Melt Into You

She ignored him. Blatantly.

“Is that it, Evan?” Daniel asked. “Are you lonely? I know things have been crazy with this seminar tour and we haven’t been able to spend as much down time together.”

She didn’t turn around, just spoke to her own reflection in the window. “How can I be lonely? I’m always with two men.”

“That’s not the same,” Marcus said.

“He’s right,” Daniel agreed. “We both love you and are so happy you’re with us, but maybe you need to think about finding some physical outlet. It would be good for you.”

She shook her head and turned around. “You want me to get a lover?”

Daniel frowned, his dark eyebrows dipping low. “You know you have that option. When we agreed to this arrangement, I never intended for you to give up sex. That’s been your choice.”

The arrangement. She guessed that was what they were calling it now. Daniel had saved her life and her sanity when they were on the streets. She owed him everything. And she’d never had someone she could count on so wholeheartedly in her life. So she’d readily agreed to do whatever it took to help him with his crazy business idea. But she hadn’t known at the time she’d been signing up to live a lie.

The first radio station manager who’d considered Daniel for a job had told him he couldn’t put Daniel on the air as a relationship guru if he was openly gay. He said—right or wrong—there was no way people in Fort Worth were going to take marriage advice from someone who couldn’t even legally marry.

Evan had wanted to flip off the whole system and move to someplace more open-minded like Austin or maybe even California. But they hadn’t had the money to do that then, and Daniel had been so desperate for a break that he’d come up with the arrangement.

Most of the time she was perfectly content with the decision. She’d never had so much stability in her life. And she was with a man she loved and could trust—even if she would never sleep with him.

Or anyone the way things were going.

“Yeah, well, I’m sorry if it’s not exactly tempting to go jump in bed with some guy who’s totally cool with me cheating on my fiancé.” Evan shuddered. “The kind of sleaze ball who would be okay with that kind of thing is not someone I’d want to get horizontal with.”

Daniel sighed. “I know it’s not ideal, but you have to work with us here. I can’t risk you telling someone the truth. The minute the relationship goes wrong, the guy could blow the whole thing open. Then, all three of us are screwed.”

She groaned. “I get it, okay.”

“Do you? It seems like over the last few months you’ve lost sight of why you agreed to do this in the first place. Don’t forget what it was like before all this, Evan. What it could be like again if we’re not smart.”

She scoffed. Forget? Yeah, right. She’d love to fucking forget. But being on the streets and not knowing if you’d eat from day to day wasn’t something that easily left the memory. “Don’t be an asshole. Believe me, I know why I’m here.”

Daniel’s expression softened. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just, we’ve done all this work and now it’s really happening—national TV. I want you to be happy. Just think, a few more years and you’ll never have to worry about money again. Then, if you want to walk away and do the traditional marriage and kids thing, you’ll still be able to do that.”

Her chest tightened, an invisible band squeezing out all of her air. No, she didn’t think she’d ever be able to do that. Especially the kid part. But she’d never tell Daniel that. She sipped her coffee and turned back to the window. “I’m fine, okay? I think I’m just tired of being on the road. Let’s drop the whole thing.”

“You sure? You know you can talk to us about anything,” Marcus added.

“Then talk to me about today’s agenda,” she said, desperate to redirect the conversation. “Isn’t the first workshop about sex toys?”

Daniel snorted. “Well, that’s not exactly how we labeled it, but yeah, it’s for couples who are looking to spice up their sex lives. The guy we met with this morning is leading it. Should be a fun workshop if the couples can relax a little.”

“Hell, I’m only going so I can stare at the speaker,” Marcus said, the sound of him folding his newspaper half drowning him out. “It’s a damn shame that beautiful man is straight. Even if he hadn’t presented such a great proposal, I would’ve given him our business.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, maybe I’ll put in an order for a few toys for myself. Get myself a new battery-operated lover and solve all our problems.”

“And no sleeping alone tonight,” Daniel said, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. “You can share our bed. We promise to behave.”

She turned around in his arms, taking care not to spill her coffee on him, and smirked. “Thanks, that’s sweet, but last time we did that, Marcus snored like a chainsaw the whole night.”

A loud scoff came from behind Daniel. “I did no such thing.”

Daniel chuckled and pressed his forehead against hers. “We’re here for you, sweets. We’re all in this together.” He lowered his voice. “And all we need to do is roll him on his side after he nods off to shut him up.”

“I heard that,” Marcus called.

She couldn’t help but smile. “I do love you guys, you know?”

“Back at ya, buttercup.” He lifted his head and grinned. “Now let’s go learn how to spice up our sex lives and try to keep Marcus from ogling our guest speaker.”

* * *

Evan fiddled with the wire on the PowerPoint projector and cursed the damned machine under her breath for a second time. A few couples had already drifted into the meeting room, and she knew the speaker would be right behind them. Usually, she was pretty good at the technical stuff and had been successfully setting up the meeting equipment for all the workshops this weekend, but her pounding headache and lack of sleep had pureed her brain.

Plus, she’d discovered that the hotel’s wiring was a bit temperamental, so she didn’t want to overload the circuit again. Yesterday she’d nearly plunged the windowless room into darkness when she’d plugged the computer and the projector into the same power strip. For a few seconds the room had looked like a nightclub with all the blinking lights.

She kneeled down and scooted under the table to check that the surge protector was plugged in, making sure not to flash her backside to the audience while doing so. She never wore dresses to these things because she inevitably ended up doing dirty work of some sort, but the welts on her thigh were still too tender to have pants rubbing against them.

“Need some help with that?”

The sound of the familiar voice had her jolting upward, and she banged her head against the table’s underside. “Son of a—”

“Oh, hell,” Jace said, squatting down and peeking at her. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. You all right?”

“I think so.” She rubbed her head and took his offered hand so she could climb out from under the table, wondering for a second if she’d actually knocked herself out and was only imagining him here. Imagining him looking this dazzling in crisp black slacks and a polo shirt that perfectly matched his green eyes.

He smiled. “Do I need to render first aid again?”

She shook her head, still a bit dazed, although she was sure the lightheadedness had nothing to do with hitting her head. “What are you doing here?”

“You left before we had a chance to chat last night.” He crooked his thumb at the projector. “I’m today’s speaker.”

The words took a moment to line up in her head. “Wait, what?”

He reached into his back pocket, pulled out his wallet, and handed over a business card. “Jace Austin at your service. Owner of Wicked which, as of this morning, is the recommended adult boutique and website for Dr. Dan’s loyal fans.”

Daniel stepped up behind Jace and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Jace, I see you’ve met my lovely fiancée. Evan was so disappointed that she missed our meeting earlier. Something came up that she had to take care of.”

Jace’s gaze met hers. “No worries. I’m sure she’s a very busy lady. I’m just happy that the both of you are staying on for the workshop today. Hopefully, I don’t disappoint.”

Daniel smiled. “Ah, I don’t doubt you’ll do great. Just be aware that some of these couples haven’t so much as touched each other in months, sometimes years. So, they may need to be eased into the topic in order to feel comfortable.”

“I understand. My plan is to have them do some non-threatening, sensate exercises with each other, make it fun and just a little sexy. Then hopefully they’ll be relaxed enough to ask questions after that.”

Daniel nodded. “Sounds good. I really want it to be a safe place for them to have an open dialogue. Plus, I want to normalize some of your products so that they feel comfortable to explore. I think beyond the emotional issues, a lot of couples just get bored with their routine in bed.”

“Well, we definitely have a lot of things to alleviate that last problem.” Jace smiled as he looked at her, then back to Daniel. “Hey, would you and Evan want to participate in the couples’ activity? It may help the group feel more comfortable if they see you guys are willing to do it as well.”