Blake, Abby - Suddenly Bear (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (7 page)

“Did I say something to upset you?”

She glanced at the man beside her and felt hard pressed not to cry. He seemed like a really nice guy, and he wasn’t to blame for the mess she herself had made of her life.

“No. I’m sorry. I just…um…have a lot on my mind.” Geez, talk about lame.

“I know what happened with your ex the other night. Are you okay?” She nodded but couldn’t stop the tear that rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly, horribly embarrassed that she would be so emotional in front of a man who was mostly a stranger. Brandon turned her to face him, holding her shoulders as he gazed into her eyes. He grinned widely and then winked. “Want me to go beat him up?”

She made a noise that was half laugh, half sob and suddenly found herself wrapped in his arms. The man was huge, built like a gladiator, yet instead of flashing back to her moments of helplessness as Bruce had used his superior strength against her, Violet felt nothing but safe. She held on tight and wished she could shut up that little voice in her head that screamed at her that it was wrong to let her lover’s brother hold her while she cried. After a few more moments, she placed her hands on his warm chest and levered herself away from his strength.

“I’m sorry.” Lame, lame, lame, but what else could she offer?

“Don’t be,” Brandon said as he slung an arm around her shoulders and turned her back toward the car. “Did Jayden ever talk about our friend Louise?”

“Louise?” Well that was a strange turn in the conversation.

“Yup, she was kind of like the kid sister we never had. Always following us around when we were little, getting into mischief, leading us astray.”

“Uh-huh,” Violet said with a knowing smile. She doubted Brandon was the type to be led anywhere, even as a kid.

“That’s right,” he said with a hand over his heart. “She was a terrible influence. We wouldn’t have gotten into half the trouble we did if she hadn’t been around.” He laughed when Violet rolled her eyes. “Anyway, Louise recently fell in love with and married three men.”

“Three?” Violet was trying not to sound incredulous, but she couldn’t hide her curiosity. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to handle one husband. Three sounded impossible. Although, if the three men were anything like Jayden and his brothers, maybe she understood some of the appeal.

“And she’s happy?” Violet winced when she heard the wonder in her voice. She probably shouldn’t have sounded so interested, but wicked images of what Jayden and Brandon and even the brother she’d only seen in photos could do to her together were winding sensual promises through her skull. Hell, she probably shouldn’t have read all of those ménage romances, but imagining sex with all three Delko brothers…Oh, wow.

“Louise seems very happy. She was working as a sheriff’s deputy when she met them, so I can assure you she’s more than able to hold her own, even surrounded by three bossy husbands.”

“Seriously?” He grinned widely like he was having a great time shocking her with the unusual circumstances of his friend’s marriage. Again a million questions buzzed through her head, but at least this time she managed to keep her mouth shut. He grinned and watched her as she tried to hide her curiosity.

Finally he breathed out and laughed heartily. “She is a very happy woman, and so are the men she loves.”

“Wow, that’s…um…wow.”

“It is wow,” he said with a teasing grin. “She has three men loving her, protecting her, providing for her.”

“Hell, I’d settle for one half-decent guy,” she lamented before she really gave the words serious thought.

He chuckled. “Isn’t my little brother treating you right?”

“Oh, no. I mean, yes, he’s treating me right, but,”—she turned away, unable to look at Brandon as she voiced her concern—“surely you can see I’m not a good choice for him. He’s young and has the whole world at his feet. I’ve been around the block a time or two.”

“Hmm, I can see your point.” The words were so unexpected that her gaze flew to his face, but he grinned wickedly and added, “Maybe you better run off with me.”

She laughed, relieved that he wasn’t taking her maudlin thoughts too seriously. “I’m not sure Jayden would like that.”

“Actually, Jayden would love that.” His sudden change in demeanor threw her off-balance once more. “We’ve actually discussed what it would be like to live in a relationship like Louise has with her men. I think you might fit perfectly.”

Three men? Three
rich
men? Geez, maybe she’d had too much sun. She glanced up at the sky, frowned at the dark clouds, and wondered if she was maybe suffering brain freeze. Surely she was hallucinating or having a breakdown or something. This entire conversation could not be real.

“Think about it,” Brandon said as he pulled her hand into his, and turned her to look at him. He touched her face with the back of his knuckles. The skin was rough and calloused but so very warm. How the hell could he be so warm?

She didn’t even have the sense to pull away when he leaned in to kiss her. She just melted into his touch and mentally catalogued every sensation. Heat coursed through her, his nearness warming her blood and sending her brain into forbidden territory. Three men? What the hell was she thinking?

She jerked away from Brandon, half afraid he would dissolve into thin air and half afraid that he wouldn’t. “I…I need to talk to Jayden.”

“Of course,” Brandon said with a grin before he stepped away and gave her some much-needed space. They walked back to the car in companionable silence, and he didn’t even try to hold her hand. Hell, why was she disappointed?

“Lunch,” she blurted as they got into the car.

“Sure. What’s your favorite restaurant?”

“Hell, no,” she said, holding up her hands in an effort to stop the suggestion. “I am not letting you take me to a restaurant for lunch. This isn’t a date.”

“Of course not,” Brandon said agreeably, but he was wearing a wide grin, and she couldn’t quite reconcile it with the words coming from his mouth.

“Seriously. This is just two friends hanging out. All that stuff about your friend and her husbands, that doesn’t affect today. It has nothing to do with this…this thing between us.”

She groaned aloud at his happy smile. Clearly he wasn’t getting the point. She went to list all the reasons why she needed to talk to Jayden first, but Brandon cut her off.

“Okay, how about we grab a couple of pizzas and head back to the apartment. Jayden will need to eat as well, and I doubt he’ll grumble about the interruption if we grab an extra-large meat combo with double cheese.”

She smiled. It was Jayden’s favorite pizza. She had no idea how a man studying medicine, and who should know better, could put such huge amounts of cholesterol into his body. Yet, she’d watched him do it on more than one occasion. Ten minutes later Violet’s jaw nearly hit the counter when Brandon ordered two of those heart-attack-waiting-to-happen pizzas and a half-and-half vegetarian and barbecue chicken one for her.

By the time they entered the apartment Violet had almost managed to convince herself that their surreal conversation in the park had never happened. Three husbands? Where had she dreamed up
that
idea?

Chapter Five

Jayden smelled the pizza long before his brother’s and their mate’s scents reached his nose. He was already salivating by the time they walked into the apartment. But he went straight for his woman, sensing that the talk she’d had with Brandon had left her feeling a bit shell-shocked.

She moved into his arms easily, and he breathed a sigh of relief that she didn’t pull away. He could feel a nervous energy bouncing off her and suspected it had something to do with his brother’s behavior. His theory was proven a moment later when Brandon stepped up behind her and pressed a kiss to the back of her neck.

She startled, like she wanted to move away, but Jayden laughed quietly and whispered, “See I told you he’d love you.”

She lifted her head and looked at him. He couldn’t quite contain his joy as he took her mouth in a kiss that seared him all the way to his bones and left the arousal level much, much higher in the room. Very deliberately he broke the kiss, smiled at their girl, and turned her around so that his brother could give her the same. Jayden caressed her hips, hoping to soothe and encourage as his brother took her lips in a kiss that left them all aching with need.

Finally, Brandon lifted his head and smiled down at their mate.

“I must be out of my mind,” she whispered.

“Nope,” Brandon said as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Not yet.”

She seemed stunned for a moment, but then she giggled and whispered, “You’re probably right.”

“Lunch,” Brandon proclaimed as he broke their clinch, patted her hip, and then headed for the kitchen.

Jayden watched Violet as she watched Brandon. She seemed more amused than upset, and Jayden felt his own tension level drop considerably. Maybe, just maybe, they had a chance to make things work.

“Is he always like that?” she asked Jayden as Brandon grabbed a pizza and began eating.

Jayden shrugged. “Pretty much.”

She glanced around the room but finally asked, “And you’re okay with what just happened?”

“Absolutely.”

She looked like she might say something else, but Brandon called them to hurry their asses up, and she turned toward the kitchen instead.

* * * *

Declan smiled as he hung up the phone. Finally a little bit of good news. Brandon had sounded quite excited about their mate and assured him that Violet was definitely the type of woman they would all have chosen if they’d been given the chance to choose. That at least gave him hope for the future.

He was more than ready to settle into a steady relationship even if it did mean sharing his woman with his brothers. In some ways it was almost fitting. As kids they’d been inseparable, as adults they all worked for the family business, and as husbands they’d all love the same woman.

The best news was that she wasn’t some little gold digger trying to latch on to a rich doctor. In many ways she was the opposite, even to the point that she was refusing to visit the resort until she could get time off work and save the money to pay for her own flight. He’d heard the annoyance in his brother’s voice when Brandon had explained, but he’d also sensed the pride that Brandon felt in their mate. She was strong and independent, and she would definitely need that when mated to three bossy, overprotective males.

“When does she get here?” his mother asked as he came into the office. She’d been a little shocked when they’d explained what was happening, but she wanted her sons to be happy. She also realized it put her one step closer to being a grandmother—something she was very much looking forward to.

“She’s not coming.”

When his mother’s smile faltered, Declan felt like the world’s biggest jerk. “I mean, she’s refusing to let us pay for her flight, so we’ll need to be patient while she organizes her own finances.”

“Great,” his mother said, her disappointment practically dripping from the word. “You finally find your mate and she’s going to be stubborn about it.”

“Yup,” Declan said, knowing that his grin would confuse his mother even more. Declan had spent a lot of time dating the ladies who frequented the resort, but he’d only met one who’d been possessive and clingy. It had been enough to convince him that it wasn’t what he wanted. Violet, on the other hand, seemed exactly the type of woman he wanted.

“I don’t suppose she’d take too kindly to an intervention-slash-kidnapping?” His mother smiled, but Declan suspected that the woman was only half joking. Hell, maybe they should wait a while before introducing their mate to their mother. The woman’s enthusiasm was probably enough to scare Violet away.

But Declan laughed anyway. From everything he’d heard from Brandon and Jayden their lady would probably verbally castrate them before she let herself be kidnapped. Even though what had happened with her ex still burned his gut, Declan was very proud of the way she’d handled it.