Free Insatiable by Opal Carew Page B

always loved him. But did that mean she should just ignore her feelings for Evan?
    Her insides ached. Damn, what a mess. What would she tell Evan in the morning? She wouldn’t lie and tell him she hadn’t slept with Brent. She could hope it wouldn’t come up, but that was just wishful thinking. And no matter what, she had to figure out what to do. Brent would expect her to ask Evan to leave. Or he’d do it. No man wanted another man on his honeymoon.
    But it wasn’t really their honeymoon, since they weren’t married.
    Brent had walked away as soon as something went wrong. Her gut clenched as she remembered how easily her ex-husband, Gary, had walked away after two years of marriage. She never thought Brent would walk away like that, especially on their wedding day.
    She needed a man who cared enough to put an effort into making things work. He seemed to be trying to do that now, but was it too little too late? What would happen the next time something went wrong? Would he walk away then, too?
    She stroked the hair from his forehead. A quiver raced through her.
    She loved Brent, but would he see their marriage through?
    *   *   *
    Crystal woke up to bright sunshine washing across her face. Brent’s arm was tucked around her waist, holding her close to his hard, masculine body. Although it felt cozy snuggled against him like this, she felt an overwhelming need to put distance between them. She felt guilty about spending the night in Brent’s arms with Evan in the next room. Evan had feelings for her. He’d come here because she’d invited him after Brent had abandoned her at the altar. He had reasonably assumed they would have time, just the two of them, to explore their newfound relationship.
    Then Brent had shown up.
    She slid sideways, slipping out from under Brent’s arm. He shifted, then rolled onto his back, still asleep. She pushed herself out of bed and pulled on her robe, then opened the bedroom door. As she headed to the kitchen, she could smell fresh brewed coffee.
    Oh, damn. That meant Evan was awake.
    “Good morning.”
    She glanced across the kitchen to see Evan sitting at the round glass table.
    “Oh, hi.” Self-consciously, she tugged the sash of her robe a little tighter as she walked toward the coffeepot. She poured herself a mug of coffee and added sugar and cream, then she leaned against the counter and sipped, wildly searching her brain for something to say.
    Evan stood up and walked toward her, his face grim.
    “I guess it’s time for me to go.”
    Oh, God, he knew. Well, of course, he would figure it out pretty quickly when he saw that Brent wasn’t in the sunroom. Maybe he had even heard them last night. Her cheeks flushed as she realized maybe he’d even seen them. He could probably see the backyard out the window of the guest room.
    Okay, so taking Brent out to the pool hadn’t been the best idea. But it was as if she’d been obsessed, needing to make love to Brent there, just as she had Evan.
    She wanted to tell Evan he shouldn’t leave, but what sense did that make?
    “Evan, I’m sorry. When I asked you to come here…” She hesitated, unsure how to describe what her intent had been. Should she really tell him she’d wanted to explore their feelings for each other with that option now cut off so abruptly?
    “It’s okay, Crystal. When we came here, we both thought things were over between you and Brent. Now he’s back and things have changed.” He leaned back against the counter, his face drawn in tight lines. “I guess my coming here was a mistake.”
    She rested her hand on his arm. “No, not a mistake.” She didn’t want him to think that. Ever. “What we shared was very special. I’ll never forget it.”
    He smiled grimly. “In fact, that’s a problem, isn’t it?”
    She understood what he was saying. How could they all remain friends with this between them? Brent would never forget that she had slept with his best friend, no matter the circumstance. How