Zane turned sheepish. “I had Elaine route your cousins’ calls to me. I met them at the Imperial the other morning.”
Trey’s exasperation was softened by fondness. “I figured you’d do something along those lines. And?”
“And as far as I could tell, all they wanted was to get control of their mother. I gather she’s been a lifelong embarrassment. Now that we know Missy had her, Mike should be able to locate her and put the family in touch again.”
“Leaving her with Missy might be a good revenge. Considering their respective personalities, they can’t have enjoyed each other’s company.”
“I thought of that. The problem is, Missy is sure to hand your aunt off to some flunky.”
Trey bent his arm and resettled his cheek on it. “Weathering this salvo has one drawback. Missy may up the ante if we don’t give her the reaction she’s hoping for.”
Zane sighed. “I thought about that too. We’ll figure some way to shut her down.”
He stretched his left arm across the pillow to play with Trey’s loose hair. The simple sweetness of the gesture melted his heart.
“I love you,” Trey murmured, the words coming out with almost no fear at all.
“Me too,” Zane returned. “I’m glad we’re all in this together.”
Trey’s grin was as much for the effortlessness of Zane’s answer as for him avoiding—yet again—his three most dreaded words in the world.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Operation Blue Velvet
ZANE led Rebecca, whose heart was beating like a cornered rabbit, to the back of their huge closet.
“We need to be seen,” he said, “as a threesome, as openly and boldly as possible.”
He opened a double-door wardrobe with swirling exotic wood. Rebecca expected—or maybe hoped—to see suits for the men inside. Instead, a rainbow of expensive women’s dresses hung on the rack.#p#分页标题#e#
“Holy crap,” was all she managed to say.
Trey snickered behind them. “Zane has his obsessive side. He couldn’t help shopping for you in the hopes that you’d hang around.”
“I’m supposed to wear one of these?” She touched a long silk gown in pale peach. It was even fancier than the silver slip thing he’d bought for her. “These dresses are beautiful, but I’m not sure they’re me.”
“They’re you,” Zane said sternly. “The you you haven’t met. Think of them as uniforms for billionaires’ girlfriends.”
She burst out laughing, which she hoped was okay. She looked at Zane to make sure. A muscle ticked in his chiseled jaw. Okay, maybe this was important to him. “Really,” she said, patting his arm. “They’re gorgeous.”
“Pull out the blue one,” Trey urged. “That color is exactly her.”
The blue one was sapphire velvet. The skirt was cocktail length, and the neckline plunged dangerously. She believed it was the sort of dress people referred to as flirty.
“Uh,” Rebecca said at the thought of wearing it.
“Please,” Zane said, holding it out to her. “Try it on.”
Still a little shy about undressing with the men, she took the dress into the bathroom. Naturally, it fit like a second skin, requiring that she remove her bra in order to look right in it. The skirt was snug and shorter than expected. She had booty in it. And legs. Truth be told, it made her a new woman: a glamorous, sexy, thinking-man’s hot female. She didn’t know whether to frown or gasp as she studied her reflection.
Both men smiled when she came out again.
“That’s the one,” Trey said. “Don’t make her try on the others.”
Rebecca was all for not trying on the others. The rest of the program she hadn’t quite signed off on. “Where am I wearing this?”
“The center of the universe,” Zane said.
He made her laugh in spite of her nervousness. “And that would be where?”
“New York. There’s a charity function at the Whitney-Moeller Museum, to raise money for wildlife. Trey and I have been invited.”
“And I’m your plus-one.”
He cupped her face. “Always. For as long as you’re willing.”
She laughed again, because what woman could resist that prospect? “For you,” she said, “I’ll wear the matching heels.”
~
Rebecca didn’t expect him to, but Zane rustled up invitations for the twins. She was starting to feel bad about keeping them from their lives, but both boys seemed keen to come. She assumed this was because they’d be flying in a private jet, not because they loved penguin suits.