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“We’ve got you, baby. All three of us,” he said.
I came, trembling, half-ashamed of my fantasy, my depraved desire for all three men. Then, before I could delve into how wrong it was, I fell asleep. I slept eight hours, deep and calm, the best sleep I’d had in weeks.
11
DARREN
I ran into Julie when I was going down the hall to the stairs. She stepped out of her room suddenly and I nearly knocked her down. I caught her by the waist to steady her so she didn’t fall. The contact of her body against mine rocked me, hit me like a ton of bricks. She was more than just pretty and smart and sexy. She sent an electric current through me. It nearly undid me how Julie felt up against me for that brief moment. As I let go of her, she blushed furiously. I wanted to gather her into my arms and guide her back into my bedroom so we could spend the day in bed together. The connection was that powerful.
Instead, I cleared my throat. “Good morning,” I said affably, trying to seem relaxed.
She couldn’t look at me. Was she embarrassed?
“You okay? I about knocked you over,” I said.
“I’m fine,” she mumbled, but still gave the strong impression that she was mortified about something. When she didn’t say anything further, I asked if she was heading down to breakfast.
“Yeah, I am. I have to head back to the city right after that.”
“It’s not even Labor Day yet,” I protested.
“I had to pull some double shifts to get Friday night, Saturday and Sunday off. I agreed to take Labor Day, early shift. I still had a great weekend. It was nice to get away.”
“We’ll miss you at the bonfire. We always blast music and people dance, make s’mores.”
“Wait, s’mores?” she said as we walked downstairs together. “Nobody said anything about s’mores. I should call in sick to work!” she giggled.
“What if someone burns their mouth on a marshmallow and needs a nurse?” I teased.
“I wish I could stay,” she admitted, “but I can’t. You’ve all been so nice to me. It’s been an unforgettable trip. Thank you.”
“It’s been good to have you here,” I told her.
“It was good to be here,” Julie said.
As we reached the bottom of the stairs, her arm brushed mine. I glanced at her, saw that her cheeks went pink again. My chest tightened in response. This woman did something to me that few women ever had. She gave me a shy smile.
That didn’t matter. She was my sister’s lifelong best friend. It wasn’t appropriate to think of her that way. I had to shake it off.
She strolled off to load her plate. I stood stock still for an instant, dumbstruck by the sweetness and sensuality of her smile. The affection I felt for her was beginning to grow right alongside that attraction.
Over breakfast, I sat back and watched her. She joined right in, laughing and talking with everyone. Julie was so beautiful. She didn’t just look like any other gorgeous girl. She looked like a hundred percent trouble to me.
After we’d eaten, Julie grabbed her bag and said her goodbyes. Kendall walked her out. I sat out on the patio. After a minute, my brothers came out and sat down with their coffee.
“Julie sure has grown up,” Jeremy said.
I nodded, but Rory suddenly found his coffee mug fascinating. He looked sheepish, almost bashful. My eyes narrowed.
“What?” Jeremy asked, catching on to the same unusual expression on our baby brother’s face.
Rory cleared his throat, “I kissed her last night.”
I couldn’t help but feel gut-punched by that. Jeremy groaned in response.
“What the hell, man? What happened to cold showers and keeping our distance?”
He shrugged. “I felt it and went with it in the moment. Sorry, guys,” he said, looking not the least bit sorry.
I had been so convinced there was a real spark between Julie and me, one we both had to fight against. And yet, Rory hadn’t been fighting it. Maybe I had imagined the sizzle I felt when our arms brushed or the way her cheeks turned pink at the slightest touch. Nah. I knew what I felt. I was there. It was real. Regardless, I had to set that aside. It didn’t bear thinking about or getting jealous and angry. Not when there was nothing between Julie and me. At least not yet.
12
JEREMY
Finishing up with briefing two of my paralegals on the status of an upcoming case I was prosecuting, I dismissed them with their assignments. I had barely had a moment to close that file on my laptop before my assistant buzzed the office.
“Yes?” I asked. She had to know I’d just gotten out of a meeting twenty seconds before.
“There’s a distraught young woman on the phone for you. When she called earlier I put her through to voicemail. She’s now called back, and insists she knows you. I wouldn’t ordinarily put much faith in that, but she said she was at the barbecue at your parents’ place in the Hamptons. Do you have time to speak to her?”
