Glutton for Pleasure (19 page)

Leena sized Jace up, and bless his heart, Jace returned the regard. She arched an eyebrow at him, and Devi knew he barely resisted doing the same. “Devi, I thought you said you weren’t seeing anyone.”

He glanced at her, and though his expression remained inscrutable, she thought she saw a flicker of…hurt? “Um, well, I…”

Jace turned back to her sister, stood and held out his hand. “Leena, right? I’m Jace Callahan.

I think we’ve exchanged business cards at a couple of chamber meetings.”

Devi held her breath. Rana had mentioned rumors abounded about the twins. Had Leena heard them? No, that didn’t appear to be the case. Some of the suspicion eased from Leena’s face as she shook his hand, no doubt approving of his firm grip. “I’m sorry, you meet so many people there. What company are you with?”

“Gunther-Searcy. We had a couple of lunches catered from here before I started coming here regularly. You’ve done a great job marketing this place.”

The name of the prestigious law firm might as well have been a key to Ali Baba’s cave, as far as Leena was concerned. She looked him up and down again, and Devi knew that by the time Leena had gone from his expensive haircut to his designer shoes, her sister had probably nailed his net worth down to the penny.

Leena admired ambition. And snazzy dressers.

She smiled warmly at him and cast a teasing glance at Devi. “I’m sorry, you know what a private person Devi is. Why, none of us had any idea she was seeing anyone special.”

“Yeah, Devi’s private, all right.”

Now why had he made it sound like a condemnation? “Don’t you need to leave, Leena?”

“Hmm? Oh, yes, of course. It was great to meet you.” She shot a narrowed look at Devi that promised prying at a later date, before turning back to him. “We’ll be seeing you at the party tomorrow, won’t we?”

“Jace is doing something tomorrow night,” Devi blurted out, desperation rising.

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Both of them ignored her. “No, I’m not. I’d love to be there. Your birthday, right?”

“Yup, the big 3-0. You’ll get to meet our other sister. She’s out right now, had to run an errand.”

Well, at least she wouldn’t have to deal with Rana tonight.

“That’s great. Hey, we could make it a family affair,” he added casually. “Do you mind if I bring my brother?”

The wheezing sound she made must have been low enough to bypass Leena’s hearing, but Jace reached out to twine his fingers around hers.

“Not at all.” Leena beamed at him. “We’re very family oriented.”

“Oh, me too,” Jace said earnestly.

“Great, well, I’ll see you then.” With a nod at Devi, Leena took her leave with a bright smile.

No doubt General Leena had already started planning the wedding. She whirled on Jace as soon as Leena was out of earshot. “Are you crazy?”

“No, why?”

“Why?” Devi ran her hands through her hair, fisting handfuls of the strands, before lowering her voice to a furious whisper, conscious of the trickle of diners coming in to the restaurant.

“Because Rana is going to be at that party tomorrow. Rana, who set us up to have a threesome, but has no idea we’ve continued this relationship. And I’m sure there are going to be other people there who know exactly what you and your brother are up to, and when they put the two of you together with me, rumors are going to fly.”

He dropped his hand away from hers and regarded her with a cool look. “What did you want me to do? She caught me off guard.”

Devi breathed. “Okay. Okay, we can make this work. Maybe you and I can just go together, make a quick appearance and leave.” They didn’t even have to appear to be a couple. The party would be large enough that they could just drift through it separately.

“What should I do, tell Marcus to sit at home?”

“Well, why not? It’s not like Marcus is really the type of person to enjoy birthday cake and party hats, is he?”

Jace’s jaw tightened. “Are you ashamed to be seen with us?”

Devi stared at him. “Are you kidding me?”

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His face hardened, and for a minute he looked so much like Marcus Devi had to blink.

“Sorry, I forgot we were just a fuck for you. Do you need us to service you tonight, your highness?”

“Keep your voice down.” Was he actually hurt? “We all agreed to what this relationship would entail.”

“No.” He grabbed his suit jacket and slipped it on with jerky movements. “You and Marcus agreed. I knew what I wanted from the beginning and this wasn’t it. I had thought I could change your minds, but clearly a couple of weeks of fucking isn’t enough to form any kind of basis for a relationship.”

She covered her mouth with her hand, watching him with blurry eyes. “Jace…”

“Save it. I don’t want to hear anything.” He nodded to her, his eyes black with anger and hurt. “See you later tonight. I assume our
agreement
is still in effect.”

He didn’t wait for a response, but stalked to the front door. Devi let him go with a helpless feeling. After he left, she roused herself enough to check for witnesses, but they must have conducted their conversation in such low voices, no one had noticed.

Devi speed-walked into the kitchen and grabbed her apron. She nodded to the others in the room and began scrubbing her hands. While her outer movements were unhurried and automatic, her brain clicked along at a terrifying rate.

Jace had not intended for this to be a quick fling for any of them. He had gone into this with the intention that they would continue to see each other indefinitely. Which meant he had stronger feelings for her than just lust or liking. She paused, her hands clenching on the damp towel. Could he be falling in love with her as she was with the two of them?

For a moment, she felt a terrifying guilt, that she had feelings for the two of them when Jace was focused only on her, but then she reminded herself that he clearly didn’t mind having the three of them together. In fact, he insisted on it.

She considered that as she tossed some potatoes into the oven to bake. Had the two of them ever had relationships separate from one another? If not, had they ever had a relationship, period?

It could never work. Could it?

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“Stupid, stupid,
stupid
.” Jace barely resisted the urge to bang his head against his steering wheel.

What devil had prompted him to go to the restaurant tonight? So he’d had a bad day. Did he have to go running to a woman to kiss his owie?

He had felt so much better once he had talked it over with Devi, though. She had that ability, to make him feel like he was a greater person than he really was, even when they were just silent together. She listened when he spoke and helped him put his problems in perspective.

When they were together, he believed he could be worthy of someone decent and good like her. She nearly brought him to tears because he knew she made his brother feel the same way.

God knew Marcus needed someone to give him that feeling.

So, after he had purged himself of his bad day, he’d been riding high, high enough that he finagled an invite to a family party for him and his brother. For a second there, he completely forgot that they weren’t a normal couple.

Of course Devi had been upset about any gossip that might come about. Despite Rana’s outward brashness, he had the feeling Devi and her family were fairly conservative. She’d spoken of her sheltered childhood and teenage years. Her father died when she was young, but her mother and sisters kept strict watch over her, so she’d had a delayed introduction to dating and sex.

Devi and her sisters were thoroughly American, but clearly some cultural traditions were still followed in their household. Threesomes probably weren’t what they wanted for their baby girl.

He breathed out a sigh. Why the hell hadn’t he just kept his mouth shut? His original plan had been to slowly push forward the deadline of their affair, easing their way into her life, seducing every one of her senses until she had no choice but to keep seeing them, until she couldn’t imagine a life without them.

Glutton for Pleasure

If he’d stayed quiet, he could have enjoyed a nice dinner with Devi at the restaurant, and pretended in his own mind, at least, they were a normal couple.

Instead, he was sitting in his car four hours later, in the dark, parked outside her house like a desperate stalker.

Stupid.

He jumped a bit when the passenger door clicked open. The interior light flared on for a second, blinding him, before Devi slid inside and shut the door.

“Hey.”

He leaned his head against the headrest and stared ahead of him. “Hey.”

Silence. If she wanted him to leave, he would. Actually, if she had stalked into the house without even acknowledging him, he wouldn’t have blamed her.

“I brought dinner.”

He turned his head in surprise. Devi touched the top of the brown bag in her lap and Jace realized the scent of spice in the air wasn’t Devi’s alone. He brought himself to meet her gaze.

The moon shone through the window, creating luminous shadows in her eyes. She looked back at him steadily, no tears or anger or panic, only calm searching.

It took him a while to comprehend she was waiting for a response, so he gave a jerky nod.

“Okay.”

She opened the door and stepped out, and he followed suit, not quite sure if he was dreaming. Did she want to tell him to get out of her life over dinner? It seemed odd, to invite him in and then kick him out.

He walked behind her to the door in silence. She bent her head as she struggled to fit the correct key in her lock. Any other night he would have taken advantage of her position and softly kissed his way along the nape of her neck. For once, he couldn’t predict what her reaction would be.

So he trailed after her as she made her way to the kitchen and unpacked the Styrofoam containers. She put the rice and chicken curry on a large plate with fluid movements. He leaned against the doorframe and watched her for a moment, and then found his customary forthrightness. “Do you want me to leave?”

She didn’t look at him, but stuck the plate in the microwave and pressed some buttons.

“Why would I have invited you in?”

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He shrugged. She walked to the fridge and withdrew two bottles of his favorite brand of beer. Jace had been touched when she had noticed what he liked to drink, but now only felt miserable when he realized half a pack still sat on the top shelf. Devi didn’t normally drink beer, so she’d probably just toss it.

She twisted off both tops and handed one to him, taking a healthy gulp of the other. She finally met his eyes. “Where’s Marcus?”

“He has an HOA audit tonight. He’ll be late.”

Devi nodded. She’d already heard Marcus gripe about the annual home owner’s association audits that were required by law, and the fact that they could extend into the early hours of the morning if the boards weren’t cooperative enough.

The silence stretched until Jace couldn’t take it anymore. “Please forgive me.”

“I’m sorry.”

Jace blinked. They had spoken at once. “What?”

“What do you have to be sorry about? I’m the one who acted like a bitch.”

To his horror, tears filled her eyes. Worry over his reception forgotten, he crossed the kitchen and gathered her in his arms, running a hand over the delicate length of her spine.

“You’re never a bitch. I’m sorry I pushed. It’s not your fault that I had different expectations I never shared.”

She sniffed into his shirt and rubbed her face back and forth, and, at that moment, he couldn’t think of any better use for the two hundred dollar garment than as her handkerchief. “I do wish you would have said something.”

“I didn’t want to scare you. I knew I was asking a lot.”

“It was never about just sex with you, was it?”

He shook his head, and then realized she couldn’t see. “No.”

“Why me?”

He paused. She didn’t sound tortured, only confused. He chose his words with care.

“Because the first time I saw you, I felt like I’d been run over by a truck. Like we were the only people in the room. I’ve never even had a physical connection like that to anyone. I would watch you smile and I felt like the sun was coming out. And now that I know you… Are you crying again?”

She buried her face deeper in his shirt. “You’re so sweet. Why didn’t you just ask me out?”

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With a shaky hand, he smoothed her hair down. Here it got twisted. “Because I didn’t just want you for me. It’s one thing to have sex with a woman by myself, but I can’t have an emotional connection with a woman who doesn’t feel the same way toward Marcus. I wanted you for both of us. I knew Marcus would feel the same way I felt, though he’d be hard to convince. I figured if you were meant for us, the sex would draw you in. And in the meantime, I could buy us some time to work on the rest of it.”

She raised her head, her lashes wet with tears. “Congratulations. I have feelings for both of you. Do you have any idea how difficult such a relationship would be? Do you know how tough it would be for my family to accept this? I’m not a person who can hide things easily.”

“I’m not asking you to.”

Her tone was plaintive. “Why does it have to be both of you?”

He rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. “It’s a long story. And it’s not all mine to tell.”

“I think I have the right.”

If anyone did, it was her. How could he ask her for blind trust in something so unconventional and wacky without at least trying to explain their reasons? He nodded slowly and let go of her. He couldn’t touch her right now, and he turned his back so he wouldn’t have to see her. He crossed to the large picture window and looked out at the postage-stamp yard outside.

“Our parents died when we were thirteen. A freak car accident. Their tire blew, and they ran into a semi.”