Page 190 of Theirs to Tempt: The Marriage Claim

But it does mean something I can no longer pretend away.

I love them.

And now that no one is forcing me toward them, I’m not sure I want to keep walking away.

My heart starts pounding.

“Oh God.”

My voice sounds ridiculously loud in the empty apartment.

I reach for my phone.

For several seconds, I only stare at it.

Then I open our group thread.

My hands shake as I type a message.

I read it.

Delete it.

Try again.

This time, I read the words twice.

My stomach flips.

I almost delete them too.

Instead, I press Send.

Chapter Fifty-One

Sophie

At exactly six, the outer door to my office opens.

My pulse slams hard against my ribs, and for one ridiculous second, I consider hiding.

Then Caleb appears in the doorway, Lucian immediately behind him.

They came with nothing.

No flowers. No gifts. Nothing to soften what is about to happen or distract from the fact that they are standing here because I asked them to come.

Just them.

And God help me, seeing them again nearly brings me to my knees.

For days, I have remembered them in pieces. Caleb’s smile. Lucian’s voice. The weight of an arm around me in bed. Coffee appearing beside my hand before I realized I wanted it. The heat of their bodies bracketing mine, the taste of their mouths, the impossible intimacy of knowing exactly how each man touches me when he is trying to make me lose control.

Memory has not come close.

Caleb is in dark trousers and an open-collared shirt beneath his jacket. His hair looks as though he has shoved his fingers through it too many times, and exhaustion shadows the stark lines of his face.

Lucian is wearing a suit, but even the immaculate tailoring can’t disguise what the last several days have done to him.