by Marla Monroe
“What are you thinking about over there? Your face is the prettiest color of pink I’ve ever seen.”
She immediately turned away and concentrated on filing an invoice she’d uncovered filed in the wrong place earlier. No way was she going to admit that she fantasized about sex with them. Somehow she had to keep her wits about her. They weren’t really serious. They were just playing with her. If they knew how much she wanted them, it would give them power over her. As much as she valued her independence, thoughts of being with them threatened to push her to give in. She squared her shoulders.
“Nothing. Explain how you work a job from start to finish so I can get a feel of how you operate your business.”
“Changing the subject will work for a while, sweetheart, but not forever.” He grinned at her then pulled his seat closer to the desk.
Lana had a pad and pencil ready to take notes. She needed a general idea of their work flow so she would know when something was missing or late.
“For a new account, we get a request for a quote. We schedule an appointment and go out to find out what they want and see what sort of problems there may be in giving it to them. We make a list out of materials needed and then the estimated man-hours and any special equipment we may need to rent. You would be responsible in getting us costs of the materials and such, as well as the labor costs. We’ll show you how to figure all of that up, of course.”
“Do you have set distributors you use or go with whoever you can get the best prices from?” Lana scribbled notes as they talked.
“We have a list of them we use and search for the best price. We’ll get you that as well.”
They discussed the business for another hour before Justin put a stop to it and hauled her off to the living room to wait for Paul to make it home. She found that she waited eagerly for whoever worked that day to make it back. She missed them and worried about the fact that they had managed to worm their way under her defenses. What was she going to do when she went back home?
“Have you heard from the sheriff again about my apartment? I really need to move back home. Someone is going to steal everything I have if I don’t get that window fixed soon.”
Justin jerked at the sudden change in the conversation. “What brought that up?”
“It doesn’t matter. I need to get back to normal.”
“Don’t you like staying here? We’ve tried to make it nice for you.”
“Justin, you and Paul have been more than nice to me. I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but I need to go home.”
“I’ll call the sheriff once Paul gets home and find out what is going on. Don’t worry about the window. We’ve already had it replaced.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? How much was it?”
“Don’t worry about it, Lana. It’s taken care of.”
“I have to repay you. I can’t let you pay for my stuff. It’s my responsibility.”
“What’s going on?” Paul walked in with a frown on his face.
Neither one of them had heard him when he’d entered the house. Lana guessed that proved how upset she was over finding out that they had gone behind her back to pay for having her window fixed. Now she wondered if they had been keeping anything else from her. Like the fact that her apartment had been released from the sheriff’s department already.
“Why didn’t you tell me about my window? Is my apartment ready for me to go back now? Or were you going to keep that a secret, too?”
“You don’t need to go back there, baby. You have a home here with us.” Paul walked over to stand in front of where she sat rigidly on the couch.
“I can’t live with you two! I have my own place.” Lana jumped up without paying any attention to her injured leg.
“That apartment is a fire trap waiting to happen.”
“It’s my home! You can’t tell me where I can and can’t live.”
“Lana, that’s no way to live. You deserve more than that.” Justin spoke up once again.
“Now that I’m working for you, I’ll be able to afford a better place. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s time for me to go back home.” She crossed her arms and glared at them.
Everything inside of her wanted to agree to stay with them, but she knew it was too dangerous. Given half a chance they would take over her entire life, and she’d never survive being controlled. Despite knowing they would never hurt her on purpose, their overbearing personalities would eventually choke her to death. Why did love have to be so complicated?
Love! What in the hell was she going to do? Admitting that she loved them both eased her aching heart, but her mind couldn’t get around their demanding personalities. Lana had no choice but to leave if she was going to salvage any part of her sanity.
“We don’t want you to go back there. It’s too dangerous. Why don’t you want to stay here with us?” Justin glanced over at Paul.
“Because it’s not right. I shouldn’t have stayed this long.” Tears burned at the back of her eyes.
“You belong here with us, Lana. Don’t push us away. I thought you were getting used to us.” Paul stood in front of her with his hands in his pockets and a scowl on his face.
Strangely enough, she wasn’t afraid of him. A little nervous, maybe, but she didn’t fear him. They had been so good to her over the last few days. She purposefully didn’t think about the nightly loving they treated her to. It was one of the reasons she knew she needed to leave. She was growing accustomed to having them take care of her. It had to stop. It was too late for her heart, she’d already lost it to them, but she could keep her pride intact by getting away from them now.
“I can’t stay, Paul. It’s not right. You want more from me than I can give.”
“You mean more than you’re willing to give.” Justin spoke up again.
Lana looked over at him and felt her heart squeeze at the disappointment evident on his face. Did he really feel something for her, more than just lust? Her experience with men was almost nonexistent, but forever wasn’t something she should expect from someone like them. They were out of her league. The sooner she realized that and moved on, the better. She just prayed she would be able to work with them and keep her job. Surely with them being out in the field most of the time they could work through any awkwardness that might arise.
“Please, Justin. Don’t make this harder than it has to be. I’m not your type. In a few weeks or months, you’d get tired of me and then where would that leave me? I need to get on with my life. That means moving back to my place.”
Justin stared at her for several seconds. Finally he stalked off. Paul’s jaw clenched, and the muscles at the side of his face bunched and relaxed several times before he finally spoke.
“I’ll check with Mac to see if it’s okay for you to return yet. Before you spend another night there though, I’m going to make sure your locks are changed. If the doctor releases you on Monday, we’ll move you back then.” He jerked his hands out of his pockets and stalked off toward the kitchen.
Lana thought she would feel better knowing she would be going home soon, but instead she felt worse. Somehow the idea of returning to her lonely apartment didn’t relax her like she thought it would. If anything, it seemed to stir up more feelings of restlessness than ever before. Her heart sank at the realization that she might be making a huge mistake.
Shaking it off, Lana collapsed back on the couch and fought back the tears that threatened to fall. Her heart might be lost, but she wouldn’t let he pride go with it.
Chapter Fourteen
Sunday morning Paul stood on the back porch drinking his first cup of coffee while he waited for Justin to make it downstairs. He had no doubt that Lana would sleep for another couple of hours based on experience. He and Justin needed to talk. They were losing her, and that wasn’t an option.
“Coffee is good.” Justin closed the door behind him as he stepped out on the porch.
“She sleeping okay?”
Just
in nodded and took a sip of the scalding liquid. “Checked on her before I came downstairs.”
“I don’t want her going back to that fucking apartment. It’s a damn dump!”
“I don’t either, but we can’t keep her a prisoner here.”
Paul ran a hand through his hair and leaned against the wooden post supporting the porch. He’d been over and over the problem in his head for the last few days and hadn’t gotten any closer to a solution.
“If we try and force her to stay here, she’s going to pull away. We’ve made too much headway to compromise it all now.” Justin looked at him over the rim of the cup in his hand.
“Hell. Don’t you think I know that? It doesn’t make it any easier to watch her go back to that place.”
“Our only option is to make her fall in love with us sooner rather than later. Somehow I don’t see that happening in twenty-four hours. Let’s plan to keep her busy at work as much as possible and follow her home each night to be sure she makes it in safe.”
Paul scowled at his brother but had to admit that it was probably the best plan they would be able to come up with. Maybe if she spent enough time with them she would begin to fall in love and admit that they belonged together. In the meantime, he would have to curb his tendency to control everything and everyone around him. It wouldn’t be an easy feat, but necessary to keep from scaring her off. Once she was theirs, he could relax and everything could go back to normal.
“Were you listening to anything I said?” Justin frowned at him.
“Sorry, I was thinking that the only option we had was to get her to fall in love with us.”
“That’s what I was saying. You’re going to have to back off some, or you’ll scare her off.”
“She’s not spooked that easily. She stands up to me when I try to make her take it easy.”
Justin snickered. “She does at that. I like seeing her stand up to you. You can get out of hand sometimes.”
“We’ve got to figure out how to ease her into being with us so that she doesn’t feel pressured. She’s a very independent woman who’s used to taking care of herself. Hell, she took care of her mom for several years. Letting someone else do the caring for her isn’t going to sit well with her.”
“I think the first step in getting her to trust us more is to let her move back into that blasted apartment, but at the same time, court her. Make her feel special and treat her like a lady.”
“I’m putting new locks on her door and bars on the fucking windows that she can unlock from the inside.”
“That will take time to get ordered and installed,” Justin pointed out.
“I already ordered them. They’ll be installed some time on Monday.” Paul smiled at his brother.
“Why didn’t you tell me you already had it taken care of?”
“Because I was hoping you would be able to talk her into staying with us in the meantime. It didn’t work.” He winked at Justin. “Don’t worry, you’ll convince her soon enough. I have faith in you, little brother.”
They both turned to go back inside when the back door opened and Lana peeked out. She looked charmingly disheveled despite having dressed in a sundress and sandals. Her long hair still looked mussed as if she’d raked her fingers through it and forgone a brush. He wanted to sit her down and brush her hair for her. He could almost feel the gentle tug as he drew it through her thick hair.
“Morning, sweetheart. How do you feel today?” Justin walked past her into the kitchen.
“Hmm. Okay, I guess. I couldn’t sleep anymore. It’s Sunday and I don’t have to work, but I can’t sleep in. I need to be doing something, or I’m going to get lazy.”
Paul felt a small grin widen his mouth as he followed them inside. She was pouting, and she looked cute doing it.
“Baby, you don’t have a lazy bone in your body. You could do with some time off to just laze around some. I bet you’ve never had a vacation in your life.”
“Have you?” she asked with a smirk.
“She’s got you there, Paul.” Justin grinned across the room at him.
“Shut up. No one asked you anything.” He scowled at Justin before turning back to Lana. “Are you hungry? What do you want for breakfast this morning?”
“I’m really not very hungry. I think I’ll just eat a piece of toast with some jelly. What are your plans for today?”
Paul watched her as she prepared the bread for toasting. He could almost see the gears in her head turning as she thought. What was she thinking?
“I was thinking about watching some movies off of Netflix for a change. Got any requests?”
“Aw, man. Why did you ask her? She’ll probably pick some chick flicks or girly movies like Hope Floats.” Justin whined but didn’t look nearly as worried as he let on.
Lana rose to take the bait. “I’ll have you know I don’t watch chick flicks. I like action movies or drama.” She stuck her hands on her hips and frowned at Justin.
“Don’t worry about him. He actually liked Thelma & Louise. After you finish eating we’ll go browse through the new releases and pick out something to watch.”
“There was action in Thelma & Louise. They drove off a cliff. Remember?”
Lana laughed at his obvious pout and patted him on the shoulder. Paul liked seeing her smile, and her laughter was addicting. He would never get enough of hearing it. Somehow they had to win her love. He couldn’t fathom the idea of going on without her in their life. With the immediate threat of the killer gone, he could concentrate on winning her heart and cementing a place in her life for him and his brother.
* * * *
Lana argued playfully with Justin on movies until Paul put a stop to it and made the final decision. For the next hour and a half they watched the latest action-packed thriller complete with car chase scenes and gunfights. She found herself sitting between them as usual despite trying to settle in one of the recliners to put some distance between them.
She knew that tomorrow she would be moving back to her own place, and even though she knew it was the right thing to do, it didn’t make it any easier to think about. Putting some space between them seemed like the best idea to her. Unfortunately, they weren’t having any of it. Justin had promptly picked her up and plopped her back down between him and his brother on the couch.
Somehow she managed to survive the entire movie despite Justin’s arm across her shoulders and Paul’s hand on her knee. Thankfully there had been enough action to keep her attention focused on the movie instead of the heat of their skin seeping beneath her clothes. Mostly.
“Okay, the next movie will start in about thirty minutes. Time for everyone to run to the bathroom and get another drink.” Justin jumped up and headed for the stairs.
“Wait! What did you pick?” She reached to grab the remote, but Paul beat her to it.
“You’ll see when it starts.” He actually winked at her. She’d never seen him wink before.
Exasperated, she stood up and hobbled to the downstairs bathroom then joined Justin in the kitchen to grab a Diet Coke. She glanced at the clock and sighed. It would be nearly one by the time the next movie was over. Her last day with them was slipping away. Despite knowing it was for the best, her emotions were conflicting, and she was afraid that if she studied them too deeply she wouldn’t want to leave at all. Hell, she knew she didn’t want to leave them. She loved them, but it didn’t mean that it was right.
“Earth to Lana. Are you ready for the movie to start?” Justin’s voice cut into her thoughts.
“Um, yeah.” She settled down between them and waited to find out what they were watching.
It didn’t take long for her to figure out they’d chosen one that had action, but also had a lot of adult-natured content as well. The idea of sitting between them while a couple on the screen had sex wasn’t her idea of comfortable. She briefly considered escaping to the bathroom during one scene, but Justin paused the movie until she returned.
It felt as if the two men
were closing in on her as she watched the movie. Even though she knew they hadn’t moved any closer, it sure felt like they were smothering her. Her skin felt ultrasensitive, and her pussy grew wetter by the minute. She needed to change her panties by the time the movie was over with. Unfortunately, Justin had no intentions of letting her escape once the credits started scrolling down the screen.
“Hungry, Lana?”
“I sure as hell am even if she’s not.” Paul’s growly voice had her jerking her head toward him.
He was leaning closer to her so that when she turned to face him, he was only a breath away from her lips. In a flash, he closed the gap and married his lips to hers. Then his hand cupped the back of her head and moved her where he wanted her. His tongue lapped at her lips until she opened to him and then stroked over hers. She had no control over her reaction or the way she returned the kiss. Where the brothers were concerned, she had no willpower to resist them.
His taste exploded across her tongue and drew a soft moan from deep in her throat. Heat built inside of her as the kiss took her places she didn’t think she had any right to go. Longing for more had her hands grasping his shoulders, pulling him closer when she should have been pushing him away instead. How would she ever manage to live without them after having experienced so much of their sexual expertise over the last few days?
When Paul finally pulled away, she felt lost without him. Then Justin turned her toward him and resumed where Paul had left off. Once again she found herself on the receiving end of enough sexual lust to drown her. They were potent apart, but when Paul moved in behind her and began to feast on her neck, she lost all thoughts of resistance. She was theirs to do with as they pleased.
Please let them make love to me.
As if they heard her wordless pleading, Justin picked her up off the couch and carried her toward the stairs. She was so lost in the feeling of his arms around her that Lana didn’t realize they were upstairs back in her room until Paul began pulling her clothes off of her. By that time, she had nothing on but her panties and Justin was totally nude.