Page 7 of The Layover

I didn’t have to look at Raul to know that he was as shocked as I was by the offer, though he was probably hiding it better.

“Not-like-that.” Lee’s words tumbled out quickly. “I just… Forget it. I’m an idiot. I hope making arrangements for the layover goes okay for you.” She spun away from us.

4

Carly (Lee)

What was I doing? Inviting two strangers to share my room? Because I was a grown-ass woman who was terrified of being left with nothing to keep me company but my thoughts during a heavy storm, and the pretty men with the prettier accents could distract me?

I’d be in a hotel, surrounded by hundreds of people. It wasn’t the same and I was wavering on re-extending my offer.

“You didn’t give us a chance to answer.” Nick’s reply was enough to tip me toward facing them again, rather than scurrying away like a timid little mouse. “We don’t know the city. I don’t suspect finding a room, in this weather, this time of night, will be easy. We’d love to share yours. I even promise my husband will keep his hands to himself.”

“Unless you beg me to touch you,” Tony added.

I rolled my eyes, but I liked the shameless flirting, and the relief that spread through me was instantaneous. Not complete, but better than the panic that had started to creep in before they accepted. Any other time, any other conditions, I’d be fine, but this weather…

“If you can wait a few moments, we do still need to make some calls,” Nick said.

I gave him my best cool-but-sweet smile. “I’ll be here all night.”

They both chuckled, and stepped away. I found an unoccupied slice of airport near a pillar, where they should still be able to see me, and let the crowds mill around me the way the wind outside was doing to the building.

When the lights flickered around me and several people gasped and murmured, I hugged myself. It had been fifteen years and I shouldn’t care, but the really bad storms, the ones that brought the world screaming to a halt, made my gut churn.

“Shall we?” Tony’s voice startled me and kept me in the airport rather than letting me drift into the past.

I nodded. We joined the throngs of grumbling passengers headed in the direction the signs told us to, to catch a taxi to my hotel.

“Is your final stop Milan?” Tony asked.

I was fine spending the night with two strangers, but not telling them who I actually was. Still, if they were on the same flight as me after this, they’d know the truth. “Yes. I’m hoping to land me one of those sexy wolf shifter mates. I hear there’s a surplus there.”

Nick’s laugh was a deep, rumbling sound that slid through me with tantalizing promise. “A surplus doesn’t always mean a better selection.”

“No, it doesn’t.” I liked him.

“So all pleasure, no business?” Tony asked.

“Finding a wolf mate is serious business.” I couldn’t hold a straight face long enough to finish the sentence. “But yes, always pleasure. Milan is one of my favorite places to visit.” Fortunately, because the partners at the investment firm I worked for had some serious contacts there, I got to spend a lot of time there.

“What do you like best about it?” Nick sounded genuinely interested.

Would I fuck them tonight? I had no idea. I had plenty of fantasies about being with two guys, especially after seeing how it worked out for some of the other people in my life, but in reality I couldn’t even stand having one man around long-term, and Tony had such a massive ego.

In my experience, that didn’t always equate to other massive attributes. Empathy. Personality. Dick.

“I love the food,” I said. “The people. And oh God the history and architecture. I could lose myself in exploring the back streets for hours, and still not discover it all.”

Tony’s smile shifted to more genuine, less this is my sexy, lady-killer smirk. “You and Nick both. I bet he could show you some great new sights.”

“I don’t know. It sounds like Lee could teach me a few things about the city.” Nick studied me intently enough I both felt it and wondered how he kept walking without running into anything.

“I’m still just a tourist,” I said. “Every time I’m there I discover something I never knew existed.”

Nick stepped ahead a foot or two, and the crowds naturally parted for him, making walking easier. “I do too. Still. And I grew up there.”

“I’ll have to get a list from you before we get on the plane tomorrow.” I wanted to say you’ll have to show me around, but I didn’t want to set any expectations. There was still part of my mind intently aware of how risky it was to offer my room to two men the way I had.

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