Page 7 of Triplet Tease

Siena’s lay her hands on the table. “Youlook a little bit too old to be sent away by your mom.”

“Shedidn’t send us. Our mom died awhileback.”

“I’m sorry.” Siena looked serious.

“Thanks. Itwas…sudden.” I sighed and pushed the thought of Mom’stragic death from my mind. “Anyway, it would have made her happy tothink we were doing that, so it’s something we did in her honor.She cared passionately about wildlife. And it wasn’t all purealtruism; we really enjoyed working and living out there.”

“Why? What made it so great?”

“I’ll tell you more about it if you tell meabout yourself. You mentioned you’ve got a new job, and that’swhy you came to the city. Wanna tell me about it?”

CHAPTER FOUR

SIENA

I did not want to tell the sexy stranger aboutmy new job, nor about the different role I’d been offered. I dancedaround the subject of my career by telling him I was waitressing in abar. It was true, but only a part of the truth.

The more time I spent with Eton Maxwell, themore I knew I wanted to see him again soon.

The attraction was instant.

When I turned to see who had tapped me on theshoulder, I swear the reaction ran throughout my body. I went hotinside, and my mouth went dry.

The man was exactly like the type whichfeatured in my fantasies. Yes, those fantasies.

He was tall and broad and fit and handsome,with clear eyes and skin that reeked of healthy living, but his hairwas unkempt, and his facial stubble was almost a beard. It wasexactly how I liked it.

He looked like someone who looked after himselfbut didn’t bow to the pressure to fit in with social norms. Hedidn’t give a fuck what people thought about him. A real roughtough guy, but not too wild.

When he spoke, even his deep voice was sexy.Despite the appearance, he sounded educated and well brought up. Ididn’t want to embarrass myself as a dropout, someone who hadn’tfinished high school and was now seriously considering taking uperotic dancing to make a living, and considering it as a promotion. Aproposition.

As we spent time together, I discovered he wasmore than just a gorgeous hunk from my dreams. He was polite,attentive, and positively charming, and his adventurous travels werefascinating.

He seemed interested in me. He seemed to beflirting. And yet I found it hard to believe a man like that would beinterested in me. I didn’t have anything interesting about me.

I didn’t want to tell him why I’d leftSpringfield, either. That would’ve involved way too much personalinformation.

A few hours later, as I prepared for a night atwork, a weird sensation upset my stomach — churning nerves orfluttering butterflies, I wasn’t sure which one or why. There weremany reasons.

The prospect of meeting up with my mom for thefirst time in months should have filled me with joy, but instead itmade me tense. I felt like such a failure compared to my mother. Thatwould certainly explain the physical symptoms of apprehension.

Having a successful career woman for my motherhit home how I’d abandoned my education for a man. After she’dleft my father, she’d done well for herself. I hadn’t seen my momsince the split with Peter. I’d told her only the bare details, soshe didn’t know how disastrous that relationship had all turned outfor me.

Then, the thought of accepting a dauntingcareer change was enough to turn my body into knots and make mystomach churn.

After only a week at the Lime Light club, Iwanted to step up and earn more money, and it wasn’t just about themoney.

At first, I’d dismissed out of hand the ideaof me becoming a stripper; I couldn’t do that. Gill’s wordsechoed around my head for a while, and I thought how much I’d enjoylooking sexy while dancing to music and getting paid for it. I didnot doubt that boost to my ego would also boost my self-confidence.

There was also a third potential cause of myphysical symptoms.

I’d been elevated to a breathless high by theman I’d met in the afternoon. Eton was gorgeous, tall, andmasculine, even though he needed a shave and a good haircut. Theungroomed appearance reflected his exciting lifestyle and the factthat he had only just returned from somewhere exotic.

An afternoon with one of the untamable men frommy fantasies, who turned out to be a perfect gentleman, was enough tocause the fluttering butterflies in my tummy. There was no denyingit; I fancied the pants off the guy. We’d exchanged numbers butdidn’t make any arrangements. Meeting him again couldn’t comesoon enough for me, though. I felt all hot and breathless at the merethought of him.

Since breaking up with Pete, I hadn’t so muchas looked at another man, so spending a little time with Eton wasrefreshingly different.

For the first time in a long time, I enjoyed aman’s attention, which made me feel attractive.

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