But it did strike him that neither he nor Dallas knew much about Celina Vallee’s personal life. They might be on dangerous ground here.
But they had to present a unified front if they had any chance of making this work, so Arizona tamped down his jealousy and agreed with Dallas. “Let’s put your bike in the back of the Jeep and get going, then. We have to get our stories straight tonight, because come Monday morning, when the entire island is buzzing with gossip, my sister will grill you for details. And then she’ll lay into both of us separately. We have to be on the same page or this won’t work.”
She finally smiled. “It’s a deal. Let’s do this.”
As they loaded her bicycle in the back of the Jeep and sped off toward her modest home, Arizona couldn’t shake the feeling he’d just voluntarily walked into a snake pit. This would either be the most fun he’d ever had or the worst mistake of his life if he ended up falling for her after all this, and then losing her when she took the job in New Orleans.
* * * *
Dallas waited until Celina entered her home, then turned to face Arizona in the passenger seat of the Jeep. “This is seriously fucked up. You know that. You know what’s going to happen.”
Arizona grinned. “No, I don’t. I know what might happen, and I know what I’d like to have happen, buht neither one of us knows how far she’ll take this. I only want to see the look on Lucie’s face when we win the bet.”
“Is that why you’re doing it?”
Arizona averted his gaze. “Of course.”
“Bullshit. Look…we need to be honest with each other. This girl could get seriously hurt if we’re not careful, and we can’t be careful until we’re honest about our feelings.”
Arizona nodded slowly and then finally made eye contact again, raising his fist for a bump. It was their unspoken gesture of concurrence. “You’re right. I don’t want to hurt her. I like her. I like her too much. I always have. So yes, I’m doing it as much for that reason, too.”
“You shouldn’t have told her that sex might happen. We can’t have sex with her. She might be leaving in a few weeks.”
“If she wants to have sex, we can have sex with her. Don’t you think that should be her decision? She knows she’s probably leaving.”
Dallas closed his eyes and tried to shake away the images racing through his mind. His dick was rock hard and there was nothing he could do about that. It didn’t surprise him, either. All he’d ever had to do was think about Celina and his cock sprang to attention.
He and Arizona had topped subs together, but they’d never had sex with one at the same time. They’d talked about it enough times, but in their positions at the company they had to be careful. They’d made an agreement early on that they’d never lead a woman on. Celina appeared to be going into this with her eyes wide open, but both of them would need to be certain of that before they went forward.
“Are you listening to me?”
“Yeah.” Dallas opened his eyes and glanced at Arizona. “I am. But I still think we should leave sex out of it. It’s as much for her protection as for ours. Just dinner and talking tonight.”
Arizona looked hesitant, and Dallas resisted the urge to punch something. They couldn’t have it both ways. “Yeah, okay.”
This was fucked up, and Dallas couldn’t shake the belief that this night would end with more than dinner and talking. He also wasn’t sure how he felt about that, and that bothered him more than anything. It wasn’t like him to be conflicted, and he didn’t like it.
* * * *
Celina didn’t think. She just started grabbing things. Makeup, hair and bath stuff, and then clothes. She stuffed enough into her bag to last an entire weekend, just in case. She tried not to get her hopes up, but that was her wish. That she didn’t return home until Monday morning to get ready for work. The last things she grabbed were her birth control pills, and then she left the small lamp in the hallway on so the house wouldn’t be completely dark.
After she locked her front door, she forced herself to walk calmly toward the Jeep. She was so excited she could hardly breathe. She climbed in the back and smiled as Dallas glanced at her in the rearview mirror, and then as Arizona turned in his seat to face her. “All set?”
“I think so.”
“Well, we’re not that far away if you need to come back for something. Just let us know.”
The drive up the hillside was exhilarating. She’d never been to the top. She glanced out at the horizon and breathed in the warm, fragrant scent of a perfect summer evening. Birds and insects sang. This was going to be the most fun she’d ever had. And new job or no new job, she was going to enjoy every second of this week. She’d waited years for a chance to live out her fantasies, and she wasn’t going to ruin it by worrying about what might or might not happen.
Dallas and Arizona had homes right next to each other, separated by a large swimming pool that both backyards had access to. As they gave her a tour of the grounds, they explained that the land up here had been divided by their ancestors in such a way that even a survey company hadn’t been able to figure out exactly
where the property lines were, so the men decided to share the area in question.
“It’s a good thing you’re such great friends.”
Arizona laughed. “That’s true. If we ever decide we hate each other we’ll be in big trouble.”
She glanced around at the immaculate landscaping, and the tall brick wall that surrounded both backyards. Several homes perched higher than these two, but they’d taken every precaution to ensure complete privacy. “You could swim naked up here and no one would know.”
Arizona made a sound in the back of his throat that was more of a cough than a laugh, and Dallas groaned softly.
“I suppose that’s true, although we’ve never tried it,” said Dallas.
She narrowed her eyes. “You’re kidding.”
Arizona shook his head. “Nope. Never. We prefer to do our naked activities indoors.”
That voice…she’d never heard such a sexy tone in it before. Then again, she didn’t imagine he had much occasion to use that tone at work. Celina sighed and ran her hand lightly over the camellias and hydrangeas planted along the stone walkway. A line of magnolia trees blocked the view to the south, and to the north the brick wall obscured any would-be onlookers. To the east and west of the pool area were the homes, and open porches faced them on both sides. Unless someone was watching from the windows or porches, they wouldn’t be seen no matter what they did out here.
“I don’t know. It’s pretty secluded here. Unless your staff like to watch.”
“Are you suggesting we go skinny-dipping?” asked Arizona.
She shaded her eyes against the sun and glanced at his face. His grin sent fresh wetness to her pussy, and Celina wondered how far these two would take the ruse. “I’m up for it if you are.”
