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  Instead of any sort of pain consuming him, all he felt now was used and sad. He hated the combination. Hated how it brought him down, especially when such promise awaited him. Promise in the form of two beautiful people at the picnic table not fifty feet away.

  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.

  Chapter Seven

  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.”

  “But you didn’t have to,” she added.

  “No,” he said, stroking her chin before leaning in closer to her.

  His lips were warm, his kiss tender. She loved how he never failed to leave her feeling breathless.

  “She was walking out as I was walking in,” he went on. “I stopped her and we talked. It still took me two weeks to get her number, though. And another two weeks before she said she’d have dinner with me.”

  “Playing hard to get?” Evan asked her.

  “Not so much that as just being a little shy. I wasn’t always this open and out there,” she admitted.

  “It wasn’t as if she was so introverted, either,” Garrett said. “She’s got a bit of a wild streak inside her. She just needed someone to help her bring it out.”

  “Which was you,” Evan said.

  “Again, guilty as charged.”

  Evan scooted closer, squeezing his wide shoulders in between the front captain’s chairs. He went from staring into her eyes to gazing long and hard at her lips. “I’m glad he did.”

  Whoa. With the way he was eating her up with his eyes, she was glad too. More than glad. She was downright ecstatic. And even though it’d been ages since she’d had sex in the back of a car, she was seriously considering getting a little down-and-dirty now. But with little to no room in here, especially given the build of these two men, that option wasn’t exactly feasible.

  “Let’s get this shopping over with,” she said as her heart hammered. “I wasn’t lying when I said I had big plans for this afternoon. I don’t want to waste any more time.”

  “Goddamn,” Garrett muttered when she spun in her seat to hop out of the SUV. Both men promptly followed her, bookending her so closely their arms rubbed against hers as they headed inside the store.