“How do you think it went?” Jason asked as the elevator doors slid closed. I’d just finished my interview with his boss at the Las Vegas Daily, and he insisted on walking me to my car for the interview postmortem.

“Okay, I think. Kevin seemed impressed with my transcript and experience at the school paper.”

“I’m sure you’ll get it. None of the other candidates are nearly as qualified.”

I raised an eyebrow. “How, exactly, would you know that?”

“I may have flipped through the applications.”

“Of course, you did. Curiosity killed the cat, you know.”

“No worries. I’ve only used one or two of my nine lives.”

Sputtering out a laugh, I gave him a disbelieving look. “Right. Apparently, you’re living in Jason Hill Fantasy Land these days.”

We walked out of the elevator and through the lobby toward the front doors. Jason shot me a grin. “Trust me, my fantasies are much more—”

“Emma!”

I turned my head to find Shane strutting toward us. His eyes drifted to Jason and then back to me as he reached my side. In what could only be described as a show of possession, he slipped his arms around my waist and gave me a lingering kiss.

When he released me, I looked at him, puzzled. “What are you doing here?” I’d told him about the interview on the phone the night before, but he hadn’t said anything about meeting up afterward.

“I thought I’d surprise you with a lunch date. Do you have time?”

“Sure. I was already expecting to skip my last class of the day because of the interview.”

“Excellent.” He kept one arm wrapped around my waist and extended his other hand to Jason, who I’d almost forgotten was there. “Shane Oliver.”

“Jason Hill.”

Neither of them said anything else, so I explained, “Jason used to be the editor for the UNLV paper and works at the Daily now. He recommended me for the externship.” I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to defend our friendship, but Shane’s demeanor was leaning toward frosty. Was he jealous?

“Thanks for helping my girl out, man. I’ve got it from here.”

A flicker of annoyance crossed Jason’s face at Shane’s words, and I didn’t blame him. Shane’s rudeness was getting out of hand.

“I need to get back to work, anyway,” Jason said, speaking only to me. “I’ll call you if I hear anything about the externship.”

With as much genuineness as I could muster to make up for Shane’s bad attitude, I said, “Thanks again.”

“No problem.”

Once he was out of earshot, I stepped out of Shane’s embrace. “My girl? I’ve got it from here? What the hell was that about?”

He took my hand and started walking toward the exit. “That guy is into you.”

“We’re friends.”

“He wishes you were more.”

True. “Maybe.”

“See! You’re not even denying it.”

We stepped outside, and I inhaled a gulp of crisp air. I loved winter in Vegas. “He knows I have a boyfriend.”

Shane scoffed. “You think he cares?”

I skirted around a few people on the sidewalk before answering. “Actually, I do. He never once made a play for me while I was with Matt.”

“Who you’d already been with for years. A new relationship is probably the same as fair game to a guy like him.”

“Are you hearing yourself right now? You don’t even know him.”

“I don’t need to. He’s a guy and you’re a catch. He’ll do whatever he needs to in order to get you in his bed.”

“Shane!” I slapped his bicep. “You’re being ridiculous. Where did all this alpha male bullshit come from?”

He shrugged. “I don’t like seeing other guys flirting with my girlfriend.”

Stopping in my tracks, I gaped at him. “Did you forget about Cole and Nicholas?”

I couldn’t see his eyes behind his dark sunglasses, but his face remained blank otherwise. “That’s different.”

“How?”

“Can we talk about this over lunch?” he asked impatiently. “I’m hungry.”

“Fine,” I huffed. “Where are we going?”

“Right here,” Shane said, opening the door to a restaurant I’d never been to. Bowing slightly, he gave me an overly indulgent smile. “After you.”

Rolling my eyes, I stalked into the restaurant, my tension easing as I took in my serene surroundings. Clean lines, white tablecloths, accents in a soothing aqua color, and an abundance of natural light made the charming restaurant the perfect place for a surprise lunch. It was almost annoyingly perfect, but maybe that thought was the result of my current state of exasperation with Shane.

Once we were seated, I dove right back into our conversation. “How is it different?”

He continued to stare intently at the menu, like he hadn’t heard me. I waited patiently, not willing to give up on our earlier discussion despite his reluctance to answer.

When his eyes finally locked on mine, they appeared more blue than gray, making me want to get lost in them. “I already told you that we aren’t going to fight over you.”

“Do you want to fight over me, though? Does seeing Cole flirt with me bother you? Because what happened back there with Jason seemed like a natural reaction. Are you keeping all that,” I waved my hand in the air, “suppressed when I’m with Cole and Nicholas?”

He seemed to contemplate my question. “No, and I can’t explain why it’s different. It just is. We’re used to sharing things. I’m not worried about them trying to steal you from me.”

Sharing things. The words seemed innocuous enough, but the images suddenly slamming into me weren’t.

“Have you shared girls before?”

He didn’t answer right away, and my heart dropped to my toes. Why had this never occurred to me?

“Oh.” I fidgeted with my silverware, unable to meet his gaze.

The waiter showed up to take our orders, so I took my phone out and pretended like I had an important message to respond to.

After the waiter disappeared, Shane reached across the table and snatched my phone, then held my hand. “Not in the way you’re thinking. Cole and I have slept with the same girl before. Not at the same time, though.”

“One night stands?”

“Yes.” That didn’t make me feel any better, although I didn’t know why I was surprised. They’d bet on who would get me into bed that first night, after all.

“Look, Emma, I’m not going to pretend like the three of us have been saints or even close. Especially me and Cole. Girls come easy and we let them. At least, we did until you.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel special?” My tone was snottier than I intended.

“Yes.” He drew the word out, as if willing me to relax. “We wouldn’t have committed to a relationship with you if you weren’t special.”

I sighed. “Why am I always feeling insecure? I thought it would get better after New Year’s Eve, but it’s only worse.”

“I don’t know, but you don’t have any reason to be. As far as I’m concerned, everything is going great between the four of us.”

“Except for your excessive possessiveness,” I joked, hoping to lighten the mood.

He flashed white teeth. “Except for that, exaggerating Emma.”

“That was not an exaggeration!”

“If you say so.”

“I do say so, stubborn Shane.”

“I’ll give you that one. By the way, what’s up with the externship at the Daily? You don’t want to work at a newspaper after college, right?”

Thinking back, I tried to remember discussing the issue with Shane, but I never had. Only with Nicholas. “How did you know that?”

“I mentioned your interview to Nic this morning, and he told me you’d said as much.”

Seriously, how often did they discuss me?

“I haven’t completely ruled it out, and the externship will look good on my resume. It’s not like I have any better options.”

“Come work for me.”

I choked on my water mid-sip, barely refraining from spitting it out. “Excuse me?”

“My dad wants to expand the Vegas arm of the company, so I need to hire a couple of people, anyway. I’ve just been putting it off because of the hassle.”

“I don’t know anything about real estate!”

Looking unconcerned, he said, “I’ll teach you.”

“That’s a generous offer, but I can’t accept a job from you. It wouldn’t be right.”

“Why not? That’s one of the benefits of being an owner—I can hire who I want.”

“You can’t go around hiring your girlfriends! If nothing else, it’s bad for business.”

His eyes flashed an even deeper blue. “First of all, it’s girlfriend. I only have one. And I brought it up because I think you’d be great. You’re smart and have an approachable personality. You can learn the rest. I’m not offering you a stake in the company here, just a job.”

“Our relationship isn’t already complicated enough for you? You want to tack boss and employee labels on there as well?”

He smirked. “Depends. Are you good at taking orders?”

“Shane, this is serious!”

“Okay, okay, I’ll let it go.” He paused, leaving the implied “for now” unspoken. “But it’s worth considering.”

“It’s never going to happen,” I fired back, not willing to concede even an inch.

His fingers drummed on the table while he stared at me silently.

“What?” I wiped at my mouth with my napkin. “Is there something on my face?”

Before I realized what he intended, Shane slid into my side of the booth and practically surrounded my body with his. He pushed my hair off my shoulder and whispered, his warm breath fanning my skin. “Do you have any idea how hot you are when you’re angry, enticing Emma? Your skin is flushed and your gorgeous blue eyes bright. I want to devour every inch of you.”

He took my hand in his and subtly pressed it over his groin. “When you’re ready, that is.” His grin was wicked, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from moaning. He was rock hard through his slacks, and I was suddenly more turned on than I ever remembered being. My movements painstakingly slow, I stroked my palm up to his tip, then back down, not at all disappointed by what I was feeling.

Spotting a tray of food heading our way, I extracted my hand and attempted to plaster an innocent smile on my face. Shane started chugging his water until he’d drained the entire glass, and I stifled a giggle. As much as my body ached to continue our tryst, I couldn’t help but find his discomfort a little amusing. He did start it, after all.

“To be continued,” he growled.

Shane didn’t move from my side for the rest of the meal, but he did keep his hands to himself. More for his own sanity than anything, I suspected. After he paid the check, he glanced at his watch and grimaced. “Unfortunately, I have a meeting. Otherwise, I’d take you back to my place right now.”

“Where’s your ‘loser’ tee?”

“I already had to wear it to a meeting yesterday. Don’t ask.”

“Do you want to come over tonight? I have to finish a paper, but I can probably make time.” Especially if we’re going to resume our earlier activities, I thought while simultaneously chastising myself. It had barely been a week since I insisted I wouldn’t jump into bed with any of them, and my mind was already straying that direction.

“You have no idea how much I want to, but I’m going back to LA for a few days. I fly out tonight.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, just business. The company is expanding quicker than my dad expected, and things are starting to get out of hand.” He sounded stressed, which was not typical for Mr. Calm and Collected.

“Anything I can do to help?”

“Accept my job offer.”

I scowled. “Anything else?”

His gaze turned hot once more. “To be continued.”