Secret Weapon

“Actually, I was a little surprised that you agreed to tonight,” Derek said. “After that false start the other night, and then when I found out your history and … stuff.”

“I’ll be fine,” Sloan answered stiffly, wondering exactly how much of their history Derek knew. Did he know Sloan had never had sex with her? Did he know they’d been fighting an incredible attraction for more than a decade?

Janine patted Sloan’s shoulder. “Sloan tells me he’s totally okay with dating on my terms. I think he feels it will add a little excitement to his life.”

So she hadn’t painted him as a lovesick ex-beau, or worse, a wannabe beau. Instead, it sounded like she’d painted a picture of old friends hooking up for fun and games.

* * *

Janine was very aware of Sloan sitting beside her. His closeness. His masculinity. Excitement stirred as she wondered what it would be like when he finally touched her … intimately. Kissed her … in private places. When they finally stepped over the line they’d drawn in the sand years ago to explore the wild passion they both knew would explode between them.

Jonas returned and sat across from her.

She had to go slowly with Sloan. Walk him through a few things before going too far. Maybe she shouldn’t have set up a date with him tonight, when she’d already committed to a date with Jonas and Derek … a date where she and Jonas, who had hit it off wonderfully when they’d met on his last visit, were going to have sex for the first time. She had been looking forward to sex with Jonas ever since the first night she’d met him. Handsome. Sexy. A great sense of humor. And he made her insides tingle.

She absolutely couldn’t have sex with Jonas and with Sloan for the first time on the same night. Tonight was about Sloan finding out exactly what going out with her meant. He needed to experience that, to really understand it, before she’d go to the next level with him. She was pretty sure he couldn’t handle it, and why put both of them through the heartache if it was never going to work between them?

That’s why tonight was actually the perfect night. No matter how tempted she became to have sex with Sloan tonight, the fact that it would be her first time with Jonas would keep things in perspective. She wouldn’t diminish the first-time experience for either man. So Sloan could watch, could see what sharing her with other men really meant, but she’d make it clear that she didn’t think tonight was the right time for him to participate.

Of course, Jonas wouldn’t mind sharing her with other men—that was part of the excitement for him—and he would assume she had been with Sloan before, but Sloan would know. And she would know.

The waitress returned with Jonas’ soft drink. Janine sipped her white wine and glanced at Jonas sitting across from her. He was shorter than Derek and Sloan, but had the same broad shoulders and great physique. His dark blond hair was cut short but still long enough to curl a little around his face. When he smiled, his lips turned up a little more on one side than the other, giving him an adorably crooked smile. And she could lose herself in those hazel eyes ringed with dark brown. He glanced at her, caught her staring, and smiled. She almost giggled at the sight of his crooked smile and glowing eyes.

Tonight would be the night with Jonas. And it added a special excitement that Sloan would be there, too. No doubt about it. The evening would be weird but definitely exciting.

“What do you do for fun?” she asked Jonas, then grinned at the gleam in his eyes. “Like hobbies, I mean.”

“I volunteer at a local cable company. I used to be part of the stage crew in my high school and enjoyed it, and continued that in college. I missed it after I left school, then found out a lot of jobs at the cable station are volunteer, so I signed up.”

“What do you do for them?” she asked.

“Lots of things, really, but usually camera work. That’s what I like best. And lighting. What about you?”

“My favorite hobby would have to be reading,” she said. “I read a lot and … I like to socialize.”

Derek chuckled. Sloan grabbed a nacho from the plate in the middle of the table and munched it.

“What about you, Sloan? Any hobbies?” Jonas asked.

“Not really.”

That was it. He didn’t say any more. Typical Sloan. Didn’t reveal himself to anyone. Not even as simple a thing as talking about his interests.

She wondered if he still liked classic cars—or had that been a teenage phase? Did he still enjoy video games? Like going to the movies, especially action/adventure? He’d never shared her passion for books, but she’d always enjoyed going to the movies with him and discussing the story line afterward, usually over burgers and fries at their favorite diner.

She turned her gaze back to Jonas. His gaze slid to the swell of her breasts, accentuated by her deep neckline. Her nipples hardened at the thought that he’d soon be touching her breasts, licking her nipples … and more. And s

o would Derek.

Sloan, on the other hand …

Damn, she had to find a way to break it to him—privately—that he would not be participating exactly as he might have hoped this evening.

Four

Sloan followed Janine into Derek’s town house, with Jonas and Derek trailing behind. Anxiety gnawed at his insides. How would this work exactly?

“So what is this interesting plan you have for tonight?” Jonas asked as he followed her into the living room.