MoonlightTemptation (3 page)

“Dane, if you like the girl, why the hell don’t you just
tell her?”

Yes, he liked Evie, but not in the way Ryan meant.

Hell, he didn’t know how to describe the way he felt about
Evie. He only knew there was no way in hell he could have any kind of
relationship with her except a professional one.

And Ryan would never understand the why of that, even if
Dane could explain.

“I called you because I thought you’d like her.”

Ryan spared him a quick, disbelieving glance. “No shit,
Sherlock. What’s not to like? She’s a beauty. But I wanna know why you haven’t
asked her out yourself. Fuck, man, you want her. What I don’t know is why you
think you can’t have her.”

Maybe Ryan knew him a little too well. Christ, how much more
badly could he fuck this up?

“When the hell did you become a shrink? Last I knew you were
a vet.”

Ryan smirked at him. “Last I checked, you still had balls.”

“Fuck you,
saccente
. Why the hell were you looking at
my balls, anyway?”

Ryan’s deep laughter filled the car and Dane’s mouth finally
curved in a smile. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d done that.

“Seriously, man, you need to tell me what the hell I’m doing
here since it’s so fucking obvious you like her.”

Vaffanculo
, he hoped it wasn’t obvious to anyone
other than Ryan. If his mother found out… “Nothing can happen between Evie and
me. It’s just not gonna happen. But… Yeah, I like her. And she needs someone to
talk to. As her doctor, I prescribed you.”

Ryan’s expression cleared and he started to nod. “All right,
now I know what’s going on. I don’t know why it took me this long to figure it
out.”

“Figure out what?”

“It’s your mom.”

Dane stilled even as his brain began to churn. Damn it, he
knew Ryan couldn’t read his mind so his friend really did know him too well.
There was no way in hell Ryan could have inferred what he had from anything
Dane had said.

“When the hell are you just going to tell her you’re not
marrying the little wolfie princess she picked out for you and be done with
it?”

Dane took a minute to think about how he was going to answer
that one because, truthfully, he’d been thinking more and more about the deal
his mother wanted him to make.

“What if I don’t want to tell her no?”

Ryan whipped his head around to look at him, his shocked
expression priceless. “What the fuck are you talking about? Are you telling me
you’re actually thinking about caving?”

Would it be caving? Or would he simply be solving an
unresolved issue?

“Damn it, Dane, are you fucking nuts?”

The utter disbelief in Ryan’s voice made Dane’s lips curl in
a half-assed sneer that wasn’t really directed at Ryan. “Maybe I’m just sick and
tired of having no one to go home to at night.”

“There are ways around that other than an arranged marriage.
I thought you didn’t even like the girl your mom picked out. The last time we
talked about this you called her a cold fish.”

“Maybe I was being a dick.”

Ryan snorted. “So you’ve actually gotten to know the cold
fish?”

Dane swallowed the easy lie that rose to his lips. His best
friend deserved better. But this wasn’t a conversation he wanted to continue
now. And thankfully, didn’t have to.

“We’re here, Ryan. Third house on the left.”

Ryan parked the truck in front of the house Dane had pointed
out and shut off the engine.

Then he turned to face the man he considered his best
friend.

And wondered if he really knew the guy at all.

“Jesus, Dane. Of course you were being a dick but you come
by it honestly. You were spoiled rotten as a child. Your parents treated you
like a crown fucking prince, complete with silver spoon.”

Dane had been an only child for fifteen years before his
sister Miranda came along. He’d been groomed to be a doctor since birth and
he’d had the brains to justify his parents’ hopes and dreams. Actually, the guy
was more than smart. He was fucking brilliant.

But for all that brilliance, sometimes he could be
incredibly stupid.

“Dane, are you seriously considering marrying a girl because
your mother decided she’d be the perfect wife?”

Dane sighed, staring out the window at the house. “What the
hell does it matter who I marry? I’m not looking for love.”

“Then why the hell do you need a wife?”

“I told you. I’m sick of coming home to an empty house.”

“So get a cat. Dude, do you honestly think you’re gonna be
happy with a virtual stranger living in your home?”

“Fuck, Ryan, it’s gotta be better than the
nothing
I’ve
got now.”

Ryan’s eyes widened. “Dane, what the hell—”

“No.” Dane held up his hand in classic
I am Master Dane,
obey me
fashion. “No, just forget I said that.
Vaffanculo
, Ryan,
just drop it, okay?”

Something in Dane’s voice made Ryan stop and take a good,
hard look at his friend.

And for the first time since Dane had been forced to reveal
the truth of his life to Ryan, he looked as if he was about to crack around the
edges. Strain showed in the tight line of his jaw and the fists now clenched on
his thighs.

For the past decade, Ryan had seen Dane handle every
situation with a confidence that never seemed to falter, not even when he was
frustrated or pissed off.

He’d never seen Dane rattled. Not even when Dane had
revealed himself to be something other than human. A being straight out of
mythology.

Dane had shaken Ryan’s safe, normal world to its foundations
with that news. It’d taken Ryan weeks to come to grips with the fact there were
things in the world that couldn’t be explained by the narrow confines of
science.

The fact Dane was one of those things had thrown Ryan’s
formerly normal world off-kilter.

They sat in silence for at least a minute, Dane staring out
the window, Ryan staring at Dane.

Something had changed. Something to do with the woman in
that house.

Dane sighed and opened the door, practically throwing
himself out of the car before he grabbed the bags of food from the backseat and
headed for the front door.

With his head down, he looked as if he were headed for the
gallows.

What Ryan couldn’t figure out was why. He didn’t understand
Dane’s apocalyptic attitude. She was just a girl. A pretty one, yeah.

But…

Maybe Dane knew she could be something more.

And that definitely made her special.

Ryan caught up to Dane just before he reached the front
door. He wanted to say something, anything to try to ease Dane out of this
mood, but Dane reached out to knock before Ryan could open his mouth.

Fine, they’d play this Dane’s way for now.

The door opened only seconds later and wary gray eyes met
his before flicking to Dane.

Evie Simmons took a deep breath and straightened, almost as
if she were preparing for battle.

“Dane. I didn’t know you were coming.”

Dane’s chin tipped back, almost as if she’d hit him. “I
know. I hope it’s not too much of an imposition.” He held out the bags of food
they’d ordered from The Cellar, a downtown Reading restaurant favored by the
Etruscans. “We brought dinner.”

Christ, Dane looked brittle enough to crack at a harsh word.
Surreal didn’t begin to describe the situation.

Her mouth quirked in what might have been a grin. Or maybe
not. “Probably better for everyone that you did. I’m not exactly the world’s
best cook.”

The self-deprecating tone of Evie’s voice drew Ryan’s
attention back to the woman. And the attraction he’d felt earlier today hit him
broadside.

He’d never experienced anything like it. Sure, he’d seen a
woman and fallen in lust before.

But that had been different. This…

“Hello again.” She forced a smile as she stepped away from
the door and waved them in with her free hand.

When Dane hesitated, Ryan stepped through the threshold,
forcing Dane to follow so Evie could close the door.

“I figured we’d eat in the kitchen if that’s okay?”

“Fine by me,” Ryan said, appreciating the sway of her slim
hips as she led them through the house. “Nice place.”

“Thanks but I can’t take any credit for it. It’s…on loan.”
She set the food on the table slightly harder than she should have and the
cartons inside shifted and crackled. Her fingers clenched into fists for a
second before she turned to both men with another forced smile. “Would you like
something to drink?”

Strain, so obvious in the lines between her eyes and around
her pretty mouth, made him sigh.

“You know, as much as I think a bottle before dinner would
really make the conversation flow, the whole addiction thing makes it a problem
for me.”

There, that got her attention. “I… I’m sorry, I didn’t
know.” Her gaze flipped back to Dane, stiff and still behind him. “I just…”

He was going to kill Dane when he got him alone. Or, at the
very least, break a few bones. The guy could heal them in minutes, anyway.

“Hey, Evie, you know what? I think we need a do-over.” He
held out his hand, which she took with a bemused smile. “Hi, I’m Ryan. I’m a
veterinarian from Philadelphia. I’m thirty years old, single and my best friend
is this guy,” he nodded toward Dane, “which doesn’t say a lot for my taste in
friends, I know. Try not to hold it against me.”

There was her smile, tentative but transformative. Damn, the
girl was pretty.

“One night in vet school, I found a wolf in the alley behind
my apartment building. After I removed the bullet from its leg, that wolf
became Dane.” He pointed his thumb over his shoulder in Dane’s general
direction. “Now he’s got a stick up his ass tonight for some reason, but he’s
not such a bad guy when you get to know him. He’s actually a damn good friend
who stands by you when you need him most. He doesn’t judge, even when you’re a
recovering Vicodin addict like me.”

Her smile faded but she maintained eye contact, her gaze
thoughtful.

“You and I,” he continued, “have a lot in common. Dane asked
me to come because he knew that and he actually does want to help. Now it’s
time to eat.”

Dane had no idea how Ryan had managed it, but he’d put Evie
at ease.

For the past hour and a half, Ryan and Evie had sat on
opposite sides of the table. Talking, occasionally laughing, relaxed into their
chairs after finishing the meal he and Ryan had picked up.

Evie hadn’t been expecting him so it made sense to bring
dinner for the three of them rather than stress her out about not having made
enough. He hated to screw up her plans but he’d tried to minimize the chaos
he’d caused with his appearance.

Although, he hadn’t made much of an impact on the situation
so far.

He’d sat on his side of the square table, silently watching.
Trying not to make it obvious he couldn’t take his eyes off her. How her
laughter made his blood flow thick and hot through his veins and how every time
she looked his way, he wanted to make her smile at him.

Dane could count on one hand the number of times he’d heard
Evie laugh before tonight. Hell, he could’ve counted on one finger.

And now he had a hard-on listening to her. Thankfully, no
one would notice because Ryan and Evie were engrossed in conversation about
global warming.

He wasn’t surprised they had the same opinion, that the
industrialized countries of the world were killing the planet. Tree huggers,
both of them.

Dane admired their stance but his life was consumed by
saving people, not trees.

And he knew if he opened his mouth and said that, Evie would
tell him there wouldn’t be any people if there weren’t any trees.

He considered entering the conversation just so she’d turn
those beautiful eyes his way and take him to task for not wanting to chain
himself to a redwood.

But he enjoyed watching her much more than verbally sparring
with her.

Right now, he just wanted to sit here and listen to her
talk.

Which was pretty damn pathetic.

Fighting back the need to shake his head, he transferred his
gaze to Ryan.

It’s been a while since he’d seen Ryan in action. Five
years, at least, since the last time they’d hit a bar and picked up a woman.

Dane had memories of late nights in a dark bar on South
Street in Philadelphia. Nights when Dane would have a few beers as Ryan chose
their prey for the night then seduced her back to his apartment where he and
Dane would fuck her all night long.

The women were always more than willing and they left the
next morning sated. But they never had the same woman twice.

They’d been too busy with school to have love lives. Both of
them too driven to want the distraction of a full-time relationship.

It was why their unique arrangement had worked.

If they got Evie into a bed—

No.
Damn it, he shouldn’t be thinking of Evie in
those terms.

He shouldn’t even fucking be here. What the hell had he been
thinking—

“So Dane gets the professor to recant in front of the whole
class and forces him to change everyone’s grade. The guy never looked at Dane
again for the rest of the semester.”

Vaffanculo.
Dane caught the challenge in Ryan’s eyes
and realized he’d just been put on notice.
Do or die time.

Ryan was no idiot. He knew exactly why Dane had invited him.
The unspoken reason he was here.

And when Evie flashed him one of her so-very-rare smiles, he
knew he couldn’t lie to himself any more.

He knew exactly why he’d come tonight.

“So Dane saved the semester, huh? Sounds like he’s a regular
Superman.”

“Oh, the man definitely has a God complex.” Ryan’s smile
broadened as he turned to Dane with a look he knew well. “But he has his uses.”