by Marla Monroe
“I appreciate it, but I really should be getting home,” she said.
“Come on, Caro. What’s another hour? Soup’s already hot, and the sandwiches won’t take more than a couple of minutes,” Jasper told her.
She knew even before she said it that she was going to cave. They were much too good at getting under her resolve. If she wasn’t careful, they’d have her going out with them for real.
“Okay. I guess I can stay for a little bit longer. Soup and sandwiches sounds good. It’s gotten so much cooler at night now,” she said.
“If you haven’t been here long, then you don’t know just how cold it can get out here. Hope you have warm clothes for the winter,” Phillip said.
“I thought I did, but I may have to add a little more,” she admitted.
“Come on into the kitchen while we grill the sandwiches,” Jasper said.
Caro followed them to the kitchen and sat at the island while they puttered around the room grabbing bowls and preparing the sandwiches. She liked how easy they worked with each other. They quipped back and forth like old friends did. It made her feel that much more comfortable with them.
Finally, the meal was ready, and the three of them sat at the table eating and talking about what she’d found in their sloppy attempts to keep up with their books.
“Really, what made you think that postage should go under office supplies?” she asked.
“Well, stamps are supplies. I didn’t know there was a separate category for shipping and postage,” Phillip said, shrugging.
Jasper swallowed the bite of sandwich he’d just eaten and chuckled. “At least he didn’t put Internet access under tools.”
“Yeah, that one took me a while to figure out,” Caro said, laughing.
“So,” Jasper began. “All we have to do is follow the cheat sheet you made and we should be okay.”
“Yep. I listed some of everything you have used in the past and placed it in a category for you to use to enter the cost. Should be pretty easy to figure out.” She grinned. “Even for you guys.”
“Hardy-har-har. Go ahead and laugh at us. We’re computer nerds, not eggheads,” Phillip said.
“You’re calling me an egghead?” She narrowed her eyes at Phillip in mock outrage.
“Hey, you called us geeks,” Phillip said.
“Children. Settle down and finish your meal,” Jasper said with a laugh.
“I’m full. The soup was delicious, and so were the grilled cheese sandwiches. I love the way you grilled them with butter so that they were brown and yummy,” Caro told Jasper.
“Learned that from my mom. She always grilled our sandwiches, even the peanut butter ones,” he said.
“All I can say is that they’re really yummy,” Caro said.
“We’ll walk you out,” Phillip said.
“Let me help with the dishes first.” She picked up her plate and bowl and started to carry it to the sink.
Phillip took it from her. “Nonsense. You just spent all afternoon putting together our books. There’s no way you’re going to do dishes, as well. Leave them. We’ll take care of them.”
She smiled and nodded. “I really don’t mind though.”
“We know that,” Jasper said, taking her elbow and leading her toward the front door.
She pulled on the light jacket she’d brought with her and stepped out onto the front porch with them.
“Wow. It’s even colder up here than it is down in town. I might should have worn a warmer coat,” Caro said, folding her arms across her chest.
“I can get you one of ours, and we’ll pick it up at the bar this weekend,” Phillip said.
“Oh, no. Thanks though. I’ll be warm enough in the car, and it’s only a few minutes to my place.” She walked down the steps and strode toward her car at a little faster pace than she normally would have.
Phillip was there before her and opened her car door for her. She turned to say good-bye and found herself in his arms. He pulled her toward him, and she went without protest as he slowly lowered his head, giving her time to pull away, before he gently kissed her. Caro didn’t know what had gotten into her.
The kiss was soft at first, but quickly changed into needy as he pressed his lips to hers. Caro moved her hands to his chest, but instead of pushing him away, she found herself grasping his shirt as if to keep him from pulling away. Her body tingled all over as he moved his mouth against hers. Then he was gone, and Jasper took over the kiss, making her gasp so that his tongue thrust into her mouth and she wanted it. Needed it as he crushed her to him.
She would have thought Phillip would have been the more aggressive of the two of them, not Jasper. But his serious demeanor translated into passion as he kissed her senseless. Her body hummed as he devoured her mouth. Her pussy grew wet with anticipation, but Caro knew this had to end. She couldn’t allow them to sway her resolve not to get involved with them.
She finally found the backbone to push at him with her hands still curled in his shirt. He immediately pulled back and looked down at where her hands grasped the material.
“Be careful driving home, Caro. If I gave you our number, would you call us and let us know you got home all right?” Jasper asked.
“Yeah.”
Wait, that means they’ll have my number when I call them. What the hell was I thinking?
She wasn’t. She was still too wrapped up in those kisses to think rationally. Caro had a feeling she was losing her battle to remain aloof from them.
Phillip held out his hand. She looked at it for a few seconds before her wits returned, and she let go of Jasper’s shirt to dig in her purse for her cell phone. She handed it over to him, and he programed a number into it then she heard his phone chime, so he must have sent himself a text to get her number, as well.
“If we don’t hear from you, we’ll call to be sure you made it safely. Be careful on the mountain, Caro. You don’t know it very well, and animals are known to run out in front of you at night,” Phillip said.
“I will.” She took her phone from him and shoved it down in her purse.
Before they could do anything else to shake her, Caro climbed into her car and started the engine. Jasper closed the door, and the two men waved as she backed out of their drive and headed down the mountain.
* * * *
Caro tossed and turned that night, thinking about the two men and how she’d reacted to their kisses. Instead of pushing them away, she’d pulled them toward her, wanting their mouths on hers. What was she going to do about them?
“Nothing. I can’t do a damn thing about them. I’m already screwed,” she said out loud into the darkness.
Her body ached for their hands on her. She grew wet just thinking about how good their kisses had tasted. She’d wanted more, but knew it was wrong. She couldn’t succumb to them, either of them.
Both of them.
There being two of them and openly admitting that they wanted to share her only added to her dilemma. Women just didn’t date two men at one time. Maybe in someplace like California that might happen, but not in middle-of-the-road Montana. What was she thinking?
She groaned and turned over but was soon flat on her back once more, unable to get comfortable. She knew what the problem was—she was horny. They’d woken the dormant part of her that craved sex, and now she was in bad need of an orgasm. She slapped her hands against the mattress and gave in.
Caro pulled out her vibrator and kicked off the covers. She was never going to get some sleep if she kept fighting the need. She turned on the little bullet and sighed as she rubbed it lightly over her pussy until she’d gotten it slick with her juices. She played with her nipples as she ran the vibrator around her clit and then into her slit for a few seconds. The vibrations soon had her writhing on the bed as she thought about the men.
She easily pictured Phillip between her legs, licking and sucking on her pussy as Jasper sucked and tugged on her nipples. The thought of them pleasuring her only added to the excite
Her nipples ached as she pinched and pulled on them even as she tapped her clit with the vibrator. She was so close. It wouldn’t take much more for her to go over, but it wasn’t enough. She needed them inside her. She wanted to touch and taste them all over. Caro couldn’t help the ache that built deep inside of her at not having them there with her.
Caro held the bullet against her clit even as she pinched a nipple and came hard. She bit into the pillow by her head to keep from screaming at the heavenly feel of the little electric jolts that spread across her pelvis and burned deep inside her.
And still, it hadn’t been enough.
Chapter Six
“How ’bout another one, honey?” one of the men at the bar called out.
Caro grinned and slid a beer over to him then retreated to the other end of the bar to fill Jill’s drink order.
“They’re wild tonight for some reason,” Jill said.
“Must be a full moon out,” Caro said.
“Don’t know, but I wish whatever it was would calm them back down. My ass is going to have bruises on it from all the pinching and slapping it’s getting tonight.”
“Don’t take too much off them, girl. They’ll just try more.”
“Don’t worry. I’m giving them hell for it.” Jill took her loaded-down tray and carried it through the crowd.
“Everything good out here?” Curly asked as he stepped behind the bar.
“Yeah, but the crowd is wound up for some reason. Any ideas why?” Caro asked.
“Fucking rodeo in Billings. Half of them probably went to it and are back to celebrate or some shit like that,” he said.
“Jesus. Jill said they’re getting handsy out there. Told her not to take it, but she wants the tips.”
“I’ll make a round or two out there to warn them to calm down. Might help.” He stepped down from the bar and walked through the crowd, stopping to talk here and there.
She looked over at the opposite end and found that Phillip and Jasper had walked in and were talking to several of the men already seated at the end of the bar. She made her way down to them, refilling shots and whiskey as she went.
“Here you go,” she said, handing them their beer. “Did you guys go to the rodeo with the rest of these idiots?”
Phillip laughed. “No. Did that once and didn’t really care for it. Is that why it’s so crazy in here? Hell, there was a skirmish out in the parking lot when we drove up.”
“No kidding. Was the bouncer out there?” she asked.
“No, he was just monitoring it from the doorway when we walked inside.” Jasper took a deep pull of his beer before setting it on the bar. “How are you doing, sweetness?”
“Good. It’s good to be behind the bar. The waitresses are the ones taking the worst of it out there,” she told them.
“Maybe the tips will make up for it,” Phillip said.
“That’s what they’re hoping,” Caro said.
“How are you doing with keeping up with the bookkeeping?” she asked. It had been several weeks since she’d helped them at their house. There’d been no repeats of the kisses since then, and she couldn’t help but be a little disappointed.
“Well,” Phillip said with a wince. “We haven’t really had time to keep it up. Both of us are on a deadline right now.”
“But you have time to come get a beer or three,” she teased.
Jasper smiled. “Had to get our weekly fix of you, sweet thing.”
“Babe, you’re all that’s keeping us going through the work right now,” Phillip added.
She laughed. “You guys are flirts.”
“Now if we could only get you to flirt back with us,” Phillip said.
She held up her hand and hurried to the other end of the bar to fill an order for one of the other waitresses, then threw out the empty beer bottles, and added the dirty glasses to the dishwasher before turning it on. She slowly made her way back down the bar to where Phillip and Jasper were talking.
“So, have you finished your deadline, or are you still slaving away?” she asked.
“I finished mine this afternoon,” Phillip said.
“Got mine done last night, but went back over it today and sent it in to the company,” Jasper told her.
“Then this is a celebratory weekend for you guys,” she said.
“Damn straight. Why don’t you meet us at the steak house tomorrow around five? Our treat,” Phillip said.
“I don’t know. I usually laze around on Sundays,” she said.
“You can laze around until five and then get a nice meal to end your weekend. Sound good?” Jasper asked.
“You guys are tearing down my determination not to date. I was really serious about that,” she said.
“Think about it. Wouldn’t a good steak hit the spot after the way this weekend has been?” Phillip asked.
“I’ll think about it, but don’t get your hopes up,” she told them as she continued filling drink orders.
By the time the night was over, Caro was exhausted and fed up with all the drunks propositioning her. She knew she could have complained and Curly would have put a stop to some of them, but she was behind the bar and out of reach of them for the most part. He needed to keep an eye on the poor waitresses more. Besides, she had Phillip and Jasper watching out for her. She’d seen them have a word with one or two of the men during the night.
After last call, while they were slowly herding the crowd out the doors, Phillip and Jasper hung around waiting on the last of them to head out.
“Wild night,” Jasper said.
“Yep. Hope we don’t have many of those a year,” she agreed.
“We on for dinner tomorrow?” Jasper asked.
“Yeah, sure. I think I could use a steak after tonight. Don’t plan on getting up before one or two though. I’m beat.”
“With all the crazies out there tonight, we’re going to wait around until you leave to be sure you get in your car safely,” Phillip said.
“Really, there’s no need. Curly walks us all out to our cars,” she said.
“Humor us. I don’t see some of these guys leaving anytime soon, and Curly is one man,” Jasper pointed out.
“Okay, but it will be close to three before we get finished.”
“We can sleep late tomorrow, too,” Phillip teased.
She shrugged. “Better go on before Curly gets aggravated with you guys.”
Caro watched them walk outside as Curly locking up behind them.
“You dating one of them?” he asked.
“Not really. We’re all just friends,” she explained.
“Could have fooled me. They’re here every Friday and Saturday night when I never saw them before you rolled into town. They’re sniffing around, Caro. Don’t think they aren’t,” he said.
“Yeah, I know, but I’m keeping it casual. I really don’t have it in me to date right now.”
“Figured you were running from a relationship since you didn’t jump on them right away. Bad one?” he asked.
“Not bad like you’re asking. Just intense and not what I was wanting to live with for the rest of my life.”
“Stay single. It’s the safest way to keep your heart intact,” Curly said as she finished loading the dishwasher for the third time that night.
There was a story there. Curly sounded like she felt sometimes. Bitter and distrustful. She felt for him. He was a good, kind man. It was just too bad that she didn’t feel anything remotely like attraction for the man.
At a quarter of three, they were ready to leave. She’d wiped down the bar and refilled the beer cooler. Curly walked them outside, and just as they’d said, they were waiting near her car.
“I’m telling you, they want more, girlie,” Curly said.
“Yeah, I know.” She shook her head and smiled as they neared the men. “Thanks for waiting to be sure I got out safely.”
“There are still quite a few guys out front talking. Just want to be sure everyone is okay,” Phillip said.
“Damn rodeo. Every time they have one close by they get crazy here,” Curly said.
“Call us when you get inside once you get home,” Phillip said.
“I will. Thanks again.” Caro climbed into her SUV, locked the doors, and then waved as the men stepped back to watch her.
Once she was safely upstairs and about to get ready for bed she texted the guys instead of calling them.
Inside and fine. Thanks again for seeing me out.
She started to set her phone on the nightstand next to her bed, but it buzzed.
Always going to make sure you’re safe, sweetness. See you tomorrow.
She smiled and got ready for bed. Tomorrow would be a true date she decided. They were paying, and they were going out to eat even if they weren’t picking her up. She was sure they knew where she lived since it was such a small town and people talked, but they hadn’t asked her.
Caro drifted off with a smile on her face. She was going to do it. She was really going to go out with two men. What would her parents have thought?
* * * *
Naturally she’d debated on her choice of clothes for far too long and was almost late meeting the guys at the restaurant. Once again, they were waiting by the door, looking a little nervous. More than likely, they’d begun to think she wasn’t going to show. Caro checked her watch and winced. She’d cut it close.
Before she could even get out of her car, Phillip was there opening the door. She smiled as he helped her out of the car and then closed the door behind her. She pushed the button on her key fob to lock the doors once more.
“Sorry I’m almost late,” she said.
“You’re not late,” Jasper told her. “You’re right on time.”
He startled her when he bent over and kissed her softly on the mouth and then Phillip did the same thing. Before she could react, they were urging her toward the door to the restaurant. She couldn’t resist licking her lips as they stepped inside.
They found a table near the back and settled in just as a waitress hurried over with menus and glasses of water.
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