Forbidden Heat

“He’s right.” Jake stepped toward her, his blue eyes stormy. “The time for Trey and me is past, Danielle. Now I love you.”

“And so do I!” Trey interjected. “What we’ve had together—the three of us—has been fun, but now it’s time for you to make a decision.”

Emotions boiled within her. This couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t be responsible for breaking either man’s heart. Couldn’t pick one man if it meant throwing the other into the cold night, like her mother had done to her all those years ago.

They stared at her. Waiting.

Trey stepped toward her. “Danielle—”

“No!” She wheeled around and paced across the office, putting distance between her and the two men. “It doesn’t matter.” She turned back to face them. “I don’t love you.” She glanced from one man to the other, both staring at her intently. “Either of you.”

At that, she strode out the door and hurried down the hall.

As soon as Danielle stormed from his office, Jake’s anger deflated. He stared at Trey, who still stared at the empty doorway.

“Well, that didn’t go very well,” Jake said.

Trey glanced at Jake. The last embers of anger faded from his brown eyes and he nodded.

“Just because she says she doesn’t love me . . . or you . . . doesn’t mean it’s true. With her background, she’s afraid to love anyone.”

Jake nodded and settled into one of the chairs by his round table with a sigh. “She’s right, you know. You need to come to terms with who you are, and what you and I had in the past, before you can have a solid relationship with someone.”

Trey gripped the back of the chair beside Jake’s. “That’s probably true.” He paced back and forth a few times, then turned toward Jake. “About you and me . . .”

As Jake watched him, his heart clenched. Trey had come to some kind of decision. Jake could tell by the determined set of his jaw.

Was Trey going to lay it on the line once and for all . . . that he and Trey were over?

“I think we should have a little talk,” Trey said.

Jake leaned forward. “That’s a good idea. When?”

“Right after I have a talk with my sisters.”

Danielle parked in her driveway and turned off the ignition, then headed toward the house. It had been three days since she’d stormed out of Jake’s office. Since Jake had told her he loved her. Four since Trey had proclaimed his love. In all that time, neither of them had called her, or even e-mailed.

She went into the house and kicked her shoes into the closet, then headed for the kitchen to start dinner. Another meal alone.

She missed Trey and Jake terribly. She opened the freezer and pulled out a frozen dinner, then tossed it in the microwave. Over the past three nights, when she went to bed, she couldn’t sleep. All she could think about in the darkness was how crappy it was to be all alone, especially when she had not one, but two gorgeous men who both claimed to love her.

What she wouldn’t do to have a strong shoulder to lean on. To have a warm, tender—and sexy—man to hold her every night.

She poured herself a glass of water and grabbed the meal from the micro wave. The spicy ginger noodles were tasty, but a little hot.

How could she ever choose between them? And if she did, how could she live with herself after driving a wedge between them forever?

Her doorbell rang and she headed to the door. She pulled it open and her jaw dropped when she found Trey and Jake standing there smiling at her.

Twenty

Oh God. Danielle’s heart melted seeing Trey and Jake again.

“What are you doing here?”

“You didn’t think we’d just leave it the way it was, did you?” Jake asked.

“Well, when you didn’t call . . .” Damn, she shouldn’t have said that.