Surrounded by Pleasure Read Free Page A

pussy,”
Rob snarled.
    “I’m the next to the oldest. It’s my fucking turn.” Jack
took a step toward Rob, and Josh stepped between them, putting his hands on
their chests.
    “Listen, bro. It’s up to her. It’s okay if you want to
pursue her, but you can’t just claim her without giving the other guys a shot.”
    “What, like you did with Mikaela? You have such a fucking
double standard.” Jack shoved Josh’s hand off his chest and stepped back.
    “I hadn’t tried staking a claim before even seeing her.
Ms. Owens is a person, Jack, not a thing. You’d do well to remember that.”
    “Whatever.” Jack waved his hand in dismissal. “I’m going
after her.”
    “Me, too,” Rob said.
    They both looked at Toby. Great. These two cats were acting like a couple of dogs fighting
over a bone. Not only did he not want to get in the middle of his brothers, he just
didn’t want to risk it. Eric had been in a very similar situation before he’d
died. Toby wanted no part of it.
    “Thanks, but no thanks. You two can fight it out. I’m not
chancing it.”
    And he wouldn’t. He envied his life.
    His pathetic life.

Chapter Two
     
    Krista stifled a yawn as she watched the countryside fly
by. She’d already had a hard time picturing Mikaela living out in the
country—the woman wore thousand-dollar shoes, for Christ’s sake—but seeing her get
into this testosterone machine once they’d landed at the airport beat all Krista
had ever seen.
    After pulling her glasses off, she rubbed the corners of
her eyes, trying to revitalize them. She’d removed her contacts to keep her
eyes from drying out during the trip to the Woods estate, but sitting here with
her glasses on, resting on a plush seat, she felt as if it were night-night
time. With as much as she’d worked lately, sleep was a luxury.
    If she forgot about the fact she’d stayed up half the
night thinking about how crazy she was hoping some sexy man would whisk her off
her feet and do naughty things to her, she didn’t acknowledge that.
    “How much farther do we have until we get there?”
    Mikaela chuckled. “Oh, my God, if you start whining ‘Are
we there yet?’ I’m going to reach across the seat and bonk you on the head.”
    “ Bonk you on the
head ?” Krista laughed, and Mikaela laughed louder. As much as Krista tried
putting Mikaela in a boss role, she could see her becoming a close friend. Not
that Krista had many friends.
    “For your information,” Mikaela hesitated to turn on her
blinker then pull up to a huge iron gate, “we’re here.”
    “Oh, thank you, Jesus. I’ve had to pee for like the last twenty
miles.”
    “Yeah, now you see why I had to stay here when I prepped
that codicil for Mr. Woods. We left civilization about sixty miles ago.” She
rolled down the window and leaned out to punch in a bunch of numbers on the
keypad. When she finished entering the code, she rolled up the window and
waited for the gate to open. “But there’s a little town about ten or fifteen
miles farther down the highway. No hotels, but there’s a shitty little bar if
you’re so inclined.” Mikaela smirked.
    “I think not.” She rarely went out with friends. No way
was she venturing to an unfamiliar area by herself. Yeah, she was a grown-ass
woman, but there were some things she just didn’t do, and she had no interest
in getting raped or killed while she dallied about all by her lonesome in a questionable
establishment.
    “Don’t blame, ya. Maybe I can talk Josh into taking us
out on the town one night.”
    Krista appreciated the offer but still had no desire to
get all gussied up to be a third wheel. Instead of giving a definitive answer,
she shrugged as she looked out the window. The driveway wasn’t as narrow as
she’d expected, considering the forest seemed to grow right up against it, but
the picturesque ride through the curving path was truly breathtaking. The evergreen
trees provided a canopy, sheltering them from the autumn sun. And