Page 33 of Double Daddies
“Elle,” Drake repeated, his voice wrapping around her name like warm honey. His azure eyes studied her with an intensity that made her skin tingle. “Lovely name.”
Carmen approached their table. Her dark eyes twinkled with curiosity at seeing her regular customer with the two men. Her reaction wasn’t surprising since Elle always kept to herself. “Buenos días, Elle!¿Lo de siempre?”
“Not today, Carmen.” Elle glanced at her companions. “These gentlemen need a proper breakfast to replace the ones I accidentally destroyed. We’ll have three whole-grain breakfast wraps with egg whites and spinach and…” She paused with a mischievous smile playing on her lips. “Three mini cronuts. Everything in moderation, right?”
“Spoken like a true diplomat,” Damian laughed. The sound was rich and warmed her all the way to her core. “Are you always this good at compromise?”
“Only when I feel guilty about ruining someone’s breakfast,” Elle replied, trying to ignore how her body responded to his dimpled smile. “Are you brothers?” she asked, noting their easy familiarity despite their different appearances.
“Hell, no…” Damian chuckled as he exchanged an intimate look with Drake. “Not by blood. But we’re closer than most brothers would be.”
The casual comment suggested they were a couple. Disappointment mocked the unexpected surge of arousal racing through her veins. The image of these two powerful mentogether in an intimate setting sent heat flooding through her core, even as she tried to banish the thought. Yet something in the way they both watched her, their eyes hungry and filled with intent, didn’t align with her assumption. Their attention felt deliberate, coordinated, as if they were two predators circling shared prey.
It was as disconcerting as it was exciting.
A chattering Carmen delivering their coffees offered her a reprieve, although Elle was suddenly hyperaware of every movement the two men made. She swept her tongue over her dry lips as she watched Drake flexing his forearms. When he lifted the cup and cradled it in the palm of one of his large hands, a phantom sensation of his palms running over her skin caught her unaware. She never reacted like this to men in general, no matter how sexy they were.
Holy shit, woman. You’re acting like a nymphomaniac. Rein it in before you make a fool of yourself.
The beratement had barely registered when she noticed their gazes ghosting over her body. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair as the space between them crackled with electricity.
Elle took a steadying sip of coffee, trying to ignore how her body thrilled with awareness. The way Drake’s eyes tracked the movement of her throat as she swallowed made her wonder if he could hear her thundering heartbeat.
“Tell me, lovely Elle,” Drake prompted in a low rumble that seemed to vibrate through her bones. “What brings such a fascinating woman out so early?”
She startled as her phone buzzed against her waist where it was strapped in place. “I’m sorry, I should take this,” Elle apologized as she noticed the number of Carlos, one of her pastry chefs, on the screen. “Hey, Cee, what’s wrong?”
“Jefa, we’ve got problems. The main oven’s dead, and we’ve got twenty dozen croissants to bake before?—”
“Slow down, Carlos. Did you check the pilot light?” Elle’s professional tone kicked in automatically, though she remained acutely aware of both men’s intense focus on her conversation.
After a brief exchange about troubleshooting steps, Elle ended the call with a sigh. “I’m so sorry, but I have to run. There’s an emergency at my bakery.”
“Your bakery?” Damian leaned forward, his forearms resting on the table.
“At the Texas Tower. We have a big order this morning for an executive gathering on the top floor.” She got up, doing her best to ignore how their scrutiny made her body sizzle with heat. “And with our main oven out of order…”
Drake and Damian exchanged a loaded glance that she couldn’t decipher, but it made her question whether her assumption about their relationship was accurate.
“What a pity you have to leave so soon.” Drake’s voice dropped lower. She inhaled deeply as the sound slid down her spine like warm honey. “Especially since we’re just getting... acquainted.”
Damian caught Elle’s hand as she got up. Her breath hitched as the casual touch sent a jolt of electricity through her body. His thumb brushed across her knuckles in a gesture far too intimate for strangers.
“It was a pleasure... running into you,” he said.
Elle blinked as she noticed his eyes dancing with mischief. Life suddenly didn’t seem fair at all. She forced herself to yank her hand free. Her body humming with desire was confusing. What was wrong with her? They were clearly together, yet here she was, reacting like a hormone-addled teenager to the duo.
Her gaze got caught and held by Drake’s brooding look one last time. It held a message… maybe a promise or a warning. She wasn’t sure which. All she knew was how unsettling it was that two strangers affected her in such a profound way.
“Likewise,” she mumbled as she hurried away, only realizing halfway down the block that, in her flustered state, she had forgotten to pay for their replacement breakfast. But there was no way she was going back, not with her treacherous body still humming from the brief touches and how their deep voice had wrapped around her senses. Not to mention the way their heated gazes had awakened lust, the likes of which she hadn’t experienced in years. That they were both probably more than ten years older than her didn’t seem to bother her libido at all.
“Since you’ll never see them again, it’s neither here nor there,” she muttered under her breath. Lengthening her strides, she concentrated her energy on getting to the bakery before Carlos also blew a fuse.
Chapter Two
Two days later
Texas Tower, a 47-story, one-million-square-foot office tower on the 800 block of Texas Avenue, Texas
