“Hey. Can I come in?” Not waiting for a reply he walked around her and into her tiny one-
bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s West Side. Walking over to her sofa, he placed the food and beer onto the coffee table and made himself at home on her sofa. “I hope you’re hungry.”
“Ahhh. Yeah. I guess.” She closed the door and spun around to face him, not sure what to do or say to him, so she voiced the one question that was nagging on her mind. “What are you doing here? Did you guys find out who broke into my store?” She knew that wasn’t why he was there, but hoped the store was the reason.
He grimaced and ran a hand through his blonde hair. “No, I’m sorry. I’m doing all I can, but there’s no leads.”
“Oh.” She hesitantly made her way across the room and sat next to him on the sofa. “Then can I ask why you’re here?” Her nose crinkled at him. “And how did you find out where I lived?”
His face flushed as he pulled Chinese food from the paper bag. “I hope you like Chinese.”
“Yeah. Yeah. It’s fine.” She wasn’t concerned about the food.
“I sort of grabbed your home address from your police report.”
“Is that legal?”
He shrugged and turned to face her. “I’m here because after I left your store the other day I did some thinking and I feel I owe you an apology. My cold behavior around you yesterday was uncalled for. And we should have a discussion about what happened last month.” As he waited for her reply he twisted off the cap of a beer and passed it to her.
After her discussion with Graham the previous day she felt better about what happened. She really didn’t have a desire to rehash it, which made her wonder if Graham told Dane about his going to see her and their having dinner. She suspected he didn’t. But why?
She took a long drink from her beer. She hated beer but didn’t want to hurt his feelings and she had the feeling she was going to need to have a few in her to deal with the conversation Dane was going to insist on having.
Would it be rude if I cut him off, told him I didn’t want to talk about it and bid him a good night? she mused. As much as she wanted to do just that, a part of her was glad he’d shown up.
At least his company would keep her mind from thinking about his brother. Well, sort of.
He twisted off the cap of the beer he had in his hand and took a long drink, drinking down close to half the bottle before placing it back onto the coffee table.
His eyes locked onto hers and she saw the sincerity in his blue depths. When she gave it some consideration she was as much to blame for the night as he was. She’d responded to his advances, she welcomed them. And the next day when he’d suggested something she’d never even considered before, she was reluctant at first, but by the time her body was sandwiched between the striking, muscular bodies of the two brothers she didn’t care anymore – she welcomed the feelings. And she doubted she’d ever feel such intense pleasure again that the two of them gave her.
She could see him trying to decide the words to use to begin his apology and she found herself softening to him. “Just let me speak first, okay?”
His brow furrowed at her request, but he nodded.
“I have just as much to apologize for as you do. I shouldn’t have taken off like I did. I had a lot of fun with you at the musical and after…” She felt butterflies begin to flutter in her stomach as memories of him pleasuring her in the shower skirted through her mind. As she looked at him she found she was becoming uncomfortably wet. This was bad.
“After?”
“I realized that what I had with Alex, especially the sexual aspect, was well below par. A part of me was concerned that there was something wrong with me.” She felt her face flush as she considered admitting her insecurities, but Dane’s expression was one of concern with not an ounce of judgment in his eyes. “You made me realize it wasn’t.”
Dane chuckled as he caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. “You were amazing.” He dropped his hand and lowered his gaze. “But I shouldn’t have shared you, or even suggested it, and I’m sorry. It was a stupid and impulsive idea.”
“No. No.” She placed a hand on his leg, just about his knee. “I enjoyed it. I’ve never felt…”
She couldn’t finish her sentence. It was her turn to flush and lower her gaze. She snatched her hand away from his leg and she felt her face beginning to grow warm. Discussing Vegas wasn’t going to do either of them any good.
He placed a paper plate in front of her and opened a little box. “Sweet and sour chicken?” He began to empty half of the carton without waiting for her response. “You left Vegas because of me and I regretted that I wasn’t able to spend more time with you. I fucked it up, but after seeing you again, I want to make it right.”
She focused her attention on the plate of food he’d dished out to her, scooped up some rice and popped it into her mouth. Anything to avoid having to comment on his last statement. She watched him eat out of the corner of her eyes as she began to devour the food in front of her, surprised she was as hungry as she was.
“Wow, big Chinese fan I see.”
Genevieve smiled, looking at her plate, which was almost empty compared to his; he hadn’t even gotten halfway through. “It was a long day.”
“How are you doing on getting new inventory?” He speared a chicken ball and plopped it into his mouth.
“Bad. I had the largest collection of pre-owned Birkin bags in the city. And it’s hard to get them used for a good price since they resale for so much and in such high demand.”
“So how much would one of those Birkin purses cost?”
She shrugged. “Depends on the condition, but usually people who buy Birkin keep them pristine. A used one can range from ten grand to thirty or forty – sometimes more.”
Dane’s eyes went wide as he began to choke on his rice.
She was used to Dane’s exact reaction from people. Tourists visited her boutique often and would leave outraged at her prices. “Depending the type of leather. The cheaper ones would be in the ten to fifteen range, but crocodile, ostrich, the exotic leathers come into the serious money.”
He cleared his throat and took a long swig from his beer. Dane reached across her and grabbed the bag she had sitting on her end table. Straightening back up, he placed the bag on his lap and inspected it.
The faint musk smell of his cologne came drifting to her nose. Oh dear God, it smells so good! It was amazing to her how a scent could lure someone to someone else so easily. It would be so much easier to deny her body’s reaction to him if he didn’t smell so damned good!