Dax slumped over the bar. “You got that right. We should never have made the bet.”
“Yeah, you two not competing? I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Dax’s gaze narrowed over Daniel from down the bar. “And you didn’t compete with us, Daniel? Try to make her fall for you over Damien and me?”
Daniel turned in the stool and tilted his head. “I didn’t have to try. You two made everything too easy.”
His perfect hair didn’t move an inch, and I had to say I was jealous. Even at his worst, he still looked perfectly put together. “You didn’t?”
“Didn’t what?” Dax leaned up to slurp from his straw. I hit his arm.
“It’s for stirring, not drinking. Dumbass.”
Daniel laughed, then took another drink. He set the glass down softly this time, with a grin no less. “You both acted like fools the other night at dinner. It wasn’t very hard to comfort her.”
“Is that what you call it? Comfort?” I shook my head at him. “How’d you tie her up?”
Daniel’s eyes got big with embarrassment. And irritation.
“What?” Dax was starting to laugh at my back, but I was fed up. I would have had Parvati if it wasn’t for these two, and now she didn’t want any of us.
“It’s not like the hotel has ropes laying around. Could she handle you?” I pressed, my brother sitting tall as the color rushed his face. “Or was she too delicate, like Jessica?”
Daniel drew a breath. “Watch it,” he growled through his teeth.
Dax leaned around behind me, talking too loudly for the intimate room. “You like to tie girls up?”
Daniel practically rolled his eyes. “Still can’t hold your liquor.” He pushed his glass over and got to his feet.
“Alright, wait,” Dax said as he got up and faced Daniel. “We can’t let our bickering get between us. She’s important to all of us, and we need to agree on that and not get angry.”
“Or jealous.” Daniel pursed his lips. His eyes stayed with Dax for a breath, then they shot to me.
I laughed at him. “I’m not jealous.”
“No?”
“No.” I shrugged, turning in my stool to face them both. Dax looked down over me with a sympathetic gaze, then his eyes trailed to the floor. “You both think I’m jealous?”
Glancing at each other, my brothers didn’t answer me. Not immediately at least. Dax finally spoke softly, “You’re only competing because of the jealousy. It’s always been like this.”
“What?” I mumbled. I didn’t even have the urge to get up. I lowered my arms and just sat there.
“You’re insecure.” Daniel’s deep, brooding voice made the moment feel heavier than it probably should have. “You go from one woman to the next, one place to the next. You have nothing to hold onto.”
“I have my team.”
“We all do.”
Shit. They were right. “And Parvati is the first real person I’ve actually connected with aside from you guys.”
Dax nudged my arm. “Yep.”
“We can’t leave her feeling bad. Not after our stupidity.”
“She wants to be alone.” Daniel crossed his arms. He was the only man I knew who’d wear a suit without reason just because that’s what real men do.
Dax quipped, “But does she really?”
“What are you thinking?”
“We surprise her with dinner. Maybe offer to see one last sight before the flight tomorrow.” The look on his face said he had more in mind.
“And that’s all?” Daniel raised a brow. He knew Dax as well as I did. “No late-night escapades?”
“I mean, if that’s what she wants…”
I laughed. “Right. That’s what I thought you meant.”
Dax joked, “Come on. Would you say no?”
I rubbed my chin as I got to my feet. “I’m not performing in front of you, but I’ll do whatever she wants.”
Dax chuckled. “Perform?” It even got a snicker out of Daniel.
“I don’t know what you guys are afraid of. In old times, royalty used to fuck in front of their families to prove their innocence.”
“Okay,” I stopped him there, “first of all, we can all agree Parvati isn’t innocent. Second, you think you’re a prince, don’t you?”
For that, Daniel started to laugh. “If I was, I’d be king someday.”
“Oh sheesh, now you started it.” Dax laughed, leaning over to take the final drink from his glass.
I asked him, “Started what?”
“Older brother syndrome.”
“Oldest brother syndrome,” Daniel corrected us. He pulled a fifty from his money clip and threw it on the bar. We headed for the door then, talking about what we were going to do with Parvati. Performance issues or not, I’d have her one more time, I was certain. I had to. We were leaving Hawaii tomorrow, and this was my last chance to really enjoy what we had started. I just hoped there was enough time for my brothers. Whether I liked it or not, we’d have to share.
20
PARVATI
“I can’t believe you guys brought me here?” I gasped at the beauty of the beach at night.