Sunset Tryst (7 page)

It was then that Riley peered over her shoulder and snuck
him a smile. God, he needed that. He needed to see the light—no, wait—the
hope
in her eyes. She was so beautiful, and sexy, and… Damn. Just different from any
other woman he’d ever met. And as Garrett turned and followed her gaze, as he
matched her smile, Evan couldn’t help but think that maybe Garrett was a little
different too—only in a very good way.

He spun away from Garrett and Riley at the last second,
before Shannon and Brad had the chance to notice him. Call his avoidance
wimping out or whatever, he didn’t really care. He didn’t want to see them, or
be forced to make insincere conversation with them. It’d all be bullshit
anyway, he knew, just like their entire relationship had been. What would be
the point of making nice when it was clear that none of them remotely felt that
way?

So instead of rehashing the crappy events of the last year,
he watched the woman behind the counter put his order together as his old
lovers strolled on unaware behind him.

With their passing, he felt cleansed in a way. Out with the
old, and all that. In with something that wouldn’t be so heartbreaking. In with
a defined timeframe.

A week. He could so handle a week of hot and heavy,
guilt-free threesome sex with two incredible people, and then say goodbye to
start his new life back home in Texas.

At least that’s what he told himself as he stacked their
food baskets one on top of the other and made his way back to the picnic table.

Sex. Incredible people. Goodbye.

Yep, this was going to be a total piece of cake.

Riley’s stomach growled when she spotted Evan heading back
to their table. It seemed like forever since she’d last had a fresh grouper
sandwich and she couldn’t wait to sink her teeth into the one Evan placed in
front of her. But as he doled out the food to each of them and sat next to her,
her hunger waned. There was something off with him. She saw it in his face, she
felt it in her bones. He’d gone from talking about spanking her to needing a
distraction and had now turned somber—all in the span of ten minutes time.

“Hey, you okay?” she asked, leaning into him so he could
hear her over the music.

He dipped his head and shifted his butt on the bench next to
her before picking up his sandwich with one hand and a couple French fries with
the other. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

Fine? He was giving her a lame
fine
?

Scooting closer, she crossed her legs and tucked her foot
behind his knee, nudging him gently. “You’re an awful liar.”

He chuckled, eyeing her sideways as he kept quiet and took a
bite of his food.

“And an avoider too,” she said.

He swallowed and stared at her for a moment. “I’m not
avoiding anything.”

Yes he was, but she wasn’t going to push him. Instead, she
sipped on her beer and devoured her grouper—which tasted like heaven on a
French roll—while listening as the band played on. When the three of them were
done eating, Garrett gathered their garbage and smiled at her.

“Wanna walk through the exhibits?” he shouted over the heavy
beat of a drum solo.

Yes, she’d much rather spend time walking around with
Garrett while they got to know Evan than sit here and have to scream over the
loud music just to be heard.

“Sure,” Evan yelled back as she nodded and stood.

They each grabbed up their souvenir paddles, dumped their
trash and moved toward the exhibits, leaving the distractions of the beer
garden behind. They meandered through booths selling home-brewing systems,
stalls filled with smoky cheeses, sausages and spicy mustards, and others
selling hand-blown pilsners or hand-crafted steins. There were non-beer related
booths as well, some selling jewelry and others displaying watercolor or oil
paintings. They strolled past each one, stopping here or there when something
caught their eye.

By the time they’d walked the entire festival, the sun hung
high in the sky and the day had heated up nicely. The beach was calling Riley’s
name, as was the prospect of spending some alone time with these two gorgeous
men.

“What do you say we stop at the store to pick up a few
things to tide us over for the next couple of days, then spend the rest of the
afternoon on the beach?”

Garrett slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her
close. “Sounds perfect. Evan?”

Evan was just about to answer when someone else called his
name too. A blonde came up beside him and gripped his forearm, even though
another man had his arm firmly around her waist.

“Shannon,” Evan said.

His quick step back and easy twist out of blondie’s grip may
have been hardly noticeable to some, but Riley caught the move right away,
along with the tense way he rammed his hands in his jeans pockets and the
almost weary sigh he let loose.

“I didn’t think you were still in town,” Shannon said. “I
heard you were moving back to Texas.”

“I am. Soon. Next week sometime.”

“Oh. I see,” Shannon replied, nodding that pretty blonde
head of hers before smiling insincerely and glancing over to Riley and Garrett.

It was clear that Evan wasn’t going to do the whole
introduction thing and even more apparent that he didn’t want anything to do
with blondie and her buff arm candy, but Riley was curious. So she stepped up
and stuck out her hand.

“Hi. I’m Riley. This is Garrett,” she said, hitching her
thumb over her shoulder.

“Um. Yeah. I’m Shannon. And this is Brad,” the other woman
replied, giving Riley the once-over as they played through a round of
who-can-squeeze-the-hardest handshakes. She blatantly turned her body away from
Riley’s then, giving her a healthy dose of the cold-shoulder treatment.

Riley stood there and took the not-so-subtle insult, cool as
a ice on the outside but fuming wildly on the inside. Her ire wasn’t just
because of the way blondie affronted her, but because of the quick shift in Evan’s
demeanor along with it. Tense wasn’t the right description for how he acted
now, nor could she say he was overtly angry. He seemed more edgy, maybe. As if
he was worn out. Tired of everything. Tired of Shannon.

“I drove by the finished subdivision yesterday,” Shannon
said. “It really does looks gorgeous, Evan. You did a great job.”

Riley didn’t have a clue what Shannon was referring to, so
she tried like hell to get a read on the woman’s tone and body language
instead. But all she could come up with was a weird mix of smugness, sadness
and a hint of regret blending with jealousy. The bi-polarity of it all made
Riley’s head hurt and had her wondering just what had gone down between the two
of them.

“Yeah, you really killed it, E. Nice work,” Brad added.

“Thanks,” was Evan’s short and semisweet reply.

These three obviously had a history together, and Riley was
betting it wasn’t the happy-go-lucky, I’ll-love-you-forever kind of history.
Evan looked uncomfortable as hell, and Riley hated that for him. Shannon and
Brad were putting him on the spot and he was either too caught off guard to say
what was really on his mind or too nice of a guy to let it all out and cause a
potential scene. So Riley figured she’d do her best to help him out.

“You know,” she started, stepping between Garrett and Evan
so she could loop her arms through theirs, “I hope you don’t mind, but we were
just about to head out.” She leaned forward a bit conspiratorially so she
wouldn’t be overheard by those passing by, and smiled sweetly at blondie. “I
have a few hot and heavy plans for these two this afternoon and I’m a little
anxious to get started. So if you’ll excuse us?”

Shannon gawked for a moment, but Riley had to hand it to her
for recovering so quickly. “Oh, um. Sure. Sorry,” she said to Evan. “I just
wanted to see how you were. You look good.”

Another wounded expression flashed across Shannon’s face and
for a split second Riley almost felt sorry for her. But the feeling vanished
the instant she glanced at Evan. She half-expected to see him staring back at
Shannon with pained need, but he wasn’t. Instead, he stood there gazing at
Riley, giving her one of the most sensual looks she’d ever seen. There was so
much heat suddenly spinning around between them that she felt this close to spontaneously
combusting.

Oh yeah, it was time to go.

“It was nice to meet you,” she said, turning with her two
men toward the direction of the parking lot to get them all the hell out of
there.

“Uh, you too,” Shannon called after them.

Garrett just laughed. “Riley, Riley, Riley. You are so bad,
you know that?”

“No,” Evan cut in. “No, that was perfect.”

Riley hugged his arm closer. “There’s a story there, with
the two of them. Am I right?”

“There is, but not much of one. Not anymore.”

“Good,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to have to go all
WWE
Diva
on her ass and take her down or anything.”

“Hold on now, let’s not rush into this. I think I’d like to
see that, actually,” Garrett mused.

Riley hip-bumped Garrett as Evan laughed. “You wrestle?” he
asked.

“Not officially, no. But I did suffer through a few boxing
classes at my gym.” She let go of Garrett’s arm and made a big show of flexing
her biceps. “Just say the word and I’ll take what I learned and put it to
practical use.”

That earned her a grin. “You’d do that?”

“For you? Yeah, absolutely.”

“Huh. I’ve never had a woman offer to fight for me before.”

“Better get used to it, my man,” Garrett said over the top
of her head. “Riley can be vicious when it comes to defending those she cares
about.”

“Not that I’m complaining or anything, but you barely know
me.”

Riley smiled gently and rested her head against his upper
arm. “That’s true. But for right now, I know all I need to know. I know that
woman hurt you and I know I’d claw her eyes out if she tried to do it again.”

“See what I mean?” Garrett said as they arrived at the SUV
and opened the passenger door for her. “Vicious.”

She stood on her toes and stretched to kiss her husband.
“And you love that about me.”

Garrett kissed her back, smacking her ass gently with the
paddle while Evan looked on. “I love that, and so much more. And before this
week is over, I can damn near guarantee that he will, too.”

And then he’ll leave and we’ll go our separate ways…

She shoved the thought from her mind and climbed into the
SUV. Once the men were seated and had buckled themselves in as well and Garrett
was steering them out of the parking lot, Riley spun to face the backseat.

“You were in a relationship with her, weren’t you?”

“Rie…” Garrett started.

“I’m sorry. It’s just… I’m curious. I want to know more
about you. About your past.”

“No, it’s okay.” Evan crossed his ankle over his knee and
stared out the window for a long moment before meeting her gaze. “Yeah, I was
in a relationship with her. And with Brad, too.”

“Oh. I mean, I didn’t think we were your first threesome.”

“No, sorry, you’re not. The three of us were together for
almost two years.”

“But then she broke your heart.”

He huffed out a humorless chuckle. “At the end, yeah. They
both did.”

“Are they why you decided to move back to Texas?”

She presumed Garrett would chastise her again for digging,
but instead of saying anything, he looked at Evan in the rearview mirror and
waited for him to answer.

“Partially. I originally moved here about a year before I
met them. I had a three-year deal to do some general contracting work on a new
subdivision, and I had made up my mind to stay here permanently after the job
was finished to look for something else. But once they ended it, I didn’t have
much reason to hang around. My family is back home. All my old friends are
there. And now this new business venture I’m starting with my brother? Moving
back to Texas just seemed to make the most sense.”

Now she understood Shannon’s comment about driving past the
finished subdivision.

“So you’re not a full-time bartender? I’m crushed. You make
a killer martini,” Riley teased, moving off the subject of Shannon and Brad and
switching to something a little less painful.

“No, not at all. That gig in the hotel bar was just
something to keep me busy for the last three months. Kind of a favor to a
friend thing while I was waiting for my brother to make up his mind about
starting our business.”

“Takes guts to do that,” Garrett said to Evan’s reflection.
“The start-up, I mean.”

“Starting anything new like this is a challenge. Between the
two of us, though, I think we have a pretty good shot. I’ve been doing
contracting for years now, both here and in Texas. Simon has an engineering and
managerial background, and with his brains I know it won’t take him long to figure
out the rest.”

“It sounds exciting and scary all at the same time,” Riley
said.

He laughed for real this time. “Which is the only way to
live.”

“Amen to that,” Garrett added.

Riley sighed. “Spoken like a couple of true adrenaline
junkies.”

Her husband reached over to stroke her thigh. “Guilty as
charged, you know that.”

“Yes, I know it well. I also know it’s a good thing that I
do what I do.” She looked back at Evan. “I’ve patched him up more than once
since we got married.”

“You’re a doctor, right?” Evan asked.

Garrett cut in. “She should be.”

“Oh, stop. I love what I do. But no, I’m a physician’s
assistant in a sports med center.”

“Just as impressive, in my book.” The unexpected pride in
Evan’s voice told her he meant what he said.

“Well, the malpractice insurance is less expensive,” she
joked. “But really, I wouldn’t choose to do anything else. I assist in
surgeries, see patients in the office. I even get to attend conferences in
awesome beach towns.” She grinned at that. “It’s perfect for me. In every way.”

“It’s a rare thing to be able to do what you love,” Evan
agreed. “And what about you, Garrett? You work for a pharmaceutical company?”

“Yep. Been with them eight years now.”

“Sales?”

Garrett stopped at a red light. “I know what you’re
thinking. I’m the annoying guy who goes from doctor’s office to doctor’s office
peddling free samples just so I can drum up business and make my monthly sales
quota. But it’s not like that, really. We’ve got some stellar medications out
there. Drugs that have literally changed lives. Drugs that have changed
my
life.”

Evan looked back and forth between her and Garrett. “I don’t
follow.”

“I banged up my knee pretty badly about ten years ago—”

“‘Banged up’ is putting it mildly,” Riley interjected.

Garrett slid her a sideways glance as he accelerated through
the green light and flipped on his signal to turn in to the grocery store’s
parking lot. “I was one of the first to receive a new anti-inflammatory drug
for my knee and went from barely being able to walk to running a 5K within a
year. It changed me so much that I went to work for the company not long
after.”

“It’s how we met,” she said. “He was at the office dropping
off samples and brochures—even though the receptionist told me later that he’d
just been there the day before.”

Garrett pulled into a parking spot, killed the engine and
turned in his seat to face the back as well. “God, Evan, you should’ve seen
her. She was standing in the back of the office by a row of filing cabinets
talking to one of the staff. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. It was the first
time I ever forgot what I wanted to say. The receptionist had to have thought I
was insane,” he said, laughing a little. “Of course I had to go back the next
day. I would’ve gone back every day after that until I got the chance to talk
to her.”