Power of Three Read Free Page A

returned to the villa, and her heart leapt, knowing who it was from.
    Hey, neighbor!
    How about a drink with us tonight, eh? Or a bite to eat. Or a chat. Or something.
    About eight? Please come, it'll just be us three. We're looking forward to getting to know you better.
    Ed and Denny in Number Three.
    Oh God, what did "something" mean? Part of her feared it and wanted to run, and run now, straight back to the island's little airport and get on a plane back to normality, even though that normality was a pretty grim state.
    But then again, the provocative Ed and Denny might just be being neighborly and taking pity on a singleton.
    But that was absurd too. She couldn't ignore what'd happened last night, and neither could they. Unless they did things like that on a regular basis, just for fun, and it didn't mean anything.
    Her head whirled, even in the absence of rum. But she made a decision. She wouldn't be a coward. She'd go. Take her chances on whatever "something" was.
    With silly smile on her face, Laurie headed for the shower. Better make herself as gorgeous and fragrant as possible, just in case.
    What did one wear for a hot date with
two
men?
     
    ACT TWO
     
    It'd taken four changes of clothing to decide what to wear, and even then Laurie had ended up in the first outfit she'd tried on -- a floating tropical print sundress with a halter neck that tied in a bow at the back.
    It was a daring choice for her, but she'd been planning to wear it for an all-sex honeymoon, luring Jim back to bed almost as soon as they'd got out of it. Now, even though there was a little guard fire of anger and pain still burning inside her, the thought of sex with her former fiancé was starting to make her cringe. She couldn't get over the image of him with chubby Melanie, sweating and heaving.
    An especially repugnant thought, after the competition quality erotic exhibitionism she'd observed last night from both the villas across the patio. And particularly from beyond the door she was about to knock on now, taut with nerves.
    Doubts had resurfaced as the appointed hour had rolled around. How could she face them? It was the moment of truth. She'd spent a large part of the day, alternating between reliving last night, and convincing herself that it had probably been just a tipsy dream, even though she knew it wasn't. She'd never seen herself as a brazen woman, but last night she'd not only come close to the border of brazen, she'd smashed right on through it.
    You can still change your mind, kiddo. You can plead a headache tomorrow. I'm sure they won't be offended. They don't seem like the type to bear grudges, and maybe they'll just get the message that you're not interested and keep it all friendly, but distant?
    But another voice murmured
coward
. The same one that told her she
was
interested. Listening to that one, she took a firm grip on the neck of the bottle of over-proof she'd brought as a gift for her hosts, and knocked sharply before she could prevaricate and chicken out.
    A low masculine murmur emanated from beyond the door. Hard to tell its tenor, but she hoped it was the sound of someone who was pleased by her arrival. Maybe she wasn't the only one having second thoughts. After all, these were a couple of gay lovers, into each other, not some stray woman.
    The door swung open, and Dark-Eyes' warm smile both quelled her fears and reminded her of the pleasures of last night. His eyes twinkled, and up close she could see they were brown, rich and glowing as the rum in her bottle, and very, very sexy.
    "Well, hello! So glad you decided to join us. Do come on in!" He threw back the door and waved her through, his gesture expansive and graceful. Dark-Eyes was the skinnier of the two men, but he looked fit and strong in a black, long-sleeved cotton top and snug fitting jeans.
    His partner, Blondie, unwound himself from the planter's chair he'd been lounging in, and came towards her, his smile just as welcoming, but quite different to his