by Red Garnier
That was major, major stuff he’d been whispering in her ear!
“You’re right,” she said, avoiding his gaze, his all-knowing gaze that would intuitively pick up on just how far past her comfort zone they had gone. “This is perfect, couldn’t be more perfect. You’re a master, Jules. Master of disaster.” She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and tried to sound businesslike. “Thank you.”
Ducking under his arm, she yanked the door open and swept outside. Determinedly, she walked past both the Gage men, who stood like sentinels down the hall, with their black suits and matching impassive expressions on their faces.
She shot each of them a smile, smiling with her inflamed mouth that had just been kissed like a hussy’s.
She even pretended she was proud of it.
But she could feel Julian’s eyes on her back, sensed he hadn’t moved from the office doorway yet, and as she rounded the corner to the busy and crowded living room, all she wanted was to find a nice spot where she could collapse safely and sort out her out-of-whack emotions.
She heard footsteps and suddenly Garrett loomed at her side, his fingers curling around her elbow. “I’d like to talk to you in private, Molly,” he said. “Do you have time tomorrow?”
Surprised, she looked into her beloved’s eyes while an avalanche of emotions buffeted her from the inside.
He seemed concerned, intense, his obsidian eyes peering into hers so fiercely, she feared he’d be able to see how aroused and guilty she was.
“Of course,” she said with a shaky nod, her voice husky for all the wrong reasons. “I’ll stop by your office at noon, Garrett.”
“Thank you,” he said softly, and placed a kiss on her forehead, his hands lingering on her cheeks for a second.
She was so numb that she couldn’t even enjoy his caress that she’d fantasized about feeling again for days and nights.
She could hardly believe that she’d finally caught his attention.
In a daze, she crossed the living room toward Kate and Beth, her thoughts scattered and unfocused. She should be celebrating, she knew. Garrett wanted to talk to her in private tomorrow, and he was, at the very least, concerned. Maybe he was even hiding his jealousy with grave effort. By all appearances, her plan was succeeding. Wasn’t that what she’d been dreaming of accomplishing?
But no. She couldn’t enjoy her victory because she was too rattled by what she’d done.
What on earth had gotten into her, to tempt Julian the way she had? Were those the actions of a woman in love with another man?
And what if things became awkward with Julian now? What if this stupid charade affected the one relationship in her life she cherished above anything?
“What on earth happened to you?” Kate cried with one startled look at her.
Molly decided she was going to own up to it.
Whatever her sins, whatever her mistake, she was going to own up to it if it killed her.
“Julian and I made out in the dark. You should try it sometime, Kate. It was actually fun before those two idiots interrupted.”
She glared in the direction of Garrett and Landon, then saw Julian stroll from around the corner of the hall, his hands in his pockets, his blond hair mussed. Sexy didn’t begin to describe the man. He looked tousled. Delish. Thoroughly kissed, as he’d put it—and there was no question about it. Streaks of what looked like Molly’s peach lipstick slashed all over his tan skin. Marking his thick throat, up along his jaw, across the side of his plush lips. He looked so rumpled he could’ve just battled a Siberian tiger in a cage, and for some reason, knowing the tiger had been her caused a pool of liquid heat to rush between her thighs.
“Julian, what happened to you?” Beth asked as he approached.
Julian’s green gaze tracked and zeroed in on Molly, and her swollen mouth began to burn under the intimacy of his stare. Between her legs, she burned. Her breasts, the very breasts he had cradled in his enormous hands, pricked hotly in remembrance. Quite simply, and too damn easily, he set her ablaze with his gaze, reminding her of his blatantly sexual words, almost causing her to combust.
“Molls and I had a little fun in the downstairs office. You okay, baby?”
His voice, still husky enough to resemble the timbre he’d used in the dark, did wild things to her overstimulated senses. Awareness had quickly skyrocketed to hyperawareness in that empty office, and now she was frantic to power these sensations off.
While the other women processed his words in stunned silence, Julian made a thorough assessment of Molly’s face with a measured expression on his own.
Was he worried they’d gone too far, too?
Trying to offer some reassurance, Molly let her lips curl upward, loathing this awkwardness between them. But thankfully, a playful light kindled to life in his eyes. When he gave her his wolfish smile, Molly almost sagged in relief.
Visibly relaxing, too, Julian put his arms around her and dragged her to his side, and Molly knew as she snuggled against him that whatever happened, it was all going to be all right.
As long as she had Julian.
“You know I love you, don’t you?” she whispered up at him once again, kissing his hard cheek. It was not the first time she’d said it, not at all. But this time, he drew back and met her gaze, his smile fading. Then he planted a long, hard kiss on her temple, his voice gruff as he told her, in her ear, so nobody else could hear, “So do I.”
Six
So here we are now, Molly thought as she rode the elevator up to the top floor of the San Antonio Daily building the next day.
At last Garrett seemed to be ready to do something about her situation with Julian. The question was: What was he going to do?
And how was Molly going to react to it?
She honestly didn’t know. Whatever happened today, though, she wore her largest earrings and her thickest bangles and her sassiest attitude to the meeting. It was a trick she used when she needed the extra security boost. There was just something about big jewelry that made her feel better no matter how dreary things looked or how anxious she felt. So now it was one minute until noon, and she was every bit the confident lady as she marched down the long hall that led to the executive offices.
“Molly!” Julian’s assistant exclaimed with obvious warmth, glancing up at her through her spectacles from behind an enormous desk. “I didn’t know you were paying a visit! He went out to lunch….”
Smiling, Molly greeted the older woman with an affectionate hug. Ms. Watts had been with Jules forever and sometimes conspired with Molly to pull Julian out of important meetings. Just for fun.
“I’m actually here for Garrett today, Ms. Watts.” But her stomach felt queasy, and suddenly she very much wished she was having lunch with Julian instead.
She was led directly into his office by Garrett’s assistant, a younger woman who sat at an identically enormous desk not too far away. Molly couldn’t help but straighten her spine when she was announced. “Miss Devaney to see you, Mr. Gage,” the assistant intoned, and then quickly shut the doors behind her.
Over six feet tall, with dark hair and broad shoulders, Garrett stood by the window with his hands in his jacket pockets, radiating intimidation. Her knees felt knobby as she walked forward, somehow expecting to catch a glimpse of something telling in his expression. But his face revealed nothing at all when he turned around and gave her a brief, almost businesslike smile.
“Molly, I don’t think I need to tell you why you’re here? Or why Kate—” he signaled to her sister, whom Molly just now noticed sitting behind Garrett’s desk, pretty as you please “—and I want to talk to you today.”
Molly sat down across the desk from Kate, still absorbing the fact that he had not meant to have a “private” conversation with her at all. Private had merely meant without Julian present.
> The realization made her scowl at him, her blackest, angriest scowl.
She couldn’t help noticing Garrett seemed so detached today, unlike the passionate lover of that magical evening. Of course, the man had excellent control, so you never knew with him. That night, he’d sure as hell surprised her, too. Now Molly looked into his eyes but try as she might, she detected no special heat as he looked at her.
Had she completely misread him? Had he been so drunk that just…any “wench” would have done? How could he stand there, so lamplike, after he’d caught her in a dark room with Julian? Even Julian, who was known to be the cool and aloof brother, looked at her with much more… Actually, Julian’s looks set her on fire. But enough of that.
They were just different, the two men—and she had to stop comparing them.
She had to get it through her thick skull, once and for all, that those kisses with Julian last night had been pure error. She’d gotten carried away and she wasn’t even certain why she’d done something so reckless as to tempt a lion like Julian. Except maybe she knew that he would never take things too far with her.
Or would he?
Because last night in bed, she’d been so tormented and confused. The things he’d whispered, the things he’d made her feel as he’d kissed her had been the most intense she’d ever felt in her life, even more than on the night—
No. It couldn’t be.
How could anything top what she’d felt that night at the masquerade? Was it right to feel all this excitement and passion when just any guy kissed her? No. She knew it was impossible, it was too overpowering, too special.
So then what was the matter with her?
“Can you please explain to us what’s going on between you and Julian?” Garrett queried, breaking into her reflections.
Completely disbelieving his tone, Molly leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, her bangles making a clanking noise.
Wow.
She’d really made up that whole masquerade soul-mate kiss, hadn’t she?
Garrett didn’t seem jealous at all, and now her silly thoughts of marrying him were quickly being dashed. She’d thought she was luring him in with her plan and now she wondered if he was even hungry for the hook she’d tossed him. Apparently, Garrett only had a weakness for Molly in a wench costume and while he was inebriated out of his ever-loving mind.
Wow. Really. She was such a dope.
“Are you two seriously going to pretend you don’t know? Or do I need to spell it out to you?” Molly asked him, getting supremely irritated by all this. Where was the man who’d kissed her at the masquerade? Where was the hunger that awakened hers? The passion that had ignited hers? Had it all been a joke? A dream? A ruse?
When neither Kate nor Garrett answered and her masquerade man refused to make an appearance, her irritation increased tenfold. So they were going to drill her and intimidate her. Did they interrogate Julian like this, too?
“We’re together, Garrett,” Molly suddenly said, thrusting her chin out defiantly and sounding damned proud. “I moved in with him. I’m his gi—lover. And I’ve never been so happy.” The last was true. She’d always had the most fun with Jules, had loved him beyond loving anyone else, protected him beyond anyone else. They covered for each other, laughed with each other, fought with each other….
This morning they’d had breakfast together, and they’d laughed. Even after the debacle of last night. They’d laughed.
“Did you know,” Garrett said softly, his eyes kind, “this is exactly what we feared would happen all these years. My mother, Kate, Landon and I. We feared Julian and you would dive headfirst into each other and one of you, especially you, Molly, might not make it out.”
With a painful frown, Molly wondered why Garrett didn’t just drop the mask already and step into his sexy black masquerade boots. He’d had guts that night, taking what he wanted, which had clearly been her. Today? He merely seemed concerned, like a brother would be, and that had definitely not been Molly’s plan from the start. “Why would you think that about me and Julian?” she challenged, wanting to scoff at the accusation.
His dark eyes widened in surprise, as though Molly were lacking in brainpower to have overlooked something so obvious. Kate stepped in to explain, “Because when you were teens you were infatuated with each other, Molls. You cried when I told you he was like your brother. You cried for days and when I demanded to know why, you told me it was because of what I’d said. Because you wouldn’t be able to marry him now.”
Molly groaned and rolled her eyes. “I must have been ten, Kate.”
“You never cry, Molly. Never. The only times I’ve seen you cry in your life have been all about Jules.”
“Because they sent him away and it sucked!”
“There you go,” Garrett said.
She scowled. “I just don’t see how our relationship concerns any of you. We’ve had a bond since the beginning.”
In fact, Molly knew the story by heart, for it had been related to her not only by Eleanor Gage, his mother, but later by Landon, Kate, Garrett, even Julian himself.
On the day the Devaney sisters had come to live at the Gage mansion, Molly had been a mere three years old.
She’d been introduced, along with Kate, to all the family members and staff, but she’d hardly paid any attention because she had a lollipop stuck in her mouth and she was gladly sucking it. Embarrassed by this, Kate had tried to convince her to hand over the lollipop, since she’d been the one who’d given it to her in the first place, but it was all to no avail. And yet while they proceeded to do the introductions, Molly’s attention had fixated on the blond, green-eyed boy who looked at her in amusement. She toddled over to him, took her lollipop out of her mouth, and graciously offered it to him with a cheeky grin.
Julian had been six at the time, and even when his mother had beamed a silent command at him to refuse the germ-filled offering, Julian had shoved it into his mouth and smiled down at Molly. Just like that, they’d been instant friends.
Now Molly looked pointedly at Garrett and cocked a brow, wondering if he even remembered that story. They’d only told it about twenty times or so, if she recalled correctly. The family laughed about it, joking that what the other brothers accomplished with force, the younger brother accomplished with a grin.
“Molly.” Kate clasped her hands before her in a silent plea. “I just need you to assure me that you know what you’re doing. Julian’s relationships don’t last. In fact, he’s never even had one, only one-night stands and weekend flings. You’re in way over your head here, Moo!”
“I’m not his weekend fling, Kate,” she defended, suddenly fierce, determined to show them she was at no risk and meant more to Julian than that, even though what she was defending was a fake liaison intended to make Garrett jealous. “What makes you think Jules would ever hurt me? He’s the only guy I know that would give me a kidney if I needed one! In fact, he’s so good to me I’ll bet he’d even give me two!”
The worry creases on Kate’s forehead only seemed to double. “You’ve really fallen for him, haven’t you?”
It killed Molly not to be able to tell her sister the truth, so she could at least wipe that worry off her pretty face, but then how could she assure her what a lie her relationship with Julian was, when she herself couldn’t understand why she’d even kissed him yesterday?
Since she’d moved in with him, she’d been bombarded with strange feelings and emotions, hardly getting any sleep as she lay in her bed, wondering about all the what-ifs and could bes in her life.
Saying good morning to him in his sexy pajamas with his six-pack abs showing was torture. Bantering with him, wanting to be close to him…
She didn’t even know what she felt anymore.
She’d wanted to find love in her life, because she’d already found success
in her profession. Wasn’t it normal to always want something? But this time she sensed that what she wanted was nearby, but she couldn’t put a name to it, and that frustrated her out of her mind.
She’d been counting on Garrett to reignite the spark in her today, not leave her feeling cold and empty. She’d been counting on this meeting where he could help her straighten out her head, and more importantly, her emotions.
Instead, she and Julian were being attacked, and it made her want to stick her claws out for him. For them. For what they had, which nobody had ever really understood in the first place.
“Julian would never hurt me,” she said as she rose, fighting to keep from shouting. “I promise you if you ever see me cry because of him, I give you permission to shoot me.”
“I’d actually prefer to shoot him,” Garrett said drily.
Whipping around to face him, Molly stared at this large, handsome man, thinking he’d always been a great influence in her life. He’d always felt responsible for her father’s death. Even though the Devaney sisters had never blamed him for what had happened, it seemed as if Garrett would never forgive himself.
Which sometimes made his smiles seem sad. And made him try too hard to make things right for Kate and Molly, protect them. But…protect Molly from Julian? Oh, puleeze! Julian had been as crucial as sunshine to her since she was a toddler. He’d been her hero before she even heard of the word or understood its meaning.
Garrett was a good man, a great man, in fact, and Molly knew he would be a faithful and giving husband if he could only give himself a chance. But did he need to be drunk to let go the way he had at the masquerade?
Whatever the reason, she feared that the man who’d kissed her that night was an illusion. And if she’d ever, ever doubted whether she would have to choose between Garrett and Julian, it was an easy choice now that she was faced with it.
Her hero won outright.
“What is your problem with Julian anyway?” Molly asked, aghast and affronted. “Both of you—you’re always riding him about something. If I were him, I’d…never talk to you again.”