Except there were her relationships with Rhys and Tucker . . .

  “Ever notice how many of my dates are short brunettes with curly hair and lush figures?”

  A parade of his previous girlfriends marched through her brain. Oh my God . . . “All of them.”

  He nodded. “I’ve been substituting, hoping for the real thing, waiting for your feelings and desire to develop, for your trust to grow. I know I’m asking a lot of you . . . Submission, devotion. I wanted you to come to me.”

  Kelsey bit her lip and tears stabbed the back of her eyes. “I didn’t know. I mean, I knew you wanted to sleep with me.”

  He scoffed. “Did you think I just wanted sex?”

  “I—I . . . suppose.”

  Surprise flared across his face as he planted his palms on either side of her body and leaned over her. “Let me absolve you of that foolishness. I’m going to do whatever it takes to make you mine in every way. My wife, the mother of my children, my everything. I’ll be thirty-eight in two months. I’ve devoted most of my adulthood to my career. Now, I want to devote myself to you.”

  She looked up at him with wide eyes, and her heart flipped. Words escaped her.

  Resolution firmed his expression as he parted her legs wide again. She held in a groan and waited. A heartbeat passed, another . . . Then he caressed the inside of her thighs.

  “You’re wet. Very.”

  And he sounded like that pleased him.

  His stare was glued to her face as he eased two fingers inside her and teased the front wall of her sex. Oh . . . wow. She sucked in a breath. That spot. He’d found it immediately. Then he settled his thumb over her clit and rubbed in torturously slow circles.

  Her eyes widened as she watched him watch her, ruthless determination all over his face. He intended to drive her up hard, high, fast.

  Kelsey’s entire body tensed in the charged silence and she grabbed onto his tie in desperation, spreading her thighs even wider.

  “God, you look delicious. You feel incredible, so tight, your sweet pussy clamping down on my fingers, your clit swelling.”

  No man had ever talked to her like that. Though she couldn’t explain why, Kelsey loved it. The rawness of his language, coupled with the wonder in his voice, the tenderness in his eyes.

  And those magical, unrelenting fingers.

  Orgasm began to close in on her, the ache building between her legs, became a sharp burn that rose and grew. Her cream drenched his fingers, dripped down to her back entrance. She could hardly breathe. The anticipation was overwhelming. Fighting off climax became impossible.

  Just when she felt the first stirrings of her womb clench, Jeremy withdrew.

  Thrashing, she shook her head in protest. “No. Please ...”

  He dragged the barest touch over her clit, and she lifted her hips to the touch. He pulled away. “Please what?”

  “I need you.”

  “To do what?” He grazed her clit again. “Be specific. Make me believe you want me.”

  Kelsey stared at him as his eyes drilled her with naked lust. A million thoughts ran through her brain as he slowly grazed her sensitive little bud again and again, keeping her on the razor’s edge of pleasure. It was splitting her open, destroying her mind. Every bit of her burned and strained for him.

  Jeremy wasn’t going to relent or give in. He’d accept nothing less than total surrender.

  She swallowed and said two words she’d never said in her life. “Fuck me.”

  Jeremy rounded the desk, settling himself between her legs, then growled, “No. I can fuck anyone. You’re different. Try again.”

  Frowning, Kelsey tried to puzzle it out. She knew what she wanted, but didn’t men usually just want to get off?

  Since Jeremy loved her and wanted to devote his life to her, clearly not. She’d underestimated the depth of his feeling again.

  “Make love to me?”

  He seized her thighs, pulled her closer, and gave her a pirate’s smile. “Yes. Now and always.”

  Then Jeremy began easing into her, through her swollen, aching flesh. She burned and hissed as he pressed deep, until he’d buried every bit of himself inside her. Then he leaned over her and canted forward, going deeper still.

  Kelsey grabbed the tie with a gasp. She felt him everywhere. No part of her wasn’t filled up with him: her sex, her eyes, her heart.

  Jeremy groaned, long and low. “Fuck, I’ll never get enough of you. So tight. Perfect.”

  Before she could comment that he felt perfect, too, he withdrew slowly, then rammed home with a power and precision that had her grabbing his tie again until her fingers were numb and she shouted his name.

  “Gorgeous. Give everything to me.”

  As if she could hold anything back from Jeremy.

  His thumb brushed her clit again, then he leaned on his elbows, so close she could see the beads of sweat at his temples and dampening his hairline, so intimate that his breath brushed her lips. “You look flushed, needy, that pretty mouth open and ready to beg. I’ll look at this desk every day and remember your surrender.”

  Kelsey looked into his eyes that had gone black with desire and swallowed. She’d look at this desk every day and remember, too. Desire clawed higher, juicing her bloodstream. She was entirely his in that moment—tied to his desk, at his mercy, filled with his cock, slave to his seductive words. She cried out as her body raced closer to the pinnacle of pleasure with each thrust.

  As she clamped down on him, seconds from orgasm, he backed away, his stare chastising her. “I didn’t give you permission.”

  “I don’t know how to stop it! You—ah, God . . . You make me want so bad—”

  “That’s the way I want you. Could you imagine waiting another four years to feel this?”

  No. At Jeremy’s first touch, she feared he’d hooked her. She was a pleasure junkie; he provided her fix.

  He drove into her again, teeth gritted, shoulders bunching. Her body burned.

  “I’ll never say no again,” she promised rashly. She would do anything for the pleasure just out of her reach, for the satisfaction that was so close . . . but so far away.

  “You’re right; you won’t.” He backed away and covered her burning clit with his thumb again. “Come.”

  In that instant, her entire body went up in flames that started with a burst of pleasure between her thighs, then raced down her legs, up her arms, crashing into her heart. Perspiration slicked their skin, blended as they strained together.

  He rode her hard through her climax, muttering words that took her higher and higher. “Yes! You’re gorgeous when you’re this open to me. I’m going to fuck you every day, every night.”

  The mental image of being his like this with him always simmered in her blood, keeping her aflame. With Jeremy, she didn’t feel shy about her lack of experience or her body. She didn’t want to cover herself or apologize for having more meat on her bones than she should. Instead . . . she felt possessed. She felt like the most important person in his universe.

  His eyes told her that, to him, she was.

  “Acknowledge me,” he demanded.

  Impossible not to when he began to massage her clit again in slow circles that made her breathless. “Yes, sir. Every day. Every night.”

  “Come again. For me.”

  Pleasure stacked on top of desire, whipped into a frenzy by his words and touch. It sucked her into its swirl like a black hole, too big, too strong for her to escape. He was still so hard inside her, and her body was strung up tighter than ever. A million sensations cascaded through her all at once, each more stunning than the last, each taking her to a place she’d never been in her life.

  “It’s too big. Too much.”

  “It’s too much when I say it’s too much, Kelsey.” Jeremy grabbed her hips in a white-knuckled grip and filled every bit of her sex with his length again. “You’re mine—your body, your mouth, your pussy. Even your ass. All mine to take at will. You’re going to climax again with me inside you because I want to feel you come all over my cock. Now.”

  Denying him everything he wanted—she wanted—in that moment was beyond her. He’d restrained her to his desk . . . but inside, she needed to let go, believe that the place he took her was both safe and perfect. She needed to give him her absolute trust.

  With a ragged inhalation, she latched onto his stare, withdrew her mental safety net, and gave everything she was inside to him.

  His eyes flared with the knowledge that she’d surrendered completely. He drove her body higher until she writhed, incoherent pleadings whispered from her lips until he smothered the cry with his mouth.

  And she came.

  The pleasure was unlike anything she’d ever known, skin tingling and electric, breathing suspended, her mind and heart clasped around him as she vibrated with pleasure. He shouted and came deep inside her, warm and liquid, marking her as his.

  Then her consciousness faded to black.

  Moments later, she came to and found Jeremy still naked in his office chair, her cradled in his lap. He’d untied her and settled her head on his shoulder.

  She blinked against the harsh overhead lights, then found Jeremy’s solemn gaze. The tenderness and possessiveness there took her breath away.

  “You know I can never be just your boss again.”

  “I know.” Her voice trembled.

  What she didn’t know, however, was what to do about Rhys. And what should she do about Tucker.

  Kelsey sighed. What happened next?

  CHAPTER | FOUR

  Watching the sun set, Kelsey drew her legs against her chest and rested her chin on her knees, brushing away the latest bout of tears. Live oaks cast long shadows over the grassy clearing and the little pond a few feet away. The setting was peaceful but didn’t soothe the tumult inside her.

  At her feet, her cell phone vibrated. Again. She now had fourteen voice mails: four from Rhys, five from Jeremy, two from Tucker, one from Tucker’s mother. So she might as well count that one from Tucker too. One from her aunt about her cousin’s upcoming bridal shower. And one from Garrison, trying to schmooze her about the Miami job because her life just wasn’t complicated enough.

  She’d been hiding for two days and she still didn’t have the faintest clue what to do.

  Wednesday night, after her interlude with Jeremy in his office, he’d wanted her to spend the night in his home, in his bed. She didn’t dare. Already dangerously close to agreeing to be his love slave for life, she’d reminded him of her fitting and made up excuses about caring for her parents’ animals while they were vacationing. Reluctantly, he’d let her go. She’d driven to Mom and Dad’s—and had been hiding since, dodging work with an e-mail to Jeremy telling him that she needed to think. She’d eluded Rhys with silence. Though both knew her parents lived on a ranch outside Austin, neither knew exactly where.

  But Tucker . . .

  Footsteps behind Kelsey told her that her time had run out. Tucker, of course, had no trouble finding her; his parents lived on the neighboring ranch. Knowing her so well, he’d figured out exactly where she was hiding.

  Without a word, he sat beside her, shoulder to shoulder, touching without overwhelming. Tucker always knew when she needed space and when she needed to face the world—even when she didn’t.

  “Everyone’s worried about you, Kels.”

  She hugged her knees tighter. “I know.”

  “Jeremy called me. So did Rhys.”

  Dread pounded her chest, and she squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn’t look at Tucker. God, did he know that she’d had sex with both of them? What must he think?

  “Tell them not to worry. I’m fine.”

  “If you were, you wouldn’t be hiding here.”

  In his gentle, insistent way, Tucker shot her the straight truth. Kelsey drew in a bracing breath. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “Avoiding reality isn’t the answer.”

  Something in his voice made her pause. “They told you what happened.”

  Beside her, she felt him shrug. “I’d rather hear it from you.”

  Look at one of the men she loved and tell him that she’d slept with the other two? But the only alternative was to lie. She had to, for lack of a better term, man up. Besides, Tucker was her best friend. She’d always confided in him. Even if he didn’t love her romantically, he cared about her as a friend. He’d be hurt if she cut him off.

  She swallowed. “I had sex with them, Rhys on Monday after the party, Jeremy on Wednesday after hours.”

  Tucker tensed. “And now you’re torn between them?”

  Something in Tucker’s choked tone gave her pause. “If I chose one of them to date or marry, how would you feel?”

  He plucked at the grass between his booted feet, those hands that made such beautiful custom furniture brown, strong, and steady. “I’ll be honest, Kels. I’d still be your friend—I always will be—but at more of a distance. If I were a better man, I could watch one of them make you happy, shake his hand, smile. But I love you too much to look at another man’s ring on your finger and not be jealous as hell.”

  “You w-want me? As more than a friend?” She’d wondered . . . but to hear him admit it shocked her.

  With a gentle finger beneath her chin, he urged her to look at him. His so-blue eyes surrounded by that thick fringe of dark lashes pierced her with sincerity, honesty. Devotion.

  “I’ve known for twelve years that you’re the girl for me. Guess I kept hoping that you’d figure it out too.”

  Twelve years? “We were sixteen.”

  “Yeah. Remember when Katie Benson broke up with me? I wouldn’t go to a stupid kegger party with her, so she told me that I was dull, then hooked up with some football jock.”

  “I remember. You looked so down.”

  “No, confused. I’d chased that girl for four months. I should have been devastated when she dumped me. I felt oddly relieved. When you found me making my mom that rocking chair on the porch, I was trying to figure out why. You came over and took my hand. You told me then that I deserved the best in life, someone who would love me exactly as I was. I realized in that moment that you’d always loved me. And I’d always loved you.”

  Kelsey remembered that night vividly. That was the first time she’d felt a romantic pull to Tucker. But they’d never done anything about it.

  “You didn’t say anything.”

  “At the time, you were dating Mike what’s-his-name. I couldn’t tell you that he was no good for you—you had to figure it out on your own. But then, you went off to college. Mom encouraged me to move on, and I tried.”

  “You got quite a reputation as a ladies’ man.” She winced.

  “I woke up at twenty-one and realized that I’d had a lot of sex but never loved anyone the way I loved you. By then, you were dating Alex.”

  “The slime. Ugh! Don’t say his name to me. Talk about a regret.” She bit her lip. “I wish . . . If I’d known how you felt then, I would have never been with Alex.”

  He dropped his gaze. “And that’s my regret. I didn’t think I could compete with a rich, sophisticated guy like him. He drove a damn Porsche. My blue pickup has seen better decades.”

  “I don’t care what you drive! Your truck has character. It’s . . . you.”

  He shrugged. “I was young and insecure. In my head, Alex could give you the flashy cars and diamonds I couldn’t. I thought . . . I’d never be good enough.”

  “You dated the prettiest girls, always outgoing and thin and—”

  “And never half the woman you are. Whatever happened with Rhys and Jeremy, I still love you. When you choose one, I’ll just love you from farther away.”

  She grabbed his face, willing him to understand. “Please don’t. I love you, too. That’s my problem. I love all three of you. I should have resisted Rhys, refused Jeremy. But I didn’t. Couldn’t. Now, I want to be wrapped in your arms so badly, and I know I have no right . . .”

  Leaping to her feet, Kelsey raced toward her parents’ house. Tucker must think she’d indulged her hedonistic needs without regard for anyone’s feelings but her own. God, she’d made a mess of everything, screwed up one of the best friendships in her life and ruined the chance for the relationship to become more.

  Seconds later, Tucker was right behind her. “Kels!”

  Hot tears ran down her face as she sprinted for the house. Damn it, she never cried—except this week. And she was so tired of it. It didn’t solve anything, and she needed to work on salvaging what she could of her relationships, especially with Tucker.

  But nothing she said or did could take back the damage she’d already done.

  Kelsey made it as far as the sunporch before breathlessness and tears caught up with her. So did Tucker. As she threw open the door to the little room, Tucker was on her, covering her body with his own, pressing her to the doorjamb. She had nowhere to look but right into his earnest blue eyes.

  “You love me?” His voice cracked.

  She didn’t have words for how much she loved him. So she just nodded.

  Tucker grabbed her shoulders and crowded closer. His size hit her then. He’d always been a tall boy, playfully teasing her about her short stature, but he’d become a big man, six-three, as solid and permanent as the trunk of a redwood.

  “You know I’m not a fighter, Kels. But I’ll fight for you. Whatever it takes to make you mine ...”

  Before she could tell him that a part of her would always belong to him and beg him not to make her choose, Tucker cradled her face in his wide hands and lowered his mouth to hers.

  She’d imagined Tucker laving her breasts, touching her sex, sliding deep inside her. Since their thirteen-year-old experiment, she hadn’t thought much about his kiss. He’d learned a whole bunch since she’d compared him to Josh Smith.

  The way he took her mouth left her breathless. Firm, seductive, and cajoling at once, Tucker kissed like a man who knew what he wanted and could coax her into giving it to him.

  Kelsey wrapped her hands into the shaggy waves of his dark hair and hung on. He lit up her body until she felt as bright as Austin’s Sixth Street on a Saturday night. His tongue dipped deep in her mouth. He tasted of beer and something spicy he’d probably eaten for dinner. On him, the flavors were captivating. The man smelled like well-sanded wood and grass. Everything about him combined to put her on sensory overload.