by Carmen Green
“You tell her, Renée,” Alex said.
“Okay, but Chris won’t like me telling you, although I think he’ll actually be relieved, since he wouldn’t know how to tell you himself. He had a hard time telling me, and I’m sure Hunter had a hard time telling Alex.”
Danielle felt like pulling her hair out. “Tell me what?”
“Just what Chris found at Marc’s apartment and why he thinks there’s another woman, a fourth woman.”
Danielle’s throat tightened again. “What did he find?”
Renée hesitated a moment before continuing. “The apartment was spacious and it had four bedrooms. A bedroom for each of us.”
Danielle felt her skin crawl and tried to subdue the feeling. “What do you mean?”
“What she means is this,” Alex said, taking up the story. “We each had our own room and they were furnished with each of us in mind. Decorated in our favorite colors and on the dressers were our favorite perfume, bath oil and even a listing of our favorite foods and hobbies. In the closets were items of our clothing he had obviously collected along the way. And in the bathroom were bathrobes with each of our names embroidered on them. Each room, according to what Chris told Hunter, was a shrine to each of us.”
Danielle didn’t say anything, mainly because she didn’t know what to say. To be quite honest, she doubted she could find her voice to speak, considering how taken aback she felt by what Alex and Renée had just shared. She couldn’t help but wonder how a man could marry three women, three different types of women, and then establish rooms under one roof for all of them. What kind of mentality would do such a thing? A question suddenly formed in her mind.
“What about the fourth room? The one belonging to the other woman?” she heard herself asking.
“It wasn’t complete. There were several things missing in hers that we had in ours,” Renée said. “That’s why Chris thinks he hadn’t married her yet. Your room, Danielle, according to Chris, was more furnished than mine, and mine had more stuff in it than Alex’s. It seemed he was still collecting items for the fourth woman. No items of clothing, no personal effects. He had collected a few menus from restaurants the two of them must have gone to together, but Chris won’t tell me what those places are or where they are.”
Danielle heard what Renée was saying. And she knew that now, more so than ever, she needed to find the woman to make sure she wasn’t wondering why Marc hadn’t yet come back to her.
Danielle inhaled deeply. “Okay. I hope Chris shares more with me and Tristan when we meet with him in a few days.”
“We’re looking forward to your visit,” Renée said in an excited voice. “And no matter what we’ve shared with you, Danielle, you have to get beyond it like we’ve gotten beyond it. You have to believe there is life beyond Marc.”
“I do.” She felt the need to say it, although she knew that she hadn’t made an effort to pursue that life.
“Then act like it. We can understand you wanting to bring closure to everything, but we don’t want you to get so obsessed that you forget something important.”
“What?”
“Marc is dead. He can’t hurt us anymore. But you, Alex and I, as well as Mystery Woman Number Four, are alive. And it’s time for you, Danielle, to start living.”
* * *
It’s time for you to start living….
With a deep inhalation of breath she forced down the anxiety she felt. Alex and Renée were right. She needed to start living, but knew she wouldn’t be able to until she brought closure to her life with Marc. She wished there was another way, but she knew there wasn’t.
She moved away from the window where she’d been standing since ending her phone call with Alex and Renée ten minutes ago. A part of her wanted to lie down and rest, but she couldn’t do that, either.
She wanted to talk to Tristan.
But how could she when she couldn’t let him know she had spoken with Alex and Renée? He would see that as letting this thing with Marc intrude on time when she should be relaxing. He would be upset.
Still, she wanted to see him. He was her best friend and even if she couldn’t let him know that something was bothering her, just being around him would calm her troubled mind.
Leaving her bedroom, she crossed the sitting room and saw his bedroom door was slightly ajar. She was about to knock when she noticed him stretched across the bed, asleep. That was when she remembered they had both left the pool area with the intention of returning to their rooms for a nap.
She started to turn around and then decided that since she felt the need to be close to him, she would lie down beside him. If he were to wake up and find her there, he would know something was bothering her but wouldn’t ask any questions. He would wait for her to tell him.
The same thing had happened one night after Paul had died. She had spent the night at Tristan’s place and had had a bad dream about Paul’s death. In her nightmare she’d seen the helicopter crash that had taken him from her.
She had awakened in tears and had somehow made it to Tristan’s room. He had been sound asleep and she had eased into bed beside him. He had eventually awakened and found her there. Instead of asking why she’d gotten into his bed, he had held her for the rest of the night.
The next morning she’d told him what had sent her scurrying to his room, and he’d told her then that he would always be there if she needed him. Well, she needed him now.
Slipping off her sandals, she slid into bed next to Tristan and suddenly felt a moment of peace and calm. Satisfied that he was near, she closed her eyes, and moments later she felt herself drifting off to sleep.
* * *
Something woke Tristan and he immediately knew what it was. Danielle’s scent. She had been using the same perfume for as long as he could remember, and now it was reaching out to him, teasing his nostrils.
He shifted in bed and his leg touched something. It was someone else’s leg. A smooth, feminine leg. A long leg. A very shapely leg. He opened his eyes and saw Dani sleeping beside him. He sucked in his breath. The very fact that she was here in bed with him made his entire body ache, but he willed his body to calm down and relax while wondering what had driven her out of her bedroom into his.
He decided not to wake her up to find out. This wasn’t the first time she’d sought out his bed when something had disturbed her sleep. He liked the fact that she knew she could come to him when things in her life weren’t going the way they should.
He gave a mental shrug, wondering exactly what that did for him. Well, for one thing, it made him feel needed, because she knew that he would always be there for her. It would always be that way between them, although deep down a part of him wanted more.
Her body shifted and as he continued to watch, she opened her eyes and looked up into his. He felt his gut tighten when she moistened her lips.
“I guess you’re wondering what I’m doing in here,” she said softly.
Her words, Danielle noted, had been met with silence. The other thing she noticed was the intensity of Tristan’s gaze. She felt her heartbeat speed up and wondered for a moment why that was. What was making her suddenly feel that she was the object of his desire? And why was her body responding to that very thought?
She frowned, finding such a thought confusing, as well as downright ridiculous. Alex and Renée’s false assumptions were getting to her, messing with her mind at a time when she needed to keep things together.
“So since you’re the one who brought it up, do you want to tell me why you’re in my bed?”
She briefly looked away, mainly because his dark eyes were unwavering and caused parts of her body to stir in a way they hadn’t stirred before. She reflected on that for a moment and then shrugged, thinking she was misinterpreting things.
This was Tristan. The man who had always been a part of her life. The man who had been her brother’s best friend. The man who was her best friend now. The last thing she wanted was to become some hopeless case. She
’d be damned if she’d let her need for more in her life, her hunger for the same kind of love, affection and attention Alex and Renée were receiving, cause her to ruin her and Tristan’s very special friendship.
“Dani?”
Determined not to let a sudden case of deprived hormones wreck what they shared, she forced a smile. “Would you believe I had a bad dream?”
He smiled. “I’ll believe whatever you tell me. But remember, I can catch you in a lie even on my bad days.”
Yes, he could. Although she didn’t want to admit the truth to him, she knew she had to. She couldn’t hold inside the emotions tearing at her. So she pulled herself up in bed and looked over at him. It took all her willpower not to study the wide expanse of his chest somewhat exposed by the tight muscle shirt he’d changed into when he’d returned to his room. And she’d thought his abs had looked fine in the T-shirt he’d worn at the pool.
She gave herself a mental shake and brought her attention back to the matter at hand. She had told him that she would enjoy this time away and not think about Marc and what he had done. But she had thought of those things. Tristan wasn’t going to like it. Clearing her throat, she began. “I talked to Alex and Renée.”
His eyes didn’t blink when he asked, “When?”
“Um, about an hour or so ago.”
“And what they said made you come and climb into bed with me?”
She broke eye contact with him. “Yes. What they said bothered me.”
He didn’t say anything for a few seconds. Then he spoke in a calm voice. “I thought you were not going to let Marc stop you from having a good time.”
She met his gaze. “Oh, Tristan, honestly I tried. But I won’t be able to move on until there’s closure.” She paused and then said, “They told me about Marc’s apartment and what Chris found.”
When he didn’t appear the least interested in knowing what Chris had found, she could make only one assumption. “You knew, didn’t you?” she asked in a soft yet accusing voice. “Chris told you.”
“Yes, he told me.”
Danielle frowned. “That’s just great!” she said sarcastically. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
He pulled himself up in bed, as well. “I told you all you needed to know for the time being. You would have learned about the rest when we met with Chris next week. By then you would have enjoyed a few days without worrying about anything. That’s what I wanted for you, Dani.”
He sounded so impassioned and sincere about it that she really couldn’t get mad at him. And she knew that he was and always would be that way when dealing with her. Protective. He was the one male she knew she could count on and totally trust. He had come through for her so many times.
“I know that’s what you wanted,” she heard herself say. “I guess a part of me wanted that, too. I desperately need time to reconstruct my self-esteem. But then another part, the one that can’t fully move forward, knows that as long as there are loose ends out there, I can’t do that. And there is a loose end out there, Tris.”
As they stared at each other, he fully understood the extent of her determination, the pain driving her motivation and the degree of her fortitude to fix Marc’s wrongs.
“Okay,” he finally said. “What do you need me to do, Dani? How can I lessen the load?”
For a heartbeat she considered telling him that what he could really do for her was take the edge off. Lately they’d been spending a lot of time together, and just now being around him—friend or not—was reminding her of the way things could be between a man and woman. She recalled the playfulness in Alex’s voice that morning last week when Hunter had been vying for his wife’s attention, and the breathlessness she’d heard in Renée’s voice when she’d answered the phone that morning. It hadn’t taken much for Danielle to guess that she’d probably interrupted Renée and Chris’s private time together.
Lovemaking was something she hadn’t indulged in for quite a while. There could be a lot said for lack of companionship or not having a lover. She had begun getting accustomed to Marc not being around and had almost made up her mind to purchase one of those mechanical toys. But she had talked herself out of doing so, thinking she wasn’t that hard up for a man. Now she had to admit that it was a possibility, since lately she couldn’t discount her intense attraction to Tristan. He was a good-looking man, and being attracted to him could mean only one thing. She was in desperate need of a sexual fix. Was that something one friend could ask of another?
Her heart began thumping erratically in her chest. Tristan was her friend, her very best friend, and he’d always been there for her to give her whatever she needed. Would he agree to cross the line if what she needed was something of a sexual nature?
“Dani? What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours? Tell me. Is there anything I can do?”
Sighing deeply, she shook her head. Then something within her pushed her to come clean. “You’ve really done enough. But since you asked, there is this one little thing.”
“All right. What is it?”
She braced herself for what his reaction would be and said, “I’m in desperate need of a lover. Would you be it?”
CHAPTER 4
Tristan took a deep breath as he struggled to retain his composure. Did she really mean what she was asking for? He knew she was not a child. She was a woman with needs, needs she could define, and it seemed she had clearly identified hers.
He studied her face and saw the embarrassing tint she couldn’t hide. He knew it had probably taken a lot to ask something like that of him. He realized, too, just how difficult things must be for her. He knew horniness was no joke, since he’d been afflicted by it a few times. He’d always figured Dani was a sensual and passionate woman, and the last thing she’d needed had been a man who hadn’t delivered, like the asshole she’d married.
Believing that the best relationships started with friendship, he kept his voice steady when he said, “Um, what’s your definition of ‘lover’?” He needed to make sure they were on the same page and wanted the same thing.
She didn’t say anything for a few moments and then she spoke in a voice that sounded raspy. “A lover is someone you sleep with.”
“You just slept with me. Would that make us lovers?”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Tristan, you know what I mean, so stop playing around and—”
She suddenly found herself tumbled on her back. He loomed over her. “Trust me, Dani, I’m not playing around.”
And then he captured her mouth with his. On her startled gasp he curled his tongue around hers and took total control of her mouth as he moved forward into a heated kiss. Immediately passion flared as their tongues dueled not for possession but in desperation to appease the hunger both of them felt. It was an expression of need, want and desire all wrapped up in one, and something he thought had taken too long to come. She looped her arms around his neck and he was well aware that this was what he dreamed about every night, what he thought about most of his days. A willing Danielle in his arms, not as his friend, but as his lover.
He knew he had to pull back or he’d have her naked in a heartbeat. On a ragged groan he pulled his mouth from hers and watched how she swiped a tongue over her lips as if she missed the taste of him already.
“You said that you were desperately in need of a lover,” he said, trying to get his breathing under control. “I hope that kiss proves you’re not the only one. It’s been quite a while for me and—”
“Why?” she interrupted him by asking. “Why has it been a while? Why haven’t you been seeing anyone?”
Tristan knew that her question was the perfect opening to confess that he hadn’t been seeing anyone because he had fallen in love with her and didn’t want anyone else. A part of him felt that maybe he should be upfront with her and tell her how he felt now. But another part of him wasn’t sure she was ready for anything as deep as that sort of confession. The last thing he wanted to do was make thing
s awkward between them, do something to make her draw away. Right now her concentration was mainly on satisfying her physical needs. The reason she had come to him was she knew he would do anything and everything for her. She had no idea of the emotion that drove him to do so now.
Deciding to answer her question, he said, “I’ve been too busy to date anyone, Dani. You of all people should know that. Besides, too many women have marriage on their minds. They want a ring before the relationship even gets going good. I’m not ready to settle down.” He was lying, saying what sounded good coming from a bachelor, even though he would marry her in a heartbeat if the opportunity presented itself. He knew he had her convinced when she nodded as if what he’d said made sense.
“Like I was saying before you interrupted,” he continued, “sex for me is something that’s out of sight, out of mind. I have a very strong sexual appetite and I’m afraid that if I get it back into my system I’ll want it all the time. Could you handle that, Dani? Could you handle me wanting to make love to you all the time?”
He saw how her eyes darkened. He saw how she nervously swiped her bottom lip with her tongue. His gut tightened seeing it. Then she said softly but with strong conviction, “Yes, I could handle it.”
He studied her for a moment, felt his body begin to throb. He knew she could handle it, as well, since she’d done a damn good job on that kiss a few moments ago. Besides, she was the only woman who could handle him, because she was the only one he wanted.
“We’ve been friends for a long time, Dani, and over the last five years we’ve become the best of friends. Becoming intimate might be awkward for us at first, so I suggest we not rush into anything and just let nature take its course. Just let it happen.”
“When?”
He smiled at the anxiousness he heard in her voice. “We’ll both know when the time is right.”
From the look on her face he wasn’t sure she was fully buying what he said, but he knew that she wouldn’t push the issue. “Now, I think we should get dressed for dinner, don’t you?” he asked.
