“You thought wrong. It’s morning, which means it’s over.” She pointed a finger at him like she was a teacher lecturing a troublesome student. Galen had never wanted to see any of his teachers naked, but if Meg had been one of them, maybe he would have made an exception. Meg spun to face him. “Did you approve of this bullshit?”
He’d had a clear view of what he thought was happening when he walked through the door of the bedroom. It appeared Galen was half right. They might have been fucking seconds ago, but she wasn’t lust-drunk.
No, Meg was fucking pissed.
Galen retreated back to the doorway and resumed his position. “I don’t have the slightest fucking idea what you’re going on about.”
“Going on.Going on.” Meg dragged her fingers through her long dark hair. She didn’t seem to notice she was still naked and flushed from the fucking Theo had laid on her, and hell if that didn’t make Galen like her a little bit more. She’d lost weight since he’d seen her last—weight she couldn’t afford to lose. He couldn’t quite count her ribs, but another few pounds and he might be able to. There were faint hickeys on her breasts and thighs, which confirmed his suspicion that Theo hadn’t waited a damn hour after Galen boarded his plane to move on Meg.
He really should have known this was going to happen.
She snapped her fingers in front of his face. “Stop staring at my tits and focus.”
“They’re nice tits.” He mostly said it to be an asshole, and she flushed a deep red that he kind of liked.
“You’re a pig. You’re both pigs. Overbearing asshole pigs.”
He’d suspected Meg had a temper, though to be fair, Theo had the ability to drive a saint to a screaming fit in less than an hour if he put his mind to it. Galen looked over her shoulder to his friend. “What did you do?”
“You don’t have to sound so accusing. She needed help. I provided said help. Now she’s acting like I snuck into her room and pissed on her foot.”
Meg’s lips moved as she silently echoed what he’d just said. She shut her eyes and Galen knew without a shadow of doubt that she was counting to ten. Maybe twenty. As much as he enjoyed Theo under most circumstances, this situation was half a breath from exploding in all their faces. He needed to get it defused and get Meg the fuck out of here before someone realized she was the same woman who’d been in their apartment last time they were in town.
It might already be too late.
4
Sleeping with Theo wasn’t a mistake. It was a goddamn catastrophe. Meg didn’t even know how it happened. One second she was trying to keep from kicking him in the shin and the next she was riding his cock and crying out his name as she came. The man had some kind of seduction magic and, as enjoyable as the last few hours had been, she wasnothere for it.
Worse in so many ways, now Galen was blocking the exit with his big sexy body, and she couldn’t help but remember the way he’d growled filthy words in her ear that branded her right down to her soul. The only thing saving her from doing something truly regrettable was the fact that he looked just as pissed as she was.
Thankfully, the thunderous expression in his dark eyes was aimed squarely at Theo. “What did you do?”
Theo seemed to tire of lounging in bed and climbed to his feet. It was everything Meg could do not to drink in the sight of him. There were people who were handsome or pretty or beautiful… and then there was Theo. His features should have been too sharp, his eyes too blue, his hair a little too mundane color of dark brown. Apparently whatever god created himhadn’t gotten the memo. In addition to being the most beautiful person in the room, he moved with a confidence that only someone born into it could pull off.
He grabbed another pair of lounge pants from the dresser. “She was short on tuition. Now she’s not.”
So few words to encompass the level of betrayal Meg couldn’t quite shake.She was short on tuition. Now she’s not. As if it really was no big deal, this bomb he’d dropped into her life. She turned to Galen, needing him to understand just how many ways Theo had crossed the line, but his dark brows lowered and he glanced at her. “That’s it?”
That’s it.That’s it.
If she hadn’t already suspected Galen came from money, that would have confirmed it. No one who had ever been poor would need to ask that question, because they’d instantly know exactly how Theo had crossed the line. Meg pointed at him. “Get out of my way.”
He studied her as if debating the wisest course of action, but something must have shown on her face because he slid out of the doorway. She turned to look at Theo. “If that night—iflastnight—meant anything to you at all, you’ll take the money back.” Meg grabbed her bra and skirt on the floor next to the door and yanked it on. She found her shirt in the hallway and her panties in the kitchen.
If there was anything quite as humiliating as having to grab up the clothes Theo had stripped from her like she was following some kind of sex breadcrumb trail, she didn’t know what it was. Neither of the men came out to see her off, which was just as well. She had nothing more to say to them.
Are you sure about that?
Yes, damn it, she was sure about that.
Meg dressed quickly and walked to the elevator. She stared at the doors, willing herself to push the button and get the hellout of there. From the first moment she met those two, she knew they were nothing but complicated. Her bartender instincts had been right—they usually were—and now she was in up to her neck and sinking fast.
My tuition is paid. I can go to school this semester. I am that much closer to graduating.
But at what price?
Nothing came for free in this world. Even if she couldn’t see the strings, this gift had them attached.Allgifts had them attached. Meg worked too hard to get this far, only to be derailed now. She didn’t know if she could force the college to refund the money without dropping out—not when she didn’t have the funds to replace that amount.
