“I am so glad you came to see me.” She smiled. “That was truly spectacular.”
He kissed her, then gazed into her big green eyes.
“I came to ask you if . . . would you be . . . my girlfriend?”
Fourteen
At Danielle’s shocked expression, Trey swore under his breath. What kind of an idiot was he to blurt that out? With her in his arms, his cock still embedded in her, he had known. He wanted her to be his woman. And his alone. But right now she was in a relationship with both him and Jake.
For her, was the attraction being with two men? But, no, she wasn’t the type to take advantage of people. If she was having sex with him . . . and Jake . . . it was because she felt something for them, even if it wasn’t all-out love.
Of course it wasn’t love. They had a very unconventional relationship to say the least. He certainly understood those. After all, that’s what he’d had with Nikki and Angela back in college.
It was different with Dani, though. He found himself longing for more than just sex with her.
Just what did she feel for him? And for Jake?
He wanted her to be his, but what about Jake? Would Jake be okay with that, or did he want her, too? He’d given no indication.
Damn, this was getting complicated.
But right now, Dani still stared at him in shock.
“I don’t mean for real.”
At that, her face crinkled in confusion.
“I mean, my sisters are coming to visit me and . . . I was hoping you’d pose as my girlfriend.”
Danielle blinked. When he’d asked her to be his girlfriend, her heart had leapt in joy. Then it had crashed down as she saw the conflicting emotions flickering in his eyes. It’s like he’d immediately wanted to withdraw his request.
She’d been a fool to actually believe he’d want more from their relationship than what they had. Fun, unconventional, and exciting sex.
And she didn’t want him to want more. She wanted him to wind up with Jake. Trey and Jake were meant to be together. She couldn’t come between them.
But, of course, she wouldn’t. He just wanted her to pose as his girlfriend, not be his girlfriend.
“Uh . . . sure. I could do that.”
“Don’t you want to know when?”
“Oh, yes. When?”
“Well, they’re coming on Friday and they’ll be here all week. If you could come even just for the weekend and stay with me—”
“I can stay the whole week . . . if you want me to.”
A lot of her clients were on vacation, so next week was a good time.
He grinned and drew her against him. “I would love for you to come for the week.” He kissed her, stealing her breath away.
“So why do you want me to pose as your girlfriend?” Danielle asked as she gazed at Trey over the candle on the red-and-white checked tablecloth in the small pizzeria they’d chosen for dinner.
“When Suzie talked to you on the phone last Saturday, she assumed you were my girlfriend, and . . . well, she asked to meet you.”
“Okay, but you could have told her that I wasn’t.”
“My sisters have never met one of my girlfriends.”
“Did you think a woman would get the wrong idea, being introduced to your family?”
He glanced at their joined hands. “No. As pathetic as it sounds, I’ve never really dated a woman long enough to call her a girlfriend.”
“What about men?”
His gaze sharpened. “What about them?”
“Have you dated a man long enough to call him a boyfriend? Besides Jake, I mean.”
She didn’t know if she’d overstepped the bounds of their relationship by asking this question, but after all, he’d just fucked her silly. Surely she was entitled to a personal question or two.
He took a bite of his lasagna and chewed, gazing at her long enough that she thought he wouldn’t answer.
“No,” he said finally. He sipped his wine, then set the glass down carefully. “I haven’t been with a man since Jake. Just women.”
“Is it because you haven’t been attracted to anyone else?”
He grabbed the crusty loaf of Italian bread and tore a hunk off, his lips a tight straight line. “This is a little off topic.”
“I just wonder if maybe you’re—”
He jabbed his knife into the butter and slathered it across the white fluffy bread in quick short strokes. “Dani, I don’t want to talk about this. We need to figure out our story—how we met, how long we’ve been dating, et cetera.”
“Okay. Well, we met at the university. I already told her that on the phone. We could keep it simple and stay as close to the truth as possible. We met again at Harmony’s wedding and started our relationship then.”
“But that’s only a few weeks. They won’t think that’s serious.”
“I’m the first woman you’ve introduced to them.” She smiled. “They’ll believe we’re serious.”
Danielle pulled up to the university and parked in the lot by the small lake, then walked toward the philosophy building. She’d offered to come to town a day early and help Trey prepare for his sisters’ visit, and he’d jumped at the idea. He’d suggested she bring some personal items to leave around the house, but she wasn’t quite sure what. She’d never even left a toothbrush at a man’s place before. Not even now that she was visiting Trey and Jake every weekend. Maybe he wouldn’t mind if she actually left a few spare toiletries at his house so she didn’t have to keep carrying them back and forth.
Finally, she’d decided they should take a picture of the two of them, print it up, and put it in a frame. That should be pretty convincing. She arrived early so they could meet
