by Jayne Rylon
“Looks like our intern taught you a thing or two today.” Josh tried to cut the tension with a quick jab and a quicker grin.
It was more than just a joke, though. Cooper had marched into their office and proudly proclaimed that he and his roommates were in love with the same woman. That they shared her between them without drama, respected her and each other. He told them he was proud of the affection they showered her with. Dared them to find fault with it or call it immoral. Even if it meant losing his job—one they knew he’d busted his ass for—he didn’t give a single fuck.
And neither should they.
Maybe one day they’d evolve that far, but for now—and during the ten years since they’d met in college—they had other priorities. There was too much at stake to gamble their firm on people’s reactions to their unconventional tastes in bed.
“Can we at least agree that the most important thing here is Kari? Making sure she stops jumping every time someone comes up behind her in the copy room and that those damn rings under her eyes start to fade?” Ford asked while glaring at both Brady and Josh.
“Of course.” Brady nodded, the frown he’d been wearing lately in danger of becoming a permanent fixture on his face.
“Yeah.” Josh didn’t debate that. Maybe Ford was right.
Even if Kari had once been the right person for them, Marty had stolen their chance to prove it to her. And for that, in addition to all the rest, he hated the fucker.
“Good. Then I think it’s time we had a chat with Marty Schone.” Ford cracked his knuckles.
“Better keep those jammed in your pockets. Just in case your legendary control slips for even a moment.” Brady raised a brow.
Josh shook his head. He’d have to rein in his own temper if Ford was that close to the edge. Otherwise their rage could feed off each other’s as their emotions sometimes did. They couldn’t afford to do this wrong.
Asshole or not, Marty was still a shark of a lawyer. They wouldn’t have kept him on at the firm this long if he hadn’t had a stellar record in the courtroom. If they left him any opening at all, he’d use it to come back and bite them in the ass.
“I’ll keep my shit together,” Ford promised. “But we’re going to need to hit the gym hard tonight. Maybe do some sparring.”
“I like my face too much for that. Maybe we should swing by a club instead,” Josh suggested. It could be the only way to work Kari out of his mind. He’d wanted so badly to lift her onto his lap and rock her earlier when her pain had bubbled up to the surface.
Except he didn’t have the right to touch her, and never would.
They needed to find someone else. Even if it was a poor substitute for the woman they each had been eying for months. They had to channel this energy arcing between them before someone got fried.
“We’ll see.” Ford didn’t sound convinced. Guaranteed he’d have some excuse to avoid going. Lately he seemed to be losing interest in the casual liaisons they’d had with women. The ones that had kept them all sane and sated despite the pressures of their career and the desires they couldn’t quite seem to satisfy.
Something had to give.
Josh just hoped it wasn’t Marty Schone’s deceptively pretty face.
Ford picked up the phone in the middle of the conference table and hit zero. “Hi, this is Ford Westbrook. Could you please send up the security officer we discussed earlier? Thank you.”
They paced the elaborate meeting room, ignoring the gorgeous view out the expansive windows until their chaperone arrived a few minutes later.
There was only one thing left to do.
Together, Ford, Brady, and Josh took out the trash.
3
Two Weeks Later
“I know Ford already told you there’s no pressure, but…you are coming tonight, aren’t you?” Josh’s neon green stare pierced Kari, making her squirm in her seat. It was thrilling to be asked, even if she didn’t plan to take him up on his invitation.
As if he could sense her answer, he continued trying to convince her. For a lawyer skilled in cross-examination, it was probably as close to no-pressure as he operated. “I mean, you took care of so many of the details, it’s virtually your own party. It wouldn’t be right if you didn’t enjoy the fruits of your labor. Especially that killer black raspberry cake you commissioned. I’ve been dreaming of it ever since that tasting you took us to at lunch last month. You know Ford so well. The anchor design was perfect for him, and he would love it even more if you were there to enjoy it with us.”
Over the top of the giant monitor on her desk, Brady glared at Josh. Was it because he disagreed?
She did her best to ignore Josh and focus on his partner instead. “Don’t worry, I won’t be crashing tonight. I totally understand that you don’t feel comfortable with putting me on the guest list after what happened at the Christmas party…”
“What?” Brady snapped his stare to her and it was ten times as intense as Josh’s had been. “Do you really think I would hold that against you? Kari, I’m pissed because we agreed not to harass you about coming. Ford is going to be furious when I tell him Josh is bugging you about it.”
Oh, that. Right.
She nodded softly. It would always be there, hanging between them. Embarrassing her and freaking her out at the same time. Making her second-guess herself and causing them to tiptoe around her. A tiny part of her appreciated it, even though she mostly hated the need for special treatment.
Kari would be lying to them all—herself included—if she denied the anxiety wringing her guts at the thought of attending another party any time soon.
Hell, she’d ended up in the corner of her sister’s bathroom, hugging her knees and shuddering, just last weekend. All because her nephew had invited some poor kid named Marty to his pool party. She’d taken one look at the clown-shaped goodie bag with that name written in bold Magic Marker across the top and nearly passed out.
Then she’d spent the next half hour trying to keep her sprinkle-laden birthday cupcake down while telling herself over and over that she was safe, until her reflexive self-defense mode came off of red alert. When her fingers had stopped shaking, she’d doled out a couple of the anti-anxiety pills she’d resisted taking, and surrendered.
At least there, she’d been a quick Uber ride from home. No one needed her to lose it while they were out at sea. They’d have to turn the entire yacht around to get her back to shore once they passed out of range of the dinghy. No way was she going to make a scene like that in front of Ford, Brady, and Josh. Not ever again.
“I appreciate the gesture, Josh. Honestly, I do. I just don’t know if I’m up for it yet.” Or ever.
He extended his hand toward her, but Brady lunged across her desk and swatted it away before he could make contact that he hadn’t specifically asked permission for.
She knew Josh meant well, but still, she loved that Brady was looking out for her in his own way, too. With these guys—and Ford—around, she felt sheltered in the best of ways. Protected. That was more valuable to her than the fat paycheck she took home. It made her crave their presence. It also made that tiny sliver of her old self that Marty hadn’t squashed debate the foolishness of staying behind instead of joining them tonight, where they could both take care of her and give her the chance to have some fun again.
In a purely platonic way, of course.
Kari mentally rolled her eyes. Even she didn’t believe the bullshit she was trying to sell herself.
Was she justifying her desire to hang out with them outside of work? Probably. Until right then she hadn’t been aware that she was waffling, considering showing up at the last moment. Her hesitation as she questioned her own sanity stretched the silence between them until it became extra awkward.
Josh’s shoulders slumped. “That was insensitive of me. I’m sorry. I understand if you don’t—”
“Hey, it’s fine. It’s nice to know you still want me to come. Especially after I caused so much trouble last time.”
Kari’s cheeks heated as she thought back to the police reports they’d filed, the investigators poking around the office, and the showdown with Marty. That was before she recalled their endless patience with her when she spaced out or fucked up during the months she’d spent coming to terms with what had happened and how it might not have been a bout of temporary insanity on her part, but something far more sinister.
The day she’d broken down and admitted to both herself and them that she suspected she’d been the victim of a date-rape drug had been one of the most mortifying and simultaneously cleansing of her life. Ford had immediately called the police and asked them to take an addendum to her statement. Brady had offered to drive her to her counselor’s office, and Josh had acted like absolutely nothing was wrong or different with her, cheering her up by continuing their ongoing cat meme war via texts when she teetered on the verge of darkness.
Brady disagreed. “You didn’t cause anything.” The steel in his tone left no wiggle room.
“At least we agree on that.” Josh crossed his arms as if fighting the urge to extend them toward her again. “Nothing that happened the last time was your fault. I hate that it’s still causing you pain and suffering now. I guess this was my way of trying to make up for it. And set things right, you know?”
“It’s not about you. It’s about her,” Brady snapped.
Some of Josh’s reasoning got to her, though. She supposed that’s why he was so good at his job. He was persuasive, logical, and capable of building undeniable arguments.
“Hang on.” She put her hand up and both of them shifted their gazes to her. The intensity of being caught between them made her a little dizzy and a lot reckless.
“Maybe I’m crazy, but what you’re saying makes some kind of sense.” She took a deep breath, then looked at Josh. “It could be good for me…”
“So we’ll see you at the dock tonight?” he asked with a widening grin. “Or, if you prefer, I could send our limo to pick you up at your place.”
Of course, that reminded her that even her best dress wasn’t really suitable for a soiree of this level. It had been foolish to dream of it. Because now she was twice as disappointed as before that it wasn’t going to happen.
She winced, then admitted, “That sounds incredible, but I’m really not prepared. I don’t have anything to wear, for starters.”
“There’s still more than seven hours until you need to be ready. Take the afternoon off. Go shopping. Do girly shit.” Josh waved toward the door. “Do what you’ve got to do and we’ll send the car for you at six.”
Her mouth might have slipped open. Was he serious?
“You know, that’s not a terrible idea.” Brady looked at his gorgeous, sophisticated watch. The one Josh and Ford had custom designed to commemorate his thirtieth birthday. It reminded her of what a big night this was and how desperately she wished she could share it with them. “There’s plenty of time. You worked at least that much overtime last week while we were prepping for the DePaul trial.”
That was true. In fact, she’d easily put in twice that many hours but hadn’t marked them all down in the time-keeping program the firm used. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” both men said in perfect unison.
Then Josh continued, “Use the company credit card as our thanks for all you do for us. We really appreciate how far above and beyond you go. I’m sorry I didn’t say so sooner.”
They had told her often enough. Kari couldn’t even bother to correct him when she was still reeling from his generous offer. She waved her hands in front of her, hoping they didn’t think she was trying to take advantage of the situation. “That’s not necessary.”
“We know, but we would like it if you took us up on it. Buy yourself a pair of really expensive shoes and a new purse while you’re at it. Seriously.” Brady shrugged. “What’s the point of having money if we can’t use it to make people we care about happy? Besides, Josh procrastinated and didn’t end up getting Ford anything for his birthday. It’ll go a long way toward making up for it if you come and he gets the credit.”
“Hey! I framed that old goals checklist we made back in college now that we’ve hit them all, but yeah…it’s pretty lame.” Josh stuffed his hands in his pockets.
“No, it sounds sentimental. I’m sure he’s going to love it.” Her heart melted a little. These guys were people she wanted to spend more time with, and if they were going to lavish some of their generosity on her, maybe she should accept it.
“Not as much as he’d appreciate your company,” Josh insisted.
Kari swallowed then, trying to clear the lump in her throat. He seemed completely unaware that his kindness had punched right through the thick wall she’d built after Marty had taken advantage of her. To know that they cared, that they still valued her contributions to the firm and—just maybe—beyond that as well… It meant a lot.
There was no way in hell she was going to disappoint them or herself.
She was going to do this. Wipe away every bad memory and replace them with good ones.
“Okay.” She opened her desk drawer and drew out her wristlet. She zipped her phone into it, then shut down her computer.
“Seriously?” Josh lit up. He grinned then squeezed her in the briefest of hugs before Brady yanked him back again.
Kari smiled, her mouth remembering what it had been like when she’d done that a hell of a lot more often. Maybe she could again soon, too. “Yep. I’ll see you guys later. And…thank you. For everything.”
“Remember, go wild,” Josh said as she walked out the door.
Kari raised her hand, waving with a chuckle. It seemed that instead of a fairy godmother, she had a pair of fairy godfathers.
Hell yes, she did. Bippity-boppity-booyah!
4
Kari hadn’t quite realized what it would be like to ride in the back of the guys’ private car all by herself. It sounded fancy as fuck, having Bronson—their driver, a pretty cool retired military guy who sometimes chatted with her at the office when he was waiting to whisk them off to court, meetings, or home after a long day—pick her up right at the curb of her building and take her to the docks. No cursing at traffic, no long-ass walk in impractical shoes, no sweaty commute on packed public transportation.
Actually, though, it was kind of creepy. Like she was being kidnapped. That thought did nothing to still her tapping toe or her fingertips drumming on her knee. So she half-stood and leaned forward until she could rap on the dark divider between her and the driver’s seat.
It rolled down, letting in the late afternoon glow and a view of the sherbet-colored sky.
“You okay, Ms. Hill?”
She snorted at that. “It’s always been Kari. Still is, you know?”
“You’ve never been the guest of honor at one of my bosses’ shindigs before.”
A nervous laugh squeaked through her tight throat. “I’m not tonight either. I’m a pity invite from the office.”
He glanced at her in the rearview mirror, one eyebrow raised. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”
She shrugged her shoulder, feeling air brush over the bare skin there. Nothing like the times she’d ridden with the guys on the way to a professional event while fully buttoned up in one of her many boring, colorless suits. Would they like the dress they’d bought her and all its sparkly flair?
“If you do, you’re nuts. Those boys adore you. When I left them, Brady and Josh were even more excited than when I bring them pizza. Josh was bragging about how he got Ford the best birthday gift of all time and how he planned to take all the credit. Brady didn’t seem to care much since it meant he was going to spend time with you.”
“Seriously?” Kari sat a little straighter at that insight.
“Of course.” Bronson cleared his throat. “And when they see you…looking like that…”
His soft whistle of appreciation was exactly the confidence boost she needed to keep from begging him to turn the car around. Kari settled bac
k into the seat.
The silence extended between them as they each turned to their own thoughts. It startled her when he cleared his throat. “I shouldn’t really be telling you all that, but it’s weird, because I know you and… Well, I’ve never seen you nervous before. You rule that office like it’s your own personal army. Need me to turn the air up some more?”
“Please.” Maybe then she wouldn’t feel like she was about to pass out. Kari wiped her damp palms on her thighs. “Tonight is different somehow.”
“Just my personal opinion here, tell me to shut up if you want—”
“No, go ahead. I can take it.” She braced herself for him to tell her she wasn’t ready to be Cinderella at the ball and should go back to filing court documents and making appointments instead.
He paused, then said, “I’ve seen this coming for a while. Don’t know why it took so long. Probably because of that asshole who used to work at the firm. Farty Marty. Always stinking up this car after hammering the garlic bread at that shitty Italian restaurant he loved for lunch meetings.”
While mention of the M-word usually had her poised on the verge of a heart attack, Bronson took the scary right out of her attacker with that nickname. There wouldn’t be any hiding it if he let it rip in the backseat while Bronson was driving him to or from court or one of the other times the guys had generously lent the driver’s services, which Marty had never failed to request.
Kari put her hand over her mouth and cracked up.
“Anyway, something changed. A couple of weeks ago.” Bronson kept his stare glued to the road, but she knew he was using his observation skills to pay close attention to her reaction. “You don’t have to tell me what it was or anything, but they’re different. On edge. Short with each other. And…hungry.”
Kari knew exactly what it had been: Cooper. His courage to stand up for the life he wanted had inspired the partners and inadvertently rubbed their noses in something they craved but didn’t have.
