Page 26

TWENTY-SIX

Maverick

She scrambles toward the headboard, wrapping her arms and legs around her body like a damn octopus, trying and failing to cover every exposed bit of skin. Her eyes are comically wide as she takes us in. It’s clear she didn’t think seeing us here, in her room, was a real possibility.

We deceived her, have been all week, and I’d be lying if I didn’t feel like a dick. Especially, watching the shock and sheer horror of the situation play across her face.

Maybe we should have brought this up after our charged moment in the elevator. Maybe we should have dropped a few hints. Maybe we shouldn’t have been such selfish pricks.

It's too late now.

Brantley warned us this would happen. He knew she’d be pissed and rightfully so. We’re her bosses, and she’s supposed to trust us. I doubt she’ll believe a thing we have to say after this. We did it for the right reasons. We wanted to protect her, to keep her safe. Well, that’s partially true. We also wanted to be with her.

“We can explain.” Wyatt runs his hands down his face, kneeling on the bed by her feet. His tie is hanging loose, his jaw tightens, and he looks like he’s physically pained.

Fuck. He probably is. I can sympathize; one look at her in that white lace teddy, and I was hard as a rock.

Although, maybe this isn’t the best time to be thinking about that.

“Is this a trap? Are you messing with me? How long have you known about the auction?” She gasps, her hand flying up to cover her mouth, and if possible, her eyes get wider. “Have you done this before? Is this really why your secretaries end up quitting?”

My brows shoot up to my hairline, and I almost laugh. We’ve never crossed a line with anyone who works for us. Ever. The thought of sleeping with someone at the firm has never crossed my mind, not until her. “We have never met one of our secretaries in a hotel room. Or crossed the line with any employee.”

“And we’ve never bid on anything or anyone in an auction before,” Wyatt quietly adds.

She stares at me for several seconds and when she speaks, her voice is barely a whisper. “So, why now? Why me? And why lie about it?”

“If we told you we knew about the auction site, would you have gone through with it?”

She huffs a laugh, her hold around herself loosening. “I don’t know. But I’d have been mortified. I’d have probably quit.”

Wyatt reaches out toward her, but about halfway there stops and drops his hand on the bed. “We didn’t know how to tell you, not without sounding like a couple of stalkers. But when I saw that site on your phone, I didn’t know what to do. I was worried about your safety, sure, but I couldn’t stand the thought of someone who wasn’t one of us putting his hands on you.”

“We want you. We have since the first day we met you.” I meet her gaze, letting her see the truth in my eyes, letting her see how much I want her, how much I need her. “Seeing you at the office, day in and day out, it was only a matter of time before my resolve crumbled. But when we saw the auction site, our timeline shifted. Why did you do it?”

That’s the million dollar question and the only one I’ve been dying to get an answer to. I may not know her that well, but I’d hazard a guess that she entered herself in the auction out of necessity.

She blows out a breath, her hold on herself loosening as she shifts on the bed. “I needed the money. Not for me. My brother. He, uh, he needs surgery.”

Well, now I have so many more questions.

Where are her parents? How old is her brother? Why is she paying for something like this?

But this isn’t the time and place for an interrogation, especially since we just violated what little trust we had gained from her.

Regardless, if she needs this kind of money, it has to be for something big. And either not covered by insurance or her parents don’t have any. Hopefully, she has something else she can spend all this cash on because there’s no way in hell she’s paying for her brother’s surgery herself. I have more than enough money to cover the expense, and I know Brantley and Wyatt will feel the same.

“I’m so sorry we freaked you out.” Wyatt hangs his head, the torment evident in his voice. “While I realize this may not have been the best decision on our part, I promise we didn’t do this for the wrong reasons. And Brantley?—”

“Holy crap, Brantley. Does he know?” She gasps again, this time softer, and the sound goes straight to my dick. Damn if I don’t want to hear it again. Maybe in a different context. “Is he here, right now? The dinner reservations?”

“Sorry about that.” I tug on my tie, loosening it from around my neck. “He knows, but he’s at home.”

“Let me guess, you lied about that too.”

“I really am sorry.” I blow out a breath, a hand going through my hair. “I cancelled the reservations right after you made them. We were kinda hoping the thought of us being here tonight at the same time would soften the blow when you found out it was us.”

She stares at me for several seconds before a tiny sliver of a smile works its way across her face. “Well, you blew it.”

“Clearly.” I laugh, inching toward her and placing my palm on her lower leg. “I’m sorry we lied to you.” I blow out a breath, meeting her gaze. The blue in her eyes darken, churning with emotion. “You look beautiful, Kinsley. If nothing else, I want you to know that.”

“Do you really mean that?” She looks between the two of us, her teeth scraping across her bottom lip, and I nod.

“Of course.” Wyatt is quick to respond, giving her a small smile. “Do you really think we’d risk losing the best secretary we’ve had otherwise? We created profiles on that auction site for you. We bid for you. We won because there was no way we were going to let another man touch you. We want all your firsts, but only if you’re willing to give them.”

I nod and give her calf a squeeze. “The money is yours. You don’t have to do anything with us if you don’t want to. You can leave this room, and on Monday morning we can act like nothing ever happened.” My voice lowers, and my dick bangs against the zipper of my dress pants, begging me to get closer, to touch more skin. “Or…”

“Or what?” Her breath catches in her throat, her arms relaxing enough to give me a perfect view of her full tits and those little rosy nipples of hers.

“Or we can show you how you deserve to be pleasured. To be fucked.” I lean forward and run my nose along the shell of her ear, my voice strained. Fuck, my entire body is on edge. “We can give you a night you’ll never forget.”

“And on Monday?” she whispers, her arms sliding down her body, opening herself up to us, to the possibility of this. “What if I want to act like nothing happened?”

Wyatt hesitates for a moment, his body going rigid, but then he forces himself to relax and shrugs. “Then we forget this ever happened.”

Yeah, fuck that.

It’s bullshit. He knows it. I know it. The only one who doesn’t is Kinsley. I should be okay with some no strings sex. Hell, I should be begging her for one night and one night only, but I have a feeling one night with her won’t be nearly enough.

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her since the day in the lunchroom, and while I have no idea what that means, I can’t ignore it. It’s strange; trust me, I know. I’m not the type to get twisted up over a girl, but I can’t imagine spending the night with her and walking away.

But I guess I’ll have to try.

Hey eyes volley between the two of us before they fall to the comforter. “I haven’t…I don’t know what I’m doing. My last boyfriend said I was as stiff as a board. A board with tits.”

What a stupid little fucker.

This man—no, this boy she dated doesn’t deserve a single second of her time.

He didn’t know what he had, what he let go.

Not only was he unfit to touch a fucking hair on her head, but he failed as a man. It’s clear he was looking out for himself, never thought about Kinsley and what would make her feel good. He never tried to make her comfortable. Never made sure she was taken care of.

I bet you any amount of money the only orgasms she’s had have come from herself.

That ends tonight.

She has no idea what she’s missing or how good sex could be with the right person, the right two men.

“No offense, but your ex sounds like a fucking idiot.” My words come out sharper than intended, and I take a deep breath, forcing my shoulders to relax and my fingers to unwind from the comforter. “Look at me, Kinsley.” The second she does the rest of the world falls away, and it’s just the three of us. “He was the problem, not you. Let us do this for you. Let us take care of you.”

Her cheeks darken, and she traps her bottom lip between her teeth, biting down on the soft flesh, and I can’t wait to replace her teeth with mine. “Both of you? Are you sure?”

Wyatt swallows hard. “If that’s what you want, you can have us both.”