A Touch of Sin [Sin Hospital 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Tara Rose

  “Yes. Is it working?”

  She found it adorable that he colored slightly. “Let’s put it this way. If we were in my home right now instead of this restaurant, dinner would get stone cold.”

  “But we’re not, so let’s not waste this incredible food.”

  “Fair enough. Tell me more about what’s going on with you and Noah, and you and Jimmie.”

  She tasted the crab cakes. “Yeah. Puleo’s has nothing on these. Fabulous. Does it bother you I’m dating two other men?”

  “No.”

  This time, she was the one surprised. “Really? May I ask why not? Because neither Noah nor Jimmie are thrilled about it.”

  “I imagine not. We do tend to get a bit territorial. Surely you know that.”

  “I know it. So why aren’t you that way?”

  He glanced around, but no one was close enough to hear their conversation unless they raised their voices. When he leaned closer, crazy lust raced through her. “I have a secret. Want to hear it?”

  “Yes,” she whispered, her pulse racing.

  “It’s sinful. And decadent.”

  “All the better. Tell me, please.”

  His eyes danced with wickedness. “I have this…fantasy. I would love to watch a woman with another man. Or I guess two men would be fine, too. Don’t misunderstand me. I want to participate, too, but not with the men. Only with the woman. But I want to watch her fu— make love to another man at the same time.”

  “And you expect to fulfill this fantasy in Sin?” she asked quietly.

  “Yeah. I know. Not much chance of that, is there?”

  “I’m intrigued, Ethan. I really am. But I can’t imagine talking Noah or Jimmie into it. You’d have to get them drunk. And even then, I just don’t know.”

  He shrugged slightly and looked really uncomfortable now. “It was worth a shot.”

  She knew she had to fix this and fast. She didn’t want him thinking she’d just played him. “Now it’s my turn to say don’t misunderstand me. I’m all for it.”

  His eyes widened and he dropped the crab cakes off his fork. “You are?”

  “Absolutely. It sounds like a blast. So, you tell me how we can talk those two into it, and you will get your fantasy, Dr. Drake.”

  Chapter Two

  Jimmie James and Noah Kirkland had to be the oddest duo of friends in Sin, but that had never bothered them. The two had become best friends shortly after Noah’s family moved to Sin from Boston, at the start of their sophomore year in high school.

  Noah’s dad had taken a job as head of the radiology department at Sin Hospital, and poor Noah was thrown into culture shock. Jimmie was the only person who spoke to him in the cafeteria at lunch that first day, and the two formed a bond from that moment on. But now, things were awkward between them, and the cause of that discomfort was a sexy blonde-haired nurse with big blue eyes named Savannah.

  “Are you sure she’s out with him?” asked Jimmie for the tenth time. He and Noah were sitting in Pedro’s Pizza which had just opened across the street from the First Baptist Church. “And they went to dinner in Nashville?”

  It didn’t help Jimmie’s frame of mind that from the jukebox in the corner, Joe Jackson currently sang the song with the same lyrics he’d just voiced out loud.

  Noah nodded. “That’s the word in the unit. They went to Stock Yard.”

  Jimmie snorted. “Sounds like a nice place to eat. They kill the steer right in the back?”

  Noah laughed and then swore out loud. “Love it when Coke goes up my nose. No. It’s a classy place. And expensive, of course.”

  Jimmie glanced around, and then lowered his voice. The place was crowded and they knew everyone in it. The last thing he needed was more gossip to piss off his dad even further. “What’s her story? She wasn’t like this in high school.”

  “Yes she was. I remember her. I sat next to her biology and she was a horrible flirt. You probably never had a class with her.”

  “I never had a class with her but we were dating, remember?”

  “For three months, Jimmie. How well did you really know her?”

  Not at all. “That’s like three years when you’re in high school. And how did you have a class with her? She was two years behind us.”

  “Because I didn’t take biology until I was a senior. Some BS about it not transferring from my old school because I took it as an accelerated class in middle school.”

  Jimmie nodded. “Okay. Now I remember. Your parents fought them on it for two years.” Jimmie was grateful most days he could remember how to tie his shoes. If any of them ever knew how many little things he’d forgotten, or that had become nothing more than a hazy memory because of the drug addiction, they’d be shocked. And of course that would give them all something else to gossip about.

  “Yep. And they finally said I had to take it to graduate.” Noah shrugged. “But no biggie. Easy A, and I got to inhale the smell of Savannah’s flowery shampoo every day.”

  “And now, sixteen years later, we’re both dating her. How fucked up is this?”

  Noah chuckled. “It won’t be fucked up until one of us gets her into bed.”

  Jimmie glared at him. “You want to say that a bit louder? I don’t think Luke’s cousin in the back making pizzas heard you.”

  “It’s not a secret we’re both seeing her, Jimmie.”

  At least this time he’d lowered his voice. “I know. But it’s not conventional, either.”

  “Not everything in this town is conventional.” Noah narrowed his eyes. “Did you know the HR director at the hospital is dating Luke and one of the docs there? In fact, the doc she’s dating is Ethan’s boss.”

  Jimmie raised his brows. “No shit?”

  “No shit.” Noah leaned close. “Vivian Tremaine is dating, and by dating I mean fucking, both Luke Henderson and Dr. Preston Benson the third. And, she and Luke are both living in Preston’s house now. Luke and Vivian both put their homes up for sale recently.”

  “I saw that, but I didn’t realize that was why they were selling them.”

  Noah leaned back in his chair and drained his plastic cup of Coke. “Well, now you know.”

  “How do you know all this?”

  “Are you kidding? I’m a respiratory therapist. I’m on every floor of that place, in the ER, in the OR, and in the ICU all day long. I stand there and check ventilator settings, give people breathing treatments, and do a hundred other things, all while fading quietly into the background. No one sees me.” He pointed toward his left ear. “But I listen.”

  “Well, I still don’t know why she had to go out with him.”

  “Don’t sulk, Jimmie. You look like a forlorn teenager.”

  I am a forlorn teenager. At least, that was how he felt inside most days. What the hell was he doing dating Savannah again? He hadn’t been able to keep her when they were kids, and he sure as hell had no chance with her now.

  “How are you doing?” asked Noah, his entire demeanor changing just as fast as you could shake a stick at it. “I mean with the drugs?”

  At least he’d practically whispered the question, although that was no secret in this town, either. “I’m clean. Four years now, Noah. You know that.”

  “I know that. But I also know it never really leaves you.”

  Thanks for reminding me. “I’m good. Thanks.”

  Noah punched him in the shoulder. “I’m proud of you, dude.”

  Jimmie almost smiled. “Thanks, man. I’m proud of me, too.”

  “Seriously, you should be really proud. Any drug is tough to beat.”

  “I know.” Jimmie had been in a rollover tractor accident the summer he graduated from high school. He’d become addicted to the pain killers they gave him, and was in and out of rehab for the next ten years. Then he went to Knoxville for a spell to work on a sheep farm, but mostly to get away from the judgment of his father.

  “You ever hear from what’s her name?”

  Jimmie rolled his eye
s. “You determined to bring up every embarrassing incident in my past tonight?”

  Noah laughed and then stuffed the last piece of pizza into his mouth. How could the guy stay so damn cut and eat like this? He must work out every fucking day. “Sorry. I’m just trying to avoid talking about the elephant in the room.”

  Jimmie grabbed the check. Noah had paid last time. “Oh, really? You’re actually admitting it’s bothering you that she’s out with him?”

  Noah’s eyes grew darker than usual. “A bit. No biggie, though.”

  Jimmie rose. “Right. Yeah. Same here. Doesn’t bother me at all.”

  Once they were outside, they decided to take a walk. It was a perfect April night, and the air smelled like rain. But right now they could still see stars peeking through the clouds, and plenty of insects sang. “No.”

  “No what?” asked Noah.

  “No I never hear from Nancy.” He’d been married to Nancy Baker, the boss’s daughter, for exactly ten days during his time in Knoxville. She’d been eighteen and he’d been twenty-seven. Her father threatened to cut off his balls if they didn’t get a divorce. The worst part was that Nancy hadn’t been all that upset about it.

  After that fiasco, Jimmie had finally come home with his tail tucked between his legs. And his father, Bobby James, the pastor at First Baptist Church, was never going to let him live it down.

  “So, you want to see what’s on Netflix?” asked Noah.

  “Sure, why not? Good thing you have that big screen TV.”

  “I’d have no friends if I didn’t.”

  “No, you’d have no friends ‘cause you’re an asshole from Boston.”

  It was an old joke between them, and Noah laughed good-naturedly. Their walk toward Noah’s house took them past Savannah’s which of course both men had known ahead of time would happen. Her car was parked in the driveway, but he didn’t imagine she had picked him up. “What does he drive?” asked Jimmie.

  “Boxter GTS. What else would he drive?”

  “That brown thing he races around town?”

  “Mahogany Metallic. Not brown. Brown is the color of shit.”

  “It’s the color of chocolate.”

  “It’s the color of cows.”

  “Not all of them.”

  Noah shook his head. “Are all people from Tennessee color blind?”

  “No, only the ones who are friends with people from Boston.” One of the things Jimmie had always liked about Noah was the way he was such a good sport. The man never took himself too seriously.

  Then again, that was exactly what had drawn him to Savannah from the time they were children. She was friends with everyone, never spoke a mean word about anybody, and was never overcome by drama or surrounded by angst. She floated through her life with a cheerful smile, a sexy body, and all that hair.

  But that didn’t make for a lasting relationship. Had she ever been serious about anyone she’d dated? If given the choice between him, Noah, and the dashing Ethan Drake, would Savannah finally succumb to the man with the perfect teeth and the Porsche? No. She wasn’t shallow at all. But what did she actually want? No one knew. Jimmie wasn’t sure she knew it. Not yet, at least.

  Once inside Noah’s house, they each settled down with a beer, and flipped channels until they came to a movie they both agreed didn’t suck. “So how did you get a Friday night off?” asked Jimmie.

  “My dad had to pull strings.”

  Noah’s father was head of radiology at Sin Hospital, but Jimmie knew Noah was joking around. Dr. Nicholas Kirkland barely knew his son was alive, let alone what he did on a Friday night. “How come you didn’t follow in his footsteps?”

  “No one can. They’re too fucking big.”

  Jimmie gave Noah a sideways glance as he chugged his beer. Only a good friend would catch the set of Noah’s jaw and the way a muscle under his left eye twitched. It was easy for Jimmie to forget at times that his dad wasn’t the only judgmental one in Sin. “I don’t know how you do it. Work in medicine, I mean. I’m too squeamish.”

  “You have to like it, that’s for sure.”

  “Well, we can’t always do what we like. I mean, I don’t like shoveling fertilizer for Luke’s family.”

  Noah leaned forward and gave him his full attention. “Hey, it’s honest work. You’re outdoors, you’re using your muscles, and you couldn’t ask for better bosses than the Henderson family.”

  “That’s all very true.” But he wasn’t a professional like Noah. He didn’t have a college degree. And he wasn’t a trauma surgeon who drove a seventy-five thousand dollar car. And who could afford to eat at one of the most expensive restaurants in Nashville, or who was likely going to get into Savannah’s bed tonight.

  He’d been dating her again for three months and she hadn’t dumped him yet. For them, that was a record. She and Noah had been going out two months. And Jimmie knew for a fact she hadn’t had sex with Noah, either. So what did that make the two of them? Chumps?

  No. As soon as the thought entered his mind he pushed it away. Savannah might be the biggest flirt in Sin. She might even be the biggest flirt in Rutherford County. But she wasn’t a cruel woman, and she wasn’t using him or Noah. She simply had too big a heart for one man. Two he could almost deal with. Almost. But three? And one of them a doctor? Jimmie wasn’t sure he’d ever be man enough to handle that.

  Chapter Three

  Savannah automatically glanced toward Noah’s house as they passed it in Ethan’s car. Were he and Luke in there right now, drinking beer and watching something sports-related on TV? She knew Noah was off tonight because he’d asked her out after she’d accepted the dinner invitation with Ethan. And she knew Luke was off because Henderson Weed & Feed closed early on Fridays.

  They were headed toward Ethan’s house. He’d given her the option of seeing it or going home. She’d hesitated a split second, debating, but finally her curiosity won out. He lived in the same new subdivision his chief trauma surgeon did, and she had heard the homes were to die for.

  It was the only one completely built on that particular street, and it looked large enough to comfortably house most of her extended family. Aunt Ruthie would love to have a home this big for one of her parties. She’d be able to invite the entire county.

  He pulled into the garage and then led her inside, where she softly whistled as he showed her through each room. The decorating suited him perfectly. And she loved the fact that he’d used some color on several walls and in the fabrics. A lot of men were afraid to do that. “It’s really beautiful, Ethan.”

  “So are you.” He said it so quietly she almost didn’t hear him.

  Savannah stood in the upstairs hallway and met his gaze, her heart pounding. She wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about having sex with him after one date, especially since she’d been avoiding that act with both Jimmie and Noah for a couple of months now.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t want to do that with either of them, or with Ethan. She did. It was that she’d never had sex with one man while simultaneously dating another. It was one thing to be dating them at the same time, but she wasn’t a slut.

  “Your entire demeanor just changed,” he said. “Talk to me. Surely you know how pretty you are, so what did I say to upset you?”

  He’d be the one man in town who would totally get what she was thinking right now, so she told him. He nodded several times as she explained her thought processes, and then crossed the space between them and gently cupped her face. Her breath caught in her throat at his touch.

  “All right. Fair enough, and I appreciate your candor. I really do. But you are a notorious flirt. You know that, right?”

  She swallowed hard. “I know.”

  “Why do you do it? It’s not a question meant to hurt you. I’m merely curious. I imagine you’ve grown up with the guys in this town pretty much lined up waiting for a chance to go out with you. So why haven’t you settled down by now?”

  “Why haven’t you?”

 
He let go of her face, his colored slightly, and then he pulled her close and laughed softly. “Oh, Savannah. I have to tell you this.” He released the embrace and looked into her eyes. “It’s not an everyday thing when a woman crawls under my skin like this so quickly, or forces me to face my inner demons. I love that about you. I really do.”

  He took her hand and led her into his bedroom. “You’ve come this far. You might as well see it.”

  She inhaled deeply once they crossed the threshold. The room smelled like expensive leather and his cologne, and it evoked images of decadent, sexy love-making sprinkled with a generous helping of kink. That image was helped along by the collection of floggers and paddles hanging in full view against one wall. “Well.” She didn’t know what else to say. Her pussy was soaked now, and it felt like someone had hooked up a weak electrical charge to her nipples. They actually vibrated.

  “That’s all you can say? Well?”

  “I’m at a loss for words, and that doesn’t happen too often.”

  “Yes, I’ve noticed that.”

  She gave him a smirk. “Ha-ha.”

  “You asked me why I wasn’t settled down. This is why. I have very kinky tastes, and you’d be surprised how often that messes up a relationship.”

  “I am surprised by that, actually. And I’m sorry you haven’t found anyone who enjoys sharing those tastes with you long-term.”

  “Ah, that’s part of the problem, Savannah. I’m not looking for anything long-term.”

  She faced him. “Why not? I mean, just for curiosity’s sake. Did something happen to make you gun shy?”

  “No. I’ve just never found anyone I want to wake up next to every day for the rest of my life. What about you? Why aren’t you married with a brood of kids by now?”

  She sighed and averted her gaze for a few seconds. “That is what everyone expects me to do. I have a huge family. Marriage and kids is considered a rite of passage. Anything less, and my great Aunt Ruthie starts asking the person if they’re gay. Not that she has anything against that, but in her mind, if a man or a woman my age isn’t married with kids, something is wrong with them. Either they’re gay, or they have some horrible secret that makes the opposite sex run the other way when they discover it.”