If ever a woman chose the worse possible moment to visit, Elsie won the title. Her visit came as unexpectedly as Sylvia’s but when Sylvia had popped in, Trey hadn’t made love to Brittany yet. She hadn’t cut off her hair and needed him more than ever.
But an hour after Trey had seen her ruined hair, the four of them—Bryson, Brittany, Trey and Elsie—were sitting in the living room. Trey’s shocked fury had deserted him moments after he’d stalked to his bedroom, leaving behind a sad uncertainty.
It was hard enough listening to her ordeal and watching her wrestle with the aftermath as her friend. Being her lover magnified every intense feeling Trey had. The thought of rape kits and vaginal swabs infuriated him and helpless rage swept away all else. As a man, he should’ve been able to protect her. As her man, he hated his impotent position, compounded by her determination not to reveal the name of the man who’d assaulted her.
Elsie’s fingers slid along his lower calf. From the sofa, Bryson somehow maneuvered Elsie to sit right next to Trey on the loveseat. Brittany sat on the opposite side, all alone in the recliner. She looked younger than ever, her delicate facial bones more pronounced with her mass of hair gone.
A legal folder rested against Elsie’s oversized Fendi purse. She picked up the folder and thrust it into Trey’s hands.
“Your loan has been approved. You now join the ranks of homeowners.”
A frown creased Brittany’s brow, her stunned gaze flitting between the folder and his face. “A house? You’ve bought a house?”
“Trey didn’t mention he’d soon move out?” Bryson rubbed his chin. “His house is the perfect bachelor pad. Small. About fifteen hundred square feet with only one bedroom. Easy to maintain.”
“Which, of course, I’ll be happy to help him do,” Elsie chirped, handing him a pen to begin the arduous process of signing a book of paperwork.
Brittany sucked in a breath.
“I doubt that’ll happen.” Trey snatched the door key from Elsie, unable to focus on anything but Brittany’s shock. Her hurt eclipsed his happiness over closing the deal. Hell, since Brittany arrived he’d forgotten the goddamn house. A week ago, the builder called Trey and let him know the house was completed but Trey hadn’t even had a chance to see it. He sighed. He hadn’t meant for Brittany to find out about his house like this.
He looked at her. “Say something.”
Her throat muscles worked but she didn’t push out any words.
“I’ll stop by your office tomorrow and sign everything then, Elsie.”
She beamed at him, pulling the thick folder from his hands and snapping it closed. “Excellent, love. I know you’ve been dreaming of having your own space for months now.”
“He sure has,” Bryson agreed. “Won’t have to put up with my comings and goings or my guests.”
At the dig, Brittany stiffened her spine, sitting up straighter in the chair. “Nor will he have to put up with you,” she snapped. “You heartless, low-life termite.” Her gaze traveled from Bryson to Trey, so it wasn’t clear who she was disparaging, but Trey had the feeling it was both of them.
“One afternoon I was driving home and I decided to stop at a model house in the new subdivision not far from here,” Trey began, holding her angry gaze, willing her to understand, whatever else standing between them forgotten. “I toured the biggest of the five models and found it beautiful.”
It was the kind of house he’d want to put Brittany in. Even then, he’d been consumed with her. Only three months or so had passed since he’d gone back to her dorm room so he supposed it was logical to think of her when he’d looked at the big house.
“It had a huge kitchen with built-in appliances and granite counters.”
“Sounds incredible.” She sniffed. “Quite the family house. The very antithesis of everything you believe in.”
“I deserve that.” His gaze slanted to her fingers resting on her flat belly. After this afternoon, it would be a miracle if she weren’t pregnant. Deep inside her, he hadn’t once thought of condoms, withdrawal or any other form of birth control.
“The master bedroom has two walk-in closets, both accessible from the private bathroom, which has dual sinks, a curving shower in one corner and a Jacuzzi bathtub in the other,” Elsie broke in with laughter, her staged whisper loud enough for everyone to hear. She pressed her chest into his. “You’re so wicked. Do you remember when I met you there to see it and you bent me over the leather seat in the home theater, taking me where anyone could’ve walked in?”
“Enough, Elsie,” Trey warned, on the verge of escorting her out.
“What? I am—”
“You know exactly what you’re doing.”
Bryson folded his arms. “What’s Elsie doing, bro?”
“Talking about things she has no business discussing.”
“We’re all adults.” Brittany’s voice was like shards of ice, her features still unnaturally pale. Her cool gaze roamed to Elsie. “Your sex life is your business. If I hadn’t interrupted you and Sylvia yesterday, I’m sure I would’ve been subjected to more than just talk. I would’ve seen firsthand what I’ve only heard about.”
Point for Brittany.
Elsie’s façade of flirtation dissolve into hostility.
“My suggestion,” Brittany continued, dripping venom and scorn, “is that you call all your women in to help them decorate their lair.” Anger intensified the colors of her citrine gaze, as brilliant as autumn leaves.
Bryson cleared his throat. The discomfort of the women’s enmity clouded the air and he scratched the back of his head, at a loss at how to proceed. No doubt Brittany was pissed but she’d just claimed to have no carnal knowledge of Trey, so Bryson couldn’t accuse her of being jealous when, according to her, there was no basis for it.
Elsie suffered no such delusions. Icy anger blew from her, invisible and yet acutely felt.
If he could get rid of both Bryson and Elsie, he’d talk to Brittany. Away from Elsie’s catty remarks, Brit would calm down and listen. He wouldn’t be able to explain his far-fetched and unsettling pipe dream of coming home to Brittany in that big house. But he did want a house so he’d gone to the smallest model and insisted it was perfect for him and only him. When he’d spoken to the salesman on site and discovered the same layout was available with five hundred square feet less, Trey had jumped at it.
His assignation with Elsie had been spontaneous and unfulfilling, the fact she’d met him there not how she made it sound. He’d known her two weeks when he’d gone back to visit the house and envision Brittany in their master bedroom, her blanket of hair spread across a pillow. In the midst of the fantasy veering between the erotic and the romantic, Elsie had breezed in. At the time, Trey wondered if she’d followed him because he’d been at the bank not an hour before. But he hadn’t questioned her sudden appearance. He’d just been happy to have someone there to pull him away from the lure of Brittany and had offered to show Elsie the beautiful house.
Somewhere along the way, all Karl’s words had swarmed Trey’s head, followed by the reminder he didn’t want a permanent relationship. By the time he and Elsie reached the room containing the huge screen and stacked theater seats, he’d been angry, bitter and lonely. He did the only thing he ever did when plagued with those feelings—lost himself inside a woman.
Trey wasn’t sure how long ago he’d stopped feeling true passion and desire. Sex for him was an escape and not an enjoyable one. He went from woman to woman and while the pleasure he gave was second nature to him, his release was vastly different. It happened as a normal function of his body.
But now he knew the real meaning of desire, passion and pleasure and he’d found those things in Brittany’s arms.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Trey realized Elsie had begun a steady chatter and he contributed to it by rote. Years of experience with women allowed him to offer pat responses. Most of the time, he listened enough to hear some of the conversation. But Brittany’s simmering disgust deafened him to Elsie’s words.
“I think you two should get going then,” Bryson offered with a bland smile, savage satisfaction blooming in his eyes.
Trey frowned at Bryson.
“Since you just said today is Elsie’s day to, er, spend time with you,” Bryson continued coolly.
“I said no such—”
Renewed hurt and betrayal glimmered in Brittany’s eyes and the protest died.
Elsie clutched his hand, stroking her fingers over his palm.
Trey pulled away his hand. She was a stack of solid muscle, as heavy as he was and half an inch taller. In comparison, Brittany looked like a sylph, slender and graceful, out of place in a room full of giants.
Stormy anger gathered in Bryson’s gray-black eyes, watching Brittany’s reactions to Elsie’s display and Trey’s responses. Bryson would put two and two together soon enough.
“I can’t today, Elsie.” Trey fixed his gaze on Brittany, wanting to bury himself inside her again to reassure her and himself she’d be fine. “I’m sorry but I just remembered I had other plans.”
The barest smile replaced Brittany’s hurt and Trey grinned like an idiot. He winked and she blushed. Laughter erupted from him.
“You can’t get out of it now.”
Elsie’s sexy voice usually had him hard and throbbing. Not today though and, he knew, not ever again. Opening the little drawer in the coffee table, she pulled out a handful of condoms.
“I don’t have any at home,” she offered to Brittany, then laughed. “Maybe I shouldn’t be telling you these things, dear. You don’t seem old enough. How old are you? Sixteen? Seventeen?”
Brittany narrowed her eyes. “I’m twenty. Old enough to know about them and how to use them.” She smiled sweetly. “Of course I don’t have the years of experience you do, dear. How old are you? Thirty-five or forty?”
Trey got to his feet and pulled Elsie up.
Smug satisfaction curled Elsie’s generous mouth and she smirked at Brittany. “I hope you enjoy your visit with your brother, Bryn.”
Brittany glowered at Elsie’s pointed mistake. “I intend to, Elise.”
Elsie bared her teeth but Brittany folded her arms and raised her chin, her bare foot tapping the floor in agitation.
“Are you ready, love?” Elsie cooed, making another production of bending over to grab her purse before dropping six packets of condoms into one of the pockets. “Why don’t you bring some clean clothes to my house then follow me home in the cruiser? You can go in to the precinct from there and not bother about having to drive all the way back here to get ready for work.”
Trey tried to meet Brittany’s gaze but she turned her face away, staring at Bryson before looking past his shoulder toward the hallway. Trey swore he’d make this up to her and he’d start as soon as they were alone.
“I’m not doing any of that,” he said, forceful but gentle. “I told you I’ve had a change of plans.”
“Don’t worry about Brittany, man,” Bryson offered in a nasty tone. “I’ll bring her to the precinct with me. Right, Brit?”
Three pairs of eyes turned to her and Trey wondered how she’d respond. He wasn’t certain how he wanted her to react. Cool and distant to continue the illusion they were only friends or hot and possessive to stake her claim on him.
A mutinous light entered her eyes and they clouded like a hot sandstorm. “No, Bryson,” she said mulishly. “Trey promised to take me to get something to eat before we went to the precinct.”
Trey raised his brow, surprised at her lie, but she sniffed and folded her arms, conveying the promise of dire and painful retribution if he contradicted her.
“I expect him to keep his promise to me.”
Bryson drew to his feet, a mean son-of-a-bitch with a well-earned reputation as a bruiser. The man didn’t even have pity for his little sister, his look as hard and uncompromising as it was when he dealt with a criminal. “Elsie is Trey’s girlfriend,” he growled, his voice cold with warning. “I’m sure she won’t appreciate Trey taking you to dinner.”
“Elsie is one of Trey’s girlfriends,” Brittany countered waspishly, coming to her feet too, as cold and uncompromising as her brother.
Odd, but the Brittany Trey once knew could put the fear of God into him and Bryson. They seldom won arguments with her. She was quick-witted and fearless, which made the fear and shame she now lived with all the more devastating. She seemed to have forgotten her own worth, forgotten she’d ruled both of them.
“Enough, little sister. Trey can’t take you to dinner tonight.”
“Bite it, big brother. Elsie knows I’m not the only one he takes.”
Anger flashed in Bryson’s eyes and his jaw clamped shut. Whether she intended it or not—and since she was displaying the spirit she’d had once-upon-a-time, Trey knew she did—the innuendo was clear. As was the claim she was staking on him.
Bryson moved toward her, the fury of Hell surrounding him as he stopped in front of her. “What do you mean?”
“By what?” she responded, studying her hands. She then met Bryson’s glare and raised her chin. “I think it’s obvious what I meant.”
Oh yes, indeed it was.
Bryson choked.
“I’m sure Trey will be all torn up for disappointing you,” Elsie spat, “but disappoint you he must. He’ll not have time to have dinner with you this evening.”
Brittany moved to Trey’s side, placing her hand on his forearm. Cool and slender, the feel of her fingers on his skin sent a jolt of pleasure through him. Too quickly, she pulled her touch away and stepped in front of him. They could look over her head at one another but her jealousy held a perverse appeal to Trey. He’d never, ever had a woman care enough about him to put on such a display. As a matter of fact, the women with whom he was acquainted knew better than to make a claim on him. The way her small body angled between him and Elsie’s blocked Elsie from touching him. It also marked him with an invisible sign that read, no trespassing, private property.
He’d lost his fucking mind. Since when did he want to be anyone’s property?
“That’s not what I heard, Elsie. I think he’s been telling you he’s had a change of plans. And those plans include me.”
Elsie took a menacing step toward Brittany but Trey pulled her behind him, stopping Elsie’s advance. A small tremor vibrated through Brittany’s body. She was afraid.
“You’re going to be here for a few days,” Elsie went on, her voice rising in anger. “I may not be his only lover but I’m one of the ones he’s kept around for a while. I know how to please him so I’m sure he doesn’t want to risk displeasing me to amuse you.”
“And he’s known me my entire life. Displeasing me to amuse you would be an even greater risk.”
Elsie was great in bed, willing to do anything he asked of her, and an excellent workout partner. Their relationship consisted of nothing more and she knew it. Trying to lead Brittany to believe otherwise was a big mistake. He and Elsie’d never gone on a date, hadn’t even gone out together in public unless you counted meeting at the gym. “Leave, Elsie. I can’t run the risk of displeasing you because our trysts—and you know damn well that’s all we ever had—end here and now.”
Satisfaction bloomed on Brittany’s face. Her hair was destroyed and her emotions fragile, but underneath it all she was still Brittany. Her shy smile—the one she held in reserve to twist him around her little finger—did odd things to his insides.
“Can we discuss this in private?” Elsie whispered.
The panic in her hazel eyes alarmed him.
“Come to my house for an hour and we can sit down and talk.”
Trey padded to the door. “Good-bye, Elsie.”
“Can I call you later?” she asked, reaching him. “When you get to the station—”
“I’m not going to the station. I’ve taken a few days off.”
Elsie’s eyes widened in surprise and she glanced over his shoulder toward Brittany.
Elsie swallowed. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you for days. About us. A future. Children. Sooner or later, you have to settle down and I always thought we had a chance—”
Guilt pierced Trey at Elsie’s soft words. If he walked out into the hallway with Elsie, he’d hurt Brittany. It hadn’t been four hours since he’d made love to her and he knew her emotions were in an upheaval right now. She’d cut off her hair, for Christ’s sake. He had the disquieting feeling burying his hands in her hair when she’d taken him in her mouth had precipitated that action. The more she fought her demons, the more they terrorized her. Yet traces of the old Brittany broke free from time to time. That girl was long gone, shattered by brutality, but the woman she was today would be so much stronger in the end if she won her battles.
On the other hand he’d gone to Elsie’s bed several times in the past six months and he’d mistakenly thought Elsie was in it to have the same good time he was.
He heard movement behind him and he half expected to have Brittany join him at the door to slam it in Elsie’s face. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw her padding toward the bedrooms, her head down.
He’d hurt her anyway. Of course he had. He was standing at the door, whispering to Elsie, as if what had happened between he and Brittany several hours ago didn’t matter to him.
Women were impossible. Impossible.
“I know how to please you. I’m ten years older than Brittany. I’ve shown you all the things I can do in bed. That’s why you’ve come to me over and over again.”
No, he thought grimly. Men were impossible. He needed to write a book to all the “playas” in the world and let them know that their pasts would converge and combust sooner or later. How could he have been so off the mark about Elsie? She mistook Trey’s repeated return to her bed as an indication they had a future. He mistook her willingness to have sex with him whenever he called, even if she hadn’t heard from him in two or three weeks, as proof she understood her place in his life.
Do you always show such a callous disregard for your women? Brittany’s words taunted him. The sad part about it was he’d never felt any of them were his women. They were just women who enjoyed his body, women he’d used as a means to block the bone-deep loneliness and sadness he felt.
Elsie pressed against him and grabbed his cock. “Don’t you enjoy making love to me?”
He pushed away her hand. “Elsie, sweetheart, you’ve been great. We’ve had some great times together. But I never pretended I wanted anything more than what we had.”
Tears filled her eyes and if Brittany wasn’t lurking in the apartment, he’d have taken Elsie into his arms and hugged her. Hell, if Brittany wasn’t in the apartment, this entire scene would’ve been avoided.
“No.” All traces of the seductress were gone. “You never promised me tomorrow. But when we were together, you made me feel as if I were the only woman in the world for you.”
“We never went on one date.”
“We met at the gym a few times,” she responded, her tone shaky. “We worked out and laughed and joked and had so much fun. Then we’d go back to my place and shower and make love.”
“In the six months I’ve known you, that happened three times. Between those times, weeks would go by and when you heard from me, it would only be for one thing.”
“I know but I hoped to have a future with you anyway.”
“I’m so sorry. I’m sorry you saw something that wasn’t there.” What the hell else could he say? Though he’d never promised her something he knew he’d never give her, he felt awful, so he took her hand in his and kissed the back of it. “Take care of yourself, honey. Why don’t you schedule my closing with someone else?”
“No I’ll be fine. I’m happy you’ve finally gotten your house and I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded and sniffled, tears starting to fall down her cheeks. Distantly he heard the elevator ding, while he watched in helpless frustration as Elsie swiped at her tears. He searched for words, something to make her feel better. But he knew the only way she’d feel better was if he agreed to an exclusive relationship and that he couldn’t do.
Swaying toward him, Elsie angled her head for a kiss but halted at the sound of a man clearing his throat.
Trey raised his gaze and met the light brown eyes of his cousin, Karl.