Roni Loren - Melt Into You

He gave a put-upon sigh and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Calm down, sweets. It’s just something the producers mentioned would be a good idea. You’re beautiful and smart. They think you’ll add to the brand better if you’re not hiding in the background.”

She groaned. “I’m not hiding, Daniel. I’m working my ass off with all the detailed stuff you don’t like to deal with. The limelight is your dream, not mine. And how am I supposed to be at all the show tapings and still get my new studio off the ground?”

He frowned. “Evan, you don’t have to worry about turning a profit with your photography. The money from this deal will be more than enough to support all of us.”

She stared at him in disbelief, then wriggled from beneath his grasp. So her photography business was expendable—a little hobby that didn’t bring in enough cash to count for anything. She stormed past him before she said everything that wanted to spill out of her mouth. “Whatever, Daniel.”

* * *

Evan ignored the soft knock on her door as she finished putting on her eyeliner. An hour of alone time had eased her down from her boiling point, but she was still at a steady simmer. She had half a mind to go to her birthday dinner alone.

“Evan, it’s Marcus. Can I come in? I have mail for you.”

She blew out a breath and capped the eyeliner. “It’s not locked. And you could’ve come up with a better excuse than that.”

He cracked open the door and stuck his head in tentatively, like he was afraid she was going to chuck a shoe at him or something. It would’ve been tempting had it been Daniel. “You doing all right in here?”

“Peachy,” she said with a saccharine smile.

He opened the door the rest of the way and stepped in, frown lines marring his smooth complexion. “Don’t mind Daniel. His mouth is just moving too fast for his brain. He’s so excited about finally reaching his dream that he hasn’t slowed down to really consider how everyone else might feel about it.”

She sighed and clicked off the light on her makeup mirror. “Look, no one is happier for him than I am. You know that. I know where he came from and how big of a deal this is. I just need him to understand that it’s not my dream. I’m dedicated to making this work for all of us, but my financial interest is so that I can run my studio, not have to stress about money, and be able to . . . take care of a few things. The fame part is not my deal.”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “Fame might not be that bad, you know.”

Fame. Her stomach did a flip. She’d spent a lot of time honing this new life—changing her name, refining her look, sloughing off her old life—not just to get a fresh start but to escape the demons lurking in her past. Having her picture splashed across the papers or television wasn’t exactly lying low.

“I’m not going to be on camera, Marcus. Get that through Daniel’s head and we’ll all be square.”

He stepped behind her and set the stack of mail on the vanity table before giving her shoulders a little squeeze. “He won’t make you do anything you don’t want to, okay?”

She nodded. “I know.”

“Now, why don’t we drop this whole thing for now and focus on going out and celebrating your birthday?” He waggled his eyebrows at her in the mirror. “We have a gift I promise will put a smile on your face.”

“Oh, Lord. Now you have me nervous.”

He laughed. “Come on, hot stuff. We don’t want to miss our reservation.”

* * *

By the time dinner wrapped up, Evan found herself without the energy to hold her grudge. Sulking was hard to maintain when so much fabulous food and wine were being consumed.

“If your evil plan was to stuff me with buttered scallops and cheesecake so that I wouldn’t be mad at you anymore, it’s working,” Evan said, licking a bit of strawberry sauce off her fork.

Daniel laughed. “I would never stoop so low as to prey upon your food-whore tendencies.”

She tossed her cloth napkin at him. “Liar.”

Marcus stole the last bite of their shared dessert and pointed his fork at Daniel. “Tell her what’s next while she’s still on her sugar and champagne buzz.”

She eyed the two men, a little twinge of anxiety going through her. “What are you two up to?”

Daniel grasped her hand across the table. “Sweets, I know we haven’t brought it up since our little discussion in South Padre, but Marcus and I have noticed you’ve been on edge for months.”

“Oh, come on, not this again,” she complained. “I told you I’m fine, Doctor . Totally stable.”

He shook his head, amusement dancing in his eyes. “Chill out. I’m not psychoanalyzing you. You’ve just been a tad bit . . .”

“Bitchy?” Marcus offered before sipping his drink.

“Hey,” she said, shooting him an offended look.

“I was going to say tense,” Daniel said, bumping Marcus with his shoulder. “I really do think it’s this whole celibacy thing getting to you.”

She blinked in surprise, the subject catching her off guard. Now they were discussing her lack of a sex life at dinner? Her earlier hint of nerves ratcheted up to dread. “Wait a second, what does that have to do with what’s happening next?”

“Well, we thought for your birthday we’d help you with that little issue,” Marcus said, obviously fighting a smile.

“My issue?” Her mind took a moment to fully process the words. “Wait, with my celibacy issue?”

Daniel grinned. “Exactly.”

She pulled her hand from Daniel’s and stared at the two of them in disbelief. How in the hell could two gay men help her with her celibacy issue? They surely weren’t going to volunteer to go bi or straight for the night. She almost laughed at the notion, but then a disgusting thought hit her, making her choke. “Oh, no. No way.”

“What?” Daniel asked in a tone worthy of a halo and wings.

“I swear to God if you paid for some escort or something, I’m seriously going to kill you two right here at the table.”

Daniel leaned back in his chair and sipped his coffee with a casual elegance that had Evan ready to throw something more damaging at him than her napkin. He set down his cup. “Evan, we would never do that to you. You deserve better than that.”

“Definitely,” Marcus said, sliding an envelope onto the table. “Like a membership to The Ranch. Three months fully paid.”

She stared down at the little white envelope and the red R emblazoned on its wax seal. The thing looked innocuous enough, but she had a feeling the gift inside was far from innocent. She raised her gaze, hoping she was wrong. “Is that some sort of spa or something?”

Daniel’s lips curled into a mischievous smile. “Not exactly.”

“Jesus, Daniel, tell me it’s not a brothel.” She had no idea if they even had brothels with dude prostitutes, but she wasn’t putting anything past her two friends. They were kinky bastards.

Marcus rolled his eyes. “Stop messing with her, D. You’re freaking her out.”

“Oh, neither of you are any fun,” Daniel said, motioning to the waiter for a coffee refill, then looking back to Evan. “It’s not a brothel, for God’s sake. It’s a resort where people go to live out their fantasies, explore their . . . inclinations with each other.”

“Inclinations?” she repeated. “Like figuring out if they’re gay or straight? ’Cause, no offense, but I don’t have any doubts there.”

His eyebrow arched. “I’m sure some go there for that. But this is more about venturing into things you may not have access to in your day-to-day life. Fantasies. Role-playing. Multiple partners. Bondage. In your case, maybe just a confidential sexual partner.”