Chapter 20 #2
“I think I’d describe you as more sweet and salty.”
His dark eyebrows lift. “You know me well enough to think that?”
I want to say I feel like I know him very well, and if he was a chocolate, he’d be a dark-chocolate caramel covered in flaky sea salt. But if I take out the dream version of him and think about the man at the bar—the one who nearly kissed me—I still think he’s sweet and salty.
“Am I wrong?” I ask instead of answering him.
He releases a breathy chuckle, one I feel ghost over my lips. “No, Princess. You’re not wrong.”
“I didn’t think so.”
He leans close to me, making me drop back against the doorframe so we don’t touch, the wood digging into my skin. Kai’s lips dip closer, and my hands hang awkwardly at my side.
“What are you doing?” My voice is a throaty whisper.
“Kissing you,” he chirps.
“Did I give you permission to touch me yet?”
He laughs again, the sound sweet and, in fact, a bit salty. “Can I kiss you, Greer?”
“Only a kiss?”
“For now.”
I should probably say no. Not because I don’t want him to kiss me, but because if he does, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop anything that happens after. We are literally standing outside my room, very close to a bed.
I part my mouth, the word “yes” forming on my lips. Kai’s eyes spark, and he waits for permission to close the remaining distance.
“Is dinner ready?”
A male voice that isn’t Kai’s has asked the question. And by the accent, I know who it is before I even look. Kai exhales an annoyed breath as he pulls away from me, the sudden retreat of his warm body causing me to shiver. I turn my gaze down the hall to see Remi walking toward us.
He looks as handsome as he did earlier, if not more so. He’s no longer wearing his cashmere sweater; instead, he wears a long-sleeved shirt like the one Kai has on with jeans. The dark-green color of it brings out the evergreen of his striking eyes.
He stops next to Kai, and I observe that he looks freshly showered, short hair damp. With the two of them standing next to each other, I feel small and overdressed. But there’s no way in hell I’m wearing my pajamas or a business suit to dinner.
“Remi,” Kai acknowledges. “Thanks for interrupting.”
Remi beams coyly. “I knew where a kiss from you would lead, and our guest is hungry. She needs a proper dinner.”
I want to interject and say I’m not, but my stomach decides to growl before I can speak, causing both men to laugh and my cheeks to flush.
“Your stomach is just as vocal as you are, love.” Remi smirks.
I purse my lips and place a hand on my hip. I’m not going to apologize for screaming his name, especially when he asked me to do so. “Then feed me.”
He holds out his elbow for me to take. “Gladly.”
I look at the offered arm and consider taking it. I’m not really one to follow traditional roles, but I’ll admit I wouldn’t mind touching him again.
Before I can make the choice, Kai moves and links his arm with his instead. I almost laugh when I see Kai’s smirking face. Like I said, sweet and salty.
“Really, Malachi?” Remi asks, though he doesn’t sound mad, more amused. “Sorry for his lack of manners, love. Apparently, he was raised in a barn.”
Kai chuckles. “My family did have a barn, so in a way, I was.”
A warm smile passes between them, and I allow myself to watch them together. I haven’t seen them interact much outside of the show they gave me last night then earlier on the couch, but Kai was told to essentially be quiet and sit on his hands. It’s interesting to see them act like a couple.
Remi reaches his other hand out to gently squeeze Kai’s arm. It doesn’t take a genius to see they love each other. It’s the way I once wished someone would look at me, as if I am someone who matters.
Whoa. Where the hell did that come from?
Kai and Remi look over at me, frowns now on their faces.
“Greer?” Remi asks. “You alright?”
My brow furrows. I didn’t think my expression made it seem like something was wrong.
I just had a sad thought, one I haven’t entertained since James broke up with me and I swore off relationships, deciding one-night stands or “friends with benefits” were it for me.
It’s a good reminder that’s all Remi and Kai are and all they’ll ever be.
“Yes, I’m fine,” I say. “Hungry.” I put a smile on my face. It’s not the kind of smile I wore while ice skating earlier, but it’s more than I offer most people.
Kai ducks his chin and pulls his arm from Remi’s, gesturing for us to follow him. “I hope you like carbonara.”
“You made it?” I ask.
He glances over his shoulder as I follow him down the hall, Remi’s large presence behind us. The hair on the back of my neck rises because he’s so near—and probably because now I know what it feels like to be touched by him.
“I did. And I promise, Princess, no fish. But I hope you eat pork, because it does have guanciale in it.”
I smirk at him. “You know what guanciale is?”
“You know what it is?” he volleys back.
“I do. It’s uncured pork cheek.”
He stops at the top of the steps. “Should have known you’d know that, Princess. What other information have you got up there?” He points to my head.
“Guess you’ll have to find out.”
He chuckles and begins down the steps. I stop before I do, my eyes drawn to the photo hanging on the wall that I saw last night, the image I felt drawn to, just like I feel drawn to it now.
I fight back my skin heating at the sight of them standing all together and the visuals that try to force their way back into my mind.
I’m going to be eating dinner with two of them, and I should show some restraint.
I’ve gotten off twice now in less than twenty-four hours—I don’t know why I’m this horny.
Remi stops, his muscular chest nearly touching my back. “That was taken many years ago.”
His rumbling voice sends tiny vibrations through me, and I wonder how many years is “many” because they look the same as they do now. As if they haven’t aged a day. “It’s a nice photo.”
“One of the few we have of the three of us.”
I look down at the bottom of the steps where Kai is looking up, hands in his pockets and patiently waiting for us.
“How long have you all been together?” I look back at the photo, my eyes pulled toward Sam and his brooding features. The man who has been the most absent of the three during my time here.
Remi places his hand on my lower back, the weight of it reminding me of how he held me while I rode his thigh. Arousal heats my core, and I’m thankful he’s not like one of those monsters in my romance novels that can smell it on me.
That funny idea reminds me I still have my book to read. Now I know what I’m doing tonight after dinner if things don’t get heated like they did earlier.
We start walking down the steps side by side as he answers my question. “A long time.”
“How long is long?”
Remi’s hand becomes heavier on my back as we descend the last step.
“Most of our adult lives,” Kai answers for him.
“And how old are you?” I glance between the two of them. They can’t be more than forty.
Kai gently bumps my shoulder. It’s the first time he’s touched me since yesterday, and even that slight bit of contact makes my nipples hard. God, I need to get a grip. My body is acting like it’s never been around attractive men before. I have been, just not men who look more godlike than human.
“An Angel Boy never tells his age.”
Remi’s hand on my back twitches. “Angel Boy?” he asks.
“My tattoo,” Kai says. “She saw it last night.”
“Ah,” Remi replies, and I don’t miss the way his shoulders ease. Why did that make him tense?
“You’re seriously not going to tell me?” I ask as we round a corner and enter the room we were in earlier. The smell of garlic and parmesan fills my nose.
“How old do you think we are, love?” Remi asks as he pulls out my chair.
I study the square planes of his face, lit from the glow of the chandelier decorated with white Christmas lights. “I don’t want to offend you.”
Both Remi and Kai chuckle.
“You won’t offend us,” Kai says. He’s standing at the head of the table, an open door behind him leading to what I assume is the kitchen. He’s smiling and rubbing his fingers over his facial hair, and I’m reminded of how sexy his hands are.
I clear my throat. “Just tell me.”
“Guess,” he says again.
I fold my arms over my chest and really look at them. “Late thirties.”
Kai’s grin turns boyish, and he pushes some hair behind his ear. He reminds me a bit of Flynn Ryder from Tangled. He has his personality, too: carefree and fun, sweet and salty. “What if I told you were a lot older than that?”
“I wouldn’t believe you.”
He raises a brow. “I guess it’s our good skincare routine. Remi knows all the tips and tricks.”
I turn to Remi as he pulls out his own chair and sits next to me.
It’s nothing fancy, but the ivory plates look like antique china, and I notice there’s also a bottle of white wine being chilled on the table.
When I study Remi’s face, I do have to admit it looks flawless. Better than mine ever will.
“Who’s your surgeon?”
Both Remi and Kai cackle, but it was a serious question. They must be doing something other than great skincare to look the way they do.
“No surgeon. But do you want to know the trick to nice skin, love?” He leans down so his mouth is closer to my ear. “Sunscreen.”
I press my lips together. “That’s your secret?”
“One of many.”
The teasing lilt to his voice tells me he’s no longer talking about age-defying skincare routines.
“Care to share with the class?”
“Depends.”
“On?”
“Will you spill yours?”
“I’m thirty, and I use a good moisturizer.”
He laughs, the warm and broad sound filling the space. It tickles my insides and makes me lean closer to him. “Sunscreen, too, I hope.”
“Always sunscreen.”
After a moment, I manage to turn my head away from Remi to see Kai watching us with a reverent smile. His knuckles are gripping the high wooden back of the chair in front of him. When our eyes meet, his grin grows wider.
“Pour the wine, Remi,” he says. “I’ll grab dinner.” With a wink toward me, he turns and heads through the open door, his broad back disappearing into the room.
When I meet Remi’s gaze again, he’s staring at me intently. I start to ask him his age once more since Kai is hellbent on making me guess, but he leans forward and stops the question with his lips.
The kiss is short and chaste, nothing like our kisses from earlier. It warms me from head to toe, and my heart beats faster in my chest like hummingbird wings.
I open my mouth to allow him access to more, but he pulls back before I can. “Wine?”
“Fuck the wine.”
His bark of laughter is loud, but he reaches for the wine anyway. “Dinner first. Then if you want me to fuck you with the wine bottle, I will.”
My eyes widen, and my mouth drops open enough that I could catch bugs. “Why do I think you’re being serious?”
He takes the bottle and shows me the label. A very expensive dry white. “Because I am. But I’d rather you fuck my cock.” His lips get close to mine again. “If that’s what you want?”
My mouth is completely dry, but I manage a nod.
“Good.” He kisses my forehead. “Now, relax. You’re in for a treat. Kai hand-makes the pasta.”