Irresistible Passions (5 page)

Neither said anything, just staring at her. She pulled her keys from her gym bag. Troy put out a palm. “Please?” He motioned.

“Why?”

“It’s a surprise.” Troy’s grin joined Angel’s.

She minced a step, clutching her keys. “Um, I don’t do surprises very well.”

Troy let his hand drift down. “Michelle, we’d never hurt you. Hell, we want to take care of you.”

She studied them, waiting for something, anything, then what he said registered. “Wait, both of you? Take care of me? You do realize I’m thirty-four. You’re two babies compared to me.”

Troy reared back.

“No we’re not,” Angel stated, though he didn’t look any happier about being called a baby. He slouched and dropped his gaze. With a sigh, he rose to meet her stare again, since they were between her and the car, she had no choice but to listen. Or leave. And that would only cause questions inside. Questions she didn’t want to answer. “We’re twenty-six, so what? And yes. Both of us. We wanted to take time to get to know you, to see if…” He cursed in a muttered breath. “To see if you’d…” He hissed through his teeth. “I’m fucking it up, Troy.”

He spun on a heel and stalked a few feet to the other end of the car, his back to them, his shoulders hunched as he battled with himself.

“Michelle,” Troy said gently. “We like you. A lot.” She didn’t flinch when he lifted his hand to touch her cheek, and he didn’t try to do more, which she was grateful for. Her heart had begun to race like a wild stampede at the word surprise. Determined to listen, she forced a calmer rate by breathing evenly. “What we’re suggesting may not work. It’s only worked once before, and it’s only because I trust Angel like my own brother. The problem is, we’re both falling for you. But if you aren’t open to…this…”

“But I’m eight years older than you. Than the both of you!”
This?
She couldn’t even wrap her mind around that part of it.

“Michelle.” Troy closed the gap of space between them. “If either of us wanted a woman other than the person you are, we wouldn’t bother you in the least. Tonight, we have a surprise for you. It’s not big. You don’t even have to get dressed up for it. We want to get to know you better.”

She heard Angel turn and approach them. “Please?” Glancing his way, he looked like a giant dark-eyed puppy and her heart flipped and melted at the same time. She had absolutely no willpower to fight that look.

“Just tell me where we’re going.”

“Back to Angel’s,” Troy said, a lighter version of his charm returning. “My place was an option, but all our gaming junk is at his.”

She chuckled. Games. Then it hit her again.
They’re so young!

She was ready to take a step away, just get in her car and go home when Troy’s touch skimmed down her arm. “You can get cleaned up and everything. Honest. Come home with us?”

She swallowed. It was a hell of a risk, she knew that. Flashes of Bryan’s behavior returned to her. Studying them, her vision flicked between them. “What if— Could you do it at my house?” She felt secure at her home. Somehow it felt less stressful, whatever it was they had planned, if they were on her turf.

The two men glanced at each other, then nodded. “Yeah, we can run home and bring what we have over.” Troy’s gaze regarded her closely. “It will make you feel better, won’t it?”

She almost shrugged, then decided there wasn’t a point in it. “Yeah, it will.”

Angel tilted his head, his gaze flowing over her, missing nothing in the sweep. “Who hurt you, Michelle?”

She startled with a near yelp at the question. “Wha— What do you mean?”

Troy slapped him in the stomach. “Ignore him. Go on home. We’ll be there in about forty-five minutes. And thanks for letting us do this.”

Both moved out of her way, though she was too jumpy to really think about anything other than making the key fob work and getting behind the wheel. Troy was a gentleman and made sure she was all buckled in before he shut the door. “See you in a bit.”

Michelle nodded, shaken, but having already given the okay, couldn’t take it back. She pulled away from the lot, following as the two male forms filled the charcoal gray Impala in her mirror until she was too far away.

“Just what have you gotten yourself into, Michelle?”

Without an answer, she simply drove, wanting to ensure she was showered and changed before they were even close to knocking on her door.

* * * *

Angel winced when Troy snapped at him once they were in the car. “Good job, ex-lax. Where did that come from?”

Angel shrugged. “I don’t know. She just went so pale.” He sagged in his seat. “I think she was married, or at least, in a very serious relationship.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Remember JoLee’s ex? How gun shy she was after their split?” Angel couldn’t help but picture the haunted, wary look that had filled Michelle’s beautiful eyes right after they’d explained where they were going. Just like his sister had when she’d escaped her abusive ex-husband.

Troy nodded. “He was a bastard and a half.” The light bulb must have turned on for Troy, because he said, “She’s behaving the same way, isn’t she?”

“A lot, yeah.”

“Fuckers.” He twisted his hands on the wheel as he drove them to the apartments. “But treating her with kid gloves, Angel, man, it’s killing me.”

“I know. Hopefully tonight’s surprise will help.”

“Man I hope so. It’s getting harder not to just say I love her.”

Angel nodded, relieved actually that Troy had admitted it. “Dude, I’ve
been
in love with her. You think it’s any easier for me?”

Troy snickered. “We’ll get her.”

“Yes, we will.” Silence fell between them.

It only took them a few minutes to bag up all the groceries while Troy went over to Angel’s place to grab the game console, and a couple games, something silly and active, something they knew any age person would and were doing. They loved their war and battle games, but knew that wasn’t Michelle.

It took them less than fifty minutes total before they were knocking on her door.

“Your evening has arrived,” Troy sang when she opened the door for them.

She blinked with wide eyes at the sacks of food. “What are you two doing?”

Angel shut the door with a heel, a duffel with the gaming equipment hung over a shoulder and another bag in his hands. His gaze swept over her face, finding her much more relaxed, and maybe even anticipating. The gleam in her eyes made his pulse rush. It had happened. He’d really fallen for her. Digging to find his voice, he answered her. “In a single explanation, courting you.”

Her mouth popped open, then closed repeatedly. “You two are nuts,” she finally managed to gasp.

“Takes one to know one,” Troy teased. “Now then, I’ll get started. Angel, take our lovely friend to the closest TV.”

“TV?” she squeaked.

“Yes. A night of food and fun.”

“You’re kidding?” Michelle seemed half dazed, or completely overwhelmed.

“Not in the least.” Handing off his sack of edibles, Angel motioned for her to continue. “Lead on, milady.”

Angel followed her as she took him into the living room where he’d actually laid her down to sleep that first night out, grateful she was in front of him, praying she didn’t turn around before he had a chance to wipe his face of his thoughts. She was wearing a light pair of shorts, nothing that was supposed to be sexy, but they were, cupping her ass and shaping to her thighs. The T-shirt was pale gray and showed her breasts in wonderful detail. His throat felt dry so he swallowed several times. It helped the dry feeling, but it did nothing for the rock in his jeans.

“Is this what you need?” she asked, pointing to the flat screen.

Angel let out a whistle. “How’d I miss that the other night?”

Michelle giggled. “Tell you a secret?” she whispered.

Angel almost floated, swept up by the sparkle of her eyes. “I’m all yours.”

She blinked, apparently unsure then just as quickly dismissing his remark to continue. “I love baseball.”

“Oh yeah. Who’s your team?”

“Anyone playing against the Yankees,” she joked, grinning madly. Angel laughed out loud, then she said, “I have a few that I follow, but I don’t have a home team. Players get traded so often, teams don’t stay static enough for me to want to follow the franchise for that team. Trades create gaps and the team doesn’t ever feel right or usually play the same for a while.”

“Never would’ve thought that about you.” Angel winked, then knelt to zip open the duffel. He’d watched baseball himself for years, and knew exactly what she was talking about. He just hadn’t expected it coming from her. That’s what he got for thinking, as his mom would’ve warned him. It was also what tonight was about, to get to know each other better. Instead, he opened the bag and held up a couple game cases. “This is what we brought. It won’t take but a few minutes to hook up and it all leaves with us, no harm to the TV. No animals or children will be harmed in the maiming of Troy’s ego.”

Laughter was bright in her eyes. “This sounds like fun. Sure. Hook her up. Let’s give it a shot.” Angel almost fell over from the beauty of her smile.

“No smack before dinner,” came a shout from the kitchen.

When Angel locked with Michelle’s brown eyes, their glimmer deepened and they both laughed long and loud.

* * * *

Troy was getting settled into the kitchen when she walked in. “Find what you need?” He seemed to have it all under control. A pot was filled with water working to boil, and he had a plate of crab meat on the counter.

“Seafood?”

He slowed in his prep, consternation darkening his brow. “Crap. I didn’t think. Are you allergic?”

“No, just, flattered. You two got all of this for tonight, for me?”

“This is just a light dinner. It’s a pasta-crab dish my grandfather showed me how to make. You’ll think you’ve died, believe me.”

“That good, huh?” she asked, poking into containers. He swatted at her fingers.

“Yes.”

“I’m surprised.”

“Oh?” He sliced up peppers and slid them to a waiting plate. “About what?”

“You’re both so independent.”

Troy shrugged. “Mom made me do it.” He pouted with a quiver on his lips that could only be laughter. “Actually, it was the best thing she could’ve done. She swore if I found a woman to take me the last thing that woman would want was a child to have sex with, so she made sure I wasn’t prejudiced against certain things. The only thing I really hate doing is laundry, but it gets done.”

“Why?” She studied him, grinning at his confident attention to what he was doing.

“I invariably get something mixed and have a pink sock or a bleached pair of something.”

She leaned on the counter where he was working, laughing, wiping a hand under her eyes. “Thank you.”

He paused, tilting to see her, then resuming. “For?”

“I haven’t laughed this much in years.”

Troy stopped with the knife and set it on the board he was using. That was when she realized she’d hardly flinched with him using it, hadn’t given it much thought at all to have him using the wicked blade only a foot or two away from where she stood, completely entranced and at ease with him.