Okay, so the real me used to work for a construction company as a projects coordinator. Once my kidneys failed I ended up on disability while I await a transplant. Also, I don't own a single pair of heels or even a skirt. I'm definitely more a sneakers and jeans or work boots type of woman. Okay, on to the next chapter...

Sienna, sweetheart.

Come on Cutie, wake up.

A warm hand touched me. I gasped as my eyes flew open and I scrambled back into the corner of the couch as fear raced through me. What the hell? Bobby lifted his hands in a surrender posture. "It's okay, sweetheart. It's just us."

I blinked as I stared at them through blurry eyes. "Bobby? Lester?" Slowly the fog began to clear as I glanced between the two men and struggled to regulate my pulse. "W-what are you two doing here?" I wasn't going to bother to ask how they got in. They were part owners in the building, after all.

"Ram was walking by your apartment, and he heard you crying. He said he knocked, but when you didn't answer he got worried and came to find us." Slowly, Bobby reached out and rubbed his thumb along my cheek. "Sweetheart, why are you crying?"

"I'm crying?" At his question my hands went to my face, and I could feel the damp skin. "I didn't realize," I said, as I looked between them.

Lester's brow knit with a look of confusion. "You didn't know you were crying?"

I shook my head. "I was sleeping."

"Then you were crying in your sleep," Bobby said. "What were you dreaming about?"

A frown slowly claimed my features as I stared down at the floor and tried to recall my dream. "I-I don't remember," I finally admitted.

Lester's attention had drifted to the paper sitting on the coffee table. "What's this?" He picked up my notepad and studied it. His confused expression slid into a scowl as he elbowed Bobby then handed him the notepad. "Sienna, why are you looking at apartments to rent?"

"And for jobs?" Bobby added.

"I can't stay here indefinitely," I replied, all the while despising how my voice sounded small and unsure as I spoke.

"Why the hell not?" Lester asked.

"Because I don't want to take advantage of Ranger's hospitality or your friendship," I replied.

"So now we're just friends?" Lester snapped and I winced at the hurt in his tone.

Bobby held up a hand, stopping him. "Sienna, why did you give that presentation this morning if you weren't looking for a job here?"

Now it was my turn to be confused as I glanced between the men. "You're a security company. I'm not qualified to work here. I did the presentation as a thank you to Ranger and you guys for helping me out."

"So, you're just going to move out and move on?" Lester's voice was tight and clipped as he spoke.

"Why are you so angry at me?" I shot back.

"Because we told you how we feel about you, and it appears that you're just going to turn your back on us and run away. I thought you had more guts than that."

Oh, he was not going to stand there and challenge my integrity or courage. "I heard everything you both said," I replied as I pushed up to one foot to face him. Even standing I was still a good six inches shorter than him, which only served to piss me off more. "However, right now. At this very moment we're friends. Nothing more. I can't make my future life decisions on feelings alone, Lester. Feelings don't pay my bills, put a roof over my head or food on my table."

I lifted a hand and poked him in the chest as my temper grew. "I'm sorry you don't approve of what I'm doing, but I don't remember asking for your opinion either. Whether you like it or not, I need to have a solid plan and that doesn't include following my heart."

"So, are you saying you do have feelings for us?" Bobby asked.

"Yes." I blew out a breath. "I don't know. What I do know for sure is I can't think clearly when I'm living inside this fantasy. I need to find my way back into the real world so I can make the right decisions."

"This isn't a fantasy," Bobby said. "It's as real as it gets."

"Maybe for you," I replied.

"If you leave, we'll never see you again," Lester said, and I noted the pain in his voice. As much as I didn't want him to, he was taking my decision personally.

"Just because I decide to move out and get my own place, doesn't mean we can't continue to see each other and figure out if there's something real between us."

"Putting more distance between us is the same thing as putting up a wall," Lester spat. "You're trying to shut us out."

Frustration shimmied through me as I stared up at him. Why was he not listening to me? "Damn it, Lester. I am not," I all but shouted. "I'm just trying to figure things out. I have to do that in my own way, and I won't be dictated to or bullied by you or anyone else."

"Okay," Bobby said, his tone low and level. "Okay," he repeated. "There's no need for this." He wrapped his fingers around my arm. "Sienna. Please sit back down and get off that ankle."

On a huff, I dropped back to the couch and folded my arms across my chest. "Thank you," Bobby said, then glanced at Lester. "Take a walk. Cool off."

For a moment, Les remained in place as he stared at Bobby. Then, I watched as without a word, he turned on his heel and stormed out of my apartment. His angry exit sent a stab to my heart as I stared after him. As infuriated as I was with him, I found myself wanting to also run after him and wrap him in a hug. Damn it. Why does this have to be so freaking complicated?

"Lester does have a bit of a temper sometimes, but he's just passionate about what he believes in," Bobby said.

I shifted my attention from the now closed door back to Bobby. "I understand, but that didn't give him the right to yell at me."

He eased onto the couch in a way that he was still facing me, with one leg in front of him and the other still on the floor. "Sweetheart, when we came in, we found you crying and mumbling in your sleep. It sounded like you were repeating the phrase I don't want to go." He took my hand in his. "Are you sure you don't remember your dream?"

Slowly I shook my head as I struggled to think back again. I honestly couldn't remember, but even now, the sadness from it lingered. "I remember a feeling of sadness, but details are murky at best."

He reached over and picked up the note pad. "Were you doing this right before you fell asleep?"

I nodded.

"Is it possible you were dreaming about moving out and somewhere deep inside, your subconscious was saying it doesn't want to leave?"

I hadn't seen Lester in three days and to say my heart was hurting was an understatement. By Thursday, with Stephanie's help, I'd managed to go on two job interviews and toured three different apartment complexes. If I were being honest, none of it excited me. Each time I would return to Haywood it felt as if I was returning home and the idea of leaving became more and more unpalatable.

It was late Thursday evening when a knock on my door had me limping over to check the peep hole. My heart slammed to a stop at the sight of Lester on the other side. I opened the door to look up at him. God he was so gorgeous with his spikey blond hair, caramel latte skin and incredible green eyes. I gave myself a mental head shake at that. Why did I ever think those beautiful eyes were blue? "Hi," I finally managed to say after several long seconds.

"Hi," he echoed my statement. "Can I come in?"

I gently stepped back and motioned for him to enter. His eyes narrowed on me as he did. "Where's your crutches?"

I motioned to the other room. "Leaning against the wall in the living room."

"Why aren't you using them?" he asked.

"I-um," Damn! The way he was looking at me, all concerned yet teetering on the edge of angry, sent a shot of desire coursing through me to the point where I lost my train of thought.

He shook his head, sighed, then turned and scooped me into his arms. "Stubborn woman," he muttered as he kicked my front door shut, then carried me back to the living room. Instead of setting me down he settled onto the couch and positioned me on his lap. "There," he said. "Now I can talk to you properly."

"Talk to me about what?"

He lifted a hand to cup my cheek. "I came here to apologize," he said.

My brows winged up. "For what?"

"For my behavior on Monday," he replied. "I lashed out at you. As Bobby so bluntly pointed out, it was completely uncalled for and unfair."

I lifted my hand to his cheek and my heart stammered when he turned his face into my palm. "All's forgiven," I whispered. "But answer me this question. Why? Why did you get so angry?"

He looked at me, and his eyes filled with pain. "It was bad enough you moved out of our apartment, but now you're talking about leaving Haywood."

"Does my independence frighten you?"

He grinned, right before he leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to my lips. "I find your independence, sexy and tempting as hell." He shook his head. "I guess my fear is that if you leave, you'll find someone else. Someone better and we'll never get the chance to see what this is between us."

There was that insecurity Steph told me about. He didn't believe he was good enough for me and that just wouldn't do at all. I lifted my other hand to cradle his face between my palms. "I want you to listen very clearly to what I'm saying, okay?"

He gave my question a slow nod but remained silent.

"You are an incredible man who deserves all the love and affection you can handle. You are worthy, Lester. Don't ever think you're not."

"Then why do you want to leave me? Why do you want to leave Bobby?"

Fuck! His question stabbed me directly in the heart. "I don't want to leave." I cut my gaze to the ceiling and sucked in a deep breath. How do I make him understand?

"I've never, ever experienced the reaction or attraction with anyone else in my life, that I did with you and Bobby. I know it means something and I'm not stupid enough to walk away without exploring it further. However, I also can't base my entire life simply on a feeling. Getting to know each other is going to take time."

"We could do that better if you were here, though," Lester argued.

I knew I was fighting it…the attraction between us…but the intensity of it all frightened the hell out of me. There were too many what if's that I was too afraid to ask the questions to and even more scared to know the answers. Still, I was coming to understand and even accept that despite the fear I harbored, I needed to see where this thing between the three of us might lead.

While I was terrified of having my heart ripped out, even the idea of walking away from them already hurt so much, I didn't know how I'd survive it if I did actually leave.

"Maybe," I replied. "But I have to admit, I'm scared this won't work with three of us involved and I don't want it damaging your relationship with Bobby."

"What makes you think it won't work?" He leaned back into the corner of the couch and pulled me down with him. "Talk to me, Sienna. Tell me your fears."

"It's going to sound so wrong when I say this," I began.

"You're worried about how its going to look. You being with a Cuban man and a black man?"

"There is that," I replied. "Society has come a long way with regard to acceptance, but there are still a lot of prejudice and bigotry in the world, but honestly, I'm more concerned about logistics. You're both alpha males. Hell, this entire building is filled with Alpha males. I'm worried about jealousy. I mean what happens if one of you end up out of town at some point? Do we refrain from sex because the third isn't around? And speaking of sex… Writing about two men and a woman, doesn't mean I've had firsthand experience on the subject." I shook my head then buried my face against his neck as heat bloomed through me. For somebody who wrote about sex, why was I having such a hard time talking about it? "I'm not sure I could handle both of you at the same time, if you know what I mean."

He chuckled, then shifted and pressed a soft kiss against my bare neck, sending heat rushing through me just from the contact. "All your concerns are valid," he finally said. When I didn't move, he sighed. "Cutie, look at me, please."

I pulled back and ordered my eyes to meet his. "I get that having a relationship with two men is going to be hard enough, but an interracial relationship ups the ante a bit."

"I don't care so much about that aspect of the relationship," I cut in. "I think you're both beautiful and so very sexy."

He grinned. "Beautiful isn't a word I'm comfortable being used to describe me."

Feeling a bit more at ease, I returned his smile. "How about handsome, charming, gorgeous? I lifted a finger. "I got it. Dashing."

He laughed and immediately planted another kiss on me. This one was far from chaste and within seconds we were both panting as he pulled back. "How about, exhilarating," he said. "Or breathtaking?"

I ran a finger along his chin. "All of that and more," I replied.

"As for the rest of your concerns, they're valid and we'll help you to work through them, but you have to be willing to try."

"I want to," I replied, "but the desire doesn't erase the fear. We'll need to take this slow for me to be comfortable and that starts with you and Bobby trusting me to find my own footing while not shutting you out in the process. Can you do that?"

"For you," he replied. "I'd do damn near anything."

Lester hadn't been gone even ten minutes when I received a text from Ranger. 9:00 tomorrow in conference room One. Don't be late.

Well, hell. I'm not sure why Ranger wants to see me, but if he does, I'll be sure to be there.

Thank you!