Double Score

“No problem. You have a TV up here somewhere? I’ll look for a movie.”

“Yes. In my bedroom. Keep the door locked.”

“Got it.”

“How am I going to explain this paint?” She looked to Dylan for an answer. There were green streaks in her hair.

He laughed. “I don’t think it’s any of Charlie Maine’s business what we do up here, darlin’.”

She raced to the intercom system and pressed the screen.

“Hi, George. Yes, please send Ms. Maine up to the house. Thank you.”

I could see it in her eyes. She was sliding back into her cocoon. Two minutes ago, I had seen who Vanessa McCade really was. She was like an angel. A beautiful woman who had more power and grace in her skin than all the Warriors dance team put together.

Now, she was reminded she couldn’t be that woman when she wanted to be. She had to fall back to her new calling—she was the Warriors’ owner. It was already changing her.

I stepped in front of her. “Wait, why is Charlie here?” It was never a good sign to have the fixer show up.

“It’s something I’ve handled. It will be fine.” She bit her lip. “As long as she doesn’t find out about you, we’ll be fine.”

She moved around me and I watched her descend the stairs with Dylan. I wanted to be that man. The one she could lean on.

I walked to Vanessa’s bedroom, locked the door, and landed on the bed with the remote in my hand.

When the hell had I turned into such a sucker for feelings? Why did I give a shit what happened? When had this happened to me? I smelled the scent of Vanessa’s shampoo on her pillows as I propped myself up to flip through the channels. She was all around me.

Fuck. She was changing me. Making me want things I never cared about before.

30

Vanessa

By the time we made it to the foyer Charlie was standing at the front door.

I opened the door and she blinked at me.

“What happened to you?”

I ran my fingers through my paint-colored hair. I tried to laugh. “I got a little carried away with a canvas.”

“I can see that.” She walked inside.

Dylan had already grabbed a beer from the fridge. He leaned on the counter, acting as if he had always belonged in that spot. He looked calm and comfortable. And with bits of paint splattered on his hands and cheeks, he looked sexier than I’d ever seen.

“Hi.” He tipped the beer toward Charlie.

“I didn’t know he was here.” She twirled toward me. “You paint too, Dylan?”

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nbsp; He laughed. “Only if it’s with Vanessa.”

My insides were twisting like a roller coaster. It was one thing to have Charlie working through problems on my behalf—trying to save the team’s reputation. It was another, trying to hide my life from her. Trying to cover up my own scandal. I felt like I should just go ahead and confess, but there was no way I could admit I was in a relationship with two men.

It wasn’t a one-time deal. Wasn’t that what three-ways were supposed to be? A one-time sexual experience that people experimented with? A way to explore something new? Something you could blame on a wild drunken impulse.

It had gone way beyond that for me. For them. We were in something that didn’t have a name. There was no way to define wanting both of them in my bed all the time. Needing them in my day and night. I doubted Charlie Maine was the kind of woman who would understand it.