Page 31 of Protector Unmatched

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“Enya, what are you doing here?” Pearce yelled at the blonde who was standing in the bedroom as if the place belonged to her.

Embarrassment swept through Daphne. And then a second feeling trumped it. What if this was Pearce’s girlfriend? A girlfriend who’d come home unexpectedly. One who didn’t look too pleased about seeing Pearce in bed with another woman.

Daphne wiggled to get free and tried to pull on the sheet to cover herself, but Pearce was still on top of her. “Who is she?”

Pearce suddenly stared at her. “She’s my…”

“Colleague,” the woman said.

“…roommate,” Pearce finished.

Neither answer rang true. Clearly, they were both hiding something. Ah, shit, what had she gotten herself into now?

“We work together,” Pearce added. “And we share this apartment.” Then he looked at the woman he’d called Enya. The woman who was way too pretty for a roommate or a colleague. “How about some privacy?”

“Fine.” Enya turned on her heel, left the bedroom, and shut the door behind her.

Immediately, Daphne pushed against Pearce, and to her surprise, he lifted himself off her without complaint.

Daphne quickly rose and snatched her panties from the floor. While she hastily put them on, she cast Pearce a look. He made no attempt at getting dressed. Instead, he stared at her, a guilty look on his face.

Daphne couldn’t help herself asking, “Are you sleeping with her too?”

His eyes widened. “With whom? Enya? No, of course not! Why would you think that?” He seemed truly outraged.

“Well, she seemed pissed off about finding us in bed together.” She reached for her pants, but Pearce snatched her arm and pulled her to him so she had to look at him. “What?”

“Enya and I work together, and we share this place, but there’s nothing else between us. She’s just pissed because I was supposed to help her on a project tonight, and I stood her up, because I followed you instead. She gets mad easily, but she calms down just as quickly. You’ll see. She’s not a bad person if you give her a chance.”

The words seemed sincere, but Daphne wasn’t sure what to think. “Why did she just barge in here without knocking?”

“I’m sure she knocked, and we didn’t hear her.”

Daphne sighed. It was possible—after all, they had been rather engaged in their lovemaking. She hadn’t heard the apartment door or the bedroom door open. So it was possible that she’d missed a knock as well. “Okay… But this is really embarrassing…”

“Trust me, I covered you with my body the entire time. Enya didn’t really see anything.”

Daphne rolled her eyes. “Still embarrassing. She basically watched us have sex.”

A mischievous smile played around Pearce’s lips. “Not quite. I wasn’t even inside you yet.” He pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “Unfortunately.” Then he gave her a playful slap on her ass. “Let’s get dressed. I’ll introduce you to her properly.”

He handed Daphne her pants then started getting dressed himself. Once she’d pulled up her pants, she looked around for her sweater, then remembered where she’d left it.

“My sweater is in the living room.”

“I’ll get it. Wait here.” His chest bare, he left the room.

She heard the murmur of low voices, but couldn’t understand what they were saying. While she waited, she glanced around. Just like in the living room and kitchen, there wasn’t a lot of decoration, leaving the place rather impersonal. Since Pearce had only just moved in, she could understand it.

Pearce came back, dressed in his long-sleeved T-shirt and with her turtleneck sweater in his hand. She pulled it over her head quickly, then they walked back into the living room together. Enya was leaning against the kitchen table.

“I knocked, just so you know,” Enya said.

“Daphne, this is Enya. Enya, this is Daphne. We met yesterday,” Pearce said.

Daphne stretched her hand out, and Enya shook it. “I’m sorry that Pearce didn’t keep his appointment with you because of me.”