The Billionaire’s Bride by L. Steele

17

Ava

I glance over the rim of my menu at the two men who sit opposite me. Luckily, we are seated at a round table at the restaurant, so we didn’t need to argue over who was going to sit next to me. Not that they would have fought over that…. I blow out a breath. They totally would have fought over that. Who wants to bet that before the evening is over, the two of them will have come to blows with each other? Right now, though, they are both seated with their drinks in front of them, studying their own menus.

Baron’s blond hair is combed back. He’s wearing a button-down white shirt that sets off his tan. He's clearly made an effort to dress up for dinner. The strong chords of his throat flex as he takes a sip from his drink before placing his tumbler down on the table. Both men are, of course, drinking whiskey… And yes, it's the same brand. Their tastes clearly run similarly…including in women.

I wince, glance at Edward. His dark hair has shots of brown woven through it. His skin color is darker than Baron’s, his jaw more pronounced. He’s wearing a white T-shirt that stretches across his broad shoulders. It shows off his biceps, while the tattoo I’d seen on him earlier peeks from under his collar. His hair is disheveled, thick tufts falling across his forehead. Somehow, he seems untamed, unleashed…the mask he’d worn earlier having been ripped away from him at some point. He’d set aside his priest’s collar and with it, apparently, the veneer of civility he had donned at one point.

How could I have ever thought of him as being gentle or disciplined? He is wild, this man. All those emotions that he had smothered have only just begun to be revealed. All that passion that he’d locked inside has only now begun to be divulged. The dam has begun to crumble, and when he reveals what he really is to the world… Will I be there to see it? To which woman will he share that deepest part of himself, the secrets that he hides inside? He raises his gaze and meets mine, and a flush heats my cheeks. I glance away, then back at him.

Edward smirks. "You look good."

I chuckle, "I am wearing exactly the same outfit that I had on when the two of you barged in earlier. You’ve had time to go back and change while I? I had to make do with spritzing my face with water and refreshing my make up."

"You don’t need any embellishments." Baron places his menu card on the table. "Your inner beauty shines through, no matter what you wear."

"Oh." My cheeks heat. "That," I swallow, "that’s some compliment."

"It’s true." He holds my gaze and the heat spreads to my chest. My nipples tighten and my belly flutters. He reaches forward and holds out his hand, I place my palm in it. He winds his fingers with mine, "I knew it from the moment I saw you, Ava, that there was never going to be anyone else but you."

The hair on the back of my neck rises. I glance the other way and find Edward glaring at our joined-up fingers. Shit, knew it. Who were these guys kidding? Two minutes into the meal, and already, I can sense the beginnings of a disagreement.

I place the menu on the table, then hold out my other palm, face up. Edward takes it and I squeeze his fingers.

"You, okay?" I whisper.

He blinks as if coming out of a daze, then nods. "You?"

"I’ll be fine once I get some food in me." I tilt my lips up, and his features light up with an answering smile. His face brightens. The gold in his eyes seem to catch fire. My breath catches in my chest. I turn away to find Baron scowling at Edward.

I try to withdraw my hands and both men hold on.

"Guys," I warn, "please."

The tension builds between us; first Baron, then Edward releases me.

I fold my hands in my lap stare and the menu blindly. Oh, jeez, this is going to be a disaster of an evening.

The waiter comes up to us. "Are you ready to order?" he asks us.

"She’ll have the butternut squash ravioli with mushrooms and sage pesto," Baron replies.

"Get her the roast duck," Edward counters.

"I'm vegetarian." I mutter, and Edward blinks, then turns to the waiter.

"Get her the spinach and feta pie," he amends.

The waiter glances at both of them, then at me. I blow out a breath. Of course, neither of them had asked me what I wanted. Typical. The tension at the table grows. The waiter shuffles his feet. "Ma’am?" he urges me, and I roll my shoulders, feeling the beginnings of a stress headache. And this was supposed to be, a relaxing evening?

"I’ll have…" both men stiffen, "neither," I murmur. I really wanted the ravioli, but dammit, I cannot show favoritism with these dumbasses without starting World War III.

I sense the surprise from both of them, but don't look at them. Instead, I turn to the waiter, "Can you get me the classic ratatouille, please?"

The waiter nods, turns to the men, who proceed to order. Baron orders the wine; Edward doesn’t protest. Well, hallelujah. Apparently, they agree on something. Once the waiter leaves, they both turn to me.

"Thanks," Baron says. "We didn’t handle that well, did we?"

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. "That’s putting it mildly." I glance between them. "Why does everything turn into a competition between the two of you?"

"Old habits," Baron mutters, "we weren’t always this—"

"Combative?" Edward offers.

"I was going to say contentious." Baron smirks.

"I’d settle for cut-throat," Edward muses.

"That too." Baron nods. "It’s just, after the incident…"

He glances up at Edward, who toys with his fork. "Fucking incident," he growls, "the aftermath of which seems as if it will haunt us for the rest of our lives."

"What…" I swallow. "What happened to the two of you then?"

Baron’s shoulders freeze. His features close and when I look at Edward his jaw is set. Neither man breaks the silence.

"Fine," I mumble, "I get the hint. Sorry if I asked about something I shouldn’t have. I mean, this is supposed to be a getting to know each other date…or something."

Edward leans forward. "Hey." He tries to catch my eye. "Look at me, Eve."

I glance away. Why the hell do I feel hurt? I mean, it’s not like they had promised me anything, except that they’d try to get along. And they had agreed to my no sex condition. Speaking of, that had been a surprise. I honestly hadn’t expected them to agree to that. Totally hadn’t. Why the hell hasn’t either of them pushed their weight around on that?

Maybe, they don’t really want to sleep with me… Oh, come on. Of course, they do. So, the very fact that they had agreed to it…is…something. Maybe they really do want to try to make this work.

"Ava," Edward warns, "don’t ignore me."

I huff, then raise my gaze to his. "What?" I scowl. "What do you want?"

"It’s not that I don’t want you to know what happened then, but it’s…" he frowns, "not easy to talk about."

"It’s the single worst time of my life," Baron says, his voice hard.

I glance from his closed features to Edward’s angry ones.

"Whatever happened then, it defined both of you. It changed your lives. It pulled you apart even as it connected the two of you together for life."

Edward glances at Baron, who shakes his head.

"Nice." I shake my head. "When it suits you, the two of you agree with each other and have silent conversations that I am, clearly, not privy to."

"It’s not like that." Baron frowns at me.

"Then what is it like?" I wrap my arms around my waist. "Clearly, there’s a part of your lives, a hell of a big chunk of your life experiences, that the two of you share. One which you’ll never let me into."

"We will," Edward murmurs. "I promise you, Eve, we’ll tell you everything, just not now."

"Then when?" I scowl. "When the two of you are done bashing each other up? Or maybe when both of you have decided that this temporary 'peace' is no longer valid and decide to fall out again and go your separate ways."

"When…if that happens," Baron growls, "you’ll be on the same path as one of us."

"Not."

"What?" Ed frowns. "We’ve had this discussion. You are going to pick one of us."

"Maybe," I mutter.

"No, maybes," Baron snaps. "You will decide on one of us."

"And if I don’t?" I firm my lips. Not that I mean to do so. I mean, come on. I have enough drama on my hands just by having the two of them in my life. I am hardly going to risk making both of them angry by going after someone else. Not that I can even think of anyone else. These two… Between them, my heart has been twisted into knots, something I am not going to recover from very soon. So…yeah, not going there at all. Doesn’t mean I can’t have a little fun with them, right?

"You will not look at anyone else." Edward’s voice lowers to a hush, "In fact, you will not even think of anyone else. You will choose from one of us."

"Is that an order?"