She shook her head at that, trying to imagine how bad things had to be to leave home at fifteen. “Sounds like your high school years were way more adventurous than mine. My big act of rebellion was messing with the school computers and rigging them to play my favorite Broadway songs when they booted up.”
Ren’s expression changed in the reflection of the streetlights. “Believe me, running away was the stupidest thing I ever did. I should’ve gotten over myself and listened to my parents.”
She sensed there was more to the story. His normally devil-may-care attitude had dropped away. “What happened with the guy?”
Ren’s smile was grim. “Let’s just say I found out the hard way that he was not a good man.”
She frowned. “I’m sorry.”
“Yeah. But it is what it is. And if I hadn’t made that colossal mistake, I may have never met Hayes.”
“How’d that happen?”
“He lived across the street from my parents. When I got picked up by the cops and carted home, I was all screwed up. Hayes caught me doing stupid shit and almost going back to Gordon—the guy. He set me straight. Pretty much decided I was going to listen to him and that was that. Bossy bastard.”
She laughed. “Hard to imagine the Hayes I know doing that. But . . .”
“But what?”
“I know him as Dmitry. I could totally see him doing that.”
Ren smiled. “I still can’t believe you two were talking all that time. I’m glad you were, though, and that it was you. He finally knows there’s a woman he can trust. I can’t tell you how huge that is.”
She nodded and looked out at the night. “Is that why I’m here? Why we’re doing this?”
“Huh?”
“The three of us. You already said you don’t normally date. And you two are together now. Hayes reached out to Lenore because he was lonely, but that was before you two reconnected. Y’all don’t really need me involved.” She shrugged. “You suspect I’m here for adventure. But why do you want me here? Am I here to prove that Hayes is back to the guy you used to know? Am I like the beta test? The final systems check to make sure he’s good to go?”
“Cora—”
“I mean, if that’s the case, it’s fine. Honestly. I’m going into this knowing you’re together and in love. And you just said tonight is supposed to be light and fun. But I like to know where I stand so that I can keep that clear. Is this like a one-big-night thing and then we move on?”
“Is that what you really think?” A car honked behind them because the light had turned green and Ren hadn’t moved. Ren cursed and punched the gas, then took the next turn, pulling onto the shoulder of a side road. He put the car in park and shifted to face her. “Cora?”
“Of course that’s what I think. There aren’t many alternatives to consider.”
Ren looked more than a little annoyed. “There’s a long list of other alternatives. How about, we like you? And beyond how much I like hanging out with you, you and Hayes have had this entire relationship online. I don’t know what all went on, but I know that you were important to him. That he was torn the fuck up the night he broke things off with Lenore.”
She looked down at her hands.
“We’re such a fucking mess,” Ren said on a laugh, “each of us trying to figure out the other’s motives. Maybe we should consider that we’re all in uncharted territory here and just figuring this out as we go along. That there is no master plan beyond the fact that we’re seeing where this goes.”
Cora’s lips rolled inward, the fervor of Ren’s speech getting to her. “So this is really like . . . a date to see how things go?”
He looked to the sky and laughed. “I love how you say that like you don’t believe it. Yes. Of course it is. Have you met me? I’m the opposite of the guy with a master plan. Did you miss the part where I got pissed at my parents and took off with an abusive psycho without thinking past the next day?”
She swallowed hard. “He was abusive?”
Ren grimaced like he’d just realized he’d let that slip. He let out a sigh and looked past her shoulder toward the darkness for a long second then back to her, meeting her eyes. “Yeah, he played dominant but was really a sociopath in disguise. Enjoyed using teen boys like me and loaned them out for sadistic games with his friends.”
Her chest squeezed at that. “Ren . . .”
He looked down, a rueful smile touching his lips. “Yeah, this is so not how I saw tonight’s conversation going. It was supposed to be way sexier and didn’t involve deep, dark confessions about my fucked-up teen years or my thoughts on dating.”
She reached out and grabbed his hand. “Hey, I told you that I didn’t need the car, but maybe I did need this.”
He peered up, questions in his eyes.
“Realness,” she said softly. “I’m not sure I could ever trust that guy. That guy is intimidating as hell. That’s one reason why I keep questioning how I play into all this. That guy can be a little too smooth, too perfect. But maybe I can trust this one. The one who’s still gorgeous and smart and has a hot car but who also isn’t afraid to be straight-up honest with me and let me see the not-so-shiny parts. Thank you for that.”
“I won’t lie to you, Cora. I never have.”
“I believe you.”
He ran his thumb over the top of her knuckles. “And I won’t use you. I can’t tell you what’s going to happen tomorrow or the next day. But I promise that whenever I’m with you, there’s no side game going on, no secret subtext that you’re not a part of. I’m just feeling my way through it like you are.”
She smiled. “There has been a lot of feeling. And groping.”
A half smile from Ren. “I’m hoping there’s more to come.”
“I will refrain from making a dirty comment with the word come.”
“You are the pillar of strength.” He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed the top of it. Then he brought her hand to his chest and leaned forward. Their lips met in an unhurried way, sweet and exploring. Almost like they were meeting for the first time. His fingers teased at the nape of her neck and her eyes fell shut, her hand curling into his shirt. A soft sigh escaped her and Ren deepened the kiss, drawing her into the trance of simply kissing this man and giving herself over to the possibility of him.
He whispered her name in the breath between kisses and then went back to melting her into a puddle with his lips.
This. This felt right. So much more than sexual. Real. Honest. A connection to this beautiful man who’d lived through some of his own horror and had felt like an outsider, too, a man who she had more in common with than she would’ve ever considered.
And for the first time, she found herself entertaining the very real possibility that she could fall for him. Maybe a part of her already had.
After a few long minutes of kisses and soft touches, Ren leaned back, a tentative, almost wondrous expression on his face. He cupped her face and dragged a thumb over her cheek like he was seeing her for the first time. He gave a little headshake, as if to pull himself from some train of thought, and that trademark smile lit his face, chasing away the naked expression. “So now are you ready to sing really bad karaoke with me tonight?”
“I will never be ready for that.”
He lowered his hand and shifted in his seat. “How about if we win the karaoke battle with your friends, I’ll let you drive the car?”
She grinned and rubbed her hands together like a cartoon villain. “Will you let me take her to a deserted road and put this baby through her paces? I need to feel the full extent of all that power beneath me.”
He put the car in gear. “Stop talking dirty to me, Benning. But yes, you, me, this car, and a deserted road will be all yours.”
She laughed, tucking away the lingering buzz of the kiss and the feelings stirring in her for later analysis. Tonight was supp
osed to be about fun. She would try not to overthink it. “Deal. Let’s go sing our asses off.”
TWENTY
Cora and Ren arrived at the club about fifteen minutes late after their little detour. The place was already teeming with people but Grace, Carlos, and Josh had apparently gotten there on time and had snagged them a big round booth in the corner of the club—or at least that’s what Grace had texted her along with, Stop working and get your ass here. She’d been tempted to text back, Sorry, making out with hot guy. Give me a minute.
But she was glad she hadn’t because when Grace caught sight of her heading their way with Ren, her face would’ve made a perfect meme for OMFG. Cora wished she had a camera.
Ren pressed his hand to the base of her spine and leaned close to her ear to be heard over the really bad rendition of “Purple Rain” a guy was singing on stage. “Guess you didn’t warn them you were bringing dates.”
She grinned. “And ruin the chance to see that look on my best friend’s face? Hell, no. She jumped my shit when I didn’t try to get your number at the party.”
Ren chuckled and put his arm fully around her waist, leaving no questions about his status as her date. “I like this best friend. You should have given me your number.”
“I don’t give my number to guys I catch getting blow jobs in hallways.”
“Details.”
Cora kept her smile in place as she walked over to the booth. Carlos and Josh looked up at the same time and both did their own version of Grace’s surprised expression. Eyebrows crawling up foreheads, parted lips. God, everybody really had decided she was a sexless hermit. “Hey, guys.”
“Hey, yourself,” Grace said, openly giving Ren a once-over.
Cora tipped her head toward Ren. “This is Ren Muroya. I’m working on a project for his company.” And sleeping with him on my lunch hour. “Ren, this is Grace.”
Ren nodded and shook Grace’s hand. “Yep, I remember you. Lady who saved Cora from my evil designs at the party.”
Grace laughed. “That obvious?”
Cora snorted. “And these are Carlos and Josh, my neighbors.”
“The ones who scared the psycho away.” Ren reached across the table to shake their hands as well, his affable expression going more serious. “Next drink’s on me for that.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Josh said, trying to wave off the offer.
But Carlos bumped Josh in the shoulder. “What he means to say is, Yes, thank you, we will always accept free liquor from kind strangers.”
Josh draped his arm over the back of the booth behind Carlos and his lip curled into a smug smile. “Yes, that’s how I got you to come home with me. Free liquor.”
“Don’t believe him,” Carlos said between sips of his drink. “I wasn’t that easy. It was expensive liquor. Patrón. I have standards.”
Ren laughed. “Then Patrón shots for everyone.”
“Woo-hoo,” Grace chimed in and lifted her martini glass. “I’ll toast to that. Plus, Cora will probably need three of them to get her up on that stage.”
Cora groaned and whirled a finger in the air. “Just bring me the bottle.”
Something buzzed in Ren’s pocket and vibrated against Cora’s hip. Ren tucked his hand between them and grabbed his phone, reading the screen. “That’s Hayes. He’s trying to find us.” He gave her waist a quick squeeze. “Be right back.”
“Sure.”
Ren released her, stopped a few steps away to tell the waiter something, and then disappeared into the throng of people. When Cora turned to climb into the booth, she had three expectant faces greeting her. She scooted next to Josh and gave them all an innocent shoulder shrug, enjoying being on this side of the dynamic for a change. “What?”
“You know what,” Josh said. “I thought we were here to get you out of the house and away from your lonely workaholic schedule and you walk in with that guy?”
Cora had to laugh. That guy.
“So you’re working with the dude you escaped from at the party and are now on a date with him?” Grace said, stunned. “You said you didn’t give him your card.”
“Long story,” Cora said, wishing she had a drink. She was trying to play it cool, but everything that happened with Ren in the car was still whirling around her head. And soon Hayes would be here, too. Hayes—her other date. And Ren’s date.
God. She was in so far over her head she needed a damn oxygen tank.
“So where’d he go off to?” Carlos asked.
“His business partner is joining us for a drink.” She looked toward the crowd and as if on cue, Ren and Hayes squeezed through. “There they are.”
Cora was struck by the two of them walking so close. The crowd didn’t allow for much else, but now that she knew what she knew, she couldn’t help letting her mind notice all the little things. Their obvious comfort with each other. The way Hayes cleared the path for the both of them with gentle nudges to the people in their way. These two powerful men loved each other. And they were inviting her in for a little while. She could be in their bed by the time the night was done.
Cora’s skin went tingly at the thought. Anticipation. Nerves. A little bit of fear.
“Whoa,” Grace said, breaking Cora from her thoughts. “Dibs on the big guy. He’s . . . Yeah.”
“Back off, Gracie,” Cora snapped, the response automatic and rife with warning.
“I—” Grace’s lips pursed, annoyance there. “What? Is he taken or something?
Josh coughed and Cora glanced at him. He gave her an I-didn’t-say-a-thing look, but curiosity gleamed in his eyes.
Cora smoothed a wrinkle from her pants, trying to get ahold of her reaction and look nonchalant. “Yes. He’s taken.”
Truth.
“Damn, that’s all you had to say. Jeez.” Grace sipped her drink, eyeballing Cora over the rim. “You need to get some alcohol in you, woman. You’re tense.”
Before the guys reached the table, the waiter stopped by and dropped off a bottle of Patrón and a line of shot glasses. “Would you like me to pour?”
Carlos got a wide grin at the sight of the bottle. “Line us up, brother.”
The waiter got to work, pouring with expert precision and setting them up with the liquor. As soon as he strode off, Ren and Hayes sidled up to the table. Hayes looked about as comfortable as a guy with rocks in his shoes and ice cubes in his shorts. From the outside looking in, he had that look of a straight guy silently freaking out that he was in a gay club. But he wasn’t straight and she knew that wasn’t it at all.
She recognized that skittish yet stoic vibe. That was the same act she pulled when forced to socialize with strangers. Being around this many people freaked him out. His gaze slid to hers, something tense there, an SOS to a fellow introvert maybe. That snapped her into action. “Hayes, so glad you could make it. You can now bear witness to the utter destruction of whichever song I choose to sing for karaoke night.”
He stared at her for a second, but then, as if he had heard the words through water, he gave his delayed response. A brief smile. “Well, I can’t miss that.”
Cora introduced him to everyone, using only his first name just in case anyone followed the news too closely. She scooted over, trying to make room for both of them, but only Ren could fit.
Grace slid over and patted the spot next to her. “Hayes, you can sit next to me. I don’t bite.”
“Well, that’s just because Cora told her you were taken,” Carlos supplied. “Otherwise, Grace would bite you.”
Grace laughed and snapped her teeth at Carlos, but Hayes lifted his gaze to Cora’s. A cocked eyebrow and a secret almost-smile. The invisible connection across the table sent a dart of electric awareness through her. He liked that she’d declared him off-limits.
The look didn’t get lost on Ren. He pressed his hand over her knee and traced a li
ttle circle over her kneecap. It was a simple touch, nothing outwardly sexual, but it lit up things in Cora’s body. They were all thinking the same thing. She could feel it. What will the night bring? Will it be the three of us tumbling into bed in one hot, sweaty tangle? Will I submit to these two men and give up the control for real?
Cora’s heart tried to beat out of her throat and sweat gathered between her breasts. She grabbed a shot glass. “Time to drink!”
Ren laughed softly next to her, as if he’d read every damning thought in her head. But he didn’t say a word. Just slid her a glass of water after she’d downed the shot and watched her sip.
Half an hour later, Cora was wondering if maybe the shots hadn’t been the best plan of action. Her head was swimming after the third and her laugh had become too loud. She also found herself leaning into Ren, who took the cue and draped his arm around her. Man, he smelled good. He probably tasted better.
“Thanks,” he said against her ear.
“Hmm?”
“You said I smelled good.”
“Shit. Did I say that out loud?”
He huffed a laugh against her neck. “Yes. And you can taste whatever you want. But maybe ease up on the liquor before you do that. I’d hate to think you needed beer goggles for us.”
She groaned, thinking of the meme. “Same goes for you. Though, I’ve heard I look better after alcohol.”
“Hey.” He put a finger under her chin and turned her face toward him. “I’m drinking club soda, gorgeous. And the view’s fantastic.”
He brushed his thumb over her lips and she shivered.
“But relax. I’ve got you. No need for nerves. It’s just a night out with friends.”
He was giving her that assurance. You’ve made no promises. We’ve got no expectations. Be in the moment.
She licked her lips, tasting the salt of his skin lingering there. “Okay.”