Reunion Makes Three [Snowedin Fantasies] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) by Willa Edwards Read Free Book Online Page B

issue, too.
    The silence lay heavy around her. The heat of two male stares upon her burned her cheeks, but she couldn’t look up. She didn’t want to see the disappointment in their eyes. The same disappointment that smacked painfully in her own chest. When she knew Dell in high school, she’d been driven, ambitious, determined. But over the years, she’d lost that. She’d made compromises. She’d given up dreams. And now what did she have to show for it? Nothing. She lived with her sister, slinging pale ales all day, instead of staring at masterpieces like she’d dreamed.
    When the quiet became overwhelming, she looked up at the two pairs of soft eyes staring at her. Marcos’s warm chocolate ones were sympathetic, while Dell’s sky blues implored, wanting to know more. She knew they’d never accept her silence, but that didn’t stop her from hoping she might be able to escape this night without having to retell her greatest embarrassment and disappointment.
    Dell reached up, brushing the hair back from her cheek. His warm hands comforting against her face. “What happened, sweetheart?” He ran his thumb along the upper swell of her lip. “What man would be dumb enough to let you leave?”
    She smiled, heat flooding her neck. Her heart thumped a little faster. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had complimented her without slurring his words. A small voice in the back of her head wanted to remind him that he’d been one of those men, to let her leave with hardly a word, but she silenced it. It felt too good to be with him again to risk endangering it with the truth.
    “As a relationship, it was a bad idea from the start. He was the son of a client. His father owned a large group of hotels, several in the Providence area. He hired the firm I worked for to remodel one of them, update the facilities and modernize the design.
    “When we’d gone more than a hundred thousand dollars over budget and were three months late for reopening, due to their indecision on almost every aspect of the project”—Beth rolled her eyes, remembering Paul Senior spending three hours picking out bathtubs, only to have him change his mind the next day, and the day after that—“they blamed the firm and refused to pay the full rate for the job.
    “I told Paul’s father I thought he was being unjust and should pay the firm their due. I thought he was going to be my father-in-law, and I could talk to him about my concerns openly. But he told the firm I was badmouthing him, and they fired me for it.” Their account was to too large to lose, especially over one entry-level assistant designer.
    “When I got home, Paul defended his father’s actions and told me it was just business . I’ve never wanted to punch anyone so much in my life.” She clenched her fist at her side, the urge returning with the memory. “I settled for throwing his ring at him and stomping out.”
    “Good for you.” Dell’s smile lit up the entire room, and a new heat formed below her belly button. Their praise thrilled her and filled her with pride to know they supported her decision.
    “It might have felt good then.” And remembering it now. “But fat lot of good it did me. Now I’m living with my sister, pouring beers, and handing out nachos all night like I promised I’d never do.”
    “That’s not true, bella. ” His hand tightened on her knee, comforting her with his grip. “If you hadn’t left him, we wouldn’t be here—together.”
    She blinked up at him, smiling like a fool. He was right. If she’d been engaged, her sister never would have offered her a subscription to Fantasies Fulfilled for a birthday present, and she’d never have had the opportunity to live out this dream.
    Dell smiled, too, nodding toward Marcos. “And we never would have been able to fulfill our fantasy with you.”
    He pushed the robe off her legs, slipping his hand up the inside of her thigh. “I think we have one more fantasy to fulfill