Jaymie Holland (12 page)

She slid her feet into the sandals that she’d left beside the chair, having difficulty containing her fury. She wanted to throw something against the wall and barely resisted picking up her coffee mug and doing just that. The mug shattering and the coffee spraying the wall would be incredibly satisfying. But she wasn’t going to let them know just how hurt she was.

Yes, hurt. Pissed, but hurt, too.

“Drew.” Dane’s voice had an urgent quality to it. “We were wrong, but that doesn’t change the fact that we care about you.”

“Give us another chance.” She’d never seen Colton look so concerned, so caring.

Screw that.

“Stay the hell away from me.” She grabbed her purse off of the table beside the front door, whirled, and faced the two men who had come up behind her. “I don’t want to ever see either of you again.”

With that, she jerked the door open and slammed it behind her.

She half expected the men to chase her to the elevators but they didn’t open their condo door. Her throat was tight and tears pricked at the back of her eyes as she reached the elevators. A lone tear escaped and rolled down her cheek, and she brushed it away with an angry swipe of her fingers.

Somehow she was more hurt than angry, and that made her mad at herself more than anything. Well, it was probably best it ended now before they got to the cheating phase, anyway. They’d made it easy for her to break things off.

She held her purse tightly to her chest. As far as Dane and Colton, she needed to process the feeling of invasion and deceit. It was deceitful for them to have been spying on her and having her followed, right?

When she punched the elevator button, she was glad when the door of one of the elevators slid right open.

A stupid part of her was actually disappointed that they hadn’t come after her, and she ground her teeth. As the car traveled downward, she slipped her purse strap over herself, cross-body, and then clenched and unclenched her hands when they were free.

When the elevator reached the ground floor, she marched out of the building and into the morning that was already humid and warm. She jaywalked across the street like any other New Yorker, and entered Central Park to cut across it toward her apartment, which was in a much grungier part of town.

Yeah, she had known the cameras were there, and that they’d had the capability, but she’d thought the cameras were only used if the alarm went off.

Hadn’t she?

Of course she’d never thought she was being watched. She narrowed her eyes as she remembered how Colton and Dane had known she’d been sleeping on the couch. Exactly what and how much had they seen? Had they watched her when she’d used her vibrators? The thought was strangely erotic.

She shook her head. That was crazy. Erotic? Like watching an X-rated movie, only she hadn’t been a paid performer.

Walking through the park calmed her, and the anger that had been bursting from her seams began vanishing like smoke in the wind. The more she walked, the more she calmed. Every now and then she looked over her shoulder to make sure Colton, Dane, or Louis, weren’t following her.

Even though she was hot from the walk and the weather, she rubbed her arms with her palms, feeling vaguely chilled. The thought of the men coming after her made her think of the night she’d been mugged. If Colton and Dane hadn’t followed her, what would have happened? She reached her hand to her face and touched where the sutures had been. It would have been a lot worse than some stitches and a black eye.

A shudder traveled down her spine and she glanced over her shoulder again to make sure she wasn’t being followed by anyone at all. And that included would-be muggers and rapists.

She hated how the mugger had violated her feelings of safety. Damn. Like she’d thought before, the confidence had definitely been an illusion for a single woman walking alone in the middle of the night in a not-so-great part of the city. What good was pepper spray? Especially when she hadn’t even been able to hold on to it.

By the time she reached her neighborhood, most of her anger had evaporated. Instead, she felt hurt and sad. Hurt by the invasion of her privacy, and sad that she couldn’t trust any man enough to have a relationship, and definitely not with the two men who could shatter her world.

As she reached the door to her apartment building, a long black limo pulled up to the curb. At first she wondered if it could be Colton or Dane, but as far as she knew, they got around in the Mercedes and didn’t use a limo.

She was about to enter her apartment building when Jensen, the Dorian brothers’ chauffeur, got out of the limo and went around to the back door and opened it. Megan took the hand he offered and stepped out of the car. She looked gorgeous in a black sheath dress that hugged her curves, her dark red hair in a chic bob, and a broad smile that lit her face.

“Meg.” Drew went to her best friend and they hugged.

Megan squeezed Drew tightly, as if knowing she needed the hug more than anything in the world right now. Megan drew back and frowned as she looked at Drew’s face. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that. Does it still hurt?”

Drew shrugged. “Only when I think about it.” She brushed hair from her eyes. “I thought we were getting together next Wednesday.” Drew felt as if it had been longer than the few days it had been since she’d seen her friend. “But it’s so good to see you. You have impeccable timing.”

“We are still on for Wednesday.” Megan looked a bit abashed. “As far as today, a little birdie told me you might need someone to talk with.”

Drew held back a frown. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

“Come on.” Megan slipped her arm through Drew’s. “Let’s go inside. That old A/C unit has got to be better than it is out here.”

This time, Drew couldn’t help a smile. No matter why Megan was here, it was good to have her friend to talk with.

When they were in the apartment, Drew put her hands on her hips and glared at the ventilation screen, which was where the living room camera was. “They’ve been watching me.”

Megan winced. “When we had it installed, I never thought they’d use it unless the alarm went off.”

“Exactly what I thought.” Drew sat on the couch and Megan sat facing her. “It just feels like such an invasion.”

“I understand.” Megan reached out and took Drew’s hands in hers. “I talked with Colton and they truly are sorry. I think they were genuinely concerned about you and they didn’t watch you for titillation.”

“Well, they got some of that, too, I’m certain.” Drew frowned. “They’ve been after me to be more cautious ever since they installed the security system.” She shook her head. “I’m surprised they didn’t say ‘I told you so’ after the mugging.”

Megan studied Drew. “I don’t think they’re the types to rub your face in something, especially when you could have been killed.”

“I’m sure you’re right.” Drew sighed. “But they’ve been having me followed. Watching me. Shouldn’t I be upset about that?”

With a thoughtful look, Megan tilted her head to the side. “Normally, I’d say yes. What they did definitely could come off as stalker-ish. But with it being Colton and Dane, I don’t feel that way.”

Drew found herself giving a little smile. “As much as it pains me to say it, thinking about them watching me is a bit of a turn-on. Is that sick?”

“I don’t think so.” Megan laughed. “They really care for you and you have to admit, you feel something for them. Don’t you?”

At that, Drew’s shoulders slumped and she lowered her head, hair falling over her eyes. “I do.”

“Drew?” Megan pushed hair from Drew’s face. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Because I don’t want to get hurt.” Drew raised her head. “All men screw around. The last thing I need is to fall for two men who end up fucking some other woman.”

“Oh, honey.” Megan took Drew’s hands in hers again and squeezed. “Not all men are like the assholes you’ve been with.”

Drew gave a pained laugh. “Sure. And what about my father and stepfather screwing around on my mom?”

“I’m so sorry you’ve been through all of that.” Megan didn’t lessen her grip on Drew’s fingers. “It’s nothing to make light of. But there
are
good men out there, and Colton and Dane are two of the best. I trust them as much as I trust Nick and Sean, and you know I trust my husbands more than words can say.”

“I do.” Drew nodded. “Coming from you that means a lot.”

“Nick and Sean wouldn’t have gone past a business relationship and wouldn’t have developed a friendship with Colton and Dane if they didn’t believe the pair were stand-up guys.”

“I believe that,” Drew said. “In spite of my background, I can’t help but feel that Nick and Sean are great guys.”

“And so are Colton and Dane,” Megan said.

Drew blew out her breath. “I’ll think about giving them a second chance. I just don’t know.”

“You deserve to be happy.” Megan’s smile was soft and sincere. “Like I said, I think they’re good men and they could make you happier than you could ever imagine.”

Drew let out her breath. “Maybe.”

“Would you like to talk it out some more?” Megan asked.

“I’m hot, sticky, and wearing the same clothes I wore yesterday. I need to get into something else and freshen up.” Drew stood and smiled back at her friend. “Thanks for the talk, but you go on with your day.”

Megan got to her feet, too. “Anytime you need me, you know where to find me.”

Drew hugged Megan again before opening the front door for Megan and saying goodbye. They hugged again and Drew closed the door behind Megan and locked it, then set the alarm.

She glared at the place where the camera was hidden, and thought about getting a ladder from the super, climbing up, and yanking it out.

She felt a heavy weight in her chest. She wasn’t sure if it was because of Colton and Dane’s spying on her, or the fact that she found it impossible to trust men.

But were Colton and Dane good, trustworthy guys like Megan had said?

She’d have to think this through, give herself some time to process it and make her decision.

With a sigh, she turned and headed toward her bedroom.

For two days Drew avoided Colton’s and Dane’s phone calls. She’d put barriers over the security cameras as she didn’t have the money to have them removed. It had turned out to be a lot more difficult than she’d thought it would be to take them out.

Her anger had started to die down and she’d had a lot of time to think. What they’d done was wrong, and she should be angry, no doubt about it.

But she believed, like Megan did, that they were good men. They’d screwed up—what they’d done had been wrong. But they knew it and they’d had come clean on their own. They could have left her ignorant—not telling her would have been the easy thing to do. She likely would never have known.

She paced her bedroom and furrowed her brows, then stopped and closed her eyes. She slowly let out her breath and after a moment, opened her eyes. Yes, she was ready to move on from this and forgive them. Now she just needed to figure out how. Should she call them or go to them? It was the weekend, so they wouldn’t be at work.

After she showered and changed into a backless spaghetti strap blouse and a thigh-high skirt, she went into her kitchen barefoot to make herself a cup of tea. She heated water in the teapot and waited for it to whistle before pouring it into a teacup.

As she put the teabag of chamomile into the hot water, a knock at the door caused her to go still. She left the teabag in the cup and faced the door.

She brushed her hands on her skirt and pushed her hair over her shoulders as she walked to the front door. When she peeked through the peephole, her heart started pounding. It was Dane and Colton.

It told her something about herself when she was instantly glad to see them and didn’t hesitate opening the door.

When she swung it open, both men looked at her with apology in their gazes. They looked so damned good that it caused her pulse to flutter. Both men wore T-shirts and jeans. Colton, so tall and broad with green eyes that made her melt. Dane with his muscular build and long, dark hair, and blue eyes that gave her even more of a melty feeling.

“May we come in?” Dane asked when Drew said nothing.

Unable to speak for fear of throwing herself at them, she nodded and stepped back. Both men walked in and she closed the door behind them.

Dane moved in front of her. “You mean a lot to us, Drew.”

Colton took a step closer and she felt his presence directly behind her. “Tell us what we need to do to prove it.”

She turned around. Without really thinking about what she was doing, she reached up and gave Colton a soft kiss. He looked surprised, but settled his hands on her waist and kissed her in return, with a passion so sweet that it told her volumes.

Dane moved in closer and Drew turned to him. He cupped her face in his hands and lowered his head. He kissed her just as passionately as Colton had.

The two men touched her and kissed her and then they were surrounding her. It felt comfortable and right being between them, having their hands on her body, and their lips on hers.

“We’re so sorry,” Drew said. “What we did was wrong, even if we did it to protect you.”

“Will you forgive us?” Colton said in a low, rumbly voice.

“Yes.” She paused. “But we need to get to know each other better. I want to know more about your childhoods, your families, your past loves, and your lives now. I want to know everything about you both.” She added quietly, “I want to know that if we are in a relationship you will never hurt me or cheat on me.”

Colton drew her into his arms and held her against his chest while Dane pressed himself behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and placing a soft kiss on her nape.

“We would never hurt you or cheat on you.” Colton leaned back and stroked her hair from her face. “Let us prove it to you.”

“I’ve been cheated on by every man I’ve ever been with.” The words came out slowly, painfully. “I don’t find it easy to trust because of that.”

“I’d like to make the men who hurt you pay for it,” Colton said.

Dane pressed his lips to her neck again. “We both would.”