Perfectly vegan.”
Nell quickly pulled the duct tape off her mouth. “That is so sweet, Caleb.”
The doctor suddenly found his feet endlessly fascinating. “Well, I figured you wouldn’t have a lot to eat here, so I made something for you.”
Nell thanked him. Henry gave the group a thumbs-up and they walked off to find some silverware.
“That was so thoughtful,” Holly said.
Caleb flushed, his face redder than his gold and red hair. “Well, you can have some if you want it.”
Holly bit her lip. “Um, I’m not really into tofu, but I would love to try it.”
“Oh, I’m sure it tastes like shit,” Caleb said. “I mean, why eat that when you could try bear?”
A bright smile lit Holly’s face. “Come on, then. It’s actually really good, and the bison burgers are amazing.” Laura was about to say something when she caught sight of Rafe and Cam walking onto the fairgrounds. Holly and Caleb left in search of exotic meats, but it wasn’t the smell of barbecue that had Laura’s mouth watering.
Why did those two men have to be so damn delicious? They were almost perfect opposites. Rafe was smooth where Cam was rough on the outside, but then they changed roles when they got to the bedroom. Rafe had taken her with the ruthlessness of an invader, and Cam had made her feel utterly worshipped.
“You should see the look on your face, Laura.” There was a wistful quality to Wolf’s words. “Damn, I hope a woman looks at me like that someday.”
“I don’t love them.” She forced herself to say the words. Maybe if she said it enough, she would believe it.
“Life is way too short to lie to yourself, sweetheart. And it’s too short to sit on your ass because you’re scared. Could they hurt you again? Oh, yeah. What’s going to hurt worse? Your heart breaking or waking up one day and realizing you didn’t try?”
“Were you this mouthy in the SEALs?”
He shrugged. “Can’t help it. I’m brilliant when it comes to dealing with other people’s problems. It’s my alien DNA. It helps me see to the heart of the matter and makes me very intuitive. Damn, there’s my mom. And she has beets. I fucking hate beets.” He pushed away from the picnic table and smoothed out his shirt. “I don’t think you need me to handle this one, but if you choose to go with the fake fiancé thing, know that I am going to require an enormous amount of filthy, disgusting fake sex.”
She couldn’t help but smile. He really was adorable. “Got it.” He backed away with a little wave of his hand. “And I’m the best fake sex you’ve ever had.”
“Damn straight,” Laura returned.
And then all she could see was them. They had lasered in on her and walked side by side with purpose, ignoring everything else around them.
They were the best real sex she’d ever had, and they were headed her way.
Chapter Seven
Rafe didn’t miss the way Laura’s body went still, her muscles stiffening where just a moment before she’d been laughing with her friends. She changed the moment she became aware of them. It wasn’t the greeting he would prefer. Back when they were friends, when she would see him coming, her whole body would go soft and a welcoming smile would transform her face from something professional to an intimate visage, one only meant for someone close to her. He’d taken great pride in the fact that he’d only ever seen that look on her face for one other person.
“Hello, bella.”
She frowned at him. Even frowning, she was stunning. She looked only slightly out of place in her yellow heels. The rest of her outfit was charmingly Western. She had on a full cotton skirt, a yellow tank top, and a light denim jacket. It wasn’t far off from what many of the other women were wearing, yet Laura made it seem elegant.
Everything she did had an air of grace to it, even when she was bitching at him.
“I thought I asked you to stop calling me that.” He wasn’t going to let her push him. He gave her what he hoped was an easy smile. “And I asked you to stop calling me asshole. I doubt you’ve done that. Dance with me.” Her eyes widened, a look of horror crossing her face. “No.”
“Come on, baby. Don’t say no.” Cam crowded her, but she held her ground. Those heels were planted firmly in the grass beneath her.
“I can’t dance with you until you dance with him. I lost the coin flip.”
“Oh, that’s romantic.” She didn’t look impressed. Her hands found her hips, and those gorgeously full lips pursed. “Every woman in the world wants to be won by the flip of a coin.”
“We didn’t have time to play cards,” Rafe admitted. He was well aware that people were listening in. Oh, they were pretending to be doing other things, but they leaned over and then talked behind their hands. The citizens of Bliss seemed to be enjoying the show. Damn, he couldn’t get used to it. In DC, no one paid a bit of attention to what was going on around them. He tried to ignore it. “We weren’t sure how else to handle it, bella. You have to teach us.” Laura’s lips rose in a sarcastic grin. “See, that’s easy. Let me teach you how to handle a situation like this. You both turn around and walk out the way you came in. You get in your car and drive to Alamosa and get on a plane back to DC.” Cam sighed. “That’s not going to happen.” Cam ran a hand up her arm, and Rafe was satisfied with the way she shivered. She still responded to Cam. Would she respond to him?
Rafe reached out and took her hand. He looked down at it. Her hand was small in his, her skin fair against his olive tone. Her nails weren’t as long as she used to keep them, but they were still manicured and painted a pretty pink. “Come on and dance with me. We came all this way. We’ve looked for so long. Can’t you spare a moment of your time? Your fiancé is otherwise occupied, and I promise to behave.” He wouldn’t behave. He had no intention of not reminding her of everything they’d had, but he wasn’t going to announce it.
Her eyes strayed to where Wolf Meyer seemed to be having an argument with a small woman with steel-gray hair. She was giving the big man hell, and Rafe was glad to see it.
“Fine.” She pushed off of the picnic table she’d been leaning against. “One dance and that’s all.”
“With both of us,” Cam added quickly, pushing the advantage.
“It’s only fair. Otherwise, we’ll both dance with you here and now.”
There it was. Rafe’s heart soared. Her eyes had flared momentarily, and it wasn’t with disgust. When they had checked into the odd motel at the edge of town, they had decided it would be best to come at her together. She’d been turned on by sex with both of them. They needed to remind her of what they had to offer. “I’ll spare the world that sight. One dance, with both of you, and then you’ll go?”
She was going to be difficult to the end. Rafe decided to press his second advantage. It wasn’t really an advantage, but Rafe knew she wouldn’t be able to say no to them. “You know we can’t do that. We need to talk. It’s important, bella. De Sade is working again. He’s been quiet for years, but he’s back. I would do anything to spare you…”
She held up a hand, her face taking on a blank professional stare.
“How many?”
“One that we’ve found so far.” Rafe wasn’t so certain that the victim they had found was the only one. One thing was certain, De Sade was back in DC and on the hunt.
Her expression remained blank, but Rafe could see the way her pulse jumped in the vein in her neck. Her heart was pounding. Rafe had to stop himself from hauling her into his arms and promising her that it would be all right. “I didn’t see his face, Rafe. I went over all of this in the hospital with Joseph. De Sade wore a mask the whole time.