Page 61 of Scandalous

An unexpected pang hits my chest, causing my eyes to water. I blink rapidly, turning away from him. “You’re right. This isn’t a date. You don’t date. I almost forgot.”

“Aurora…” His hesitant tone causes me to turn back to him.

He takes me in, his face growing wary when he meets my eyes.

Ezra opens his mouth to say something, but two larger males walk in, making him frown.

“Who are you?” he asks.

“I’m John and this is Steve. We will be handling your massages today,” the bigger male tells him.

“Hi,” I say, waving at both of them with a small smile.

I need to get over this crush on Ezra. It’s obviously one-sided. For a second, I almost thought I could have it all. All the dreams I’ve been having since I met these four. This has only solidified the fact that I’m a passing dalliance with the others until Ezra convinces them to drop me.

Which he will. I know how they work. You can’t have one of them if all of them don’t agree. It’s a loyalty that I admire and strive to find myself.

One day.

“No, no you will not.” Ezra’s angry tone draws my attention back to him.

He’s slid off the table, moving in front of me.

The men and I frown at him.

“Are you two not our couple's massage?” Steve moves to the door, looking at the paper on the table.

“We are, but I scheduled for a man and a woman.” He has on his bossy-pants attitude.

Normally I find it sexy when he does it on his social media, but today it’s only making me exhausted.

“Ezra, it’s fine. I’m sure you can handle having a man’s hands on your body in a completely professional way.” I roll my eyes at Steve, letting him know that I think this is ridiculous.

“No, it’s not.” He turns to look at me. “I scheduled a man and a woman. A woman for you and a man for me. That should be the standard practice with a couple's massage. What man would want another man touching his woman? Huh? Not one worth a damn. I sure as fuck would hope any woman I was dating wouldn’t want another woman touching me.” He turns back to the men waiting. “Find us a woman, John, or we are leaving.”

John mutters to himself but nods, turning to leave with Steve.

“Was all of that really necessary?” I fold my arms over my chest.

He nods. “Extremely. You might not see it this way because I’m sure this is all some game to you. Some way for you to sow wild oats or whatever you Americans say before you settle down with one man, but this isn’t a game for the guys. If I let another man touch you, they would be pissed. I really don’t think you truly understand what you’ve started here, Princess.”

“Stop calling me princess. The way you say it isn’t a compliment. It’s like you’re sneering at me. I fucking hate it. I get it. You hate me. You don’t want me anywhere near your friends. It’s not your choice though. To answer the not-so-subtle shade you just threw my way, I don’t think this is a game. I don’t know what this is. All I know is that two men I have admired from afar showed up at my work a couple of days ago wanting to hang out. Instead of letting my mind overanalyze everything, I decided to go with it and see where it takes me.” I pause, looking around before locking eyes on him. “I’m not minding where I’ve ended up. So if you have an issue with me being here, then take it up with them.”

“You think I haven’t?” He steps closer, getting right in my face. “You think I didn’t beg them to let this go? To try and show them that you aren’t the girl you claim to be? I have been blocking them from you for years. You’ve weaved some sort of spell on them. They won’t let you go, no matter what I’ve tried. Now that you’ve slept with two of them and likely a third soon, you’ll have even more control over them. So if anyone is going to end this charade, it’s going to have to be you.”

My heart aches at his words. It’s the proof I didn’t need that he really does not like me. He might think I’m pretty, but that’s all he sees when he looks at me. It doesn’t matter how pretty you are if someone doesn’t like who you are as a person. This is a very harsh lesson I didn’t want to learn today, yet here we are.

Sometimes life sucks.

Pushing closer to his face until we share the same breath, I ask, “Why do you hate me so much?”

He freezes, his eyes locked on mine. “I don’t hate you, Miss Blake. I just see how dangerous you can be. My job is to protect my family. That’s all I’m trying to do.”

My heart stutters at his words. He thinks I’m dangerous. Doesn’t he know the only one likely to walk away from this brokenhearted is me? Hell, I’m already half in love with them.

I give myself a moment to get lost in Ezra’s gray eyes. He really is gorgeous. Now seeing why he has been so combative against me from the beginning, I can see the cracks in his armor.

The way his eyes beg me to let this go. How tense his body is from trying to hold it away from me. I don’t even miss the bulge in the robe.

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