by Leah Brooke
Julianna had gotten to him, too, and he wasn’t about to let her go.
* * * *
Julianna didn’t have the energy to do any more than arch her neck to give Steve better access. Her bottom hole still tingled where he’d stretched it, making her deliciously aware of just what a sexual man he was. Opening her eyes, she stared straight into Nick’s. They closed again on a moan, her eyelids too heavy to stay up. She’d never in her life been so sexually satisfied.
It weakened her at a time when she needed to keep her defenses intact, but she feared it was already too late.
Nick had held her hand, caressed her as Steve fucked her. Looked into her eyes as though she was the most beautiful woman in the world.
No one, no one had ever looked at her that way. No one had ever cuddled her afterward the way they did, no one ever cared for her the way they did.
She knew damned well they were going to break her heart, and there wasn’t a damned thing she could do about it.
Steve kissed her earlobe. “Poor baby. Worn out, are you? Let’s get you tucked into bed.” He rolled off of her, lifting her so Nick could pull back the covers, and placed her in the center of the bed. He kissed her lightly, his lips moving over hers and then to her cheek. “I’ll be right back, babe.” He kissed her again, nuzzling her jaw. “You know, don’t you, that I don’t think I’m going to be able to let you go?”
As soon as he rolled away, Nick lay on the bed behind her and pulled her back against him, pulling the blanket up around her against the air conditioning and wrapping his arm around her. His lips touched her ear. “Steve’s right. I don’t think you’re going to be able to get away from us anytime soon. Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”
That made Julianna smile. Turning, she cuddled into him, reveling in his hard, warm body against hers. “Is that your way of telling me that it’s your turn?”
Nick smiled faintly, but his eyes darkened with sadness. “I guess that’s what you’d think. You have a lot to learn about us. We’ve rushed you into this. You’re tired, darling, and worn out. Get some sleep. We’re going back to Philadelphia in the morning.”
Steve got in on the other side as Nick got up to undress. Pulling her against him, he wrapped himself around her. “Damn, you feel good. From now on, when you want to wear something to bed, it’s going to be my shirt.”
“Or mine.” Nick cuddled against her other side.
Warm and satisfied, Julianna nevertheless knew she was in trouble as she drifted off, but didn’t want anything to intrude on this warm, luscious feeling of well-being. She’d worry about it tomorrow. Right now she felt better than she had in her life and wanted to enjoy it for as long as she could.
* * * *
With an arm around her waist, Steve pulled Julianna more firmly against him, smiling when she grumbled in her sleep. She’d gone out like a light about ten minutes ago, and he’d done nothing since then but lie here and think of her. He’d seen the look on Nick’s face when he’d walked into the room, a look of indulgence and tenderness combined with sharp need. It was a look Steve had never seen on his friend’s face in the fifteen years that he’d known him.
Then again, he’d never made love to a woman in Nick’s presence before.
“It’s not the same.”
Preoccupied with his thoughts, Steve thought perhaps he’d missed something. “Excuse me.”
Nick sighed and lifted Julianna’s hand to play with her fingers. “I want you to know that it’s not the same with Julianna as it was for me with…before.”
Steve did his best to keep his face blank, but the bafflement in Nick’s voice and the careful way he avoided mentioning the other woman’s name while in bed with Julianna, both stunned him so much he probably didn’t hide it very well.
He understood it, though, the emotions Julianna stirred in him confusing him in much the same way.
He’d wanted an affair, a woman who he’d be able to drop in on when he visited Philadelphia. Instead, he dreaded leaving her behind, the thought of another man touching her filling him with a fury he didn’t care to examine too closely.
Her sweet response and hot passion made him forget all about his suspicions that she worked with his enemy, but lying here beside her, those doubts crept back in again.
He tightened his hand on her hip, only to jerk it back again when she frowned and moaned in her sleep. If she’d been sent to distract him, to somehow set him up for his old boss, she’d done a hell of a job.
Playing with the silky strands of her hair, he grimaced. He’d fallen. Hard. He wouldn’t believe she would betray him until he saw it with his own eyes, but some facts couldn’t be ignored.
In all the time he’d played cat and mouse with Munson, his former friend had never gotten this close.
Coincidence.
Like Mike, Steve had never liked coincidences.
Making love to Julianna had worn him out so much he didn’t think he would have been able to fight off Paul Munson if he decided to attack right now.
For her to work for Munson and be able to respond the way she just had, Julianna would have to be the coldest woman he’d ever met.
Breathing in the scent of her, mingled with the scent of sex, he groaned inwardly when his cock twitched. Christ, he wanted her again. If Munson was using her, he’d chosen the perfect weapon.
At that point, Julianna could have slid a knife between his ribs and he probably wouldn’t have been able to stop her.
Hell, he had it bad—and he wouldn’t have changed a thing.
“What are you saying?”
Nick sat up slightly, bracing his weight on his elbow, and stared down at Julianna, slowly kissing each of her fingers. He’d already gotten undressed, which at first had made Steve feel a little funny, but as exhausted as he was and with Julianna naked between them, he no longer thought about it. “I didn’t care before. When Julianna reached for my hand…hell. Did it bother you?”
Steve rolled to stare up at the ceiling and sighed, smiling when she cuddled closer to him. Turning to his side to pull her even closer, he slid a hand up and down her back, reveling in her softness, and stared up at the ceiling. “A little at first and then I saw the way you looked at her. Why didn’t you get involved?”
Running a hand over Julianna’s arm, Nick frowned and pulled the blanket higher before he, too, stared up at the ceiling. “I wanted to give you time with her. I tried to stay away, but when I heard those sounds she makes. Hell. This isn’t going to be as easy as I thought.”
Steve sighed and snuggled against Julianna’s soft, fragrant body, hoping he could get close enough to her that she would confide in him. “Nothing of value ever is.”
Chapter Eleven
Sitting at her desk the next day with her head down going over some of her notes, Julianna stilled when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She looked up, shocked to her toes to find Claire standing there with David, neither one of them looking very happy.
Claire’s eyes glinted coldly. “I do not work for you, Miss Lovette, nor do I intend to. Please see to your own guests, and kindly refrain from having them come to the hotel during the renovations. Mr. Morietti and Mr. Vanguard will hear about this.”
Sighing inwardly, Julianna frowned, not bothering to hide her irritation at being interrupted. “I’m sure they will.”
David’s brows went up as he watched Claire leave, and he closed the door behind him before turning back to her. “Pleasant, isn’t she?”
Julianna sat back, crossing her arms over her chest impatiently. When she looked at him now, she couldn’t help but compare him to Nick and Steve and couldn’t help but wonder what she ever saw in him.
“What are you doing here, David? I thought I made it clear to you that I never wanted to see you again. I have a lot of work to do, and the last thing I need today is you.”
His grin made her flesh crawl as he seated himself in front of her desk, as though he’d been invited. His gaze shifted oft
en, not holding hers the way Nick’s and Steve’s did.
Would she end up comparing every man she met to them?
David’s eyes flashed with anger. “Come on, Julianna. Stop playing games. Now that you’ve had the time to think about it, I’m sure you realize that we’re perfect for each other.” He leaned forward, lowering his voice. “I won’t even punish you for hitting me.”
Julianna allowed a small smile. “I don’t know why I ever found you appealing. You bore me, David. Get out.” Dismissing him with an ease that surprised her, she went back to work, picking up the phone to check again on the tiles. She raised a brow at David’s look of impatience, turning away when her call was answered, blatantly ignoring him. “Hello, this is Julianna Lovette, the designer for the Crescendo. I’m calling to check on the delivery date for the tiles.” She smiled inwardly when David left, closing the door behind him, and concentrated on her phone call.
“Hello, Miss Lovette. As I told your man earlier this week, the date has been delayed by several weeks because of the change. You certainly can’t expect to change an order of this size and not expect there to be delays.”
An icy chill went down Julianna’s spine. “What are you talking about? I never changed the order.”
The silence at the other end filled her with foreboding. “Miss Lovette, Mr. Vanguard called last week and changed the order.”
Julianna came to her feet, squeezing the phone in a death grip. “Mr. Brewster, I’ll get to the bottom of this and call you right back.”
Shaking with fury, Julianna stormed out of her office and through the lobby, ignoring the smug look on Claire’s face as she flew past her. How dare they change something without telling her! Is that why they’d taken her out of town?
What the hell were they trying to prove?
Too angry to deal with this over the phone, she left to go to the hotel where they were still staying to confront them.
She still didn’t know what they’d done with her damned car, so she had to take a taxi, her anger growing with every mile. They’d approved the damned tile, and by changing it at the last minute, they screwed up her entire schedule.
As soon as the taxi stopped in front of their hotel, she practically threw the money at the taxi driver, the money she’d brought to buy her lunch with, and jumped out, slamming the door behind her. The doorman hurried to open the door for her, scrambling to get out of the way as she stormed past him.
Mike sat in the lobby drinking a cup of coffee, his brows shooting up when he saw her. He started to stand, only to drop back in his seat when he saw the look on her face.
Julianna shot him a brief wave in acknowledgement but didn’t stop to talk as she headed for the elevators. As the elevator door closed, she saw him pull out his cell phone and knew he would be calling upstairs to tell them that she was on her way up.
It reminded her sharply how difficult it would be to get to either one of them, something she often forgot since she’d pretty much had free access to both of them whenever she wanted. Once their affair ended, she knew she’d never be able to get anywhere near them again without an appointment.
Ignoring the look of appreciation from the man who’d followed her onto the elevator, she stared at the numbers, mentally trying to calculate how much time this would push her schedule back. Damn it, she’d have to go down to the tile store and…
Why the hell was this guy so close?
Spinning, she faced him, annoyed at his rudeness. “What the hell are you staring at?” She glared at him, in no mood to deal with another jerk. Even his cologne irritated her.
He smiled charmingly and leaned back against the wall of the elevator. “I’m staring at a beautiful woman. Would you have dinner with me tonight?”
Fucking asshole.
The door to the elevator opened at her floor. “No.” She stormed out, intent on giving Steve and Nick a piece of her mind. Steve never would have changed something like that without Nick knowing about it, so she could spend her anger on both of them.
It didn’t surprise her at all that Steve waited for her in the hall, along with Ron. “Hey! Mike said, yeah, you’re mad at something. What is it, babe?” His smile disappeared when he looked over his shoulder to the man who’d followed her out of the elevator.
Julianna poked her finger into his rock-hard stomach, seeing Ron move toward the other man out of the corner of her eye. “Don’t you ‘babe’ me! I can’t believe you would do such a thing to me. Do you want me to fail? Is this your way of finding an excuse to fire me? Well, it won’t work. I’m going to finish this job on budget and on time, if I have to do it myself. How dare you sabotage me this way!”
Steve caught her wrist with one hand, rubbing the spot on his stomach she’d been poking with the other. “What the hell are you talking about? And who’s this guy?”
Julianna glanced impatiently over her shoulder to glare again at the other man. “What the hell do you want?”
The idiot had the gall to grin and reached for her arm. “How about that dinner?”
Steve jerked her away before the other man could touch her, even as Ron stepped between them, his eyes deadly.
Eyeing the other man coldly, Steve pulled her along. “Dinner? You couldn’t even come close to handling her. Come inside, Julianna, and tell me what this is all about.”
Julianna tried to pull her arm out of his grasp, once again initially surprised that she couldn’t. “Let go of me. I’m so mad at you I can’t even think, and I certainly don’t need you or your men acting like some kind of guard dogs.”
Steve’s brow went up, his lips twitching as he led her into the hotel suite. “Grrr.”
Nick looked up from the papers spread all over a low table and sat back. “You’ve got the security team scrambling. Nice work, darling. They’ll certainly be on their toes from now on.” Frowning, he glanced at Steve. “What’s wrong?”
Steve released her, closed the door behind him, and leaned back against it. “That’s what I’m—”
Shaking with anger, Julianna cut him off. “Don’t you dare pretend that you don’t know what I’m talking about! Were you waiting to see how long it would take me to find out? Were you going to complain about it and say that I’m incompetent and ordered the wrong tile? Did you want to bitch about the delays? Do you have any idea how far this could set me back? You want an excuse to throw me off schedule so you can fire me, don’t you? Are you the ones who put the red in the paint and ruined it?”
Drawing on the anger to cover the hurt that they would do such a thing, she stepped back as each reached for her.
Nick stood, his eyes narrowed and cold. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”
Pacing back and forth between them, she spun and poked her finger into his stomach, finding it just as solid as Steve’s. “Do you think I’m stupid? This is my responsibility. I check every damned thing that comes in there. Did you think I wouldn’t check the paint when the painters brought it in? Somebody’s doing their best to throw me off schedule.” A sudden thought hit her, like a blow to the chest. “Oh, hell. I am stupid.” She dropped into a chair, bowing her head, not wanting them to see just how much it hurt.
Nick knelt in front of her, moving her hair aside and lifting her chin. “What is it? What’s going through that hard head of yours?”
Julianna lowered her eyes, pulling herself together before lifting them again to face him coolly. She shrugged off the hand Steve placed on her shoulder and pulled out of Nick’s grasp. “You fucked me, and now you want to get rid of me.” Ignoring their looks of shock, she shook her head. “I should have known. I get all flustered around both of you, so naturally you’d think I’m incompetent. For everything else, I’m too competent, and that’s all they see. The most important time for me to be…Well, don’t worry about it. You don’t have to sabotage me. I quit.” She jumped to her feet with the intention of getting the hell out of here as fast as possible.
Steve grinned. “Flustered around us, huh?�
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Nick pushed her back in the chair and loomed over her. “Neither one of us thinks you’re incompetent. You’re not quitting, and you’re not going anywhere until we get to the bottom of this.” He pulled a nearby ottoman closer and sat directly in front of her, keeping her knees between his, effectively keeping her from jumping up again. “Now tell us everything. What’s going on? Are you saying that someone’s sabotaging the work on the hotel? You really believe someone changed the paint color, and that it wasn’t an honest mistake?”
Steve crossed the room and came to sit on the corner of the sofa close to her. “Start at the beginning. Don’t leave anything out.”
A little nervous now, Julianna eyed both of them warily. “You really had nothing to do with this?” The anger in their eyes already answered the question for her, but she needed to hear them say it.
Nick looked thoughtful and shot a glance at a stone-faced Steve. “No, we wouldn’t sabotage our own hotel, and if we wanted to get rid of you, Julianna, you’d know it. Does either one of us seem the type to beat around the bush to get something we want?”
Thinking about how quickly they’d gotten her into their bed, she inwardly winced. “True. You two seem to know how to get whatever you want.” Ignoring their narrowed eyes, she spoke before they could. “Look, if it wasn’t either one of you, I’ll take care of it.” She started to get up, feeling more than a little foolish for losing her temper. She should have known that neither one of them would have done something like that, but she’d let her personal insecurities intrude on her professional life.
Something she’d sworn not to do.
She really should end this thing before they ended up breaking her heart. Why had she ever thought having an affair with two men would ever work, especially when she worked for both of them?
Lack of sex had given her brain damage, that’s why. A couple of orgasms and she’d been putty in their hands.
Nick nudged her back into the chair, looking a little preoccupied. “I said you’re not going anywhere.”