Her Mountain Home

by Marla Monroe

  “That means we have to work harder to make her feel loved and cherished so that when that happens, she thinks about how much we care about her and hopefully how much she cares about us,” Caleb pointed out.

  “I think I’m already in love with her,” Austin said.

  “Yeah, me too.”

  Selena walked out of the bathroom wearing what she’d had on the night before. She looked a little unsure as she made her way toward them. Austin didn’t like that she was still a little shy around them.

  “Let’s go fix something to eat. I can make a mean omelet, but that’s about the best I can do when it comes to breakfast,” Austin said.

  “An omelet sounds good to me,” she said.

  He noticed she looked everywhere but at him or Caleb. She was uncomfortable now for some reason. Austin pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

  “What’s going on in that amazing head of yours?” he asked.

  “I guess I’m a little uncomfortable,” she admitted.

  “Because you made love with us last night?” he asked.

  “Actually, because I had sex, made love at all. It’s been a long time for me, and I don’t usually hop into bed with someone after only a few dates,” Selena said.

  “Don’t dwell on it, hon. There are two of us and we can be pretty convincing when we want to be. We overwhelmed you with our winning personalities and seduced you,” Austin said, smiling as he held her against him.

  “Conceited much?” she asked with a chuckle.

  “Just stating the facts. Caleb and I can bowl a woman over when we want to,” Austin said.

  “Do you do this often?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

  “No,” Caleb spoke up quickly.

  “Just you, honey. Just you. We knew the moment we saw you that we wanted you for our own,” Austin said.

  “That’s why we went up to you and gave you our card. We had hoped you’d call us, but when you didn’t, we called you.” Caleb reached out and pulled her into his arms.

  Austin let her go so that his friend could wrap her in his arms for a hug.

  “So, about that breakfast,” Austin began.

  “One-track mind when it comes to his stomach,” Caleb said, shaking his head.

  “Okay, guys. We’ll table this discussion for now. Let’s go make omelets, Austin.”

  He grinned as he led the way to the kitchen. Caleb sat at the little island while he and Selena puttered around the kitchen gathering the ingredients for the meal. Twenty minutes later they were eating at the kitchen table, talking about everything and nothing. Austin couldn’t keep the smile off his face the entire time. This was what he wanted. Their woman sitting there laughing and grinning as they discussed the day they’d had or plans for the future. Austin wanted that future with Selena.

  Caleb brought up the rest of the day. “Let’s take Selena up to that overlook. I bet she’d like that.”

  “What do you say, hon? You up for a short hike up the mountain?” Austin asked.

  She looked dubious. “How short a hike? I’m not exactly dressed for traipsing around in the woods, guys.”

  “There’s a good trail up to it, and it’s only about a five or six-minute walk. Nothing too strenuous,” Austin said.

  “Okay. I’m game. If I get tired, someone’s going to be carting me back. I’m not used to walking uphill,” she teased.

  “Baby, I’ll gladly carry you anywhere you want to go,” Caleb said.

  After loading the dishwasher, Austin turned it on and joined Caleb and Selena in the living room, where the two of them were sitting on the couch talking about how they’d carved out the mantel over the gas log fireplace.

  “Thing’s heavy as hell, too. We had to get some help holding it up there while we secured it to the stones,” Caleb was telling her.

  “It’s really beautiful. Perfect for the room, too,” she said.

  “Did you tell her about how much fun it was to haul that bastard out of the woods when we cut down the tree it came out of?” Austin asked.

  “Yeah. Man, I can still remember how much my body hurt the next day,” Caleb said, shaking his head.

  “Let’s watch a little TV before we head out. I don’t want Selena to get a stomach cramp on the way up,” Austin said.

  They watched a commentary for the next thirty minutes, and then the three of them strode outside to start the trek up the mountain. Austin paid close attention to Selena to be sure she didn’t get overly tired or show signs of a cramp. It wasn’t far to the lookout they had in mind, but neither was it an easy walk.

  “It’s so quiet up here,” Selena said. “I really hadn’t noticed before.”

  “It’s quiet because we’re out here moving around. When you sit on the back deck at the house and just listen, you can hear all sorts of wildlife sounds coming from the woods,” Caleb told her.

  “Almost there, hon. You doing okay?” Austin asked.

  “Yeah. I’m going to feel it tomorrow, but this is good. I like the outdoors but don’t spend much time outside. I’m always on deadline for one book or another and don’t take the time to go anywhere.”

  “Here we are,” Caleb said, extending his arm toward the opening in the trees.

  Austin watched Selena’s expression as she walked over to the outlook and gazed out onto the valley below. His stomach flipped at the look of wonder on her face. He couldn’t help but enjoy seeing that expression on her face.

  “It’s beautiful,” she breathed out.

  “We need to bring you up here to watch the sun rise next time,” Caleb said. “That’s when it’s really pretty.”

  “Means getting out of bed at the ass crack of dawn though,” Austin pointed out.

  “True.” Caleb chuckled.

  “It would be worth it though,” Selena said, still gazing out over the land below.

  “But for you, babe. I’d get up to bring you out here if that’s what you wanted,” Caleb said.

  “We’ll build a bench up here so we can all sit and watch the sunrise,” Austin suggested.

  “That would be awesome,” Selena agreed.

  “Ready to head back down?” Caleb asked.

  “Not really, but we need to head back. I’m going to have to leave before much longer,” Selena said.

  “Why?” Austin asked.

  “Well, besides needing to get back to work, I have a very troublesome cat who’ll tear up the house if I don’t feed her on a semi-regular basis,” she said, chuckling.

  “Okay, I’ll give you that. She looks to be a menace,” Caleb said.

  “Oh, you have no idea,” Selena said, shaking her head. “She tore up one of my books when I forgot to let her in the bedroom to sleep one night. I sleep with my door closed and she didn’t like that one bit. I always make sure she’s in before I close the door now.”

  “She’s trained you well,” Austin said with a chuckle.

  “Maybe so, but I love her.”

  “Wonder how she’ll react to us taking up some of your time?” Caleb asked.

  Selena gave a mock shiver. “I’m almost scared to find out. Maybe you should take it in stages and let her get used to you a little at a time.”

  “Not happening, babe. We’re all in here. We’ll tell her like it is when we take you home this afternoon. She’ll see it our way,” Caleb said.

  “I’m almost afraid of what she’ll do when you leave,” Selena said.

  “We’ll win her over to us,” Austin assured her.

  “This I have to see,” Selena said.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Selena unlocked the front door and led the men inside. True to form, Maggie was nowhere to be seen. She’d expected as much. The finicky feline was hiding out of disapproval that she’d left her all night alone, and that she’d had the audacity to bring strange men into her territory, as well.

  “Come on in. She won’t come out until I fill her food bowl. That always brings her out of whatever hiding place she’s chosen.” Selena walked into
the kitchen, opened a door, and pulled out a small bag of cat food.

  She shook it, then slowly poured some into a ceramic bowl so that it clanked as it hit the bottom. No sooner than she’d filled it up, the multicolored fat feline came running so that she skidded when she attempted to stop. Selena just managed to keep her from knocking over the bowl of food.

  “That is one fat cat,” Austin said, shaking his head.

  “Ugly, too,” Caleb said.

  “Excuse me?” Selena had been replacing the bag of food in the pantry when she turned and jabbed her hands on her hips with a seriously pissed-off look on her face.

  “I mean, look at her. She looks like someone dipped her in a can of mixed paints, then lopped off part of her ears, as well,” Caleb said.

  “She’s a tortie. That’s their coloring, and she’d been through a lot of fights before I found her and rescued her.” Selena strode over to the cat and rubbed between her ears, then down her back before standing back up.

  “Whatever you say. Think she demolished anything since you were gone all night?” Caleb asked.

  “Let me check my office. That’s the main thing I’m worried about.” Selena led the way to her office and sighed when she saw the mess in the middle of the floor.

  “What is that?” Austin asked, curling his lip up.

  “It’s called a hairball. I’m just lucky she threw it up on the floor and not my keyboard or anywhere else in here.” Selena grabbed some paper towels she’d learned to keep in every room and cleaned the mess up, then disposed of it in the garbage can. “If that’s all she’s done, I’ve gotten away lightly.”

  “What about your bedroom?” Austin asked.

  “Guess we’d better check it out, as well.” Selena couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of the two men entering her private domain.

  She preceded them down the hall and walked into her bedroom. They crowded in behind her. She looked around, trying to see it through their eyes. The bedspread was a patchwork quilt she’d bought at a thrift shop because of all the colors in it. She’d surmised that whoever had made it had put a lot of love into it. It had saddened her that they’d parted with it. She had a chest of drawers that didn’t match the king-sized bed and an old club chair in gold that was her favorite place to read. The walls held two pictures. One of an eagle flying over a swift running river and one of a pair of wolves intent on something out of sight. Both pictures were old and had been brought with her on every move.

  “Nothing seems out of sorts in here,” Austin said.

  “Let me check my closet. She’s known for throwing up in my shoes.”

  “You need to get rid of that animal,” Caleb told her.

  “Not on your life.” She checked out her closet and sighed.

  “No throw-up, but one of my shoes is missing out of the box. That means it’s either under the bed or under the couch,” she said, starting to get on her knees to check under the bed.

  “Whoa, babe. I’ll do that. No need for you to get on the floor.” Caleb took her place and lay on the floor before looking under the bed.

  “Wow, other than a few cat toys and your missing shoe, it’s clean under here. How do you manage that?” Caleb grabbed the shoe and pulled it out, then handed it to her before he stood again.

  “That’s another good thing about having a cat,” Selena said with a huge grin. “They’re great dust mops. I brush her daily because she sweeps all the dust and cobwebs out from under my furniture.”

  “What’s the first thing?” Caleb asked.

  “Companionship and unconditional love,” Selena said matter-of-factly.

  “I can’t imagine that mongrel giving you any of that.” Caleb snickered.

  “Love me, love my cat,” Selena said, lifting her chin defiantly.

  “I get it. I can play nice with the thing. Anything that makes you happy makes us happy,” Caleb told her.

  “Just so you know that she’s staying,” Selena said.

  Austin chuckled. “I love seeing Caleb on the spitting end of you, babe. You’re cute when you’re all hissy-spitty.”

  “I am not hissy-spitty. I’m just making sure you guys know that she’s one of the things in my life that I refuse to give up.”

  “What else do you refuse to give up?” Caleb asked as his brows narrowed over his eyes.

  “My writing,” she said.

  “Why would anyone want you to get rid of that? It’s part of who you are,” Austin asked.

  “My ex looked at it as a hobby and fussed when I spent too much time at the computer.”

  “You were married?” Caleb asked, his frown growing deeper.

  “Yes. For about four years. I finally had enough of his constant belittling and harping that I wasn’t supportive of his work. I went to every one of his so-called parties and made small talk with his acquaintances. I kept the house clean and cooked for him. But he hated that I spent any time writing.”

  “He didn’t deserve you,” Austin said.

  “He was an asshole,” Caleb added.

  “He married some socialite six months after the divorce was final. I moved and started writing full-time after that,” she said.

  “We’d never ask you to give up your writing or interfere in it in any way,” Austin said.

  “And I wouldn’t ask you to get rid of your cat. I know how much you love her,” Caleb said.

  “Thanks, but you really don’t get it about the writing. It takes up a lot of my time,” Selena explained.

  “So does our work. We don’t always quit at four or five every day, and we often work on Saturdays to keep on schedule,” Caleb told her.

  “You’d have more than enough time to write without us getting in your way. Don’t look for problems with having a relationship with us, babe. We’re serious about this. Austin and I care about you very much and want this to work between the three of us. Give it a chance,” Caleb said.

  “I’ll try. I can’t make any promises. I care about you guys a lot, too, but you have to admit that this is very unconventional,” she said.

  “We know that, but we don’t care what anyone else thinks. Everyone on this mountain wants what we’re proposing. They all want to meet a woman who can handle two guys. It’s why we all bought up the land on the mountain,” Austin told her.

  “The other people here want ménages, as well? Really? Are any of them in a relationship now?” she asked.

  “No, not yet. We’ve all only been here about a year and have been focusing on building and refurbishing our homes. Each one has been built or redone with the expectation of finding that special woman to share it with,” Caleb explained.

  Selena was floored. There were more men expecting to live like what Austin and Caleb wanted. If there were more threesomes living on the mountain, it wouldn’t be such a huge issue with the people in town. They’d eventually just accept it, right? Maybe.

  “Come on and meet Maggie. Don’t be offended if she hisses at you and turns her back. She does that to me anytime she’s pissed at me,” Selena said, then led them into the living room, where the cantankerous cat sat on the arm of the couch.

  “Maggie. Are you happy now that you’ve been fed?” Selena ran a hand down the cat’s back. “Don’t rub her belly or you’ll end up with a torn-up hand. She loves having her back rubbed or her butt patted at the base of her tail.”

  She watched as Austin reached out and ran a hand down Maggie’s back. She didn’t move but didn’t hiss either. Then Caleb stepped closer and ran his hand down the cat’s back before patting her on the butt near her tail. Maggie whirled around and hissed at Caleb’s hand. He snatched it back and narrowed his eyes at the fat feline.

  “What did she do that for? I only did what you said.”

  “There’s no telling. Don’t let it bother you,” Selena said.

  “Why didn’t she hiss at Austin?”

  “Because everyone likes me.” Austin chuckled.

  “Screw you,” Caleb said.

  The cat
yowled, then turned around and lifted her back leg and began to wash her butt. Selena laughed at the expressions on the two men.

  “Guess she doesn’t think much of any of us right now.” Selena walked back into the kitchen. “Do you guys want some coffee or something else to drink?”

  “No thanks. I know you’re eager to get to work, and we need to get back, as well,” Austin said.

  “I had a good time, guys. Thanks for dinner last night and the walk this morning,” she told them.

  “It was our pleasure,” Austin said. “How about next weekend? Want to try something different?”

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “How about going to the flea market together next Saturday?” Austin smiled.

  “Really? You guys like to go to flea markets?”

  “Yeah. You can find great things at them. We’ve lucked out and gotten some great furniture and refinished it to sell. Are you game?” Caleb asked.

  “Absolutely,” Selena said.

  “It’s a date. We’ll pick you up at nine Saturday morning. Have to get a good head start or you miss out on the good stuff,” Caleb said.

  “Great.” She followed them toward the door.

  Austin pulled her into his arms and smiled down at her. “Gonna miss you this week.”

  “I’ll miss you guys, too,” she admitted.

  He lowered his head and kissed her gently on the lips, sipping at them before deepening the kiss when she opened to him. His mouth did things to her low in her belly, making her wish they could stay longer, but she knew they needed space to gain some perspective about the relationship. Well, she did anyway. She was sure they were already fine with sharing her, or they wouldn’t have approached her together.

  When he pulled back from the kiss, he smiled. “See you soon, honey.”

  Caleb twirled her around into his arms with a huge smile. “Can’t wait until next Saturday.”

  “Me either,” she admitted.

  He bent his head and nipped at her lower lip before taking her mouth as if he’d never see her again. His kiss was like a tidal wave of feeling as he thrust his tongue in and out of her mouth, brushing over hers as he took what he wanted, then slowly drew back to press their foreheads together.