Chapter Five

Adriana couldn’t seem to draw in a full breath. It felt like something was pressing on her chest, keeping her from getting enough oxygen. She unbuckled her seatbelt as Reid rounded the back of his SUV and twisted in her seat when he opened her door.

He didn’t reach for her or take her hand, for which she was grateful. The one and only contact they’d had told her everything she needed to know. Reid was her mate. There was no doubt. The current that flowed between them when she set her cheek on his palm was palpable. She knew he felt it too.

It had been a gamble, an impulse. Perhaps a horrible decision. But she’d needed to know. And now she did. As she followed him to the front door of the hotel, she pulled her coat tighter around her shoulders against the cold wind whistling between the buildings.

Reid wasn’t even wearing a coat, and he didn’t appear to notice the cold. He wore black jeans and a tight black V-neck sweater that hugged his pecs to perfection. It should have been illegal.

Maybe she and Nolan had it all wrong, and the moment he opened the door to his room, they would realize it had been a mistake. Was it possible Fate’s true plan was to put Adriana in Reid’s path, and She’d chosen this convoluted plot to align the stars?

That seemed ludicrous. There were better ways. They could have run into each other in the grocery store or something. If Fate had that much power, She wouldn’t need to create a love triangle to get Her way.

Reid said nothing as he led her toward the bay of elevators. The hotel was busy and accommodated a lot of guests. It was also one of the nicer hotels in downtown Calgary. Several stories high. The perfect place to hide out.

When one of the six elevators opened, Reid set his hand on her lower back to guide her inside. Instinct. It warmed her that he was so polite. His mother raised him well. He opened doors and guided his dates around like a gentleman. And it was second nature. He didn’t even know he was doing it. The best kind of man.

Was he hers?

They rode in silence to the fifteenth floor. When the doors slid open, Reid reached out with a hand to ensure they didn’t close before she got off. Yep. Total gentleman. And then his hand was on her back again, the warmth seeping through all the layers of her coat, her cardigan, and her tee.

“I should leave you here,” he stated as they approached the door. “You deserve to have some time alone with Nolan.”

She shook her head. “Not fair to any of us. We’ll face this like adults, tell him everything, and see what happens.” She lifted her face to meet his gaze. His brow was furrowed. He was scared.

She was too. “I won’t come between the two of you. If your friendship gets in the way, I step out. You have a history. I’m not part of that. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything happened to destroy your friendship.” She had no idea if she could follow through on her threat, but she needed to voice it at least.

Every inch of her was secretly hoping when Nolan opened the door to his room, she would meet his gaze and they would both realize there had been a mistake.

On that thought, she caught his scent in the air and drew it in deep. She was not going to get her wish. The door several yards in front of them on the right opened, and a man who could only be Nolan stepped halfway into the hall. His smile was wide. His eyes—an unusual shade of blue that reminded her of the ocean—danced with excitement.

He didn’t even glance at Reid. Understandable.

She had visualized meeting this man a thousand times last night. In none of those scenarios had she been half as nervous as she was now. She forced a warm smile but knew it didn’t reach her ears and wasn’t fooling anyone.

Nolan either didn’t notice or ignored her reaction. He reached out a hand, cupped her face in the same way Reid had done in the car, and licked his lips. “Wow.”

She swallowed over the lump in her throat, realizing he had no idea his world was about to be upended. She was the common denominator here. She could feel the pull toward both men, the one in front of her and the one at her side. They couldn’t feel the same draw between them.

Freaky weird. And totally unfair.

“Come in.” He released her to step back, holding the door open farther. Finally, his gaze moved from her to Reid. “I can’t thank you enough. Can you come in a second? I need to ask a huge favor of you.”

A favor? Adriana stiffened. She definitely wanted Reid to come in, and Nolan had made that first task a lot easier, but what was this favor?

Her plan had been to be the first to speak, to clear the air. But Nolan started talking so fast, she couldn’t stop him. He closed the door and pointed at the sitting area of what she now realized was a suite. “Have a seat,” he aimed at Reid.

Meanwhile, he turned toward Adriana and reached for the sleeve of her coat. “Can I take your jacket?”

The chill she’d been experiencing off and on since last night hadn’t gone away. She’d rather keep the coat on and wrap up in it tighter, but that would be incredibly weird and rude. So she unzipped the front and shrugged out of it while Nolan waited. She needed to get the upper hand in the conversation. “We need to talk, Nolan. There’s a problem.”

He chuckled as he draped her coat over the back of one of the two kitchen chairs that flanked a small table. “Just one? Because by my count, we have about a dozen problems, and they keep growing the more I think.” There was a twinkle in his eye, and she hated knowing she was going to snuff it out in a few seconds.

He was physically completely different from Reid. Where Reid was white with nearly black hair and green eyes, Nolan was blond with the same hair and eyes as his sister, Paige. His skin tone was almost as dark as hers, rare on someone naturally blond. He had the sexy good looks of a movie star. But the best part was he didn’t seem to know it.

No one had taken a seat, and Adriana watched as Nolan slapped Reid’s shoulder and grinned like it was Christmas morning. How long would he continue to look like that? Or even remain on speaking terms with his best friend?

The two of them were close in height, though Reid might have been about an inch taller. Maybe six five. Adriana was kind of small for a grizzly shifter at five six, so they both towered over her in a way that sucked the air out of her lungs and made her take a step back.

There was way too much testosterone in the suite, and if she thought being near one of them was potent, the combination of their scents was making her knees weak. How the hell was she supposed to choose between them? This was beyond insane.

“It’s good to see you,” Nolan said to Reid. “You were on that last assignment for weeks.”

Reid shot Adriana a glance. He looked as uncomfortable as she felt. She once again took in his tight black V-neck. His jeans were sinful too, fitting him to perfection.

She realized she’d let her gaze roam down to his thighs and jerked her head back up, sliding from Reid to Nolan.

Nolan’s body was turned slightly toward Reid, so she had a side view of his ass. His damn fine ass, also encased in jeans that molded to his butt so well her mouth watered. His shirt was an off-white button-up that was perfectly ironed and tucked into his jeans. Stylish. Perfect for a first date, which essentially this was. The look was even rounded out with loafers. She wondered if he’d dressed to impress her, or if there was a chance this was his usual lounging around on a Sunday afternoon attire. Not likely.

“Yes. Thank God, it’s over. The woman I was working for was driving me crazy.” Reid opened his mouth as if he intended to continue, but he stopped himself, glanced at Adriana again, and then cleared his throat. “I should go. Let you two get to know each other.”

“Reid…” She started to contradict his plan, but Nolan spoke over her.

“Can you stay a minute? I was hoping to enlist your services further.”

Reid narrowed his eyes.

Adriana nearly choked. She had no idea what Nolan was going to say, but she needed to get his attention and put an end to this madness. “Nolan, we need to talk.”

He turned to face her, his expression drawing in, his mouth lifting on one side. “You think?” he teased.

For a second she thought he had figured out something was off, but then she realized he was simply pointing out that they didn’t know each other and yet they were destined to spend eternity together, so talking would be a great start. But were they destined?

Adriana stepped closer. She set her hand on Nolan’s forearm and schooled her voice. “Will you please sit down?” She gave a tug, trying to lure him toward the couch.

Luckily, he followed and took a seat next to her.

Reid took two quick strides toward the armchair and lowered into it, his gaze on Adriana. “Let me,” he said.

She shook her head. “No. This needs to come from me.” She turned her body to more fully face Nolan and rubbed her hands on her thighs, shivering as if the room were cold.

Nolan’s face fell. “Shit. What’s the matter?” He glanced back and forth between them. “Did someone follow you here?”

Reid shook his head. “No. It’s not that.”

“Nolan,” Adriana said almost harshly.

He met her gaze again and swallowed hard.

“There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to do it.”

He didn’t move.

She couldn’t imagine what he must have been thinking. “I have the same connection with Reid that I have with you.”

For a heartbeat, no one moved or spoke. It was like the world froze and then jerked back into rotation. “What?” His gaze darted to Reid and then back again. “What do you mean?”

“She means that the second I showed up at your parents’ house, we felt the same bond the two of you felt last night.”

Nolan’s back straightened. He blinked a few times while his head turned back toward her. He lifted a hand and ran it through his hair.

She wished she knew him better, at least well enough to anticipate what he might do or feel, but she didn’t know either of these men. All she knew was that she wanted both of them. Equally. And she was losing her mind.

There was no doubt. Her body was on fire. For both men. Insanity. Her breasts were swollen to the point of being sore. She had to clench her legs together to keep the throbbing need at bay. Though it was possible she was getting the opposite result.

“That’s crazy. Whoever heard of such a thing? Adriana?” He lifted a hand, albeit unsteadily, and cupped her face again. His thumb stroked her cheek gently.

An unbidden tear welled up in her eye and escaped to run down her other cheek as she tried to control the grip her emotions had on her heart.

His face changed several times while he processed everything. At least she never saw anger among his emotions. His voice was lower, too steady when he spoke again. “You feel the same exact connection to both of us?”

“Yes.” It was true. It was also eating her from the inside. She wanted to run from the room. She also wanted to be held, and she didn’t care who held her as long as they chased away the chill and assured her everything would be okay.

“Reid?” Nolan looked at his friend again.

“I’m so sorry, man. You know I had no control over this any more than you did. It just happened. I offered to drive away. I feel like a shit, as if I slept with your girlfriend behind your back or something.”

Nolan winced.

Reid rushed to speak again. “Figure of speech. That didn’t come out right. Believe me. I didn’t let my feelings take control of my actions. We drove here in near silence.”

“You offered to leave? You weren’t going to tell me?” Nolan closed his eyes and let his hand slide from Adriana’s face to her neck.

“I have no idea how to process this, but I won’t lie about it.” She set her fingers on top of Nolan’s against her neck. Somehow, she drew strength from him. “No matter what happens, I want you both to know, I’m going to be an open book here. The most important thing is your friendship. I won’t come between you.”

Nolan flinched. He drew his hand back slowly and stood. “Jesus, what a clusterfuck.” He stepped back, putting some distance between them and then turning around to face the window. She doubted he was seeing anything outside, but he wasn’t missing anything. The window faced an alley between buildings so that the only view was of a brick wall.

For a long time, no one moved. The room was silent. Adriana figured Nolan needed time to process. He was about fifteen minutes behind on the news headline.

He didn’t turn around, but he finally spoke. “Reid, Adriana needs a place to stay.”

“What?” Reid’s voice was off.

Adriana stared at Nolan’s back. “Nolan…” What was he talking about?

“That’s what I was going to talk to you about. The reason I asked you to stay a minute.” He turned around and leaned against the window. His mouth lifted in a smirk. “Adriana’s stubborn. She wants to get her own apartment. She refuses to stay with my parents or her brother. I was hoping she could stay with you. I know she’d be safe with you.”

Reid was so stiff he looked like a wax statue.

Adriana licked her perpetually dry lips. “Nolan.”

He finally looked at her. His face was too schooled. “It’s the perfect idea. Reid’s a bodyguard. He keeps people safe for a living. You’re right about my parents. If you stayed with them, someone might notice and figure out you were mine.” Suddenly he threw up his hands and laughed, too hard. “Of course, now we don’t even know if that’s true.”

Adriana had no idea how to react to this weird outburst.

Nolan pushed off the wall, ran a hand through his hair, and rushed across the room toward the kitchenette. He yanked open the fridge, grabbed a bottle, and turned back around. “Anyone else want one?” He lifted what she realized was a beer as he asked.

Neither of them spoke or moved.

He shrugged and twisted the top off before taking a long drink. Still holding it loosely in his hand, he leaned against the small table and crossed his legs casually as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He jerked his attention to Reid. “You should bind to her.”

Reid shook his head. “Nolan, no one is suggesting anything like that.”

“I am.” He took another drink. “It’s the most logical solution. If she’s caught with me while I’m waiting for this damn trial, she’ll be in danger. I don’t want to spend months worrying about her. It could be a long time before I can even devote myself to another person. She deserves better. You bind to her. That solves everything. I won’t have to worry all the time, and she’ll be safe and loved.” Another drink. The bottle was almost empty.

Adriana didn’t know how to react. She didn’t know this man. She didn’t know anything about his temperament. She needed Reid to handle this.

Reid stood. He didn’t take a single step, but at least he put them eye to eye across the small room. “No one is binding to anyone, Nolan. I know this sucks. It stinks. I don’t have all the answers. I don’t even have all the questions. But I’m not binding myself to your mate. That’s crazy. You found her first. I wouldn’t have even noticed her in a crowded room if you’d bound to her last night.”

Nolan shook his head. “There’s no way I would have taken that step last night. She’s…young.”

Adriana gasped during his pause and then let out a long breath when he added that last word. If he’d blurted out that she was a virgin, she might have taken him up on his offer and left with Reid. That was a private detail she’d shared in confidence last night. No one but him needed to know about her lack of experience.

Though she had no idea what this latest development meant. At this point, she didn’t want to bind to either of them. Ever. They were already clawing at each other from across the room.

Nolan chuckled again. He lowered his face toward the floor and spoke in a calmer voice. Too calm. “All I’m saying is that it doesn’t matter who met her first. Technically, you met her first. All I did was scent her from my car. From the goddamn street. I never even saw her. There’re no other reasonable options here. I need you to keep her safe. She needs a place to stay.

“No matter how altruistic anyone’s intentions might be, if the connection you two feels is half as strong as the one I feel, then there’s no way in hell you could live under the same roof and not bind. You wouldn’t even last a day. I give you three hours, actually. So, please, take this gift. I won’t hold it against either of you. I’m trapped here for the foreseeable future. I bet after you complete the binding, I won’t even feel the connection anymore. I’ll be fine. Just…go.”

Nolan shoved off the edge of the table, tossed his bottle across the room to make a perfect basket into the trash can, and padded into the bedroom. With a soft snick, he shut the door behind him.

Adriana thought she might literally vomit. For one thing, she felt horrible and responsible for this insanity. For another thing, she couldn’t stand the distance he’d put between them. She’d only met him minutes ago. She wanted to be with him. Next to him. Touching him.

She wanted him to hold her. Not walk away.

She also wanted the same thing from Reid, who made no move to help her out in any way either.

“Fuck,” Reid muttered under his breath.

She took deep breaths, but once again felt like her lungs were crushed.

Reid inhaled deeply, closed the distance between them, and leaned over to kiss her forehead. He squeezed her arm briefly and then backed off. “I’m going to the bar in the lobby.”

“What?” He was going to leave her here?

He reached for the door, turning back to face her. “He’s a great guy. The best. I promise he didn’t mean anything he said. He’s just frustrated. Go to him. He’s hurting. I’ll wait downstairs. You can get my number from him if you need me, or Oleta has it too. I won’t leave. I promise. When you’re ready, call me, and I’ll take you wherever you want to go.” Reid opened the door, slid out of the room, and left her sitting in the cold, silent room.

It wouldn’t take long for Nolan to sense that his friend had left and Adriana had stayed. Even through the closed door, he would know that.

She stared at it hard, willing him to come out. The last thing she wanted was to go after him. But she tried to imagine this thing from his perspective. His hands were tied. Although sarcasm had oozed from his lips, she had no doubt he’d meant every word. He intended to martyr himself to keep her safe.

But that’s not how this was going to go down. He might have shown her he could be incredibly bossy and domineering, but he wasn’t going to get his way on this issue. Not today.

Today he was going to get his head out of his ass and help her figure this out. Because she didn’t have the answers, and she sure wasn’t going to deal with this dilemma on her own.

Nolan Osborn was about to meet his match.