Code of Control (9 page)

“I know that,
too.”

Nolan drew in a
deep breath. “Was it really that bad today? Pushed too far?”

Charlotte
allowed one small tear to fall, her face turning toward his. Instinct, nothing
more, he reached up and slid his thumb over her delicate cheekbone, removing
the telltale history of an emotional letdown. He could tell she did not want
anyone to see the softer side of her. It was the only reason they did what they
had in that hotel room. She must have wanted one moment to be soft and
gooey—accessible, if you will. It was almost too bad it hadn’t happened between
them in a normal way, courtship and eventual relationship. Unfortunately, Nolan
had a phobia of relationships, as much as she had of buried alive, his scarred shoulder
burning like hell, worse than his eye and jaw at this point.

“Not far
enough,” she said, moving toward him. Very gently, she set her mouth against
his, waiting for a response.

Nolan responded,
but not in the way she likely wanted. He placed his hands on both her shoulders,
pushing her back.

“You don’t want
this from me tonight,” he rasped out.

“I want it more
than you can ever know. You owe me after today.”

He shook his
head, groaning at the movement. “Tomorrow, you will change your mind about me.
New day, new outlook, new endeavor. There will always be something standing
between us.”

Charlotte looked
him dead to rites. “No, I won’t change my mind about you, and I wish to hell you
would stop pushing me away. I need the sex. If you’re not willing to give it to
me, I will just have to look elsewhere, won’t I?”

“You wouldn’t do
that to me now,” he warned.

She slipped out
of his reach, standing up, her towel slipping enough to make a grown man cry. Her
sad eyes said one thing, her body language another.

All he could do
was staring at her lusty chest, lowering his attention to her sexy legs in
slow, torturing motion.

“Sorry to burst
the angelic bubble you’d hung over my head, but I would, and it’s the one thing
about me even you can’t control,” she threatened.

She then stormed
into his house, yelled for Devon, and Nolan never saw either until the
following morning, his conscience wanting to call her bluff, his guilt wishing
she would abandon the idea of changing a man to her liking.

No woman ever
had, although plenty of women tried since his ex-wife’s death, and even if it
possible, he was not going to let it happen without a fight.

Chapter Ten

Why he never
thought Devon would do it to him again was beside the point. The fact Charlotte
was doing it to him made Nolan’s blood boil come the morning.

He strode toward
the barn at four-thirty, his stomach tied in knots and his mood beyond that of
a snapper’s jaws firmly around a man’s engorged pecker. He hadn’t dared get her
out of bed, knowing she would be in Devon’s bed, using his twin for what
he
should
have been used for. The moment she and Devon disappeared into an abyss of possible,
likely probable sexual exploration, Nolan declared war on the two. Therefore, he
was flabbergasted to find Charlotte in the barn, sitting on a bale of hay,
dressed for morning chores. She looked up at him, gave him a soft smile, and then
stood.

“About time you
show up,” she said. “I don’t know how to do this myself.”

Nolan could not
force his mouth to work and actually talk to her. He stormed past her, reaching
for the gate to let the cows in.

She walked
toward him, sidestepped the bovines as they entered, gaining their stalls, and then
waited with her arms behind her back as the gate closed.

“I have all day.
You can either talk to me now, or continue hating the world until it proves you
right,” she said.

He stopped dead
in his tracks, staring at her; opened and closed his mouth. “I don’t hate the
world,” he reluctantly admitted.

Charlotte’s
brows arched. “No?”

He had to look
away. Everything in her eyes was proving him wrong and her right, and a right
woman was an unbearable woman before five a.m.

Even if he did
hate the world, more importantly the fact he lost her by default to a man who
could not keep it in the pants longer than five minutes, calling him out on
this was not in her best interest. He thought of nothing else last night but Charlotte
and Devon doing the nasty, when it could have been him and she—
was
he
and she for one incredible night. The woman practically begged him to make love
to her last night and he foolishly pushed her away. What was wrong with him?

“Why are you out
here? I thought you’d want to stay in bed.” He grabbed the bale of hay she’d been
sitting on. He ripped it apart, using most of it to feed the calves. Everywhere
he went for the next five minutes she was hot on his heels. Dammit. He was in
no mood to have a female bloodhound breathing down his neck.

“Why would I
want to stay in bed and miss all this?” she said, making a sweep of her arm,
yet the wrinkling of her nose disclaimed the lie.

His head tipped
up. “As you can see, I’m not in a talkative mood this morning.”

“Really? I can’t
tell,” she quipped. “I thought this was your usual personality before the sun
rises. It’s all I’ve seen of you thus far.”

Nolan took a
step back, standing tall. He ground the backs of his teeth until his jaw ached.
“What do you want from me, Charlotte?”

“I don’t want
anything from you. You said I was to do this for two weeks, so here I am.”
Although her tone had lilted, he should not, if he knew what was good for him,
call her bluff.

Unfortunately, his
sigh nearly ripped apart his throat. “Why are you doing this to me now?” he
clarified.

“Doing what?”

“Going from me
to Devon, to what looks as if back to me again? I’m not into my brother’s
seconds, even if he’s fine with mine.”

“I—I…” She
paused, staring at him. Her cheeks turned crimson. “Devon and I did not…we…”

“I know what you
did with my twin. Don’t look at me as you are right now, then openly lie to
me,” he warned.

“Oh? You know
what I did last night? Before or after you pushed me away? Jesus, Nolan, do you
have cameras in the bedroom? Get your kicks out of watching other folks having
sex?”

“I wish,” he
mumbled.

Unfortunately,
she heard this, a self-deprecating laugh confirming it. “What is wrong with
you? First you’re hot, then cold, then iceberg, to now lukewarm. I don’t
understand you.”

“What’s to
understand?” he said. “I’m your boss; you’re supposed to act like you know
this…”

“Act like I know…Dammit,
Nolan, what do you want from me?” she suddenly yelled, startling the animals.

Nolan sidestepped
from his getting kicked in the leg by a cow, reached for Charlotte, his hands tight
on her shoulders. He stepped them out of harm’s way. He then stared at her, dead
to rites.

“I want you to
behave. That’s what I want. I want you to stay away from Devon. A little late
for this pipe dream, but such is life. That’s what I want from you.”

Her angry gaze
dug deep into his soul. “I did not have sex with your brother. I know this is
what you think happened last night, but he and I never touched each other.
Devon slept on the floor—a perfect gentleman. He was trying to teach you a
lesson, and by looks of it his ploy worked.”

He pushed her
away. “Yeah, right. Devon never sleeps on a floor when there’s an available bed…or
an available body willing to bend down to her knees and swallow whatever he’s
offering her.”

She openly gaped
at him, flames filling her eyes. “Why do you think so ill of me?”

“Experience,
sweetheart.”

This time, she
tried to yank out of his tightening grip. “Let go of me. Trying to talk to you
is not worth my effort anymore.”

“Sweetheart, you
and I did it ten ways to Sunday and back again,” he continued, “and we never
even knew each other’s name. Ill thinking is the least of your problems today.”

Mutiny shrouded
her face into almost unrecognizable. “You and I were different.”

“How so?”

“I was attracted
to you!”

“Devon is my
twin,” he said calmly, mustering the strength not to draw her close enough to
kiss her.

“So?”

“You should be
as much attracted to him as you are to me,” he rued. “We’re interchangeable, or
so I’m told—and let me assure you…I’d been told this repeatedly until I could
no longer see straight.”

Charlotte’s
mouth opened and closed. “That’s low, even for you.”

“Not, it’s not.
It’s exactly who I am. Low to the ground and very dirty. It’s what you wanted
of me the other night, what excited you, what had you begging for more.”

“Just because
you’re Devon’s twin, does not make your personalities the same.”

“Sometimes it
does, sweetheart.”

“I saw right
through your brother the second he kissed me, uninvited. He’s a player, and
well, you’re not.”

“Sure I am. I
played you.”

She snorted
loudly at his face.

“Don’t you snort
at me! I’m not big enough to work past the sentiment. Believe me, I’ve tried.”

This time, her
eyes blazed into his, ripping him apart from inside to out. “Then don’t you
dare lie to me. Perhaps you deserve a daily snort in the face to tame down your
reckless attitude toward others.”

“I don’t deserve
anything,” he said rudely, “and I don’t have a reckless attitude.”

“A man who thought
I would sleep with his brother just to piss him off…deserves more than a mere
snort in his face, Nolan Morgan.”

Nolan clammed
up.

Dammit. He was
certain something happened between Devon and she last night, the thought of it making
him sick to his stomach, but there was little he could do about it now except
taking it like a man. He tossed her away last night. What choice did he give
her, other than seek comfort from the one willing to give it to her? She’d all
but told him sex was the only thing on her mind.

“Nolan?”

His mind had
drifted off to last night’s nightmares. “Hmm?”

“Are you going
to keep doing this to me for the next two weeks?”

“Doing what?”

“Making me out
to be the bad guy?”

“I haven’t…” he
balked, pausing. Damn. He was making her out to be the bad guy, wasn’t he?

“After chores,
you and I need to have a long talk before this goes any farther,” she said.

“I don’t do
talking.”

“You don’t do
listening, either. Perhaps this once you are going to do as I say, not as you
want, or I go home.”

He openly
laughed at her. “Is that a threat?”

“No. Things are
going to change between you and me, starting now.”

“How?”

She moved
forward, set her arms around his neck and drew his head down. Charlotte then settled
her mouth against his, waiting for him to give in. He couldn’t do it. All he
could picture in his head was her delicate lips touching Devon’s overly
experienced ones, her delicious body near his twins’, all of last night, her
legs wrapped…

Fuck. He was in such
sad shape right now just thinking about her talented legs around his brother’s
waist and not around his. He slipped his hands up to her wrists and pulled her
arms down. “Don’t expect me to so easily forget about last night, Charlotte.”

“I told
you…nothing happened.”

The words too
quick and forceful, they sounded little more than lies, therefore he drilled
her with an angry gaze to combat any loss of composure.

“Whether it did
or did not… Dammit, Charlotte. Don’t look at me as you are now.”

Her eyes
widened. “Angry, hurt? Dumbfounded?”

“All the above.”

“Why is it okay
for you to be hurt, even though I did nothing with your brother, but it’s not
okay for me to be hurt by false accusations?”

“I don’t know.”
He looked away, pausing. “I’m not quite able to believe nothing happened when
concerning my twin.”

“Sounds more to
me as if you don’t trust my judgment than mere worry about your brother’s behavior.”

They stared at
each other, neither blinked nor swallowed.

“There you are,”
Devon said loudly. “I was looking all over for you.” His eyes reached for
Charlotte, ignoring Nolan.

Nolan growled
under his breath, taking a firm step back to put respectable distance between him
and her. He watched in horror her gaze dart back and forth between him and his
twin, guilt pinching her face.

“Why did you
leave our bed?” Devon added, moving deeper into the barn.

Charlotte opened
and closed her mouth.

“Nothing
happened?” Nolan taunted from the side of his mouth.

She whipped her
face toward his. “Yes, Nolan. Nothing happened.”

“Then why do you
look so guilty, Ms. Raven?”

By now, Devon
had moved up to Charlotte, wrapping his arm around her waist. Nolan wanted to
punch his twin in the face for the obvious move.

“I have work to
do. Go play with each other somewhere else,” he snapped at both.

Charlotte looked
as if trying to get Devon to release her, but Nolan wasn’t falling for the ploy.
He lost her. He needed to accept this, but it would now have to be on his terms,
not Devon’s. She could not have the both of them. Been there, done that. Not
doing it again.

“Come back to
the house with me,” Devon said, trying to get Charlotte to move. “Nolan can do the
chores alone. He’s been alone for plenty of years,” he taunted. “By now, he must
be used to it.”

This time she
forcibly pushed him away from her. “Your brother and I aren’t finished with our
conversation, Devon.”

Nolan stood
tall, glaring at the both of them. “Believe me…we were finished last night.”

She gave him an
odd look, held her ground, but eventually gave in and allowed Devon to escort
her out of the barn.

Unable to
control his emotions, Nolan waited until they left him in peace before he
punched the wall.

****

“You want me to
do
what
?” Charlotte yelped.

“Shoot me,” he
said as calmly as possible, although his gut instinct was to hide from the
possibility, his shoulder twinging in imaginary shock.

“Shoot you?” Her
eyes went from his to Devon, then back.

“Yes, shoot me.”

“You’re nuts.
The both of you. Pistachio, peanut, pecan nuts!” She handed her weapon to Devon;
thankfully put the safety on before she set it on his brother’s palm.

Devon smiled,
unloading the gun.

Nolan would not
put it past his brother to point and shoot without flinching, perhaps reading
his mind and sending him another grin.

“Told you she
would never do it,” Devon said.

“Shut the hell
up.” Growling, he watched Charlotte move over to a log then sit down. She
looked pissed, her face red, eyes wide. “She’ll do it, eventually,” he added.
“She needs the right incentive.”