Forbidden Heat

“I’m surprised Trey didn’t ride his bike to work.”

“He did.” Jake glanced up and saw the direction of her gaze. “Ah, he has more than one bike.”

She sipped her coffee as she watched Jake move around Trey’s kitchen with ease. He flipped the bacon, then continued to whisk the sauce in a metal bowl.

“Do you want me to set the table?” she asked.

“No, you just sit there looking gorgeous. I’ll handle it.”

She sipped more hot coffee. That’s what she liked. A man who could handle himself in the kitchen and in the bedroom!

Less than fifteen minutes later, he set a great-looking plate of eggs Benedict in front of her, then sat across from her.

“This looks great.” She took a bite and crooned. “And it tastes even better.”

“I aim to please.”

And he did. In every way.

She ate a few more bites, then decided to broach the subject she’d been so curious about. “So what happened with you and Trey? You seemed so happy when you were together.”

Jake glanced at her, then shrugged. “It was a college romance.” He took a sip of his orange juice.

“That doesn’t mean it can’t last.”

Jake nodded as he took a bite of his food. “That’s true but . . . You know, I always knew that I was attracted to both men and women. Trey . . . he knew he was attracted to men, and he assumed that meant he was . . . only attracted to men. When we met at college, he and I hit it off, we were both attracted to each other . . . and we wound up together. And it was great . . . but we came to realize that something was missing in our relationship. When our friends Nikki and Angela agreed to share a town house with us, Trey started to realize that he was attracted to women, too.”

Last night, before the three of them had made love for the first time, Trey had mentioned that both he and Jake had been curious about making love to her when they’d been together. It must have been just a mild interest; otherwise wouldn’t they have acted on it?

“What happened with your roommates? Did Trey end up with one of them?”

“Well . . . sort of. He walked in on Nikki coming out of the shower one day. She noticed he was turned on and she did what came naturally.”

Her eyes widened. “So you caught them in the bathroom making out? You must have been devastated.”

He smiled. “No, more like turned on. I joined them. Angela got in on the action soon afterward, and we had a great foursome going on.”

She stared at him in amazement. Had it really been that easy for him to move forward? The discussion with Trey that he felt an attraction to her would have given Jake some warning, but still . . .

“Sorry to shock you, Danielle. After the past two nights, I assumed you’d be okay with this, but I need to remember this isn’t your usual thing.”

“No, it’s not that. I’m just surprised that you and Trey never got back together. After you started this thing with Nikki and Angela, did the sex between you and Trey stop?”

“As an exclusive thing, yes. We really focused on the women, just like we do with you.”

She could tell by the sadness in his eyes that he was putting on a brave face. She was sure of it. And he would have done the same for Trey, too. Jake had always tended to put other people’s needs ahead of his own.

She pursed her lips. “You know, it doesn’t have to be that way.”

“I know . . . but Trey . . . he was searching for his sexual identity. I took my cue from him, knowing he needed to find his way. He did.”

“So he pursues strictly females now?”

“You’d have to ask him that. We live in the same town, but we don’t see each other all that often. We get together for the occasional meal, but mostly, we just spend time together on our yearly vacations with some of the others from Carleton Falls U.”

Danielle chewed her lower lip. “You still care about him, though, don’t you?”

“Of course I care about him. He’s my friend.”