Give and Receive - Bundle (Books 1-2): New Adult Romance (7 page)

“Oh, I’m good. Superb. But thanks for caring.”

Danny sounded sarcastic and defensive.

Lena knew that tone. It meant he wanted to be left alone.

Ty rolled his eyes.

“Danny knows I’m just fucking with him. Right, D?”

Danny ignored him, and didn’t answer.

This was becoming a habit Ty did not much like.

Superior motherfucker. Always so damned above it all.

He watched Lena. Who continued to watch Danny.

Danny watched the ice melt in his glass.

Refusing to look at either of them.

Ty decided it was time to break up the monotony.

Time to practice a little of what he preached.

Mostly because if he watched Lena throw another glance Danny’s way, Ty was going to explode. And throw him more than a damn glance. Like a fist to his throat.

Rewind and press play, Malone.

The game wasn’t over just yet.

“So how’d your meeting go?”

He pulled Lena back in between his legs, rubbing her shoulders. Paying particular attention to the spot on her neck she loved.

“Good, I guess. I’m glad I got to them first. Some other agency’s been sniffing around, but I think we got them. And don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing. We still need to talk.”

Lena tilted her head up.

Subconsciously leaning back into his chest.

Still staring at Danny. Who continued staring at his glass.

He seemed lost in thought.

“I’m not doing anything. Just trying to help you relax, baby. Shut up and enjoy it. You’re all tight and shit. You need to wind down.”

He continued rubbing her shoulders. Letting his hands massage the chords of tense muscle under his fingertips.

“I think you were right to get in early, too. Don’t you think so, D?”

Danny felt the pleasant numbness of alcohol set in. Barely hearing him. In about ten minutes, he wouldn’t feel a blessed thing. The constant, gnawing ache would finally give him some relief. If just for a moment.

Sometimes, God was kind.

“Hey, Blake.”

Louder, this time.

Danny didn’t look up from his glass.

“What, Ty.”

“I said Lena was right to get to those clients early. Don’t you think? I think when you see a good thing and you don’t jump on it, you run the risk of someone else beating you to it. Am I right?”

Ty was playing a perilous game, taunting Danny like this.

Kind of like approaching a tiger at the zoo.

With no protective glass.

Not impossible.

Just dangerously stupid.

“I would hate if someone came through, taking something I thought was mine. Wouldn’t you?”

Dangerous, but more fun than he’d had in a long time.

They would both pay him back at some point.

Fuck it. You only live once.

“Let me show you what I mean.”

His hands dropped to Lena’s waist. Tightening and pulling her further back onto his lap. Before she could respond, he bent down. Placing a kiss on her bare shoulder.

Lena blinked up at him.

With a W
hat. The. Fuck.
expression.

Ty’s gaze was absolutely wicked as he looked at her.

Giving one big, salacious, wink.

“Like microphones, for example. Lena says she likes them...big. The microphones, I mean. You know, for when she sings. I say she needs to check out more than one brand. So she can decide which one suits her best.”

She glared at him, looking murderous.

He willed her to follow his lead. She’d thank him later.

And if not…too late to back out now.

“Now those salesman, they can be tricky little bastards, you know. Always trying to sell you the most expensive item on the floor. Not considering personal preference or what feels the best on…I mean…against your lips. It’s funny to watch them trip over themselves. Trying to outdo the other. Hoping they’re the one to finally close the deal.”

He finished the last of his vodka tonic.

Smiling at Danny directly.

Looking completely innocent.

“But ultimately, most people already know what they want, in my opinion. They might think they’re confused or unsure, but deep down, they know. Sometimes they just need some persuasion. What about you, Blake? What’s your preference?”

Lena knew something else was going on between the two of them. She’d be a complete idiot not to.

Reese would argue she was damn near close, regardless.

She made a mental note to slap her later.

In either case, it made no sense wasting time worrying about it now. Both of them were going to be completely tight-lipped.

Besides. Right now, she felt all of the day’s stress falling off her in waves. It honestly felt too good to care about anything else.

When Ty’s lips touched her flesh, she felt a new tension enter the air. Her body told her more than she ever thought she wanted to know about him, and what his lips on her skin felt like.

Danny raised his eyes to look at Ty’s. Slowly glancing down and meeting Lena’s. She watched intently, as he took in everything.

How close Ty was behind her. Where his hands were on her waist. How he sat. How she allowed herself to be practically on his lap. He swallowed hard.

Ty undid Lena’s hair from the loose knot it was in. Danny watched it fall. A jumble of wild curls around her shoulders.

Ty massaged her scalp. His hands grazing the delicate curve of her neck. Lena contemplated why any of this was turning her on. This was Ty of all people. He touched her all the time. Tonight felt different, somehow.

Like you never thought about him that way.

Her inner voice was smug. Triumphant.

Lena told her to shut the fuck up.

Without warning, her whole body enveloped her with heat. She involuntarily pressed her thighs together, a familiar wetness pooling between her legs. She was torn between wanting to throttle Ty, and being completely ready to come apart at the seams.

The air was thick. Sexually charged.

You could cut it with a knife.

“I wasn’t aware you were singing now, L.”

Danny sounded hoarse. Barely above a whisper.

She heard him anyway.

“I’m n-not. Not really. Just working on some stuff in my spare time.”

She stammered, biting back an oath. Ty’s fingers applied more pressure to the tight spot in her neck.

“So. Do you?”

Danny’s gaze lowered to her thighs. Still tightly closed.

The slit in her already illegally short skirt exposed caramel, satiny, honey kissed skin. Covered with the barest sheen of sweat.

“Do I what?”

Lena slapped Ty’s hand away. Concentrating on Danny’s question. He ignored her. Deliberately trailing his fingers down her back.
Fuck.

His fingers were magical little beings of light.

“Like large…microphones?”

“Y-Y-Yes. Fuck Ty. Right there.”

Lena’s voice lowered, becoming husky.

She emitted a small moan.

“Yes, what?”

He whispered in her ear. Sucking her lobe into his mouth.

She gasped, feeling pure sensation hit.

Nipples tightening and hardening.

“Yes, I like big microphones, damn you.”

Danny leaned forward, like this were the most important question he was ever going to ask. His breathing harsher. Pulse quickening with each passing second.

He continued watching Ty touch her. Touching her the way he always wanted to. The way he needed to, right now.

He resisted the urge.

“Why?”

“Wh-Why what?”

Lena stammered, sounding nervous.

“Why do you like large…microphones?”

Danny was playing the game too.

Whether he wanted to or not.

“Because…”

“Because what, L?”

His voice was uneven. Strained.

“Because they felt better between my- I mean on my lips. When I used to perform.”

Danny inhaled.

Visualizing the mental image of Lena, on her knees.

In front of him sucking him off. Right there in the club.

Where everyone could see.

Ty’s arrogant, self-satisfied smirk practically mouthed the word,
checkmate
.

He was sure Ty knew exactly what he was thinking.

He probably guessed Danny hated him at that moment. He’d be right. Danny knew he was helpless to look away. He had played right into Ty’s hands.

Lena was in complete control of this fantasy, however.

Ty knew that as well. None of this would have happened, unless she agreed to it. Frankly, he never expected her to go this far. To let him touch her this way. Even more so knowing they were in public. On full display.