Strictly Research (Bad Boy MFM Romance)

by Terry Towers

  “No one has chosen me. Most of my high school friends have been married, and some are on their second marriages.”

  “So you’re envious that you haven’t gotten divorced yet?” A hint of a smirk touched his lips.

  I couldn’t help but laugh as I swatted his shoulder and appreciated his attempt to lighten the mood. “You know what I mean.”

  “Nope, apparently I don’t.”

  “I’ve never gotten married. I’ve never had a man ask me to marry him. I’ve never had someone choose me for, you know, forever.”

  He released me and crossed his arms over his chest. “So it’s the whole proposal thing. You want the wedding?”

  “Not even a fancy wedding. Just a wedding. Just to be chosen…” I sighed. I felt like such a whining idiot. This man is going to run out of here because I’m a complete nutcase.

  “In that case…” He immediately dropped to one knee, a wide grin spreading across his lips. “Monica--”

  “No. No. No.” I began laughing again, which I suppose was his entire purpose. Grabbing his forearms, I pulled him to his feet. “I don’t want a proposal for the sake of a proposal.”

  “I could have been serious.” He straightened, his grin never fading.

  “Liar.” Stepping away from him, I picked up my purse from the navy blue plush chair and slung it over my shoulder. “But I appreciate the effort.”

  “I had a whole speech ready for you. Had you given me enough time I would have had you begging to marry me.”

  “Whatever.” I rolled my eyes at him, walking past him and into the corridor, with him following behind, closing the door as he exited.

  “Besides, are you really trying to sell me on the fact you would get married?”

  He shrugged. “My life hasn’t taken me to that path.”

  “So not even close?” We reached the elevator and I pressed the call button.

  “Nah. Xander and I have both been very busy.” The elevator arrived and we entered, pressing the lobby button. “Straight out of high school we went to university and got our Bachelor of Science degrees. Couldn’t afford med school. Our marks were good, but not good enough for scholarships. So we came here. Fast cash to get where we need and want to be.”

  “You’re going to med school?” The doors slid open and we stepped out into the lobby heading towards the rotating doors of the exit.

  “You sound surprised. Can’t I be a doctor one day? Do you see me as one of those ‘all sex-no brains’ dudes?”

  “Of course not.” Okay, now I was feeling like a complete ass. “But I feel like I owe you an apology. I never realized.” While Xander had told me they had degrees, the conversation hadn’t progressed to the further plan.

  “Why would you?” He took my hand and began to lead me. “I haven’t told you all that much about me. Not nearly as much as you’ve told me.”

  “Then fill me in. I believe I remember you promising something of the sort. A whole bio if I remember correctly.”

  Laughing, Mitchell gave my hand a squeeze. “And that’s what you’ll get. Considering we were almost engaged.”

  Laughing along with him, I raked my free hand through my hair. “We were never almost engaged.”

  “That rejection hurts a little bit.”

  “You’re so full of shit!” The feelings of melancholy I’d been feeling before he’d arrived were now long forgotten. I was happy. I looked up at him, and for the thousandth time was struck by how handsome he was. Every woman’s dream: tall, dark and handsome. But there was so much more that I was just beginning to discover; he was funny, smart, kind. He really was the package. Except…

  “Mitchell!” A little squeal followed his name being spoken.

  Huh?

  I immediately caught sight of the woman the squeal had come from. She was a plain-looking dark-haired woman. But one look at her told me she was anything but ordinary. Her attire screamed money.

  Without waiting for an invitation, the woman threw herself into his arms. He looked slightly uncomfortable, but he hugged her back, quickly releasing her and taking a step back. “Carly, great to see you.” He motioned toward me and said, “Carly, this is my good friend Monica.”

  I hesitated a moment, but extended my hand, which she eagerly accepted. Releasing my hand, her attention diverted back to Mitchell as she asked him the typical ‘how’s it going’ questions.

  As she questioned Mitchell, I studied her. Was she a client? I automatically suspected she was and the next emotion was jealousy. What would it be like to be his girlfriend and to have random women – clients – approach him? I couldn’t even begin to imagine how many women. I didn’t want to. I didn’t think I could handle it.

  My attention shifted to Mitchell and I began to feel that little ache in my heart once more. He wasn’t a prospect. Maybe he liked me, and I sure as hell liked him, but this would never be more than friendship.

  Looking down at the ground, my sneakered foot kicked at a little pebble on the sidewalk. This was just a vacation after all. A little fun and in a couple of weeks I’d return to my old life and start over. New York City was a huge city. I’d find someone. I would.

  “You ready?”

  “Huh?” When I looked up the woman was gone and Mitchell was smiling down at me.

  “I asked if you were ready to head to the haunted house.”

  “Haunted house?” He hadn’t told me where we were going. I cringed. “Is it one of those places where it’s super dark and people jump out at you?”

  He took my hand and we resumed walking, the woman forgotten as I contemplated the idea of spending half an hour terrified out of my mind. I loved horror movies and that sort, but to actually be experiencing it? I admit I was apprehensive.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be right next to you, protecting you every step of the way.”

  The idea felt reassuring.

  “Unless you don’t want to go…”

  I swallowed down the apprehension and smiled up at him, giving him a wink. “As long as you’re with me to protect me.”

  “Scout’s honor.”

  “Didn’t we already establish you were never a scout?”

  “Nope. Don’t think so.”

  My eyes narrowed at him. “So are you?”

  “Hurry, they’re bringing the next group in.” Flashing me another smile, he picked up the pace, pointing to a building just down the block, dragging me behind him.

  ~*~ TT ~*~

  Mitchell

  It was nice to see that her spirits had lifted from earlier today and she was laughing and smiling. And I’ll admit it felt good to be the one that put a smile on her face. Being with her the past couple of days were showing me just how much I missed dating and having a relationship that was beyond sex. Even though this wasn’t a relationship, it didn’t stop me from falling into the temptation to act like it was for the day. She didn’t protest. I think she was falling into the same trap.

  The day was beginning to give way to the evening which meant that my time was pretty much over with, as I needed to get home to get ready for work. I looked across the white two- person iron table at Monica who was in the process of taking a drink from her glass of soda and frowned. “I think we need to get you back to the hotel.”

  She stopped drinking and set her glass back down, pulling back her left sleeve and glancing down at her watch. “Oh, yeah, it’s getting late.” She smiled when she looked back at me, but the smile didn’t carry though to her dark eyes. “I should get some work done, anyhow.”

  Reaching across the table, I took her hand in mine. “But I want to see you tomorrow.”

  Her smile faded and she caught her lower lip between her teeth.

  My frown deepened. “What’s wrong?”

  She released a soft sigh. “I planned on going out with Xander tomorrow.”

  “Oh.” My first instinct was to release her hand and recoil, but I didn’t. I forced myself not to. We couldn’t be anything but friends, so there was no real rea
son she couldn’t hang out with both of us. Xander had gone as long as I had without a relationship, and even though he pretended not to mind, I knew he did.

  “We’re just friends, Mitch.” She shrugged and added, “Like we are.”

  Forcing a smile to my lips, I nodded. “It’s none of my business. We all know this is temporary and that friendship is all this could be.”

  “Kinda like a relationship with an expiration date,” she offered, returning my smile. “But...”

  “But…” I repeated expectantly, trying to sense what she was thinking.

  “But, I think we need to take sex out of the equation. With your job and all.”

  Fuck! Yup, here we go again, my job getting in the way. Less than a year, I told myself, less than a year and life can be normal again. “I understand.”

  “Are you cool with that?” She looked genuinely concerned. It was touching.

  Standing, I leaned across the table and kissed her lightly on the lips. “Am I allowed to kiss you?” I didn’t pull away immediately, pausing with my lips a few inches from hers, our gazes locking. “That’s all I request.”

  Her beautiful smile emerged once move. “That’s completely reasonable. It’s just with me leaving in a couple of weeks, and you and Xander...”

  My lips claimed hers again, stopping her from explaining further. She didn’t owe me an explanation. I’d take what companionship I could get from her, even if it meant sharing her with Xander. She was a good woman and any man should be honored to have her. She deserved to leave Amsterdam knowing that and not willing to accept anything less.

  ~*~ TT ~*~

  Xander

  “So how was your day with Monica?” I asked as Mitch approached and sat next to me on a bar stool at the Pulse. Our shifts technically started in ten minutes, through in reality they started the moment we walked into the door and someone decided they wanted to book one of us.

  Propping his elbows on the counter behind him, Mitch surveyed the club, which was much busier than normal. “It was good. We came to an agreement, of sorts.”

  “You don’t say?”

  “She wants to consider her time here with us as a relationship with an expiration date – minus the sex.”

  “Oh.” Clucking my tongue off of the roof of my mouth I took a moment to consider it. “Both of us.”

  “She didn’t say it in so many words but that’s the impression I got.”

  “How do you feel about that? About sharing her?”

  He shifted his focus from the club to me. “It’s not like anything long-term can develop and I understand the sex part. It’s a smart plan. It would be nice to experience being with a woman without the sex but still having a degree of intimacy.”

  “Sure.”

  Mitch eyed me intently. “How do you feel about it?”

  I took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “I’m going out with Monica tomorrow.”

  “I know.”

  “Why don’t you come along? It’s a dinner cruise down the canal.”

  He grimaced. “I’m not sure.”

  “Why not?” I needed to prove I could be the big man. Even though I would have liked to have her for myself it seemed she already had her mind made up. I needed to play ball, and with sex off the table I was confident I could play on her terms. “Let’s just have a fun few weeks with her. Show her a good time and part on good terms. So what do you say? Come to dinner with us, it’ll be fun.”

  “Alright.” His grimace turned to an uncertain smile.

  “Good.”

  Chapter 12

  Eleven Months Ago

  Monica

  This was it. After a month in Amsterdam being treated like a queen by two of the most incredible men I’d ever met, I was now moving on. Paris was my next stop. I’d planned my itinerary and it was a swamped one: a new city every three days for the next month. I needed to keep my mind off of Mitchell and Xander before going back to work. My intention had been to write while on vacation, hoping the change in scenery would get the creative juices flowing, but it did the exact opposite. As it was right now, my mind was reeling and there was a faint ache in my heart. But it was for the best. If I stayed any longer I’d lose my heart to not just one man, but two, and considering the circumstances, I couldn’t let that happen. Fuck, who was I trying to fool? I’d already lost my heart, but was attempting to convince myself otherwise.

  So I was leaving and this is where my fairy tale ended.

  The. End.

  I sighed.

  “Is there anything I can say to make you stay?” Mitchell asked. This wasn’t the first time he’d asked that, but it would be the last. Mitchell and Xander stood on the platform waiting for the train that would take me on my next stop of my European tour – Paris, France.

  “Or do? Just tell us and we’ll make it happen, babe,” Xander added, giving me his sweet, lazy smile that got my pulse racing.

  Quit being escorts and tour Europe with me, I silently answered. I looked from one man to the other. Both of you.

  Damnit, I was falling in love with two men, and by the distressed look on both their faces, they were feeling the same way.

  I forced a smile to my lips. “It’s for the best – for everyone. I’ve stayed longer in Amsterdam than planned and I still have so many cities to see before I head back to the US.”

  “None of them hold a torch to Amsterdam, babe.” Xander stated.

  My smile became genuine. “I think I’ll go find that out for myself. Besides,” I pause to give Xander a punch to the shoulder. “I’m thinking you might be overstating a bit.”

  “Not really.”

  Bells began dinging signaling the approaching train, the one that was going to take me away from them. I looked down the track to make sure – indeed it was. My heart sunk a little bit more.

  “You guys are coming back to New York in a couple years anyhow. So, maybe we can catch up then?” They’d have totally forgotten me by then. We will all have moved on with our lives and these past few weeks would be nothing more than a story to tell. In fact it would be a sexy, exciting, emotional roller coaster of a story to tell.

  “You bet. I’ll make sure to text and email you every day, love.” Mitchell stepped up to me and pulled me into his arms. I nuzzled my face against his neck, inhaling deeply, attempting to memorize the feel of being in his arms and the smell of his cologne.

  “Me, too,” I murmured against his neck, not sure if I had spoken the words loud enough for him to hear. Tears filled my eyes.

  I could hear the train coming to a halt behind me. I didn’t want to let him go. I never wanted to let him go. Why couldn’t the train have been late? I wanted more time with them.

  You don’t have to! A voice in the back of my head screamed. But I knew I had to. I couldn’t be in a relationship with either of them, not when they spent each night fucking other women – and men. I couldn’t. I’d stated in jest a few weeks ago it would be a relationship with an expiration date and that date just came due.

  “Come on man, you’re hogging her,” Xander joked, breaking us up.

  Mitchell released me and took a step back, making way for Xander. In typical Xander style, he pulled me into his arms and swept me off of my feet. I squealed and giggled as he twirled me around.

  “Stop, stop, stop! You’ll hurt yourself!” It wasn’t like I was a petite hundred-pound girl, but when he picked me up like this, it made me feel that way. Though, admittedly, it sometimes made me feel self-conscious, too.

  One thing that had come of my relationship with Mitch and Xander – if that’s what you could call it – was that for the first time in my entire life, I felt truly beautiful and desired. I was leaving here feeling like a goddess, and they were the ones that made that happen. I came here a broken woman with serious self-esteem issues. They made me find the beautiful, sexy woman inside me and I was intent on never letting that feeling go. Even the heroine in the book I started writing when arriving here had begun to change for th
e better.

  When he finally lowered me to the platform the train was stopped and unloading passengers. I looked from Xander to Mitch and back again, more tears beginning to fill my eyes. This time I didn’t fight them, I let them fall.

  I took one of their hands in each of mine. “I’ll never forget you two.”

  Chapter 13

  Present

  Monica

  “So that’s how I got into investment banking. Now--”