An Indecent Proposition (23 page)

Jules had to make a conscious effort to close her mouth. It’d been hanging open in shock.

Erik wasn’t pulling any punches and Keegan looked like he was about to keel over if he took too many more.

They’d argued about some of this last night, before they’d been derailed by sex. Again.

And Keegan just seemed to take it. She wanted to stand up for him, wanted him to stand up for himself. To challenge Erik like he had last night. She understood why Erik was pissed about the way Keegan treated him. Erik didn’t want to be broken anymore but Keegan kept the illusion alive.

It was a vicious cycle.

Did she really want to be caught in the middle of this drama? Was it worth it?

“Do you really want to fight over her like a pair of dogs with a bone?” Keegan finally answered Erik’s accusation, his voice a barely audible snarl. “Because that’s what this is beginning to look like.”

“Stop it. Right now. No more.”

Once again, they turned toward her, mouths closed.

Erik had a haughty look on his face, one that suited him, and Keegan’s determination showed in the rigid line of his lips.

“Is it always like this between you?’

They exchanged a look that didn’t include her at all. Neither of them answered. They just turned back to her, still silent.

Not letting her in.

She shook her head. “If you can’t even answer that simple question , how can we move forward?”

Erik’s gaze narrowed. “So you’re saying you’re willing to try?”

It was her turn to pause, to think carefully about what she wanted to say.

Did she really want to do this considering the conservative area they lived in and that people already had judged her to be a slut? Then again, what was one more black mark on an already soiled record?

Do you really want to give them up? Or are you ready to pull on your big girl panties and go after what you want?

“Yes, I’m willing to try. Are you?”

Both men glanced at each other and she wondered if they’d thought she’d never agree and that would be the way out.

Then Keegan said,  “Dinner tonight. Seven o’clock. We’ll pick you up.”

She hesitated for a millisecond before her chin lifted.

“I’ll be ready.”

Chapter Three

“And you’re going out with
two
men? Not just one man who’s bringing another along as a friend?”

“Yes. Two men. They’re friends, they own a business together and they both want to take me out.”

Jules’ mom gave her “the look,” the one Jules recognized from her childhood.

She’d seen it thousands of times as a teenager as she’d smashed through boundaries, convinced she knew what she was doing, and gave a (sometimes) implicit middle finger to whoever told her she couldn’t do something.

Amazingly, her mom still spoke to her, still loved her.

“And you’re going where?”

“I’m not sure.”

“And what do they do for a living?”

Tricky, tricky. Her mom was no fool. She knew this had something to do with their debt being paid off and Jules wondered, for about the millionth time, if she should just come clean.

Slipping simple gold hoops through her ears, Jules glanced at her mom in the mirror.

With her dark brows raised and her arms crossed over her chest, she looked pretty much the same as she had when Jules was a teenager, not buying her excuses for why she was late getting home.

Her mom knew there was a hell of a lot more going on than just a date.

“They run an electronics company.”

She didn’t plan to add that they ran a multi-million dollar electronics company.

Slipping her feet into red pumps, she turned to check her reflection in the long mirror in her bedroom, the walls still sporting the black and purple paint she’d christened them with in her senior year of high school. Actually, she still loved the color combination. “I’ll have my cell. Don’t worry.”

Her mom gave her the “other look,” which basically meant “Yeah, right.” Another expression Jules was familiar with.

Her mom worried about everything and had since Jules had been born, apparently. Not that she didn’t have good cause to worry. Her husband
had
been cheating on her.  That lump in her breast
had
been malignant. And Jules
had
slept with two men to get the money to pay off their debt.

Turning to face her mom, Jules leaned in for a hug, so happy to feel the strength in her mom’s arms as she returned the hug. For a couple of years, Sara Carter had barely been able to lift her arms.

“Julianne, you’d tell me if something was wrong, wouldn’t you? You know you can tell me anything, right?”

“Yes, mom.” She infused her tone with just enough teenage boredom that her mom actually laughed. “I’ll be fine.”

Her mom gave her another tight squeeze before taking a step back. “I’ll always worry. Mothers never stop.”

“I know. It’s just…complicated.”

Complicated didn’t begin to describe what she felt for Keegan and Erik. Or what she’d done to get the money. Or the first night they’d spent together. Or last night and this morning. Or even this dinner.

With a sigh, her mom walked to the doorway then turned and gave her a resigned smile. “Everything’s complicated, honey. Some things just take a little more work. You have to decide if it’s worth it, I guess. And don’t think for a minute that we’re finished with this conversation. I want to hear all about this date tomorrow.”

Which was her mom’s not-so-subtle way of asking if she’d be home tonight.

Jules just said, “Don’t wait up for me. I’m not sure when I’ll be home.”

Or if she’d be home at all tonight. Would they ask her to stay with them again tonight?

“Alright, sweetheart. Just…be safe.”

With a little wave, her mom disappeared and Jules sank onto the edge of her bed.

Damn it, she needed to tell her mom the truth. The secret weighed on her like a boulder around her neck.

After she’d paid off their last credit card and the final bill from the hospital, she’d briefly considered telling her mom she’d won the lottery but that would’ve been too easy to check.

She’d come up with a version of the truth. A very wealthy man had offered her the money in exchange for a service, which she’d assured her mom had not been illegal, dangerous or life-threatening.

Her mom had been stunned speechless and had tried to get Jules to tell her everything but Jules had held her ground.

Would her mom be horrified at what she’d done to clear their debt? Would she understand that Jules had had every intention of turning the money down if she hadn’t been attracted to the man who’d offered her a half-million dollars to sleep with him?

Would her mom think less of her when she found out she’d actually slept with
two
men for the money? And that it’d been the best sexual experience of her life?

Would her mom understand why she was attempting to pursue a relationship with those same two men, not because they’d saved Jules and her mom from poverty and despair but because she actually liked them?

Glancing at the clock, she realized it was one minute until seven and the guys would probably be on time.

Standing, she made sure her dress wasn’t wrinkled. She’d gone with basic black, tailored and elegant enough for dinner with two millionaires. She’d bought it at an outlet but the style was classic enough that it’d aged well. She knew she looked good in it and the red, spike-heeled pumps set it off perfectly.

She’d fit in wherever they planned to take her, unless it was one of the chain restaurants near the mall or a dive bar in downtown Reading. She didn’t think either of those possibilities was going to happen. Not with Erik along.

As she headed toward the front of their one-story ranch, the doorbell rang.

Crap, she’d wanted to be there to open the door before her mom could badger Keegan with a thousand questions. She didn’t figure Erik would get out of the car.

So she was shocked when she realized both men stood in the living room, shaking hands with her mom.

Standing in shadows of the hall that led to the bedrooms, she let herself stare.

Oh my, her guys cleaned up fine.

Keegan wore a dark suit with a white shirt. Erik had paired gray pants with a black shirt. Neither of them wore a tie, and the couple of undone buttons at the tops of their shirts made her want to undo the rest.

They looked sleekly casual and elegantly handsome and oh, so very rich.

Her mom was making a valiant effort not to stare at Erik’s scars, focusing on his eyes instead. Her smile was strained, though, and she could tell her mom wanted to reach out and hug him. That’s just the kind of person she was and Jules wouldn’t wish her any other way.

They’d barely gotten beyond basic greetings when Keegan noticed her. His gaze locked onto her in the shadows, as if he had x-ray vision, drawing her out to them.

“It was nice to meet you both,” her mom said when Jules joined them. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, dear. Have a good time.”

The way she said that last bit, Jules could’ve sworn there was a question mark on the end of it. But her mom headed toward the kitchen with a smile and a nod.

“We made reservations for Judy’s On Cherry,” Keegan said. “Okay?”

From working in the catering business, she knew the food was amazing, though she’d never eaten there before. Too pricey for her budget.

“Of course. I’m fine with wherever you’d like to go.”

“Then we should get going. Our reservations are in fifteen minutes.”

The car sitting out front shouldn’t have been a surprise. The BMS was new and black, sleek and smooth. Just like it’s owner.

Erik handed her into the front seat while Keegan got in the back. Erik slid into the driver’s seat then pressed pedal to the floor and they took off.

Or that’s what it seemed like. She’d never ridden in a car that practically glided along the road. And it was so well insulated, she heard no outside noise. Even the engine purred,.

The radio pumped out something that sounded like Sinatra and the leather seat conformed to her body like a lover.

She watched Erik’s hands on the steering wheel, strong and long. In the rearview, she saw Keegan watching her. When their gazes met, she smiled and saw his mouth curve upward in response.

“Your mother looks well.” Keegan’s voice broke the silence. “How long has it been since her last treatment?”

“Almost eighteen months and there’s been no recurrence of the cancer.”

“That must be good to know.”

“It is. It’s just…I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. Know what I mean?”

“Yeah, I know a little something about that.” Erik’s voice held an edge, but not hard enough to cut. As if he was consciously dialing it down.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She liked his edge. She didn’t want him to be a different person for her.

“So what are her plans now that she’s cancer free?”

They passed the rest of the drive with careful small talk, so different from the angst of the previous twenty-four hours. Almost like everyone was on their best behavior, as if this was a first date… Well, actually, it was.

She couldn’t consider their first encounter an actual date considering the money they’d given her. And last night... She didn’t know what to call last night except one hell of a roller coaster ride.

By the time they parked in the lot across from the restaurant, she’d dropped out of the conversation completely, content to listen to them talk.

She loved the sound of their voices, Keegan’s with that tiny hint of an accent and Erik’s with the damaged rasp. It was kind of ridiculous really, that she got wet listening to them talk about a professor they knew from college who’d become an internet sensation for a video on robotics.

When Erik turned off the car, he turned to look at her, eyes narrowed. “Are you okay?”

She smiled, making sure she glanced over her shoulder to include Keegan. “I’m fine. You two don’t need anyone else to carry on a conversation. You do just fine on your own.”

And she could stick her foot in her mouth just as easily as they could hold a conversation.

She held up one hand as both men opened their mouths.

“Wait, wait. That didn’t come out right.”

And both mouths shut. Amazing.

 “I didn’t mean that in a bad way so please don’t take it like that. You two have a real friendship. That’s great. I never had that with anyone. I mean, yeah, I had friends in school and I have friends at work and Carol is almost like a sister to me. But you two not only finish each other’s sentences, you actually know what the other is thinking before he says it.”

“Are you saying it turns you off?” Keegan glanced at Erik, as he got out of the backseat then opened the door to help her out.

“No, not at all.”

The cold night air made her shiver as they crossed the street to the entrance and Erik put his arm around her shoulders, drawing her into his side.

“It’s just that I’ve never met anyone like either of you.”

Keegan huffed out a laugh. “That’s probably a good thing.”