Chapter 12 - Dean
As long as he’s been over there, I know exactly what they’re doing.
Oddly, I’m not bitter.
She’s a firecracker of wit and brilliance. I’m happy that if she’s with Reece, I’ll still get the benefit of her friendship.
There’s something addictive about her. Maybe it’s her easy smile, or the throaty way she laughs?
Whatever it is, I hope she sticks around.
But I’ll admit, I didn’t expect to see them come back with all of her belongings in tow.
“Hi?” I glance over the top of my book to see Reece carrying two large bags.
“Her pipes are frozen, so she’s going to stay with us.” His ridiculous grin spells out the truth.
“Ah. Of course. Is she sleeping in your room?” Okay, perhaps there’s just a bit of grit in my words.
“Ye—”
“I’m fine with the couch,” Stacy chimes in from behind him.
Reece’s eyes widen. “Are you sure?”
For some reason, her blue gaze lands on me. “I am,” she says firmly.
Well, that is interesting.
Poor Reece suddenly looks like a drowned rat.
“Let me make us a drink to celebrate our new…roommate.” And to ease the tension in the air.
“That sounds lovely, thank you.” Stacy sets her luggage down and begins to unfasten her coat.
Reece moves towards the living room, setting down her duffel near the leather chairs.
I don’t agree with this. Her personal items shouldn’t be strewn about in public. “Reece, she can have my room. I’ll take the couch.”
“Huh?” He blinks at me, frozen in mid-movement.
Stacy’s brow furrows. “Oh, you don’t have—”
But I hold up my palm. “A woman should have the option for privacy. I’ve got nothing to hide.” I give her a tilted smile. “It’s fine. Take my room. The bed was entirely too stiff for me anyway.”
Reece’s forehead crinkles, yet picks up his load and soundlessly carries it towards my suite.
“Dean, you really don’t have to.” Her lower lip rolls between her teeth.
“He snores. Dreadfully. I promise you’ll get much better sleep that way.” I give her a small wink, then help her with her jacket.
She stops me with a palm on my wrist. “Thank you,” she whispers.
Then she raises onto her tiptoes, and presses her warm lips against my cheek. “I know you’re not a couple.”
There’s that mischievous glint again.
Hmm. Maybe my chance hasn’t quite passed?
My hand snakes out to wrap her waist. “Are you a naughty girl?” I breathe. “Or taunting me?”
Flicking my gaze between her azure irises, I see the flare of her pupils as she focuses on my mouth.
“I don’t know,” she exhales. “Both?”
With a groan, I release her before Reece comes back into the room.
She has a hint of wicked.
I like it.
Once her things are settled into my, er, her room, I pull down the chopping block to begin dinner.
This time, she doesn’t ask. She simply ties up her hair and moves next to me, taking over washing the vegetables as I pull them from the porch.
It doesn’t take long before everyone falls into an easy rhythm, the awkwardness of earlier forgotten.
When the veggies are all simmering in the pot, she stands in the kitchen with her hands on her hips, staring at the large decorative copper basins above the cabinets.
“Can I ask a favor of one of you tall, handsome men?” Her mouth tugs up into a playful smile.
“I really, really would love a hot bath. Is there any way to get those down?” Pointing towards the vaulted ceiling, she waves her hand over her head.
“I’m vertically challenged,” she laughs.
“I have a step stool at home for this very reason.”
Reece stands, puffing his chest. “You need a tall handsome man at home.” He reaches, but falls short of grabbing the handle.
With a muted grumble, I move behind him. “Hop up there, I’ll make sure you don’t fall.” The way the cupboards are arranged, they match the edge of the counters in most of the areas where the pots are stashed.
He balances precariously on his toes while I hold him by the back of his thighs so he can lower the canisters.
“Looks like I’d need two men at home,” she giggles as she takes the first piece from him.
Why does that make my cock twitch against my khakis?
I’ve never been one to share.
Except, it’s Reece.
The only person in the world I know honestly cares for me.
“You think you’d handle two of us?” His cocky tone echoes from above as he shifts sideways.
“Oh, I don’t know. It’s fun to try new things.” Her hand rests on my lower back, startling me.
Reece glances down to see us both looking up at him.
But all I can focus on is the heat of her palm.
She’s goading me. Will I let her?
Out of respect for my best friend, I’m not sure if I should.
After he hands down the last one, I back up so he can hop down.
“Thank you, both.” Her beaming smile is a reward in itself.
The food finishes cooking before her water reaches a boil, and we all find ourselves slipping into the same easy banter that we had yesterday.
She makes us both so comfortable, curled up in her chair, sipping a hot toddy.
Before I realize it, she has us sharing stories about our childhood, our parents, and the trouble we got into as teens.
I’m still careful to steer the conversation away from what we do now.
It’s too enjoyable talking as peers. If she knew how much money was sitting here with her, it might change how she acts.
“I love the fact you’ve been friends your whole lives. I met Amy when I was in college. She’s off on her own magical weekend trip. I think she’s going to get engaged. Have either of you been married before?” Her blue eyes focus first on Reece, then on me.
He groans. “Yea, for about three years. I guess you could say it was a lifestyle change. We just drifted apart after her third DUI.”
“Oh my gosh. I can see how that would be hard to work around.” Her fingers cover her mouth. “Where is she now?”
“She remarried. Has two kids. I think?” He shakes his head. “She didn’t want any with me, so I suppose it wasn’t the right time.”
Pink tinges her cheeks. “That’s awful. I bet you’d make a great father.”
I catch him shifting in his chair to adjust himself.
“I want a ton of kids,” he says pointedly.
Am I missing something?
“What about you?” Her crystal blue gaze turns to me, burning through the walls I’ve carefully erected.
“My ex ran off with an actor.” I shrug. “Last I heard, she still didn’t want any children.”
“Do you, though?” Again, she bores into me like she’s reading the truth etched into my soul.
My throat tightens involuntarily, causing me to simply nod.
The very corner of her mouth rises. “I bet you’d be the stern daddy who secretly buys them all the best toys.”
Daddy.
I want her to say it again.
My jaw tics in silence.
When she looks away, the room seems to cool several degrees.
“I think my water’s ready.” She pushes the blanket from her knees, then her hand drifts over my shoulder, sending a tingle of electricity through me as she moves past.
Disappearing into the bathroom, I can hear her messing with the tub.
Reece pops up. “We each get two.” He points to the full pots next to the stove.
How has she trained us this quickly?
I can’t sleep on this damn thing. Not knowing she’s in my bed only a few feet away.
It was a surprise to Reece and I when she opted to go in there.
He seemed so sure that she’d crawl in with him.
Is she playing some sort of game with us?
Although there’s a small part of me that is secretly ecstatic that she didn’t go in with him.
That means they aren’t a sealed deal.
Pouring myself a brandy, I sit and watch the flames flicker in the dark room.
Life is so different here than in the city. The pace is slow, coiling only around food and conversation.
I could see this on a beach somewhere, idly sitting in a lounge chair, watching the waves. Stacy between us as we chat away the hours.
She makes me feel seen. Not for the power and the money, but for who I am and what I really want.
It’s been ages since Reece and I have been able to talk freely about our youth.
I miss it. The wild times, the freedom.
Being able to pursue my dreams.
Now I’m bogged down by the responsibility of what I thought they were.
When the reality is, this is what I want.
A noise behind me startles me.
“Can I join you?” Her quiet voice sends a shiver of heat through me.
“Of course.” I gesture to her chair.
But she folds up next to me, brushing her knee against mine.
“Do you want your bed back?” she asks in a hushed tone.
My tongue runs over my teeth as I shake my head. “I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t mean it.”
The silence between us is punctuated by Reece’s snores from the back room.
“Want a drink?” I offer her my glass.
She takes it, sipping slowly. “You weren’t lying about the noise.” When she lowers the cup, she rests it on my thigh.
Her tongue drags over her lower lip leaving a glistening line of firelight reflection.
“You know you crushed him a little today.” I’ll always be loyal to him first.
Her soft exhale pours over my arm. “I didn’t want him getting the wrong idea.”
That makes me shift to face her, propping my elbow on the back, my leg presses hers. “What exactly is your end game here? If you’re trying to pit us against each other—”
Her wavy hair shakes and her nose wrinkles.
“Never. My honest goal?” She blinks up at me, then raises her glass for another swallow.
“I’ve always been the wallflower, watching from the sidelines.
But this?” Her finger moves between us, then in a broader arc towards Reece.
“This is something that never happens to me, like a fairy tale. I just want to lose myself for a few days, and at the end of Christmas we all go our separate ways.”
I barely resist brushing her auburn lock behind her ear. Instead, I tighten the grip on the backrest until the leather creaks. “Why? What if we want to see you again?”
Her lower lip pinches between her teeth in a starburst of white and pink. “I’m a nobody,” she whispers. “Boring. Right now? You make me feel special. I just want to take that with me.”
There’s a pinch in my chest.
How can she not see what I do?
“Surely Reece would make you feel that way?” I know him well enough that he wears his heart on his sleeve.
He’s not the type to just run off with any woman.
Raising off the couch, she moves to stand in front of me. “Reece is kind…gentle...attentive. But I have a feeling that you’re different, in a good way.”
I look up at her, digging my nails into my palm as her loose sweater slips to reveal a bare shoulder. “How would I be different?”
Her knees bend until she’s sitting on my thigh, the heat of her pussy burning into my skin.
Then she reaches out and starts to unbutton my shirt. “I think you’d grip me so tightly, that it would feel like you own me.”
She leans closer to slip another button free. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
“I can’t,” I growl, losing control of myself. “You are mine.”
But I grip her wrist, stilling her movements. “Except I don’t share.”
We’re locked in a test of will as we stare in each other’s eyes.
When she shifts to straddle me, I know I’ve lost.
My granite cock wedges between us, betraying me.
“I don’t want to hurt either of you,” she whispers. “You’re both perfect in your own ways. Don’t you see? I could never choose and I know it could never last. That’s why it’s just for Christmas. I’m yours, and his.”
It would break him to steal her away.
I’d rather share than ruin our friendship.
Yet her concession steels me. Reaching up, I knot my fingers in her hair, exposing her throat and arching her chest against mine. “So you want to be our holiday whore?”
A tiny gasp precedes her smile. “Yes.”