The difference between the two brothers physically was almost nothing, but in temperament, they couldn't have been more dissimilar.
"Tell me the idea." She said, not allowing herself to speculate what the two brothers might have come up with.
"Well, it's about you and us. I think it's pretty clear that we both, uh... that we both like you." Melanie was trying but she couldn't stay angry at this huge man who was acting like a tongue-tied schoolboy in front of her. The look he was giving her, the sound of his voice made her want to throw herself at his feet.
She looked up at him, her gorgeous blue eyes filled with anticipation, her skin tingling with excitement.
"Yes." She said.
"In case you hadn't noticed, uh, there's only one of you and two of us."
"I've noticed." She said. "Trust me, I've noticed."
"And you haven't said anything about your feelings to either of us -- at least not to me anyway."
Her heart was beating and she could feel herself becoming wet. The pressurized sexual tension of the island in the last days had turned her into a simmering volcano of desire, ready to blow at the tiniest provocation.
Tall was wearing nothing but shorts and a ridiculous garland of flowers that Melanie had given to him and to his brother the day before when she had been in a softer, more conciliatory mood. It embarrassed her to look at them now.
"I haven't said anything to your brother, either." She said.
"Okay." He said with relief. "Now we aren't asking anything of you Melanie, just that you give each of us the opportunity to explain ourselves to you in complete privacy, one at a time."
"I'm not sure I understand." She said.
"It's not like we are asking you to choose between us or anything. I don't know how things really stand with you and Mitch and you don't have to say anything if you don't want to." He paused to allow her to speak, but she just dropped her eyes. She didn't want to talk about it. Mitch was an idiot but she had said too much already. He didn't deserve to lose his job for cheating on someone. As much as it riled her, work and romance were separate.
In addition, it was still too soon to fully trust these men who were essentially strangers to her. No matter what her feelings were, she couldn't give herself up to them so easily. They were rich and powerful and all she had were vague feelings about them. They could still toss her aside like the $60 million airplane they had barely talked about since it sank into the ocean.