Double Daddy Trouble

“Tell me,” he pressed. “What’s going on?”

She shook her head. She dabbed the corners of her eyes, praying the eye liner was still intact. “No. Maybe another time. Not tonight. Tonight is special for us. Tonight, is about the future. Not the past. I love tonight with you and Tyler. I want to focus on that.”

He kissed on the forehead. “If that’s what you want.” He threaded his fingers through hers. “Come on. Let’s get back to the party with Ty. He is probably searching the third story for us.” He laughed.

Brooke couldn’t help but giggle.

Twenty-Five

Brooke

Brooke realized Tyler and Lee were having fun finding places where they could sneak off with her. She loved it. The dark corners. She saw the cabin in an entirely new way. She’d never been this daring. They each told her stories about the house, or gave little anecdotes before taking her to a new place.

She knew she had crossed a line. She also knew she wasn’t interested in stepping back over it.

The three of them sat on the floor in front of the fire in the library. “Did you enjoy tonight, sweetheart?” Tyler asked.

She nodded. “It was different than I expected.” She bit her lip, praying the night wasn’t over. It was late.

“And what did you expect?” Lee prodded.

“That we might go upstairs a lot sooner,” she responded softly.

“Why would we do that when it was so much fun making you come all over the damn cabin?” Tyler growled, pulling her into his arms.

“I could go get a thousand-dollar bottle of champagne to celebrate. I think we have a few in the cellar,” Lee offered.

“I’ve tried to tell you. I’m simple. I don’t need fancy dinners and bottles of wine that cost a thousand dollars. I’m fine without those things. It doesn’t have to be something from France I can’t pronounce.” The frustration in her voice came to the surface.

“Hey, hey. Don’t be upset. I just want you to be happy. I want to give you the best.”

Tyler quickly wrapped an arm around her. Within seconds Lee was on her other side lifting her eyes to his.

“The money doesn’t define us, Brooke.”

“It doesn’t?” It was difficult, but she broke free from them and walked to the window. “Look at this view. Look at this cabin. Even this dress I’m wearing, and the panties I’m not.” She glared at them. “The money is everywhere I turn. It’s almost all I can see.”

Tyler looked quizzically at Lee. “What’s going on? What is all the money talk about?”

Lee shoved his hands in his pockets. “I don’t know all of it. She mentioned tonight that she might not be a fan of our billion-dollar company and what we have in our bank accounts.”

Brooke chewed the inside of her cheek nervously. She may have just ruined everything.

“Brooke, is that true? You have something against our empire?”

“I know you don’t see it, but money is fleeting. Life is fleeting. What if you spend all your time worried about money? Making money so you can spend it? What if you wake up one day and the money is gone and you have nothing else in your life? Do you ever think about that?”

“Why do you think we are so crazy about you?” Tyler asked.

“What?” She blinked.

Lee met her at the wall of windows. “Why do you think we want you, Brooke?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “Sex?”

Tyler made her feel dizzy when he tilted her chin toward him. She looked in the depths of his eyes. They seemed warmer. As if he could protect her. Keep her safe.

“We want more than work. We want something in our life that has meaning, sweetheart. You are that meaning. Sex is just the way we show it. It’s how we tell you what you mean to us.”