by Dana Delamar
I rubbed at my temple as a headache began to brew.
Carter leaned in close and whispered, “Want to get out of here? I’d like to talk with you for a bit, if you don’t mind.”
“Okay.” If he was to spend the next twelve days with us, we needed to clear the air. Good thing Riley and I had been fairly discreet. I caught Kenji watching us, a serious expression on his face. A warning?
“There’s a little park across the street,” Carter said, pointing it out. “Let’s talk there.”
I waved to the group. “Dinner’s at the hotel restaurant tonight. See you all at seven?”
Side by side, Carter and I crossed the street and took a path that meandered around a small lake where a raft of ducks bobbed on the water.
“It’s beautiful here.” Carter knelt and took a short video with his phone of some ducks diving for food, their round butts sticking up in the air. “The kids will get a kick out of this.”
A sigh bubbled up in my chest. How had a special-ed teacher, someone as good and down to earth as Carter, gotten mixed up with someone like Riley? Guilt stabbed at my gut. I’d gotten involved with Riley too. To my credit I hadn’t known he’d been posing as Carter Templeton, college professor-cum-romance writer.
“I imagine you want to tell me to keep my hands off Ri—” I cut myself off and glanced around to make sure no one was in earshot before continuing. “—Riley. But don’t worry. It’s over. I had no idea he had a boyfriend.”
Carter rose and walked back to me. “I wasn’t going to say that.”
I frowned. “He did tell you…” Lamely, I batted my hand around.
“Yes. I knew he was interested in someone on the tour.”
“And that didn’t bother you?” My voice rose. I’d have been livid in his place.
Carter shrugged. “We were on a break.”
“His idea or yours?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“His.” He shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans, which made his shoulders roll forward. I watched the muscles ripple and desire dried my mouth.
Then I remembered the previous evening, and my anger returned. This time it was directed at the man standing in front of me. I glared at Carter. “You certainly took advantage of it.”
A corner of his lips curled up. “How could I resist when I saw the most gorgeous woman in all of England, sitting by her lonesome in a bar?”
I didn’t know whether to laugh at his flirting or to be even more put off by it. “I don’t get you two. Are you in a relationship or not?”
“We are.” Carter hooked his thumbs in the pockets and let his long fingers dangle over his hips. It had the effect of showcasing the nice bulge in his jeans. Did he even know the effect he had on people? On me?
I threw my hands up in frustration. “Then why the heck did both of you…”—I skipped over the embarrassing words by rounding my eyes—“with me? Am I a pawn in some sick game you two are playing?”
“No.” He stepped closer and cupped my shoulders in his big hands.
I shrugged out of his hold. “What then?”
His jaw ticked as his gaze scanned the park. He nodded to the left. “There’s a bench over there. Let’s sit down.”
Silently, I followed him the short distance to the wooden bench that overlooked the lake. The blue sky, the clear water, the quacking of the ducks, the entire serenity of the scene was in direct contrast to the overwhelming chaos now ruling my mind. I needed answers and I needed them now.
“So explain it to me,” I said as soon as my rear made contact with the wood.
Carter sat beside me and stretched out his muscular legs. He had to be at least two or three inches taller than Riley. “Riley and I have been seeing each other for about three and a half months now. It’s been casual. At Riley’s insistence.” He swallowed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “We’re both bisexual, and every now and then, we like to add a third, a woman, to our… into the mix.”
“You have threesomes.” It made sense now. Riley’s constant talk about threesomes, his game of pretending Hamish was a part of our escapade at Nether Largie. “I’m so stupid.”
Carter’s piercing gaze landed on me, his brow knotted. “Why?”
“He brought it up almost every time we talked. And it’s all there in his books, isn’t it? He and Amber often invited a third to their bed.”
“But you didn’t know he was Riley Kendrick.”
“No,” I conceded through gritted teeth. But the idea had turned me on each time we’d discussed the possibility.
And that’s why you flirted with Carter at the club. Admit it.
Fine. I’d admit it. I’d been scoping Carter out, thinking Riley might like him. I steeled my spine. I needed to know where I stood. After all, this was just a vacation fling. If either Riley or Carter had other ideas… “Have any of these women become part of your relationship?”
Carter stared at the gravel under his shoes and bent to pick up a stone. “No, never. They were all one-night stands, and they knew that from the get-go.”
“So.” My tone was snippy, and I didn’t want it to be. I took a deep breath. “Is that what I’m to be? A one-night stand.” I laughed bitterly. The ending of my affair with Riley had been so abrupt. Too abrupt. I’d really hoped it would last until the end of the trip, but everything had changed with Carter’s arrival. “I guess it doesn’t matter. One night, two if I was lucky, was all I’d really expected from Carter… uh, I mean Riley.” I rubbed my aching head at the temple. “God, this name thing is confusing.”
Carter tossed the stone from one hand to the other. “What do you mean you expected only one night? You don’t seem the type.”
I closed my eyes. “Do I really need to spell it out? I’m almost a decade older than him. He’s young, fit, sexy as heck. He can have anyone he wants. And that was before I knew who he really was.” I let out a sigh and fixed my gaze on the calming water. “He was lonely, and I was interested. We had some fun together. That’s all it was.”
He sat up and raised a knee onto the bench so he was facing me. “I don’t buy it.”
“I was never more to him than one of those other women. And that’s how I wanted it to be.”
Placing his elbow on the top of the bench, he leaned closer to me. “From what Riley’s told me, you two have been sleeping together since the Highland games. That makes you more than a one-night stand.”
I barked out a laugh. “So I’m somehow special?”
He touched my arm and brought his mouth next to my ear. I shivered as his hot breath hit my skin. He whispered, “I think you might be. You’re already special to me.”
This time my laughter was genuine. I tossed my head back and let loose. Let all the tension drain from me as my belly shook. “You are so full of sh—crap.”
He grinned. “Maybe. But I’m actually serious. You make Riley happy, and that makes me happy.”
Once again, he leaned into me and brushed his lips against my neck. When his tongue flicked out to toy with my lobe, I shivered. He drew back and smiled. “You think maybe we can make you happy?”
“Until the end of the tour?” I asked. Because no matter what did or didn’t happen, in twelve days, I was flying back to Miami, back to Emma, back to reality.
Carter took my hand and squeezed my fingers gently. “Our very own high-end vacation fling.”
“In that case…” I shot him a sassy grin. “I dare you to try.”
“You play hard, woman,” he growled.
I dropped my gaze down to the sizable bulge in his jeans and slowly licked my bottom lip, channeling Arianna. “I hope you do too.”
He brought my hand to his crotch and pressed it against his impressive erection. “You can bet on it.”
RILEY
What was keeping Carter? I glanced toward the bathroom door. Was he having second thoughts?
I checked my watch again, then rolled up my sleeves and loosened my tie. Paige was supposed
to be here soon.
Crossing the hotel room, I peeked in and spotted Carter looking at himself in the mirror over the sink. He was fidgeting with his hair, raking his wet hands through it, something I had often seen him do when he was nervous.
My chest ached for him. At the group dinner in the hotel restaurant, Carter and I had invited Paige up to our hotel room for a nightcap. At least that’s what we’d said in public, but we’d really asked her up to talk and see where things might go from there.
Carter wanted this, didn’t he?
I eased up behind him and smoothed my hands over his broad shoulders before meeting his gaze in the mirror. I massaged his tight muscles and grinned when he moaned. “Relax,” I murmured. “Everything is going to be all right.”
Carter dropped his head back on my shoulder. “What the fuck am I doing?”
“Only what you want to,” I answered. The last thing I wanted was to force Carter into something he wasn’t comfortable with.
“It would’ve been so easy, you know.” Carter opened his eyes and met my gaze in the mirror.” I could’ve turned her away at the park, made it clear that you’re mine.”
I kissed his neck. “I am yours. This isn’t about that. It’s about us.”
He snorted. “I eased the path for you. Like a dumb schmuck. Like some fucking matchmaker.”
“Hey, what’s going on?” I tightened my hold on Carter’s shoulders and spun him around. “Talk to me.”
“God, where should I start?” He shook his head. “What if this vacation fling with Paige doesn’t work out?”
“Then it doesn’t work out.” My tone was matter-of-fact, though inside I felt anything but. I didn’t know how I’d react if things fell apart with Paige, and that terrified me. But not more than not trying. “What about you, Carter? How would you feel?”
“I don’t know. As soon as I saw her, I knew she was someone I could be friends with. She’s easy to talk to, seems dependable enough, and most importantly, she’s down to earth. She has a nice job as a tour guide, but it’s a job. Not a career. She’s not power-hungry like Livia.” He glanced at me. “She even seemed impressed that I’m a teacher.”
I took a moment to unravel everything Carter had just said. Should I tell him that Paige wasn’t a tour guide, that she was the marketing director at Total Indulgence? He wouldn’t be too happy with that. But he’d be jumping to the wrong conclusions about her; Paige was nothing like his career-driven ex-wife. I didn’t know Paige very well yet, but I knew that. Of course, none of that mattered. If this was just a fling…
As he inhaled deeply, Carter’s chest expanded, touching mine. “Okay,” he said, shaking his shoulders as though shaking off his serious thoughts. “We’ll play this by ear. If nothing else, she’s great to talk to.”
I grinned. “And to look at.”
“That she is.”
“You know who else is great to look at?” I kept my tone playful and from the glint in his eye, I knew I had his cock plumping.
Carter smirked. “You?”
“Well.” I winked and eased my arms around his neck. “That goes without saying. But, I was talking about you. Those jeans do some sinfully interesting things to your…” I glided my hands down his back to grab his butt. “Ass.” At the same time, I jerked him against me, and we both moaned when our cocks bumped together. God, I loved it when Carter got like this. When he let me do whatever I wanted.
I slid one hand around his waist, and slowly trailed it down his abdomen until my palm rubbed against the ridge his erection made in his jeans.
He pushed his hips more firmly against my hand. “Jesus, Rye. She’s going to be here any minute.”
I loved the rasp in his voice. It made me want, no, it made me need more. “I know.” Dropping to my knees, I pressed my face to his crotch, inhaling deeply. He gripped the counter behind him, his back arching, pushing his cock against my cheek.
Just as I gave in and reached for Carter’s zipper, there was a knock at the door. He lowered his chin to his chest and blew out a frustrated breath. “You’re evil, man. The devil. Satan incarnate.” He reached out and pulled my face against him as he thrust forward. I couldn’t help it. I laughed and nuzzled his erection. We both wanted this. And we were both going to go out into the living area with glazed eyes and hard cocks.
When there was another knock, he gently shoved me away and did his best to adjust himself in his tight jeans. “Go answer the door, you dirty bastard,” he said gruffly.
Climbing to my feet, I chucked Carter’s chin and when he looked up, I smiled and kissed him. Love for this man made me giddy. “I’ll make it up to you later.”
“Fucking A,” he grumbled.
I hooked my arm around his shoulders. “I love it when you’re horny and flustered.”
“Let’s hope Paige does too.”
I winked. “I’m counting on it.”
“Fucker.”
God, I loved that we could joke like this, tease each other. I’d never had that before, not even with Holden. Together we walked into the living area. Carter stopped by the couch, while I went to open the door. When I saw her, my breath caught in my throat and my heart beat a mad rhythm. I prayed she didn’t turn tail and run the other way. “Thanks for coming, Paige.”
Her gaze took me in, a slow up and down, then drifted over to Carter. She smirked. “Am I interrupting something?”
I took her hand and tugged her inside. “No, you’re just in time.”
I closed the door, taking care to lock it, then went to stand beside Carter. I slid my arm around his waist and leaned heavily into his side.
“Hi, Paige,” he said, using my body to hide his hard-on. I wanted to laugh. Even a blind man would be able to see how turned on he was. And by the barely suppressed humor in Paige’s expression, she wasn’t blind. Not at all.
“You two look cozy.” She set her purse on the coffee table and looked up at me. “I take it Carter told you what we talked about.”
I dropped a kiss on Carter’s cheek, then went to stand in front of Paige. “It means a lot to me that you came here tonight.”
She crossed her arms, pushing her breasts against the thin fabric of her blouse. Christ, her tits were perfect. My mouth salivated with the desire to taste her again. She frowned and bent her head to catch my gaze. “I’m still angry with you.”
“Just a sec.” I reached under the coffee table and pulled out the bag with the gift I still hadn’t given her. I handed it to her. “Does this help?”
She opened it and took out the stuffed teddy bear that I’d bought for her at the Fab4 Store. She smiled slightly. “Thank you. This is very sweet, but it doesn’t change anything.”
My stomach bottomed out. Was I going to lose her? I grasped her arms lightly. “I’m really sorry, Paige. I should have told you about Carter. We were on a break, but”—I smiled at Carter—“he’s important to me, and you had every right to know I was in a relationship.”
“Carter told me you’d told him about me, or at least that you’d met a woman, so I can’t be angry about that.” Her eyes went to the carpet and she pressed a hand to her chest. “It hurt though. I can’t say it didn’t.”
I rubbed my hands up and down her arms. “Can you forgive me?”
She glanced at Carter behind me, and nodded. “But no more lying.”
“Agreed.”
“Thank you.” And with that I pulled her against me and pressed my lips to hers. Her body stiffened, but moments later she let out a little moan and melted against me. My hands roamed up and down her back as I licked her lips with my tongue, savoring the taste of her.
Remembering what tonight was about, I released her mouth, and taking her hand, led her to the couch. I sat beside her and patted the spot on my other side while looking at Carter.
Carter got the message. He always did.
Once he was seated, I placed my hands on Carter’s and Paige’s thighs. A sense of elation warmed my chest even as a tendril of fear gripp
ed my gut. Tonight was make it or break it.
If I fucked up, it would all be over. But if I did things right, it could be like those magical months with Amber and Holden before it had all gone to shit. It could be the start of something really fucking beautiful.
“So…” I smiled at Paige, then leaned in to resume our kiss. With my tongue twirling around hers, I tightened my hold on Carter’s thigh, moving it up a few inches. When Paige and Carter moaned at the same time, I felt like a god. This was the heady feeling I’d been searching for and never quite found with the other women I’d shared with Carter.
I eased off the kiss with Paige and turned to Carter. The heated look on his face said it all. “You really are an asshole,” he said, his voice a hoarse, breathless whisper.
I groaned and locked our lips together, swallowing his moans. I knew how aroused he got watching me kiss a woman. I knew because seeing him kiss a woman did the same to me.
And that’s what tonight was really about.
With a comical pop, I released Carter’s mouth and patted both their sides. “Now that we’re all warmed up…” I rose to my feet, turning to look at both of them. “It’s your turn.”
Paige’s brow crinkled in a way that was cute as hell. “Our turn to do what?”
“To kiss.” I took a moment to look at her. I hadn’t miscalculated, had I? If seeing Carter and me kiss had turned her off, this whole adventure was a non-starter.
Her cheeks were flushed, her nipples pressed firmly against her blouse, and her beautiful hazel eyes were slightly dilated. I smiled. “You like him, don’t you? You’re attracted to him. I can tell by the…” I let the words hang and ran a hand along my own cheek, teasingly.
She blushed and shot a timid glance in Carter’s direction. Had any woman ever looked more gorgeous and sexy, especially when she was a little embarrassed? This was going to be so much fun, if she allowed it.