My skin tightened around me. I felt like I was wrapped in cellophane. I knew I was turning twelve shades of red. Why did Marjorie seat me next to Ryan? Granted, we had shared a little conversation on the plane, but he was just being nice.

While the other guys were all wearing shorts and flashy print shirts, Ryan looked dashing in plain black dress pants and a white shirt with the top few buttons undone. A tiny bit of black chest hair peeked out, and again I looked down.

I had never been so attracted to a man.

I had never let myself be so attracted to a man. I had no intention of letting myself right now, but something about him made it difficult to resist. He wasn’t just a beautiful creature. He was also a nice man. A generous one. I had no idea how much money he had shelled out for my first class seat on the plane, but I did know the Steels were loaded. Melanie had made that clear, and it was common knowledge, anyway.

Ryan would have no interest in me. He was simply a nice person.

My skin heated as he touched my forearm.

I turned toward him abruptly. “What?” I asked a little too loudly.

“You are miles away. I was asking if you want wine.”

“Oh.” I cleared my throat. “Yes. That would be nice. Thank you.”

The waiter filled my glass.

“Did you order this wine?” I asked.

“Yeah. Their selection isn’t great, but it’s a little better than on the plane.” He smiled.

Even his teeth were perfect. Not too big, not too small, and no doubt straightened by the best orthodontia Steel money could buy. Yet something told me he hadn’t worn braces. No. Ryan Steel had been born perfect.

I looked over at his brothers. Steel brother number one, Jonah, the oldest, had hair a little longer and darker than Ryan’s. It was graying at the temples and in his few days’ worth of stubble. His eyes were dark, nearly black. We were sitting at the moment, but when standing he was tall. Around six-four.

Steel brother number two, Talon, the middle brother, stood about six-three. He had lived the most difficult life of the three. He looked a lot like number one and had the same coloring, though his hair was a little wavier with less gray. His jawline was a slightly different shape, and he had a barely noticeable crook in his nose. It had most likely been broken, probably when he was in captivity. I suppressed a shudder. What my father had put this man through…

I tried not to think about it as I concentrated on the man sitting next to me. The youngest Steel brother.

Ryan’s eyes were slightly lighter than his brothers’—a chestnut brown rather than espresso. His hair was a little bit shorter and a little better groomed. Not in quite as much disarray as his brothers’. His eyebrows were dark brown and sculpted. Had he had them shaped? I had to stop myself from chuckling. No Steel man would have his brows threaded. They were perfect on their own.

I shook my head slightly. Was I really waxing poetic about Ryan’s eyebrows when I’d just assessed his brothers as though they were suspects in a lineup?

The most amazing feature on Ryan Steel was his mouth. All the Steel brothers had gorgeous lips, but Ryan’s were the pinkest and fullest.

Something in me surged at that moment. Something I hadn’t let myself feel in over well over a decade. For a second I didn’t recognize it.

Then it hit me.

Desire. Sexual desire.

I had come across attractive men in my lifetime. Even some close in looks to Ryan Steel. But I’d always held back, never let myself feel anything.

Now, looking at Ryan…

I couldn’t. There was a reason I stayed away from men. There was a reason I dressed the way I normally did.

I didn’t want the attention.

The clothes I was wearing weren’t my own. I had only brought a few pairs of slacks and shorts, several button-up shirts, a one-piece bathing suit in an unflattering brown, a pair of flip-flops, and a couple pairs of sensible shoes. Melanie had told me not to worry about what to wear for the wedding, that she would take care of it. But I’d had no idea that her future sister-in-law would take over my wardrobe this evening.

Marjorie was about six inches taller than I, and I shuddered to think of what this miniskirt I was wearing looked like on her. It probably barely covered her ass.

But she had insisted, and Jade and Melanie had agreed, that I wear something a little more exciting to dinner. Jade and I had the same size feet, so the strappy sandals I was wearing belonged to her.

They had oohed and aahed when I’d stripped down to my underwear to let them dress me like a Barbie doll. Yes, I was in shape. The only reason I didn’t have six-pack abs was my own choice. I didn’t particularly like six-packs on women.

---

“Wow,” Marjorie said. “Why on earth do you cover this body up?”

“I don’t know.”

That was a goddamned lie.

“Well, that’s over now. The three of us would love to look like that. How do you do it?”

All three of them were gorgeous in very different ways. I didn’t know why they’d want to look like me.

“I work out,” I said. “A lot.”

“Do you diet?”

I shook my head. “Nope. I eat what I want. I have a huge appetite from all the exercise.”

“Wow. What do you do for working out?” Jade asked.

“Weight training, interval training, kickboxing. When I get tired of that, I do a little yoga.”

“Do you have to stay in shape?” Melanie asked. “To stay on the force?”

“No. The training was pretty vigorous when I was back in the academy, and we’re encouraged to stay in shape, but a lot of the cops I know have grown beer bellies.” I smiled.

“Wow,” Jade said again. “Too bad we don’t have a couple months before the wedding. You could get us all in tip-top shape.”

I warmed. They were all very beautiful with great bodies. When I said as much, Melanie said, “Thank you. That’s really sweet, Ruby. But you… There’s no comparison.”

Marjorie had taken it upon herself to pull my hair out of the bun. “And all this hair!” she exclaimed.

My hair fell nearly all the way down my back.

“Why do you keep it wound up so tight?”

“It’s just the style I’m used to.”

“I suppose it does suit you well when you’re working,” she said. “But this is not a week for work. We’re going to relax, celebrate, have fun. You need fun hair.” She began brushing my hair. “Amazing. Straight with just a little wave from being wound up. Not a bit of frizz on your whole head. You have a beautiful head of hair, Ruby.”

“I… Thank you,” I said.

After Marjorie finished combing out my hair and dressing me in her own tank top and skirt—“the color of this tank will go great with your eyes”—she painted my lips a dark red, which I wasn’t sure I could deal with. Then she stroked on some blush and mascara.

“That’s really all you need. Your skin is gorgeous. What products do you use?”

“Um…soap and water?”

“In Colorado? How do you keep your skin from drying out? You should be moisturizing.”

Marjorie Steel certainly didn’t mince words.

“Good genes, I guess.” I nearly had to laugh at that one. They all knew where half my genes had come from, and they were not good. Although, even though my father was a complete psychopath, he was pretty damned good-looking. He had dark hair, nearly black, the same as mine, though his skin was olive and his eyes brown. My skin was fair and my eyes blue, like my mother’s.

Marjorie chattered on about getting me on a good skin care regimen. I gave up and stopped listening after a while. At one point, all three of them had their hands on me, doing something.

---

Ryan Steel was looking at me. I could tell. His eyes were burning two holes in my skin. I nervously picked up my wineglass and took a sip.

“What do you think?”

I set my wineglass down shakily, willing myself not to spill the red liquid. “What?”

“About the wine. What do you think?”

“Oh. It’s good.”

“I think it’ll work well with the spicy Asian stuff we’ll be having,” Ryan said.

I nodded. Was I supposed to say something? I wasn’t sure. The waiter came around and took our orders. I ordered teriyaki chicken, while Ryan ordered seared scallops and filet mignon. That sounded better than teriyaki chicken. I kept forgetting that this place was all-inclusive and I could order what I liked. But it was too late to change my order. Maybe Ryan would let me have a bite of his.

Of course for that to happen, I’d have to ask for a taste. No way would I have that much nerve.

I took another sip of my wine, this time letting it sit on my tongue for a moment to see what flavors I could identify. Mostly red fruit. Maybe a little earthiness.

“I want to propose a toast,” Marjorie was saying. “To Jade and Talon, to Jonah and Melanie, to all of us, and to this vacation that we all so richly deserve.”

Laughter erupted from our group, and we all clinked glasses. Soon the chef came to prepare our food for us at our table. I was quiet. He gave me something to focus on. He kept us laughing with his antics, making an onion volcano and challenging us to catch little pieces of shrimp in our mouths.

When he got to me, I shook my head.

“Come on, Ruby,” Marjorie urged. “It’s part of the fun.”

I didn’t want to look like an idiot. Though neither Jonah nor Talon had been able to catch one.

I opened my mouth, and the chef effortlessly pitched a small piece of shrimp right onto my tongue. I couldn’t help a smile before I closed my mouth and chewed and swallowed the seafood. The chef winked at me.

The guy was good. I smiled at him, silently thanking him for not making me look like a moron.

The teriyaki chicken was delicious, and of course I was too embarrassed to ask Ryan for a taste of his scallops and filet mignon. They looked amazing, though. The freshly made fried rice was the pièce de résistance, in my opinion. I gobbled up the stuff.

As I was pulling my napkin from my lap, hopefully daintily, a young blonde came bubbling up next to us.

“Hello there,” she said to Ryan.

“Oh, hi, Juliet,” Ryan said.

Juliet? She couldn’t have been any more than eighteen. I might have a hard and tight body, but it was the result of a lot of work. At eighteen, no work was required. Well, maybe a little. At eighteen, I’d begun my quest for physical strength after I found out I couldn’t get into the police academy until I was twenty-one. Up until then, I’d survived on leftovers at the diner where I worked as a waitress, thanks to a fake ID. I was never overweight, but I’d been a little soft. No longer.

Not that I didn’t look feminine. I used my workouts to create long, lean muscles, not bulky ones. I had no desire to look like a body builder.

I looked up at Blondie and assessed her quickly. I had bigger boobs than she did, though hers weren’t bad. I grabbed my wineglass, which the waiter had just refilled, thank God, and took quite a gulp. When was the last time I had compared my boobs to another woman’s? And why did I suddenly care?

Blondie smiled. “I was walking by and I happened to see you in here, so I thought I’d come in and say hi.”

“Hi back,” Ryan said.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?”

“Well…sure.” Ryan introduced all of us, ending with me.

“Hi, everyone. I’m Juliet.”

A chorus of salutations echoed across the table.

I stayed silent. It hadn’t taken Ryan Steel long to find a conquest for the evening.

A lump had lodged in my throat. I wasn’t sure why. I certainly didn’t have any designs on Ryan Steel. Did I? He was way out of my league anyway. And I wasn’t looking for a man. Ever.

“Are you done with dinner?” Juliet asked Ryan. “It’s a gorgeous night for a walk on the beach.”

“It is,” Ryan agreed. “But I’ve already got plans for a walk with Ruby.” He took my hand. “Shall we?”

I arched one eyebrow. Was he using me to get rid of Blondie? Because I was nobody’s tool.

“No, we don’t,” I said.

“Of course we do. You promised.” He smiled.

No. Stop beating, heart. Don’t let that gorgeous smile sway you. He’s just trying to get out of walking with Blondie—although why is beyond me. I don’t want him anyway. I could never handle him.

I wasn’t playing this game. I stood. “Excuse me.” I turned and walked toward the door of the restaurant.