over the same men before, but it would be different with Alec. They"d bonded with
him, cared about him. A sizzle of unrest snaked up her spine. But just as quickly as
it had come, it was gone. It would all work out fine, she reassured herself. They
were levelheaded adults. And who knew? Either she or her bestie could end up with
a great new boyfriend from the madcap scheme, so it couldn"t be all bad.
“I"m in. Shake on it.”
She spat into her palm and held her hand out to him, grinning as Jace
groaned. He acquiesced and grudgingly did the same. They shook on it, sealing the
deal the way they had since they were thirteen years old with skinned knees and
rosy cheeks.
“Seriously, that"s so gross, Mel.” Jace picked up a napkin off the table to wipe
his hand clean.
“Yeah, but you love me anyway,” she said, laughing as she stood to grab their
empty bottles and move to the doorway. “Another beer, or you want to move to
something more civilized?”
“Hey, I"m not a snob. I just prefer quality libations. And that is some quality
microbrew, so I"ll take another.”
Jace was still smiling as he watched Mel head into the house to get them
another round. The thought crossed his mind, and not for the first time, if part of
the reason he"d never been interested in any kind of long-term relationship was
because he had yet to find a man whose company he enjoyed quite as much as hers.
Three to Tango
5
Since he had moved out to California back in eighth grade, Mel had been there
for him: his first, best, and truest friend. She had been his backup through all
things juvenile and his rock when he had finally decided to come out to his religious,
Midwestern parents. She was his date when he needed one, and a shoulder to cry on
when his wide-open heart was inevitably battered. She was an integral part of every
cherished memory he had. He couldn"t imagine a life without her in it.
Jace promised himself right then that, no matter how much he liked Alec—and
man, did he like Alec, a lot—he would never let it come between him and Mel. If
that meant taking it gracefully if Alec chose her, so be it. His heart gave an odd
little squeeze at the thought. But he would far rather bury his own desires and
needs if it meant seeing her truly happy. And if she and Alec were together, they"d
continue to live here. He wouldn"t lose the only person he"d ever been completely
comfortable being himself with.
He shifted his gaze once again to the man in question, and his stomach did a
little flip. From all appearances, Mel was right: Alec was straight. A straight,
gorgeous, tanned, sweaty, masculine bowl of man stew. But Jace sensed
something…intangible lurking just below the surface. He"d been on the receiving
end of a few lingering glances from Alec, the occasional sexy smile with a dark edge
to it. He couldn"t put his finger on what it was exactly, but something niggled at
him—a tiny blip on his gaydar screen. And he wasn"t going to give up without
finding out whether or not it was just wishful thinking or if maybe Alec had felt the
pull between them as well.
“Look what mama found!” Melody interrupted his thoughts as she stepped out
onto the patio with a bowl of onion dip, a bag of potato chips, and their beers
balanced precariously in her arms.
Jace chuckled. He watched her bend low to lay the bounty on the table, and he
couldn"t help but to admire her physique.
Alec would have to be blind not to have
noticed how sexy she is
. With her long, dark blonde hair and her leggy, lithe body,
she looked every bit the professional beach volleyball player she was. How she
6
Chloe Cole & L. C. Chase
managed to maintain that sleek athletic form while eating like a truck driver, he
couldn"t fathom.
“You know, if you keep putting that crap into your body, eventually, it"s going
to rebel. How are you going to play volleyball lugging a big, fat ass the size of a
Mack truck behind you?”
“I"d rather have a big, fat ass than live on sprouts and tofurkey,” she shot back,
popping a dip-slathered chip into her mouth with a defiant
crunch.
She rolled her eyes in exaggerated pleasure, and he laughed. “A well-timed
piece of tofurkey never hurt anyone.”
“Except the poor tofurkey.”
“Don"t eat too much. I"m going to cook later.” He shook his head as she dug her
hand back into the bag.
“Don"t judge me. I have some seducing to do. A girl needs to keep up her
strength, you know.”
“True. And why am I telling you anything? I should just shut up and let you
try to seduce Alec with your onion breath and rapidly expanding ass. Shit, I should
be
encouraging
you to eat that garba—”
“Aha,” Mel cut in, motioning toward the court. “Looks like they"re finishing
up.”
She stood and fished around in the pockets of her cutoff jean shorts, letting out
a shout of glee as she came up with a half stick of gum.
“Ug, Mel, that has lint stuck to it.”
She shrugged, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth. “Luckily, you can"t
smell lint.”
“You"re such a boy, Hellz.”
She stuck her tongue out at him, then leaned over, grabbed an unopened beer
from the table, and moved to the flight of stairs leading to the sidewalk. “Time to
Three to Tango
7
watch and learn, grasshoppah,” she said, tossing a wicked grin over her shoulder.
“It"s game on.”
“Wow. Aggressive. I like it.” He let out an admiring whistle. She was halfway
down the steps when he shouted after her, “Oh, and by the way, I like my shirts
pressed with medium starch. Not light. Not heavy.
Medium
. You might want to
write that down.”
She flipped him the bird without turning around, and Jace laughed. He
watched her as she headed toward the court—and Alec—noting the little extra
swing in her hips.
He had to admit it. She was good.
This was going to be a very interesting four weeks.
8
Chloe Cole & L. C. Chase
Chapter Two
Melody walked toward the basketball court, heart pounding hard against her
rib cage. With the icy bottle in her hand, she pasted on a casual smile that faltered
for a fraction of an instant when Alec turned to face her. A dimpled smile stretched
across his flawless face. His eyes flashed warmly as he saw her approach. Those
eyes killed her. Light green, like worn sea glass, they made her think of fresh citrus
on a sultry summer night.
She continued forward until she was standing just a couple of feet away from
him. His black curls were damp and tousled, begging to be ruffled. She tried not to
stare but failed as the rivulets of sweat trickling down his defined chest demanded
her complete attention. Her gaze followed its hypnotic descent over ripped abs, then
pooling into his neat little belly button before disappearing into the waistband of
the gym shorts slung low on his lean hips. For an exaggerated second, she was
struck dumb as her mind"s eye visualized the rest of that sensuous journey down…
“That for me, roomie?” Alec asked with a grateful smile.
She gave herself a mental shake.
Get a grip, fool.
“This? No, this is the grand prize,” she said, holding it away from him. “You
have to beat me at one-on-one to get it. First one to five wins.”
“Aw, take pity on a weary man, Mel. I"m so thirsty. How about I take a couple
swigs first, then we play for the rest?” He cranked that heart-stopping smile up to
full wattage, and she almost gave in. Almost.
“Well, we can"t have you thirsty, can we?”
She reached down and plucked a lukewarm bottle of water from the bench,
handing it to him with the sweetest smile she had in her arsenal.
Three to Tango
9
“Ruthless,” he said, chuckling. He twisted off the cap, then tipped his head
back and began to drink.
Melody watched, riveted, as he took a long pull from the bottle, his strong, tan
throat working as he swallowed. Up and down.
Holy crap, this is better than porn.
“Let"s do this,” he said, handing the water back to her.
She barely resisted the urge to touch her tongue to the lip of the bottle to see if
she could taste him.
“Let"s,” she croaked and set both the beer and water down on the bench. “I
want to get this over with before my beer gets warm.”
“Oh yeah, this is going to be fun.”
They"d played basketball together before, but only HORSE, which required
accurate shooting—no defense or physicality. One-on-one was a whole different
animal, and Melody was going to make the most of the hands-on nature of the
game. She hadn"t played since high school, but she was an athlete and planned to
give this boy a run for his money. And look damn sexy doing it too.
Alec picked up the ball and bounced it to her. “Check.”
She rolled the ball lightly in her hands and shot it back to him, signaling the
start of the game.
Alec feinted left, then pivoted right, and before she could react, the ball was in
the air. It rebounded off the backboard, bobbled on the rim, and dropped through
the net.
Melody grabbed the ball as it bounced up.
Well, shit.
“Ouch, you just got burned. Damn, that had to hurt.” Alec howled, his eyes
flashing with amusement.
And damn if that didn"t just ratchet up her competitive streak a little more.
She was so going to bring that cocky attitude down a notch. No one outplayed
Hellody Melody.
10
Chloe Cole & L. C. Chase
“That"s one, big fella. Four more to go before you start talking smack.”
They moved back to center court, and Melody tossed him the ball.
“Check.”
He shot it back, and she dribbled lightly, left arm extended to protect the ball.
Without warning, she broke hard to the right. To her surprise, Alec anticipated her
move and blocked her neatly.
“Where do you think you"re going, Hellz?” His solid body was flush with hers.
Melody almost forgot to keep dribbling as his warm, sweaty chest pressed
against her breasts. Her nipples pebbled from the contact. She glanced up at Alec"s
face in time to see his eyes narrow and pupils dilate. She ran her tongue along her
bottom lip and leaned her body harder into his for a suggestive instant. Her heart
sang a triumphant tune as his mouth tightened and nostrils flared.
Right where I
want you, sweet cheeks
. She pulled back and propelled herself forward, right
through him. He stumbled backward with a dazed expression as she blew by him
and executed a clean layup.
“Looks like we"re tied, champ.”
“So that"s how it"s going to be, huh?”
“A girl"s got to do what a girl"s got to do.”
Back at center court, Melody couldn"t help but notice that, despite their
teasing banter, Alec"s jaw was still tense. Good. That meant he was affected. She
might be a tomboy most of the time, but she knew how to play the sexy card when it
worked in her favor.
As they continued the match, she made sure to keep things physical: a
lingering touch here, a slide of skin there.
It was a close game, with neither able to pull ahead by more than one basket.
He played hard against her, which made her like him all the more. His competitive
nature wouldn"t allow him to let her win. Most men were too intimidated by her to
even play with her, let alone challenge her skills.
Three to Tango
11
She"d seen him play enough to know they would be pretty evenly matched.
Alec was strong, physically fit, and well-rounded, a guy"s guy kind of athlete. He
played on softball leagues in the spring, football in the fall, and basketball
whenever the weather was good, which was pretty much all year on the sunshine
coast.
He was coordinated and good at handling the ball, but his shot-making ability
wasn"t quite on par with Melody"s. Even though her sport was volleyball, she had
been the starting center in high school and could have played college ball if she"d
chosen.
After thirty minutes of sweaty, aggressive play, they were tied, four all. It was
Alec"s turn to shoot, and he bounced the ball toward Melody. Rather than tossing it
back, she set it on the ground between them.
Time to dial things up.
Holding her hands up to form the shape of a T, she put a halt to the game. “I"m
going to get a quick swig of water.”
Melody walked over to the bench and grabbed the water bottle. Tilting her
head back, she took a swallow, then set it down. As she turned to walk back, she
casually gripped the bottom hem of her T-shirt and pulled it up until it was just