Passion, Victoria 9: Flowering Passions (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Becca Van

  “Yes, I’m fine. Sorry, I spaced out. There is just so much to do and I sort of got lost in my mind planning.” Molly cleared her throat. “Are you sure you want to introduce me around?”

  His frown got a little fiercer. “Why wouldn’t we?”

  “Um…well, if you’re sure, I would love to go out with you to meet new people. It would be great for business.”

  Geez, Molly, you’re rambling again. Shut the hell up.

  Giles began to walk closer and Molly was having a hard time filling her lungs with air. This had happened to her when she met them for the first time in their office and it was happening again. She was attracted to them but there was no way she was going to let them know that. Molly would never have a chance with these two men so she pushed that thought right out of her head.

  She could just imagine the sort of women they went for. Tall, blonde, blue-eyed, model-thin, with a grace to match their curves, and smart. They were business owners after all. They would never be interested in someone like her. She wasn’t fat but she wasn’t thin. Molly had curves and although she wasn’t really short she wasn’t tall. Even though she was an average five foot five, these two men towered over her by nine and ten inches respectively, and she felt like a kid next to them.

  The frown left Steven’s face but he didn’t smile. She wondered if she had said something wrong, again. That was something else Molly did often. She had foot-in-mouth disease and often said the wrong thing and when she tried to fix her faux pas, she ended up changing feet. No one but Deanne understood Molly and she figured that no one else ever would. She didn’t really care what other people thought about her, or that’s what she told herself. Maybe one day she would actually start believing it.

  “Molly?” Giles was frowning at her this time.

  “What?”

  “Would seven be a good time for us to pick you up?”

  “You asked that already didn’t you?” Molly asked and felt her face heat a little more.

  The frown on Giles face changed to a smile and the little crinkles at the corner of his eyes drew her attention. When the smile broadened and his white teeth showed against his tan face, she couldn’t help but look at his mouth.

  “Yes, precious, I did.”

  Precious? Is he for real? Nah, Molly, he’s just taking the mickey out of you.

  “Sorry. I don’t mean to space out, but I just can’t seem to help myself.”

  “You have a very busy mind, don’t you, cutie?”

  Cutie? There is nothing cute about me.

  Molly began to wonder if going out with them was a good thing, especially if they were going to continue teasing her.

  “Uh…” Before she could finish speaking, Giles reached out and took one of her wavy strands between his fingers and tugged it lightly.

  “See you at seven, Molly.”

  Molly was left with her mouth gaping open as the Blaze brothers sauntered toward the door. She couldn’t help but stare at their muscular arses as they flexed as they walked away.

  * * * *

  “She looked kind of shocked, didn’t she?” Giles said quietly as he and Steven walked back to their office.

  “That’s an understatement. She looked downright astonished.”

  “I love how her eyes glaze over when she’s thinking. Did you see how the green in her irises seemed to sparkle?”

  “That was kind of hard to miss, Giles.” Steven opened the door to their real estate office and headed to his desk. “She was questioning why we were asking her out. I could see the confusion in her eyes and then when she answered and said she would love to meet some new people I figured she’d come to the conclusion we were just being friendly because she’s new in town.”

  “Yeah, I got that, too.” Giles sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “We’re going to have to make her realize that we mean business and really want to get to know her. I wonder why she thinks we wouldn’t be interested in her.”

  “Now that is the optimum question, isn’t it? Has some arsehole hurt her and made her question her own desirability as a woman? Shit, I hope not, but if they have, it’s going to be our job to bolster her self-esteem. That woman is so damn cute and I love the way she gets lost in her own thoughts.”

  “She’s precious all right. Now all we have to do is convince her of that fact.”

  “How the hell are we going to do that, Steve? I have never seen a woman look so damn puzzled about being asked out on a date.”

  “Me either, but we’ll just have to go slow with her. I think if we rush her she’ll push us away.”

  “Do you think she’s noticed the ménage families walking around town?”

  “Yeah, she has. A few of them have stopped into her shop and introduced themselves.” Giles held up his empty coffee cup and when Steve nodded he headed in back to make the drinks.

  “Do you think she accepts them?” Steve asked when Giles placed the now full mug in front of him.

  “I don’t think she’s freaked out by them. At least if she is, she’s hidden it well.”

  “And how the hell do you know that?” Steve asked. “We’ve haven’t spent any time in her company.”

  “That’s what I was talking to Graham about.” Giles took a sip from his cup. “He said that she doesn’t seem to care one way or the other.”

  “That’s good. At least I think it is.”

  “Yep.” Giles smiled and knew the gleam in his eyes probably mirrored Steve’s. No matter how long it took, he had every intention of courting Molly Godfrey and hoped like hell that she would finally see how pretty and smart she was. She was beautiful in her own right. Not a classic beauty but she was so damn cute and pretty, every time he looked at her his cock got hard and his balls began to ache. “We’ll just keep on asking her out and eventually she’ll see just how sexy and cute she really is, and hopefully she will twig that we are interested in a relationship with her.”

  “So how slow are we going to have to go?”

  “As slow as she needs, Steve. You and I both know that she could be the one for us, but she’s going to need time to come to terms with that. She looks so damned innocent and I don’t want to rush her. The last thing we want to do is scare her away.”

  “I know that, but we’ve been waiting for someone like her for so long I don’t know how much longer I can wait.”

  Giles reached out and squeezed his brother’s shoulder. “I’m just as eager as you are, mate, but she needs time to catch up with our way of thinking. Tonight we start getting her used to our company and we go from there.”

  “The rest of the day is gonna seem endless.”

  “That it is, bro. That it is.”

  Chapter Two

  Molly was as nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof. She’d changed her outfit at least five times and still couldn’t decide what she should wear. Luckily she’d already showered and dried her hair, but she’d never been really good at styling hair and now it looked like her hair had gotten in a fight with a handheld cake mixer. Or more to the point it looked like she’d had a huge scare and her hair had stood on end and hadn’t settled down again. There was nothing else she could do but put it up like she usually did. No matter how much product she used on her unruly locks, nothing changed.

  Her hair was the bane of her existence and if she knew she wouldn’t end up looking like a poodle, she would have cut it off a long time ago. It was so thick and wavy it looked like she’d stuck her finger into a power socket and fried it. With a muttered curse, she grabbed the emerald-green scrunchy and, with a deft flick of her wrist, twisted the mass and bundled it up into a bun then secured it. At least the hair tie matched her top.

  Molly looked at herself critically in the mirror. She didn’t know why she even bothered. Nothing ever changed. The short-sleeved shirt was nice and matched her eyes. She wasn’t sure about the knee-length blue denim skirt, but she was having trouble choosing what else she should wear. She had no idea what sort of club they were taking her to. Was it up
scale and elite for the well-to-do or was it more laid back?

  Shit, Molly, cut it out. You’re working yourself up for nothing. It doesn’t matter what sort of club it is. You’re clean and look neat enough. Besides you’re only going so you can meet people and drum up business. Yeah, right, keep reminding yourself of that or you are going to make a fool of yourself, again. It’s not like this is a date or anything.

  Molly turned away from the mirror with a sigh and slid her feet into her low-heeled shoes. She was on her feet so much she had learned to wear comfortable footwear. She’d tried to wear higher heels to work and when she went out with Deanne, but that had been a bad idea. She wasn’t used to wearing those shoes with toothpick heels and after torturing her feet, and nearly breaking an ankle in the process, she had given in. Molly wasn’t a person to concede defeat easily, but sometimes comfort and sanity won out.

  She walked toward her bedroom door intent on finding her purse and keys so she wouldn’t keep the Blaze brothers waiting when they arrived, but the doorbell to the back door rang. Molly wrung her hands together and took a few deep breaths before she was able to begin walking again. When she opened the door, she nearly swooned. There they stood in denim jeans and button-down shirts. God, they were so sexy and they looked so much more devastating dressed more casually. Steven’s translucent blue eyes ran up and down the length of her body while she took them in and she could have sworn her pussy lips flowered open and got wet. It took everything in her to not shift her feet from side to side like some shy, innocent kid.

  Giles stood slightly behind Steven on the small landing and when she met his gaze she could have sworn his pupils widened and his irises darkened.

  Stop it, Molly. You’re imagining things you want to see. Get a grip, you stupid woman.

  “Hi,” Molly managed to squeak out, and she cleared her throat before trying again. “Hi. Do you want to come in?”

  “Sure.” Steve smiled and then stood there looking at her expectantly.

  Molly wondered what he was waiting for until she realized she was blocking the door. Heat suffused her cheeks and she stepped back. “Sorry.”

  Dork, dork, dork. Molly could hear the chant of the kids she used to go to school with. Why did she have to hear their voices insulting her intelligence and appearance right now? Would she ever be able to see herself as anything other than a dork? That was highly unlikely.

  She couldn’t help but inhale their clean, delectable scents as they walked past her. Steven smelled like sunshine and pine whereas Giles smelled a little earthier with his sandalwood scent. If she never got to do anything else, she would always remember how good they smelled.

  Molly realized she was still standing by the open door and quickly closed it. The entrance to her apartment led right into her kitchen and it was big enough when she was the only one in it. Now that she had two sexy, handsome, muscular men in there with her, it felt downright tiny.

  “Can I get you something to drink?”

  “No thanks, precious.” Giles stood close to the small table and chairs watching her as did Steven.

  Molly stood looking at them and then realized she was staring again. God, please don’t let there be drool running down my chin.

  “Are you ready to go, Molly?”

  “Huh?” Steven’s question pulled her from her trance. “Oh sorry, yes. I just need to get my purse and keys. I’ll be back in a minute.”

  Molly rushed from the kitchen into the living room, muttering about what a fool they must think she was. She couldn’t see her purse anywhere or her keys. She tried to retrace her steps in her mind but all she could think about was the two men waiting on her and no matter how hard she tried to pull her brain back on track, it kept sliding right off the rails.

  She jumped a bit when a warm, hard body came up against her back and then two arms came around her waist. Molly looked down and when she saw those tanned, sinewy, rippling forearms she went brain-dead.

  “Are these what you’re looking for, cutie?”

  Steven’s deep, modulated timbre sent a shiver up her spine and she wasn’t sure she had been able to contain it when she thought she heard him exhale with gust of breath.

  “What?”

  Molly studied the light sprinkling of hair on the outside of his forearms and followed it down to his wrists. It was only then that she saw he was holding her purse in one hand and keys in the other.

  “Uh, yes. Thanks. Where did you find them?” Molly gripped the handle of her purse but made sure she didn’t touch his hand in any way. If she did, she might just end up making more of a fool of herself.

  “They were on the table.” Steven relinquished her purse but kept her keys. Molly didn’t relax or turn to face him until she felt him move away. When she did turn around, it was to find him smiling at her.

  See, he thinks you’re a dork, too. Maybe you should just forget about going out and stay home.

  Before she could suggest they leave her here and go on without her, Steven took a step closer and gripped her elbow. “We’d better go or we’ll be late.”

  Before she knew it, she was outside and being led down the back stairs on the outside of the building by Giles’s hand while Steven locked up her apartment. Then she was being lifted up into the front seat of their dual-cab ute and sitting in the middle of them while Giles drove out of the back parking lot.

  No matter how hard she tried to make herself smaller, it didn’t work. Her shoulders brushed against theirs or theirs against hers. She couldn’t quite figure out which yet.

  “When do you think you’ll be ready to open the doors to your florist shop?” Giles glanced at her and then back at the road.

  “I had planned to have everything set up to open in another three weeks but I don’t think I’m going to need that long. Graham has done a great job outfitting the shop and the back workroom. If he keeps working the way he has been, he’ll be finished by the end of next week. I might be able to bring the opening up a week, but that will depend on whether I can get the fridges delivered earlier and how soon the wholesale supplier can start providing me with stock.”

  “If you ever need any help with anything, Molly, don’t hesitate to ask. Okay?”

  “Thank you, that’s very kind of you, but I think everything is falling into place nicely.”

  “What made you move here from Melbourne?” Giles drew her attention.

  “Once I did my time as an apprentice florist I wanted to open my own shop, but when I started looking into leasing my own place, I could see that dream getting further and further away. The prices in the city are astronomical but I wasn’t willing to give up my dream. So I started looking into rural areas to set up shop and when I found your town I just kinda knew this was it, and the rest is history.”

  Molly was glad when Giles pulled up in the parking lot of the club. She felt like she had been monopolizing the conversation and hadn’t had the chance to ask them any questions. Steven helped her from the truck and guided her toward the door with his hand on her lower back. Giles fell into step beside her and took her elbow.

  Her insides were doing a happy dance again and Molly had to concentrate really hard on keeping her body’s response hidden. By the time she sat down in the booth-like setting on the curved leather seat her body was doing more than a happy dance. It was downright aching. Her breasts felt heavy and her nipples were hard and throbbing and no matter how hard she tried to stop it, her pussy kept clenching and her panties were downright soaked. If she didn’t have the thick denim skirt on she was scared she would leave a wet spot on her seat. Hopefully if she had to stand up it wouldn’t be noticeable on the back of her skirt either.

  Molly found it hard to breath with Giles and Steven sitting really close to her on either side. It wasn’t that she felt hemmed in or claustrophobic. It was because she was aware of them sexually. Women from all walks of life and ages would have to be dead not to notice the two good-looking men.

  “What would you like to drink, Molly?
” Steven’s deep voice so close to her ear sent another shudder through her body.

  She didn’t usually drink much but she needed a little fortification to get her through the rest of the night. “White wine, please.”

  “What type of wine do you like, precious?”

  Shit! Did Giles and his brother have to keep calling her by those endearments? If they kept it up Molly was going to think there was more to this outing than there actually was. Plus there was the fact that she liked it. It gave her a warm fuzzy feeling deep down inside and made her feel special.

  “Umm…” Molly had no idea how to answer that. She wasn’t a connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination. “Something not too sweet and not too dry.”

  Steven rose to his feet and winked at her. “Leave it to me, cutie. I think I have it covered.”

  You can cover me anytime you want to, sexy.

  Molly, cut that out!

  “Do you have any family, Molly?”

  “What? Oh God, sorry, Giles, that was so rude.”

  Giles covered the hand she had on the table and she gasped when sparks of warmth traveled up her arm and goose flesh rose all over her skin.

  “Relax, Molly. You’ve no reason to be so uptight. Steve and I would never do anything to hurt you.”

  Molly frowned. She’d never even thought that and didn’t want him to go on thinking she was scared of them. “I know that. I’m sorry for being such a dork.”

  “Stop that right now, Molly Godfrey. You are not and never will be a dork.” Giles was a little angry and she hoped she hadn’t just ruined the whole night.

  “What’s going on?” Steven asked as he placed the drinks on the table, looking from her to Giles and back again.

  “Molly thinks she’s a dork, at least that’s what she just called herself.”

  “What? Damn it, Molly, you are nothing of the kind.” Steven sat down next to her again and this time his thigh was pressed up tight against hers.

  “You two are two of only three people who think that.”

  Giles reached out and gently gripped her chin. His gaze was steely and she licked her lips nervously. His eyes flicked down to her mouth and then back up to her eyes again. “I don’t ever want to hear you putting yourself down again, Molly. You’re a beautiful, intelligent woman.”