SunsetTryst Page 4

  He straightened his head a moment later, withdrew his fingers from inside her and flattened them against her tender flesh. He held her there with a gentle touch as his fiery gaze penetrated her deeply. She swallowed back the flutters creeping up in her stomach and instead concentrated on the blue ice glinting in his eyes.

  She started a bit when Garrett muttered, “Riley, baby,” in her ear a second before he flexed his fingers around the swell of her belly. He nudged her chin toward his lips and she eased away from Evan’s stare, not quite reluctantly, but not so eager either. She was afraid of what she might find in Garrett’s eyes, and even more terrified of what she might see reflected back.

  But all she saw was sated pleasure, along with a deep caring. He stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers and whispered, “You okay?”

  Her simple nod was a lie. She wasn’t okay. She doubted she’d ever be okay again.

  If he sensed her fib, he hid it well. All he did was smile with a destructive lift to his lips and lean in closer. His kiss was slow, torturous and said more than any words ever could.

  When he released her, she closed her eyes again and soaked in the spicy scent of sex still circling them, the sounds of heavy breaths attempting to be controlled and the warmth from being cocooned by two scorching male bodies. In her heart she knew she could easily become addicted to this, to them. Evan had been right. She could do it and, Lord help her, she loved every minute of it.

  Chapter Four

  A hotel bathroom was a pretty lousy place to run away to and hide. But in a panic, Riley’s choices were limited. So here she sat, on the edge of the bathtub, with her forearms balanced on her thighs, wringing her hands between her knees.

  Freaking. The. Hell. Out.

  She’d always considered herself a somewhat detached person. At the end of her first year in middle school, her parents had divorced. That entire summer she hadn’t shed one single tear, even as her mother fell to pieces around her and her baby sister. It wasn’t as if she could afford the luxury of falling apart. As the oldest child, it was her job to be the strong one and hold together what little was left of her dwindling family.

  Those tedious school years rolled on by in what she wished she could call the blink of an eye. She studied hard, despite being distracted by a few boyfriends and more than one shitty breakup along the way. She quickly learned to take each failed relationship in stride, due to the fact that her mother had taught her early on how easily men came and went. She and her sister, Char, had had more than one “uncle” while they were in high school, and they’d had even more during their college years, so it was a lesson she couldn’t readily forget. Seeing her mom lose herself to any man who would give her a sliver more than the time of day, only to end up dying sick and alone, well, that had hardened Riley. She swore she wouldn’t end up like her mother. She’d never give her soul to a man just to watch him walk away when the going got tough. No way in hell.

  She learned pretty damn fast to trust herself, and only herself. She wouldn’t give her heart away to some random guy who excelled at pouring on misguided charm or to someone who thought he was God’s gift to women because he could flash a perfect, toothy smile. She loaned her body out on occasion, yes, but never her heart. That was hers. Her strength, her resolve. And she’d lived that way for years. Until she met the one man her heart, soul and resolve couldn’t seem to resist.

  Until she met…

  A soft knock at the door had her pulse quickening. She stood as the doorknob turned without her saying “Come in.” She clutched the hotel bathrobe tighter and ran a quick hand under her eyes and down her cheeks.

  Garrett had put his pants back on, but his chest and neck still looked flushed as he stepped inside the tiny room and closed the door behind him. He shoved his hands in the back pockets of his pants and cocked his head to study her. She hugged herself harder and met his stare.

  “You’re not okay.”

  She shook her head and clenched her jaw. She wasn’t about to lose it now.

  He took a single step closer and she stiffened.

  “Jesus, Riley, don’t close me out,” he said and pulled his hands from his pockets to grip her upper arms.

  “It wasn’t supposed to be like that,” she whispered.

  “Like what?”

  She spun out of his hold and faced the mirror. “You told me it’d be fun. Hot.”

  “It wasn’t?”

  She couldn’t answer that. Because it was. But at the same time it was so much more.

  She turned the faucet on to run cool and rested her head on her forearm as she held her wrists under the spray. Garrett met her silence with a weary sigh.

  “We talked about this. You told me he was the one you wanted. The one you wanted to be with us.”

  Yes, she had. In his arms, out on the dance floor. “I know.”

  “But?”

  She slapped the faucet to shut it off and grabbed a towel. The sterile cotton scratched as she dried her hands and she rubbed even harder, almost craving the irritation.

  “Riley, damn it. Just talk to me.”

  She tossed the towel in the sink a little too roughly and plopped down on the closed toilet lid. Garrett didn’t hesitate to squat in front of her. The compassionate yet questioning look in his eyes made her insides spin like an out-of-control top.

  “I made a promise to you, five years ago. To love and to cherish,” she started. “To love you and to trust you.”

  “And I made the same promise to you. That’s not changed.”

  “Hasn’t it? Hasn’t tonight changed everything?”

  He stopped for a moment and just stared. “It’s changed for you.” His words weren’t formed in a question.

  Not once, since the first time she met him more than six years ago, had she ever lied to her husband, and she sure as hell wasn’t about to start now. “It wasn’t supposed to be like that,” she said again. It was all she could say. It was all she could focus on.

  He cupped her cheeks and forced her to look into his eyes. “Ah, baby. You liked it. You were supposed to. That’s why we—”

  She shook her head and wouldn’t let him finish his sentence. “No, no. It’s more than that. He… Evan…”

  “Evan what?”

  “I just… The way he looked at me and…and the way he touched me. I just…”

  She was rambling like an incoherent, panicked fool. But Garrett… Garrett was always the cool one under pressure. “Easy, now. Take it easy. You’re going to hyperventilate if you keep this up.”

  Maybe she should. Maybe she should just let the dizziness take over and knock her out. Then she could deal with all this insanity running through her head much, much later.

  “Listen,” he said, stroking his thumbs across her cheeks. “Don’t overanalyze this, okay? You—we—we just tried something totally new. It’s got you off-kilter, is all.”

  She was shaking her head again before he stopped speaking. “I’m not just off-kilter, Garrett.”

  “Then what is it?”

  Tears burned her eyes. “There was a connection to him. To Evan. A connection I’ve never felt with anyone besides you.”

  She pushed her fist against the ache growing deep inside her chest and stared at Garrett. She waited for him to say something. She waited for him to lash out at her or for a hurt expression to appear on his handsome face. But neither of those things happened. Instead, his touch grew more tender as his gaze softened even more.

  “And that’s caught you off guard.”

  Again, there was no question to his voice. When she simply nodded her response, he smiled. The reaction was one she should’ve expected, but didn’t.

  “And you’re worried I’m going to turn into some kind of jealous lunatic?”

  She’d never seen him act like a lunatic before and she knew he wouldn’t act like one now. “No. But I don’t want to hurt you. Saying something like that—”

  “I’m not hurt, Riley.” He dropped his hands to whe
re hers were clenched in her lap and held them. “Do you remember what I told you when we met, about life taking us where we’re supposed to go? About the people we meet being brought into our lives for a reason?”

  Yes, she remembered that. At the time, she thought maybe he was some kind of peace, love and harmony hippie even though he looked as if he could’ve walked straight off the pages of GQ Magazine. She quickly came to find out that was just who Garrett was. He wasn’t anywhere near being a tree-hugging pushover, yet he was still the most open and accepting person she’d ever met.

  “So you think Evan’s meant to be here, with us?”

  The edge of his lip quirked. “I don’t really know. What I do know is this…” He went to his knees in front of her and made room for himself in between her thighs. “If you felt something, I’m not about to discount it. For the last six years, my life has been about making you happy. You know that.”

  She absolutely knew that. He’d never hesitated to give her everything he possibly could. Everything that was in his power to give her.

  It had been Garrett who planted the seed for trying out a ménage in the first place. While snuggling in front of their fireplace one night months ago, their conversation had somehow turned toward the discussion of alternative lifestyles. Polyamorous relationships had been brought up, and she didn’t try to hide her interest—or the sensual thrill just talking about it had given her.

  Even so, they hadn’t actively sought out another person to join them. Months had gone by since their conversation and neither of them had brought it back up.

  The night she’d arrived at this resort for the convention and she’d stopped in the bar for a nightcap had quickly changed all that.

  Garrett wasn’t due to arrive until today to give his drug company’s spiel, but she’d called him late that first night and had teased him that maybe she’d found the one. It wasn’t until she’d gotten a feel for the two men together that her decision had been solidified. A decision she didn’t regret for a moment, but still…

  “I always saw that in you, you know,” he said.

  “Saw what?”

  “How big your heart is.”

  She tossed him a look that said she thought he might be nuts. “Really…”

  He just chuckled. “You’ve got room in there, Riley. Room enough for two. That you might want to fill it by loving someone else along with me doesn’t surprise me in the least. And I think that trying it out, that seeing how the three of us might fit together, could be hotter than hell. I’m in, if that’s what you want.”

  Floored. She was completely floored.

  Having a one-night ménage to scratch an itch was one thing. Changing their lives together was entirely another. Yet she couldn’t seem to let go of that bond she’d shared with Evan, that instant draw, that deep-seated craving to find out everything about him, that had her heart fluttering even now. She wanted more of that.

  She wanted more of Evan.

  And if she could have him and Garrett? Oh hell…

  This was crazy. The idea was absolutely insane. What if Evan wanted nothing to do with them after tonight? What if this was just a one-time thing for him? What if he—

  “You’re doing it again,” Garrett said, slamming the door on her wayward thoughts. “You’re ten leaps ahead of the rest of us, already figuring out why this won’t work. Reel it back in, babe. Let’s just take this one step at a time.”

  The set of her shoulders softened some as she gripped his hands in her lap tighter. “What about what you want?”

  “Seeing you happy is what I want. Love isn’t meant to stay in our hearts. It really isn’t love until you give it away, anyway. We can do that, you and I. We can give everything in our hearts to each other and we’ll still have so much left over to share. Why shouldn’t we let someone else in on that?”

  Why shouldn’t they, indeed?

  “You amaze me.” That was no lie. She’d never known another person quite like Garrett Watson. He was so honest, so giving, yet so hunky-alpha-dark-and-droolworthy-sexy that all the air whooshed straight out of her lungs whenever she found herself near him. The feeling never failed to leave her achy and breathless all at the same time.

  She loved it. She loved him.

  He simply smiled and reared back on his heels to stand. “Come back out there with me.”

  She took a moment to steel her nerves and nodded, letting him pull her to her feet. He kissed her when she got there, so slowly and mesmerizingly dreamy. She fell into him, counting on his strength and stability to hold her up.

  He ended the kiss by teasing her lips with gentle nibbles. “Come on, let’s go.”

  He slipped his fingers through hers and led her out of the bathroom. With her other hand, she clutched at the collar of the robe, tugging both sides in her tight fist to hold them together at her throat—which struck her as ridiculous and unnecessary the moment she did it.

  Evan had put his pants back on as well and was sitting on the bed with his back flat against the headboard and his ankles crossed out in front of him. The to-go box of appetizers sat open on his lap and he held a half-eaten chicken wing between his goopy orange fingers. “Everything okay?”

  Garrett stood at the side of the bed and grabbed a wing of his own, looking to her for the answer. She crawled onto the bed next to Evan and peered into the box. Suddenly she was starving. “It is. I just needed a few minutes, that’s all.”

  When Evan stuck his wing-gooey thumb into his mouth and sucked it clean, her mouth watered as if she was the one sampling the spicy buffalo sauce. Or his hot thumb. Either one.

  Ho boy…

  She popped a fried mushroom into her mouth by way of distraction as Evan reached for the second food container and handed it to her. “Here. You worked up an appetite.”

  He smiled as he said it and she knew she blushed like crazy by the way he chuckled afterward. But that didn’t stop her from tearing into the container, dipping a big, fat shrimp into the accompanying cocktail sauce and devouring the sucker in one bite.

  “So what’s the story here?”Evan asked. “With you two?”

  Garrett plunked down onto the foot of the bed before tossing his spent chicken bones into the lid of the box and grabbing another. He dunked it into the blue cheese dressing and leaned on his side, propping himself up on one elbow. “No story. We’re both here for the convention and—”

  “And you thought you’d spice up the trip by having a threesome?” Evan finished for Garrett.

  Riley stopped spinning her second shrimp in the cocktail sauce and held her breath, but Garrett just bit into his chicken wing and smiled. “Something like that.”

  “And you two are together?”

  He tossed the second wing next to the first. “Married five years.”

  Evan eyed her sideways and her heart stopped. It only started beating again—pounding, really—when he looked to her lips before licking his own. “Where are you guys from?”

  “Chicago,” she answered, nibbling on the end of the shrimp.

  “Never been there,” he said. In the next breath, he leaned over to swipe at a dribble of sauce that had trickled down her chin. When he held his thumb out for her to lick, she wanted to groan. There was a leftover hint of buffalo sauce on his skin, but she couldn’t blame the spiciness for the sudden wave of heat sweeping through her.

  “You should come for a visit. We can show you the sights,” she said when he pulled his thumb from between her lips.

  Evan uncrossed his ankles, bent his left leg and rested his forearm on top of his knee. “I might just have to do that,” he answered.

  The deep bass of his voice made the quiet heat spiral faster inside her.

  “Or,” Garrett tossed out. “You could hang out with us while we’re down here.”

  Evan threw him a look. “You’re not headed back?”

  “No,” she said, speaking for Garrett. “Remember I said the fun in sun happens later? We planned our vacation around this conve
ntion. We’re here for another week.”

  “Well, not here,” Garrett added. “We’re staying about a half hour down the coast. Inlet Beach. One of the perks of having a great year and working for an awesome pharmaceutical company is getting to stay at my boss’s beachfront home.”

  “Nice. But I don’t think I can. I’m due to leave the day after tomorrow.”

  “You’re leaving?” Riley tried to hide the disgruntlement lacing her voice, but she knew she was doing a lousy job of it.

  Evan traced her knee with a lazy finger as if it was something he’d been doing for ages. When she glanced over to Garrett, he met her gaze but didn’t say anything.

  “Yeah. I’m headed back to Texas. Today was my last day filling in at the bar.”

  “Texas?” She felt as if a lead weight had plopped itself right inside her stomach.

  “It’s where I’m from. My brother and I are starting up a small general contracting firm next month. I told him I’d be there this week to find a new place to live and help him look for a small office for our headquarters. We’ve talked about doing this for, hell, years. He was just recently laid off, so it seemed like the perfect time to go for it.”

  Going for it. Riley certainly understood that.

  Still, she tried not to analyze for very long the stark disappointment spinning through her that they weren’t going to have any more time with him. “I wish you didn’t have to go,” she said, quieter. “I mean, I know that sounds silly. I guess I was just hoping…” She took a deep breath and let it out on a sigh. “I guess I was hoping you’d stay. Here, with us.”

  He stopped toying with her knee and slid his palm higher up her thigh. “And then what?”

  She shrugged gently. “I’m not sure.” Her gaze slipped to Garrett’s. “One step at a time, right?”

  He leaned over and kissed the arch of her outstretched foot. “That’s the only way to go.”