by Marla Monroe
What would it hurt to be there a little longer? She didn’t have anything waiting on her. She was keeping busy with the books and now would have the mail-order business to run as well. She could take more time to determine where she might want to work. She would snag the Sunday newspaper to scope out possible job opportunities in Austin. Maybe she would look at the rental situation here in town as well. It wouldn’t hurt to look.
Ten minutes later, she was helping Andy clear the table when her cell phone rang. She jerked, not used to hearing it ring, before grabbing it and answering.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Caitlyn. It’s Lamar.”
“Hi.” She almost asked him what he wanted, but refrained from being so rude.
“I just wanted to firm up our plans to go out tomorrow night. Nothing fancy, just a meal and maybe dancing afterward.”
Caitlyn’s mouth opened to say no then closed with her remembered promise. She had to keep her word. She didn’t back away from a challenge nor did she go back on her promises.
Chapter Seven
Lamar listened to the hesitancy in Caitlyn’s voice. She really wanted to say no to their date, but she wouldn’t back out of it out of pride. She kept her word. He admired that about her. When some women would have exercised their right to change their mind, she hadn’t. And then on some level, Lamar liked to think that she really was attracted to them on a deeper scale.
They had a sexual chemistry without a doubt, but there was so much more to life than just sex. You couldn’t have a true ménage relationship without a sexual glue, but neither could you have a permanent relationship of any kind without more than sex, either.
“Dancing?” Caitlyn’s voice broke into his thoughts.
“Yeah, depending on how we’re feeling after dinner. We could relax at the bar down from the diner and maybe dance a little. You know, get to know each other a little bit. We are really serious about that part, Caity.”
“I don’t get why when you know I’m planning to move once they are back from their honeymoon.”
“I guess we’re hoping the friendly people and nice town will help change your mind. Besides, if nothing else, you’ll be back to visit and it would be fun to have someone to go out with occasionally when we’re in that direction. We usually go about once or twice a month right now.”
“Brody seems a little more attached to the idea of my belonging to you two. I don’t need a man to tell me how to feel or think.”
Lamar sighed, knowing this was going to come up sooner or later. Brody had really stuck his foot in the mess when he’d made that announcement to her. She was coming off a bad relationship, and clearly Brody was steering them down the same road in some form or fashion.
“He didn’t mean it like it sounded, Caitlyn. He just means that he thinks we’re perfect for each other. He doesn’t know any other way to talk except in affirmations. You say something enough and believe it enough, and then it becomes real.”
“Why would he want us to be an item when he hardly knows anything about me? I could be a real shrew. Hell, by now, he probably already thinks I am.”
Lamar laughed. “You’re no more a shrew than Tish is. You’ve been through a lot in the last few months and your entire life is up in the air right now. I can understand that you need some time and some help. Let us help you, Caitlyn.”
“I just don’t see what’s in it for the two of you.”
“The chance at a wonderful woman with the possibility of forever in her eyes. That’s what’s in it for us, Caity. Just say yes and we’ll pick you up tomorrow at seven. Nothing fancy needed. Just wear jeans and a shirt and maybe some dance shoes.”
Her softly indrawn breath was all that told him she was still on the line several seconds later. Finally she let her breath back out and answered him.
“Okay. I’ll see you two at seven tomorrow night. Don’t be late or I might change my mind after all.”
“Never, Caitlyn. One or both of us will be there on time to collect you. Sweet dreams.”
Lamar didn’t even wait to hear her surprised response. Instead he ended the call with a click of the button and slipped his phone back in its holster before going in search of Brody to tell him the good news.
“What are you smiling about?” Brody looked up from the desk where he was sorting through invoices.
“Just got off the phone with Caitlyn. We’re going to pick her up at seven tomorrow night.”
“You’re kidding. She didn’t back out?”
“Nope. She wanted to, though. You’re going to have to back off some with her, brother, or she’s going to run to Austin before we can get her to change her mind.”
“She pushes all my buttons, Lamar. I’m trying. I wonder if Brian has said anything to her about lengthening their honeymoon yet.” Brody leaned back in the desk chair clasping his hands behind his head.
“Yeah, I think he has. She was already a little on edge when she answered the phone. I’m sure that’s going to be something we need to be careful talking about as well, or she’ll put two and two together. She’s not dumb.”
“Hell, no. She’s probably about the smartest woman we know. Maybe we can inch her toward helping us with our books some, as well. I noticed that she gets all bright eyed and lost when she’s working. She might start putting ours together and not want to just leave in the middle of the mess. It could buy us some more time with her.”
Lamar grinned. He liked that idea. “I’ll push it at her without being overbearing. You leave that part to me.”
“I want to know what is going on about her marriage or divorce or whatever it is. We need to know what we’re up against. You know Brian isn’t going to tell us. It’s her business.”
“You can talk to her about that. Just remember to not be pushy about it. Try and be sympathetic so she’ll want to talk to you about it.”
“Lamar.” Brody gave him a wry look.
“Yeah, you’re right. You’re not very sympathetic about things, but you can pull it off. Just think about how hard this is on her and how much she’s suffered because of it. Don’t think about the bastard you want to tear apart. Think about the woman you want to make happy.”
“I guess when you put it that way, it makes it a little easier.”
“Good. Now what is going on with that Brisswick project we bid on? You sounded pretty pissed off on the phone.”
“Seems that they were told we did shoddy work on the city’s fence section that was replaced after old man Phillips ran into it last Christmas.”
“We didn’t do that section of fence!” Lamar kicked at the desk leg.
“That’s what I told them. They hemmed and hawed around about who had told them we had. I never did find out, but they are going to rethink their decision to keep their business in town.”
“Someone’s trying to cause problems for us for some reason. Who have we pissed off lately?”
“I don’t think we’ve upset anyone in a long time. Maybe it’s all just about business and they are hit below the belt type players. We don’t work that way, but a lot of people do.”
Lamar shrugged. “More than likely it came from whoever did the stupid fence for the city in the first place.”
“Well, I’m not going to sweat it if we don’t pick up this bid. We’re more than covered for time anyway. Plus, now I want any spare time we can get to use on persuading Caitydid to give us a chance.”
* * * *
Caitlyn spent the entire morning finishing up the books for the mail-order side of Brian, Andy, and Tish’s business. Once she had them set up and clean, she spent the afternoon going over them with both Brian and Tish. Andy ran the errands and answered the phone. By five, she was exhausted but pleased at all the progress. She was confident that Tish would be able to handle the books just fine. Brian would be a good backup, but he wasn’t as interested in numbers.
She sighed and peeled off her clothes to get in the shower. She was almost looking forward to the evening now. She ne
eded a little downtime away from her brother and his new family. She just wished it wouldn’t be with two men who were bound and determined to date her. Hell, who was she fooling? They were dating her. She was going out on a date with them tonight.
After showering and drying off, Caitlyn sifted through her clothes and settled on a pair of navy blue slacks with a red blouse and low-heeled shoes. If they planned to take her out dancing, she better be ready. They seemed to be the type to keep her on her feet all night. Maybe that was their ploy. Keep her on her feet so that later she would be happy to get off of them. She smiled and shook her head at that dirty little thought.
As much as she could see them using every advantage in their arsenal to get her to let down her guard, she couldn’t see them keeping her dancing all night in an effort to tire her out for sex later. The sex would be mediocre at best if she was that tired.
By the time the men arrived to pick her up, Caitlyn had changed into the comfortable outfit and was just putting on a little makeup so she wouldn’t look washed out. She followed the sounds of masculine laughter downstairs to find the four men standing by the front door talking.
“There she is.” Lamar stepped out from the others and took her hand. “Ready to eat?”
She let him pull her toward him and Brody without a hassle. She liked being near them, maybe too much.
“I could definitely eat.”
“Let’s get going then.” Brody opened the door and held it as Lamar escorted her out.
She caught a glimpse of Andy and Brian grinning at each other and frowned back at them but didn’t get a chance to say anything as she was hurried toward the men’s truck parked in the drive.
“Are we late?”
“No, just don’t want to miss any time we have with you, Caitydid,” Brody said with a strained smile.
She turned to where Lamar was climbing up in the truck next to her. The other man didn’t look as relaxed as usual either. What was up with that?
“Is something wrong? You’re both awful tense about something.”
Lamar and Brody exchanged glances. Neither man offered to explain so she crossed her arms and glared straight ahead. She wouldn’t get out of the truck until they explained what was going on. She was sure it would involve her since they were both tense.
“Did Brian say anything about extending their honeymoon by a week or so?” Lamar finally caved and spoke up.
“Yes. I think it’s great they are going to spend more time together before getting back to real life. It has to be difficult forging a relationship between three people.”
“I don’t know about that. I think they already have a great relationship. I just think they should have the time to relax before getting back to business.” Brody frowned at her. “Do you think a relationship between three people would be all that much more difficult than between two?”
“Brody, one thing at a time.” Lamar turned back to Caitlyn. “Did he tell you that we would be around to help with the mail-order part so you don’t have to haul packages back and forth to the post office?”
“Well, he said you might help some with the heavy stuff. I can handle the small things, so I doubt I’ll really need your help that much.”
“You don’t have to go to the post office at all if you don’t want to. Brody and I will carry all the packages for you. All you have to do is wrap them and get them ready for us to pick up.”
“I like going to the post office. I have to pick up their mail anyway to keep up with bills and orders and such.”
“We’ll work it out later.” Brody was obviously ready to end the conversation as they pulled up in front of the steak house.
Lamar helped her down again and they walked in and were seated at a secluded table in the back. The waitress took their drink orders then left them to deliberate over the menu. Since she had never eaten there before, she pored over the offerings. Everything sounded wonderful.
“What do you suggest? It all sounds great to me.”
She must have caught them by surprise when she asked for their help because they stared at her for a several long seconds before answering her. She rolled her lips inward to hide her smile.
“The steak is always good here, but if you want something lighter, there is the fish.” Lamar grinned at her as he pointed out her choices.
“Fish sounds good to me. Salmon or snapper?”
“Snapper,” Brody suggested.
“Great. I’ll have that and a baked potato.”
By the time the waitress had returned with their drink order they were ready. Brody ordered for her and remembered to ask what she wanted on her salad. She couldn’t fault their manners or the way they seemed determined to make sure she was comfortable. Harold had never really been all that concerned about her comfort.
She cleared her mind of him and that time. It was over with. She had made a terrible mistake in marrying him. Well, not that they had actually been married, after all. She still hadn’t come to terms with that aspect of the ordeal. She had never been married to the bastard at all. Legally, she was a free woman, but she still felt married to some extent. It probably explained why she wasn’t exactly comfortable going out with Lamar and Brody.
The food arrived and she was glad to pour her concentration into eating. It was really very good. She was pleasantly surprised having expected that being outside a large city, the food wouldn’t be quite up to par. After having eaten at the diner though, she should have known better. Everything in Riverbend seemed to be excellent, the shops and the food.
“How is the snapper?” Lamar asked.
“Excellent. It has a great flavor.”
“I’ve only had it once, but I remember it being pretty good.” Brody took a bite of his steak. “You should try the steak next time though. It’s really good. All of the meat is raised right here in Riverbend.”
“I’ll have to do that one night when I’m really hungry. It was just too heavy for me tonight.”
“Well, I for one am glad you’re not going to be too full to enjoy some dancing.” Lamar grinned over at her. “I can’t wait to dance with you.”
“I’m not much of a dancer. I haven’t really danced in years.”
“You’ll do fine. You’re naturally graceful.” Brody leaned back in his chair and nodded at Lamar. “He’ll wear you out on the floor though if you let him. Just let me know when you’re tired and I’ll rescue you.”
Caitlyn smiled. She liked seeing the playful side of Brody. He was more intense and brooding than Lamar.
“I don’t suppose you would have some time tomorrow to go through our office with us and give us some pointers, would you?”
“I’m actually about caught up on Brian’s mess. I could start looking at yours tomorrow after lunch.” She couldn’t believe she had agreed to do that so easily. Had she had more to drink than the single glass of wine?
“That would be great. We really need all the help you can give us. We’ve had to take our taxes to Austin each year since there’s no one here with time to work on them. It’s costing us a lot of money because we aren’t very, um, organized.” Brody’s brooding nature was back.
“I’ll see what I can do to help. The thing is, you need to keep on top of it or it will get out of hand in only a few days or weeks.”
“Riverbend could really use another accountant.” Lamar made the observation this time.
She drew in a deep breath but refused to let them bait her. She wasn’t going to get into the middle of that discussion with them again.
They took care of the bill and Lamar escorted her to the truck.
“Can’t wait to get you on the dance floor, Caitlyn. This is going to be fun.”
She wasn’t so sure, but she was game to find out. It had been a long time since she’d had fun going dancing. Would it unnerve her to be with two men in public like this? It hadn’t bothered her at dinner. Would it be any different at the bar dancing?
Chapter Eight
Brody and Lamar car
efully maneuvered Caitlyn around the bar toward the empty table in the back of the room. Brody could feel the beat of the music all the way to his soul as it thrummed at the base of his spine. His balls were already sensitive to the nearness of Caitlyn, but the promise of rubbing bodies with her had them even more aware. He wasn’t sure how he was going to be able to behave with her so near to him.
“How’s this?” Lamar asked as they stopped by the empty table.
“Looks fine to me.” Caitlyn took a chair and they crowded around her.
Brody was relieved to see that she didn’t balk at them getting closer to her at the table.
Ether she really was okay with there being two of them dating her or she wasn’t thinking about it right then. Of course, it helped to live in a town where the norm was to be different. Most of the others in the bar were part of either a ménage or a D/s relationship.
“What would you like to drink?” Lamar leaned toward Caitlyn to be heard over the music.
“Oh, whisky sour would be fine.”
Lamar nodded at him and walked toward the bar to get their order. He and Lamar drank draft beer. He looked around. The dance floor was already full, and there were people at the bar almost two deep now.
“So what sort of computer program are you using for your books?”
“Program? Um, I guess we aren’t using one. I just have everything in an Excel spreadsheet. It’s not great, but it works. Sort of.” Brody winced.
Actually, it wasn’t working, but he hated to admit it even to her. He just wished she would agree to marry them and they could live happily ever after, at this point. He’d admit to screwing the books up and just about anything else if it would put them closer to convincing her to stay and give them a chance.
“Uh, spreadsheet? You don’t have Quicken or Bookkeeper?” She had an odd expression on her face. Then she shrugged. “Okay. We’ll figure out what sort of program you need and get it.”
