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could almost hear his teeth grinding together as his nostrils flared and he glared. “I can and I will.”
        But he only said she couldn’t go through his apartment; he never said anything about the roof at all; she could find another way up. Bit by bit, she began to speak, “So, if I were to find another way to get up there….”
        “There is no other way,” he ground out.
        “If I find another way,” she repeated, stubbornly, staring up at him with slightly narrowed eyes. “I can go up there?”
        He let out a long-suffering sigh, he closed his eyes as if in pain. “If, and it is a very unlikely if, you can find a way, you may go up; but only during the day.”
        A delicate eyebrow arched upwards at that strange concession. “Why not at night?” An mischievous smile curved her lips and lit her eyes and she looked up at him through her lashes, “Do you have drunken orgies up there at night? Something too carnal for my delicate sensibilities?”
        He huffed out an unexpected laugh and Melanie sucked in a dazzled breath at how it transformed him into a major deity. Clearing his throat, his face quickly returned to the stern frown. “No; there are no drunken orgies, or ghosts, or virgin sacrifices. You just shouldn’t be up there at night. That is, if you can get up there at all.”
        “That’s too bad,” she stuck out her lower lip before her expression melted back into a teasing smile. This guy wasn’t so bad; he was just a big old teddy bear.
        “Don’t go getting any funny ideas about the type of person I am, mademoiselle,” he said ominously, eerily echoing her thoughts. She held his green gaze as he lowered his head and cradled the back of her skull in his broad palms. It never occurred to her that he was going to kiss her; he didn’t seem to be interested in her in that way. But, suddenly, warm lips were covering hers, demanding submission.
        She tried to jerk her head away but he held her motionless with his hands as he deepened the kiss. Heat poured into her body and she reluctantly relaxed in his grip, feeling his tongue tease her lips; feeling the strength of his erection against her belly. She wasn’t sure what to do with her hands, so she left them on his chest, not quite pushing him away, but not letting him get any closer. In spite of her effort to resist, her eyes drifted shut and she fell into his kiss.
        Within moments, she no longer felt his lips on hers and everything seemed oddly frozen. Slowly, very slowly, he released his hold on her and she looked around the room: it was like she was in a waking dream. Everything was silent, everything was still; the lights were muted and everything was slightly blurry, like she was seeing the world through a soft focus lens.
        Her attention returned to the black haired man holding her in his arms. His lips were moving but all she understood were the words, “Brother” and “Apartment” and “Forget.” He really was too beautiful, even as self-contained and unapproachable as he was. But tit was Vaughn in all of his golden glory that made her heart race and her knees go weak. It was strange that three men, three brothers, could all be so blindly attractive but it was only one that made her blood boil.
        The thought made her smile; she finally found someone to make her blood boil. How strange. Was he someone she would be able to consider a friend as well as a mate? Why was she already plotting out a long term relationship? She had shared one dance with the man; it wasn’t enough to base an entire future. Hell, she was just kissing his brother! Sometimes, her over-active day dreams even disturbed her. Whatever; it was still fun to imagine what-if, even if nothing were to come of it. She would tell Jenna about her strange and wonderful New Year’s dance with the impossibly gorgeous Vaughn and the two of them would giggle about it. Jenna would tease her for her infatuation