by Leah Brooke
Boone stood just inside, his muscular body filling the doorway as he stared at her. His eyes searched hers, a small encouraging smile playing at his lips. “Hi, baby.”
As usual, Rachel’s pulse tripped at the sight of him. “Hi.” Glancing at the customers, she shrugged in apology. “I’m—”
Waving a hand, he shook his head. “I’ll be in the kitchen. Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.”
Even with the tension between them, Boone’s presence settled something inside her.
Two more customers came in, and it was almost an hour before the shop cleared out again.
Nervous about facing Boone, she started toward the back, stopping abruptly when the business line rang. She could hear Boone and Reese speaking in low tones, and she had a strong feeling that Reese had told Boone about Mona’s visit.
The men in Desire always stuck together and her brother-in-laws seemed to take their positions as big brothers and uncles far too seriously and used it as an excuse to meddle.
She answered on the second ring, half-expecting it to be Mona. Relieved to hear her sister’s voice, she slumped against the counter. “Hi, Erin. How did your appointment go?”
“My appointment went fine. Listen, we stopped at the hotel restaurant on the way home. Reese and Duncan are meeting us here, but I saw Chase leaving with bags of takeout. Who was that blonde woman with him?”
Rachel’s breath caught, her stomach rolling so violently, she thought she might be ill. Turning toward the doorway, she gulped at the sight of Boone standing there with Theresa in his arms. “Uh, just a friend.”
“Do you know her?”
Uncomfortable under her husband’s knowing stare, she averted her gaze. She didn’t want her sister to worry, but Erin always saw too much, and she knew she had to get off the phone with her before she aroused her sister’s suspicions the way she’d already aroused Boone’s. “Yes. I have a customer. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
She hung up, bending to shove the black nightgown she’d set aside into one of the bags from the store. Feeling Boone’s stare, she turned her head to smile at him. “That was Erin. Her appointment went well. She and Jared are at the hotel restaurant. Duncan and Reese are supposed to meet them there.”
Boone nodded, his eyes narrowed on hers as he adjusted his hold on Theresa. “Reese just got a call and left. He knew you were on the phone with Erin and asked me to tell you good-bye.”
He paused, his eyes glinting with something she didn’t recognize, but that instantly filled her with unease. “You lied to her.”
Rachel shrugged, her face burning as she studied his features. “Just a small one. I’m too tired to talk to her.”
The glint sharpened. “And now you think you’re going to get away with lying to me?”
Uh-oh.
Inwardly cursing that her face burned hotter, she went on the offense. “I’m not lying. Don’t try to turn this around to be my fault. It’s late and I am tired. I think I’m going to lock up and go home.”
Boone’s brows went up, a small smile playing at his lips—a smile that told her she’d reacted exactly the way he’d expected her to react. “I was about to suggest the same thing. Chase is already picking up dinner. Reese and I had quite a talk—something you and I are going to do when we get home.”
Rachel knew they had to talk, but dreaded it. Grabbing the bag beneath the counter, she shoved it into Theresa’s diaper bag while Boone locked up.
Tonight, she’d wear the sexy gown and prove to her husbands that they had no need to look elsewhere for excitement.
Smothering a yawn, she shrugged on her coat and gathered her purse and Theresa’s diaper bag.
She had no intention of letting her husbands go without a fight.
Chapter Three
With a grimace of distaste, Chase nudged Mona aside to get into his truck. Impatient to get home to his upset wife and sick daughter, he didn’t bother hiding his irritation. “Why can’t you just accept the fact that neither one of us is interested in you?”
Mona’s cloying perfume made it difficult to breathe and completely overcame the scent of the shrimp dinners he’d just picked up from the hotel restaurant. Laying a hand on his chest, she smiled up at him. “Oh, Chase, honey. You know you don’t mean that.”
He turned away, carefully settling the containers on the seat and bracing them for the short ride home. Stiffening, he grimaced at the feel of Mona’s hand sliding over his ass. Straightening, he turned, gripping her wrist and flinging it away from him in disgust. Annoyed to find her so close that he brushed up against her, he gripped her shoulders and pushed her away from him. “You’re wrong. I do mean that. It’s over between us, Mona. It has been for a long time. Boone and I are married and have a child with Rachel. We love her more than we ever thought we could love a woman. She’s everything to us.”
Her eyes hardened with cold calculation as she closed the distance between them again. She reached out a hand toward his chest, her eyes hardening even more when he gripped her wrist and thrust it away. “You can’t have with her what we had together.” Despite the anger in her eyes, her voice lowered to a tone she’d used in the past to seduce him—a tone that now left him cold. “Do you remember how it used to be? Do you remember the way it was when you and Boone took me together? No one excites me the way you do. No one ever gave me so much pleasure. We used to stay up all night making love.”
“That’s in the past.” Hoping to get his point across, he gripped her shoulders and held her away from him, repulsed by her touch. “It was sex, Mona. I thought I loved you, but what I felt for you was nothing compared to what I have with Rachel.”
Mona’s eyes flashed as she reached for his cock, her expression hardening when he once again grabbed her hand before she could touch him. “Just because she gave you a child? Hell, a child would just get in the way.” She smiled coldly, an icy smile that made him wonder how he could have been so blind about her. “I saw her. She looks haggard. Hell, she looks like a woman who doesn’t even like sex.” She shuddered in revulsion. “Wholesome. Good God. What the hell would you and Boone see in a woman like that? You need a woman who can meet your sexual appetites.” Reaching for him, she ran her hands over his chest. “I can, and you know it.”
Chase slammed the truck door and moved out of Mona’s reach. “You went to see her?” Furious that Mona had more than likely upset Rachel, he fisted his hands at his sides. “You repulse me. Disgust me. I don’t know what the hell I ever saw in you.” Smiling coldly, he leaned toward her, pleased when her eyes widened and she hurriedly stepped back, apparently realizing that she’d pushed it too far. “What is it, Mona? You run out of money? You can’t find another sucker to fund your expensive tastes?”
Her eyes flashed, the anger disappearing just as suddenly as it appeared. Her red lips thrust out in a pout as she stepped closer. “Chase, don’t be mean. You know I bought all those things to look good for you.” Taking another step closer, she ran the backs of her fingers over her décolleté as if to draw his attention there. “You enjoyed all the beautiful lingerie I wore for you. The way you kept ripping it off, I had to keep buying more.”
With his keys in his hand, he headed back toward the driver’s side, intent on getting home to Rachel and Theresa—and as far away from Mona as possible. “Like I said, that’s in the past. Give it up, Mona. Neither Boone nor I want you anymore. I honestly can’t figure out why we ever did.” Turning away from her, he flung his door open. “You leave me cold.”
“That’s a lie!” Mona’s voice took on a desperate edge, her features hardening. “You want me, damn it! She’s using that brat to keep you.”
Furious, Chase spun, a red haze clouding his vision.
He strode toward her with his hands fisted at his sides, noting with no small sense of satisfaction that she gasped and took several hurried steps back, fear replacing the anger in her eyes “My daughter is not a brat. Stay the fuck away from my family—from all of us. You’re no
t wanted here. Go find some other asshole to put up with your conceit and selfishness.” Getting in her face, he let her see his anger and disgust. “If you don’t stay the fuck away from my wife, I’m going to make damned sure you regret it.”
Mona had never been the kind of woman to give up. Smiling, she fluttered her lashes. “Do you remember when you and Boone used to like it when I was bad? You used to turn me over your knee and spank me until I promised to behave.”
Chase smiled coldly. “We only did that once. You pretended that it aroused you, but we could see that it didn’t. Rachel responds honestly and doesn’t play games the way you did.”
“You used to like playing games.”
“We prefer honesty.”
“Bastard!”
He sidestepped her and strode toward the truck. “You’d better believe it. You taught me to be.” Slamming the door behind him, he took off, remembering the takeout containers at the last minute. Cursing, he reached for them, catching them before they could fall and slowed, his heart still pounding with rage.
It pissed him off that Rachel had to deal with the mistakes of their past, especially at a time when she was so worn out.
The difference between Rachel and Mona made him see just how stupid he’d been in the past. Now, he just wanted to get home to his wife—the woman who’d taught him just what love could be.
He’d told Mona the truth. He loved Rachel more than he’d ever thought he could love a woman.
She was warm, caring, playful, and showed her love in thousands of ways.
He’d never doubted her love, which made the fear and misery he’d seen in her eyes that morning even more difficult to take.
It infuriated him that she doubted—even for a minute—how much she meant to him and to his brother.
She and Theresa were their world, and for her to think that either one of them would even look at another woman made it clear that they’d failed her somehow.
As he pulled into the driveway, he breathed a sigh of relief that both her car and Boone’s were already in the driveway.
Anxious to get to her, he grabbed the takeout containers and headed inside, desperate to settle things between them. Pausing outside the door, he sighed.
There had to be some changes made, but he didn’t even know where to begin.
How could she not know how much she meant to him?
They’d somehow failed to give her the security she deserved, and he would do whatever he had to in order to make it right.
Shifting the food to one arm, he swung the front door open, coming to an abrupt halt—shocked at the sight that greeted him.
He didn’t quite know what he’d expected, but it wasn’t the sight of Boone frowning down at Rachel, who knelt in front of him.
With a curse, Boone bent, and with his hands under her arms, lifted Rachel to her feet, his brother clearly frustrated—and aroused. “Damn it, Rachel! What the hell’s going on?”
Closing the door behind him, Chase watched the scene play out in front of him, not wanting to say anything until he knew more.
Running her hands over Boone’s chest, Rachel leaned into him, her movements clumsy and shaky, the dark circles under her eyes even more pronounced. “Keep your voice down or you’ll wake Theresa. What do you mean—what the hell’s going on? I’m trying to seduce you.”
Pushing against him, she straightened, her eyes dark with misery. “And obviously not doing a very good job.” The hurt in her eyes cut through Chase’s heart like a knife as she approached him and reached for the containers. “Thanks for picking up dinner, Chase.”
Boone cursed again, running his hand through his hair, still damp from a recent shower. “Damn it, Rachel. Talk to me!”
When she reached out to take the bags from him, Chase caught her hand in his own before she could turn away. Pulling her closer, he tightened his grip when she would have pulled away, shaken by her uncharacteristic coldness. “Hey! Where’s my kiss? Does this mood have anything to do with Mona’s visit today?”
“Among other things—like not letting me know she’d been calling you.” Averting her gaze, Rachel tried again to pull away. Obviously realizing that she wasn’t going anywhere until they got this sorted out, she blew out a breath and looked up at the ceiling. “She came to warn me that she was going to take you away from me, and said that she hoped I wasn’t going to use Theresa to try to keep you.” Lowering her gaze to his again, she tugged her arm out of his grip. “Now, let go of me so I can eat before Theresa gets up again.”
Boone cursed and rushed forward, gripping Rachel’s other arm and spinning her toward him. “She said that? Fucking bitch!” Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her against his chest, his eyes glittering with rage as they met Chase’s. “Baby, there’s no way I’d ever leave you. You’re everything to me.”
Slumping against Boone’s chest, Rachel sniffed, the small sound sending a surge of panic through Chase. “We don’t have sex the way we used to. You don’t want me that way anymore. It’s all my fault! Just look at me! I’m a mess.” Her voice broke, her entire body shaking.
Furious that she could even think they didn’t want her, and more shaken than he’d like to admit, Chase cursed and closed in on her from behind to surround her protectively. “Bullshit. I want you more every day. Baby, please don’t let her upset you. You’re just exhausted. She’s nothing to us.”
Lifting her face from Boone’s chest, she straightened, clearly skeptical. “I just want you to be honest with me.”
Chase shared a look of frustration with Boone, desperate to get through to her. “Rachel, we didn’t know what love was until we met you. You do believe us, don’t you?”
The tears welling in her eyes nearly took him to his knees.
Pressing her lips together, she turned and started toward the kitchen, her movements stiff, but sluggish. “Well, since I can’t seduce you, and neither one of you have said a word about having lunch with her at the steak house—” She poked Chase’s stomach. “And you haven’t said anything about having a conversation with her in the parking lot outside the hotel, I find that I’m having a hard time believing either one of you.”
Chase rushed after her, panic tightening his stomach. “Fuck. I just walked in the damned door. I haven’t had a chance to tell you about seeing her at the hotel parking lot, and we sure as hell never had lunch with her.”
Rachel sighed, dropping the containers on the table and backing away, waving her hands dismissively. “I don’t want to talk about it right now. I’ve lost my appetite. I’m going to go take a bath, and see if I can get rid of this headache before Theresa wakes up.”
Chase started to object, but Boone caught his attention and shook his head. “But—”
Boone’s expression gentled. “Go take your bath, honey. You need to relax a little.”
Running a hand over her hair as she left the room, Chase gritted his teeth. Once she disappeared down the hall, Chase scrubbed a hand over his face, amazed that their lives had been thrown into such turmoil because of Mona’s appearance.
He waited until he heard Rachel disappear into the bathroom, keeping his voice low as he met Boone’s look of concern and frustration. “It scares me to see Rachel so insecure. What the hell’s going on? I thought she knew how much we love her.”
Boone nodded. “Shakes me, too.” He glanced toward the doorway. “It, along with her unwillingness to let us deal with Theresa, have to be addressed, Chase. I don’t know why the hell I didn’t see how much she took over Theresa’s care.”
Chase felt as if his heart was being ripped from his chest as he met his brother’s tortured gaze. “Whatever we did to fuck this up, we have to fix it.”
Boone retrieved the takeout containers from the table and moved to the refrigerator with them, yanking the door open. “We sure as hell do.” He shoved the containers inside and slammed the door before reaching into the wine rack. “But, first we have to understand what the hell we’ve both missed. A glass or two
of her favorite wine will not only relax her, but also help loosen her tongue. Since she doesn’t seem to want to open up to us, it’s the best and fastest way I can think of to get some answers.”
Amused for the first time in hours, Chase reached into the cupboard for a wineglass. “Isn’t that a little devious?”
Boone shrugged, digging into the top drawer for a corkscrew. “I’m desperate. Besides, the combination of wine and a hot bath should help her sleep.” Inserting the corkscrew into the cork, he glanced at Chase as he began turning it. “You heard her. As tired and upset as she is, she still plans to take care of the baby tonight.”
With a sigh, Chase placed the wineglass on the countertop. “She’s always trying to do everything, but until now, I didn’t realize how obsessive she is about it.”
Why hadn’t he been aware of it?
Boone’s gaze sharpened. “And this thing with Mona seems to have intensified it. I have a feeling it’s connected.”
Chase blew out a breath, anxious to get to his wife. “We just have to find out how.”
Chapter Four
Rachel groaned and leaned back, sighing as the warm water began to ease muscles tight with tension. Tears burned her eyes and began to trickle down her cheeks, but she didn’t have the energy to wipe them away.
She felt as if she’d lost something precious, and didn’t quite know how to get it back.
Despite assurances from her husbands, Rachel couldn’t deny that there was a distance between them now that hadn’t been there before.
Blowing out a breath, she looked up at the ceiling, blinking back more tears.
The distance had been there, but only in her mind.
And she could blame only herself.
If she’d been honest with them about her insecurities from the beginning, she probably wouldn’t feel this way now. She’d been embarrassed to let them know that she loved them so much that she’d married them, despite her doubts.