most women?”
Drake couldn’t blame Julian for his cynicism. “I thought so until I watched Dylan, Trey, and Avery fall in love with amazing women.” He toweled off and walked to a narrow closet that held a few changes of clothing. “So amazing women are out there.”
Thankfully, Evan stayed quiet, so Julian wouldn’t yet find out about their mutual interest in Vania.
Just the thought of her prim bun and glasses, or those naughty panties beneath her demure skirts, made his cock stiffen again. Thoughts of her would drive him bug-fuck all day. Fortunately, Vania would spend the day at The Sarasota Firehouse or else Drake and Evan would get nothing accomplished.
He hoped that he could set a proper example for her. Tossing her fine ass on his desk in the middle of the workday and driving in her heat like a man possessed wouldn’t be professional. And unprofessionally possessed was exactly how he felt when it came to Vania Lange.
As Drake slipped on his jacket and straightened his tie, he noticed that Evan went unnaturally still. “What’s wrong?”
Julian lifted Drake’s tossed shirt from the vanity, eyeing the collar with marked suspicion before lifting it to his nose.
“Okay,” Drake said with lifted hands, “that’s about the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen you do, and that’s saying a whole lot.”
“Smells like her,” Julian said, his green eyes glittering like emeralds.
Evan winced. “Like her ?”
Without another word, Julian lifted yesterday’s trousers.
“Why are you looking at my pants?” Drake growled.
Julian’s teeth clenched when he saw the zipper. Even from Drake’s vantage point, he could see the evidence of Vania’s arousal dried on the fabric. “What the fuck is your problem?” Julian pushed Drake hard, sending him reeling from the bathroom. “Avery wants none of us to take Vania.”
Drake stood his ground. “How do you know what she smells like?”
“How many elevator rides have we shared?”
“This is none of your business.” Evan muscled between them. “I’ve wanted Vania for months, and Avery’s not going to stop me.”
“Not going to stop us ,” Drake amended.
Julian turned quiet, which was dangerous. “Did you seriously say that to me?”
“Do you want us to lie?”
“I can read women,” Julian said, staying quiet. “Vania Lange is nothing like your other lays.”
“Don’t you think we know this?” Evan started pacing in front of the windows, his long gait giving him no room to work off the rage, even though Drake’s office was larger than most people’s apartments. “I want to change for her.” He stopped and hitched his hands on his hips. “I can’t say that I deserve, Vania, but I’m not allowing another man to take her. That’s the selfishness in me I can’t fight.”
“Then it’s the selfishness in both of us, because I’m not letting her go, either.”
“Vania came on your pants,” Julian pointed out. “And now you’re not letting her go? A man put a ring on her finger. We don’t touch another man’s woman. Where are your ethics?”
Drake sighed. “Vania caught her fiancé fucking another woman last night.”
Julian closed his eyes, remembering the bitterness of betrayal firsthand. “I want to kill him on her behalf.”
“So do we,” Evan said. “But priority-one is getting Vania back on her feet, nursing her pain, and nurturing her self-esteem.”
“I don’t exactly agree.” Drake sat behind his desk and pulled his laptop from its case. “I don’t want to be Vania’s rebound cock, and she’s too strong to be babied.”
Julian leaned down, flattening his hands on Drake’s desk. “Admit it. You’re considering her for a wife.”
Drake could no longer deny it to himself or to Julian. “I couldn't do any better than Vania.”
“And you’re feeling the same way?” Julian asked Evan speculatively.
“Any other time I thought of marriage, my heart leaped from my chest.” Evan