Page 256 of Theirs to Desire (Club M: Boxed Set)

MEL

“ I t was the contacts, wasn’t it?” I blurt out, suddenly feeling very naked. The guys seem to realize I’m acutely uncomfortable, because they jump into action. West cuts the rope bra free, and Rob hands me a robe. I wrap it around myself, but it doesn’t make me feel any less exposed.

“Mel?” West prompts.

“What?” I snap defensively. “How long have you known it was me?”

The two of them exchange glances. “At the bar,” Rob says finally.

What? “That’s not possible. How did you recognize me? I don’t recognize myself.”

“Your fingers,” West says. “When you asked us to show you around, you fiddled with them.” A smile ghosts over his face. “It’s a very Mel thing to do.”

They’ve known the entire time. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Rob answers this time. “I don’t know,” he admits. He leans back on the couch and runs his hand over his face. “I didn’t know what to think.” He grimaces. “First, you quit out of the blue, and then you show up here. I guess I wanted to see where things would end up.”

I breathe through the sharp pain that stabs my heart. Rob wanted to see where things would end up, and he’d stopped before any actual sex occurred. I guess that answers my question.

“Yeah, right. Okay. If you wouldn’t mind leaving while I get dressed?—”

“What?” West has an incredulous expression on his face. “That’s it?” He runs his hand through his hair.

I don’t meet his gaze. “You knew who I was, and you let me make a fool of myself.”

“Let you make a fool of yourself?” West sounds bewildered. “I’m missing something here. What the hell are you talking about, Mel?”

I don’t say anything and stubbornly keep my eyes averted from his face. West sighs heavily. “One question,” he says. “Answer just one question. Did you want us, or did you want an anonymous encounter?”

Cat’s voice whispers in my ear. Don’t be a pussy, Mel.

“You,” I admit. I worry my nails, and then I realize what I’m doing and make myself stop. “I wanted you.”

Only Rob has removed his mask. West is still wearing his, and so am I.

“Oh, Mel.” West’s voice is a combination of relief and affection. He reaches behind his head and removes his mask, tossing it on the couch where, less than an hour ago, he’d spread my legs and eaten me out.

I finally lift my eyes to his.

“I should be annoyed,” he says. “I don’t sleep with my employees.”

“I’m quitting.”

“There is that.” He opens a bottle of water and drains nearly half of it in one gulp. He offers it to me, and I shake my head. “What was this to you?” he asks. “Did you want to try a threesome? Did you want casual sex? Or did you want something else? Something more?”

“That’s a lot of questions, and I already answered the first one.”

He smiles at me, warm and open. “Chicken,” he says. He turns to Rob with the same smile. “You too. Fine, I’ll go first.”

“Huh?”

“I’ve been attracted to you for over a year,” he says.

“It never would have come up. I never would have told you how I feel because you worked for me, and I wouldn’t put you in that position.

Tonight. . .” He seems to search for the right words.

“Tonight seemed like a dream I don’t want to wake from. ”

I release the breath I didn’t know I was holding.

“When you asked us to show you around the club, I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about this.” He indicates the three of us. “I thought I might be jealous.”

“Umm. . .”

“I wasn’t,” he continues. “It was just as hot to watch you come all over Rob’s mouth as it was when you came for me.”

Rob looks up at that. “Are you sure about that?” he asks.

“I’m sure,” West replies confidently. “So, Mel, let me put my cards on the table. I like you a lot. I don’t want this to be a one-time thing. I’d like to date you.” He turns to Rob. “It’s your turn.”

“It is?” Rob looks faintly pained. “I’m English, West. We don’t talk about our feelings. We’re not good at it.”

I’m still reeling with shock from West’s announcement. When I hear Rob’s words, my head snaps up. “Feelings? You have feelings?” I can barely believe it. “For me?”

“Don’t sound so surprised. You’re a lovely woman.”

I must not look convinced because he frowns.

“I don’t want to hide behind a mask, Mel.

I’ve done that all my life. And I do it with every woman I go out with.

” He stares at me steadily. “I’ve known you for a long time.

When you talked to us this evening, I didn’t ask why you wanted to hide from us.

Not because I didn’t want to know, but because I trust you.

” His lips twist. “You make me want to remove the mask, Mel. I want to see you, and I want you to see me.”

West looks at me. “It’s your turn, Mel. What do you want? There are no wrong answers.”

My heart is beating so fast I’m shocked they can’t hear it. With trembling hands, I finally unfasten my mask and carefully set it down on the table. Then I remove the contacts and toss them in the trash. “You,” I reply, looking at both my bosses. “I want you.”

“For tonight?”

“For tonight,” I reply. “And longer.” I need to be practical. “I don’t know how it’ll work. I mean, I’m going to spend a lot of time on the road, and there are three of us, and that’s probably shocking. Everyone will gossip, and I don’t know how I feel about the attention, and?—”

Rob puts his finger on my lip. “Mel, you’re babbling.”

He’s right. I am.

“Do you want to date us, Mel?” he asks directly. “Yes or no.”

“Yes.”

Satisfaction flares in his eyes. “Thank fuck,” he says. “That’s all that matters. The rest of it—we’ll make it work, love.”

West moves behind me. He wraps his arms around my waist and presses a kiss to my neck. “And tonight,” he says, his breath tickling my ear. “Do you want to stop, or do you want to keep going?”

That’s a lot easier to answer. “I want to keep going,” I say promptly. I can’t seem to stop smiling. Champagne bubbles of happiness dance inside me. “I want you to make love to me.”

“I love a woman who knows what she wants.” He tugs my robe free and nibbles my neck again. “There’s a bed in this room,” he says. “Get on it, Mel.”