by Kori Roberts
twenty regular clients who I work with, and I teach classes for Equinox gyms.”
Linc was familiar with the upscale chain of gyms dedicated to the buff and the
beautiful. It also explained Mitch”s amazing physique. And from the look of her, it was
obvious that Tomi was one of his clients.
“What about you?” Tomi asked. “Were you always in the limousine business?”
Linc paused. Tomi”s question caught him off guard and triggered so many memories;
memories he”d spent years trying to forget. He didn”t respond immediately, still trying to
figure out what to say, how much to share. He rarely discussed his past life with anyone,
even his family. Yet as he looked at the couple sitting across from him, Linc suddenly felt the
need to share it with them.
“I used to own a brokerage firm when I lived in New York City. It wasn”t huge — I had
close to a dozen employees — but we did well. We had a solid client base, and we made good
money for them and ourselves.” Linc glanced at Mitch and Tomi to find them watching him
intently. Their focus seemed centered on every word he spoke.
“I lived with my two lovers, Ava and Paul. Ava was the office manager for my firm,
and Paul was a firefighter.” Linc met their eyes again, unsure of how they”d react once they
knew about his lifestyle, but unwilling to hide who he was.
“We”d been together for a couple of years, and everything was great. But after a while,
things just…changed. It was gradual at first, and one day we looked up and realized that two
years had gone by, and we still didn”t seem to know each other. We all wanted different
things, each of us was moving in different directions. Deep down, I think we all knew that it
was over between us, but none of us had the guts to say it. One night, we had this big
argument, and we said a lot of fucked-up things to each other. It was clear that our
relationship couldn”t be anything but over, and I remember wishing that they would just disappear, go away and leave me alone.” He shook his head at the memory, still as fresh as if
it”d just happened.
“Anyway, Paul spent the night at his firehouse, and Ava slept in the guest bedroom.
The next day, I slept late. I never did that. I was always the first one in the office at seven
o”clock in the morning, and Ava usually rode to work with me. But I was still feeling pissy
about our fight from the previous night, and I didn”t want to be bothered with her. She must
have felt the same way, because she went to work without saying a word to me.” He met
their gaze. “That day was September eleventh. My brokerage firm was on the twenty-seventh floor of Tower Two.”
Linc heard Tomi”s soft gasp. “My God…”
“Well…you know how that story ended.” Linc cleared his throat and continued. “Ava
and two other employees got trapped inside the building and never made it out. Later, I
learned that Paul and members of his fire engine company were in Tower Two as well when
it collapsed.”
“Damn, man. That”s…” Mitch shook his head, his expression sympathetic. “I”m so
sorry.”
“That”s why you moved here, isn”t it?” Tomi”s softly spoken words pulled Linc from the
past, and he looked down to see her smaller, darker hand covering his. His fingers
automatically entwined with hers, and he held on for several long moments.
Finally, he nodded. “I sorta fell apart for a while after that. Guilt ate me alive. I locked
myself in my condo for weeks, wouldn”t talk to anybody and wouldn”t see anybody. I”d
convinced myself that if I”d given Paul and Ava the kind of love and commitment that they
wanted and deserved, they”d still be alive. My family was terrified that I was going to do
something crazy. Finally, my cousin Pedro came to see me. He practically kicked my door in
and dragged my ass here to Puerto Rico for some R and R.” Linc sighed. Time was a funny thing. Some days, it seemed as if a million years had
passed since his life had taken such a sudden, dramatic change. Other days, it felt like it
happened yesterday.
“I never went back to New York City, never tried to reopen the firm. I”d made good
investments over the years, so money wasn”t an issue for me. I already owned a house here,
so I spent a few months trying to regroup and get my shit together. Once I felt sane again, I
worked through my attorney to provide settlements to all my employees, including those
who died. I was the beneficiary on Paul and Ava”s life insurance policies, and when I
received the money, I gave it to their families, along with whatever personal items they
wanted. Everything else I either sold or gave away. After that, I started the limousine
company.”
Linc gave them a small smile. “That was seven years ago. Now things are great. I”ve got
a good, solid business going, I live on this beautiful island, and I”m having dinner with two
amazing people.” They both smiled in return, but it never reached their eyes.
Oh, hell. He just had to screw up the mood by telling them his depressing life story.
Because of him, the relaxed, laid-back couple of a few minutes ago was gone, and in their
place sat two people whose expressions held a mixture of emotions — none of them happy.
“Listen,” Linc began, hating the sudden change in direction the evening was taking,
“it”s obvious that my story bothered you. I”m sorry. I didn”t mean to upset either of you.”
“No,” Tomi spoke quickly, trying to reassure him. “You didn”t do anything wrong. I
think we just realized that we have more in common with each other than any of us knew.”
Linc frowned as he looked back and forth between the two of them. “What do you
mean?”
They both seemed to hesitate before Mitch said, “Tomi and I used to be part of a triad
relationship too.” Linc stared at him in shock. He didn”t know what he”d expected the other
man to say, but that wasn”t it. “His name was Alec,” Mitch continued. “He was my lover as well as my business
partner when I first started my personal training business several years ago. Alec handled the
sales and marketing part of the business, while I focused on the daily operations. We”d been
together for three years when he started hinting that he thought it would be fun to add a
third person to our relationship. At first, I was hesitant. I was worried that the wrong person
would disrupt our life together.”
Mitch”s gaze shifted from him to Tomi. Linc watched him stare into her eyes, his
expression filled with worship.
“Then, Alec met Tomi. She was looking for a personal trainer and came by for a
consultation. When Alec told me about her, I was still skeptical. But when I met her, I knew
right away that she was the one.”
Tomi nodded. “It was mutual. The connection between us was so immediate, so…right.
I”d never felt anything like it before.” She paused for a moment before shaking her head and
chuckling. “I wish I knew the right words to describe the feeling to you.”
Her words weren”t necessary. Linc already knew the feeling. He suspected that it was
similar to what he”d felt when he first met them.
“You don”t have to,” Linc murmured. “I think I know exactly what you mean.” Their
eyes locked, and from the look on her face, it was obvious tha
t Linc”s eyes reflected what he
felt for her.
“Yes.” Her voice was soft. “I think you do.”
Linc slowly dragged his eyes away from Tomi and glanced at Mitch, who sat watching
their exchange with a knowing look on his face.
“Anyway,” Mitch continued, “it didn”t take long before our threesome became a lot
more than physical — at least for Tomi and me. I think the novelty of it wore off for Alec
after the first few months we were together. I don”t think any of us could have guessed that
Tomi and I would bond the way we did. Within weeks, we had feelings for each other that would have taken most people years to develop. The love that I felt for her was deeper and
stronger than I”d experienced with anyone else before — including Alec, even though I”d
known him longer.”
“I think Alec knew that, and he felt threatened,” Tomi spoke up. “He was used to being
the center of attention, and for a while, he was the center of our relationship. When we
realized that we shared a special connection that didn”t exist between Alec and us, we felt
guilty. We never meant for it to happen, but we couldn”t deny that it existed. That didn”t
mean we loved Alec any less, because we didn”t. We loved him differently. We went out of
our way to make sure that Alec knew how much we loved him, and how important he was
to us, but it seemed that the harder we tried, the more he resented us. He went out of his
way to let us know as often — and as cruelly as possible — that his biggest mistake was
bringing the three of us together.”
The sadness on Tomi”s beautiful face, the pain in her words, was almost too much for
Linc to bear.
The conversation stopped for a moment when the waiter came by and refilled their
water glasses. When he walked away, Mitch spoke again.
“Finally, we decided to do something symbolic to show our love for Alec — and each
other. We approached him about having a commitment ceremony. Frankly, I was surprised
when he said yes, considering how distant and combative he”d become lately. But he really
seemed excited about it, even made most of the arrangements, and I remember thinking that
we were finally on the right path to getting our relationship back on track.”
Mitch grew quiet for a moment, as if lost in a distant memory. Based on what he”d
heard so far, Linc suspected that the worst of the story was to come. He waited patiently for
Mitch to continue.
“On the day of the ceremony, we were all set to leave when Alec said that he”d left
something back at the apartment, and he”d meet us there. When he was a few minutes late, we weren”t worried. After a half hour, we were calling his cell phone. Once nearly two
hours passed and he still hadn”t shown up or called, we knew he wasn”t coming. By the time
we got back home, all his things — and quite a lot of ours — were gone. He”d even emptied
out the accounts that we had together.” Mitch paused, his jaw muscles clenched tightly, and
his face showed the disgust he felt.
“Five years together, and he wasn”t man enough to say good-bye. He didn”t even have
the courage or the decency to leave a note or anything. He just disappeared like a fucking
coward, and we never saw him, never heard from him again.”
The lingering anger and resentment in Mitch”s voice was evident. Reaching out, Tomi
grasped Mitch”s hand; her impressive diamond solitaire engagement ring sparkled brightly in
the dimly lit room as she brought his hand to her lips for a kiss. He placed a kiss against her
temple, and Tomi rested her head against his shoulder as she looked at Linc.
“That happened over a year ago, and for a while, things were difficult for us. We were
both so bitter; we felt so betrayed by Alec. He started as the anchor in our relationship, the
one who brought us together. Then he became our adversary, the one determined to tear us
apart. And he almost succeeded. When Alec left, it was as if he took a part of us with him.
We felt like we had a void in our relationship, and we couldn”t figure out how to fill it. One
day, we realized that we didn”t need to fill it. We had more than enough love between us to
make up for the loss of Alec in our lives.”
Linc remained quiet as he struggled to gain control of the inexplicable anger that boiled
inside him. He”d only known Mitch and Tomi for a few hours, but that was more than
enough time for him to see their true character, to know that they were good, beautiful
people — inside and out.
“Pathetic bastard.” Linc looked up to find both Mitch and Tomi staring at him. He
hadn”t meant to speak out loud, but now that he”d said it, he refused to take it back. He”d
love the chance to be a part of their lives, to be included in the love they had for each
other — even if it was only for a little while. It was unfathomable to him how a person could deliberately try to destroy them, would voluntarily walk away from them. He didn”t know
who the fuck this Alec asshole was, but it was obvious that he was a sorry piece of shit.
“I know it”s not my place to say this, but I can”t imagine how anyone could give up the
chance to be with the two of you. He didn”t deserve you.”
Tomi laughed. “I couldn”t agree more.” She sobered some. “Despite everything that
happened, despite everything he did to us, I still can”t bring myself to hate Alec. If it weren”t
for him, I would never have met Mitch.”
“And now you”re finally getting married, like you”ve always wanted.” Linc changed the
subject and tried to lighten the mood. “When”s the big day?”
“Two weeks from tomorrow,” Mitch told him. “It can”t happen soon enough for me.”
“Well, I think that deserves a toast.” Linc lifted his glass. “To new beginnings.”
“To new friendships.” Mitch touched his glass against Linc”s. Tomi raised hers as well.
“And to new possibilities,” she added.
Linc took a sip from his glass before placing it on the table again. Glancing at his watch,
he was surprised to see that it was after midnight. They”d been at the restaurant for hours. As
he looked around the room, he saw that most of the other patrons were already gone.
“Wow, it”s later than I realized. We probably should get ready to go before they kick us
out.” He meant for his words to be a joke, but inside, he hated the thought of leaving them.
“You”re right.” Tomi stood. “I”m going to use the ladies” room before we leave.”
Both Linc and Mitch watched as she walked away from the table. Linc glanced at the
remaining men in the room, and he noticed that their gazes followed her as well.
Turning to Mitch, he said, “You”re a lucky man.”
“Don”t I know it,” Mitch murmured. His gaze remained locked on Tomi”s departing
form. Linc paused for a moment before he said, “I”m sure Tomi knows how lucky she is as
well.” Linc waited for him to meet his gaze, made sure Mitch saw the interest in his eyes,
understood the meaning of his words.
Mitch gave him a slow, sexy smile and a slight nod. Understanding shone in his
expression.
They both looked up as Tomi returned to the table. “Ready to go?” She smiled down at
them, and Linc felt his heart skip a beat. He was blown away by how unbelievably stunning
she was.
attraction, the same desire for him as well. God knew he had no right to feel the way he did
about them, knew he was only making things worse for himself when the night was over and
they walked out of his life for good. Nevertheless, he couldn”t seem to help it.
“Yeah,” Linc said. He and Mitch stood as the waiter arrived with their bill. Linc
reached into his pocket for his wallet and pulled out his credit card.
“Uh-uh.” Mitch stopped him. “We invited you, remember? This is on us.” Before Linc
could say anything else, Mitch handed the waiter his credit card along with the bill.
Smiling, he said, “You know, I really don”t mind paying. I”m honored that you”d want
to spend part of your evening with me.”
Tomi laughed. “In that case, you can pick up the bill next time. How does that sound?”
Linc searched her face, trying to make certain he wasn”t reading between the lines,
wasn”t jumping to conclusions. But Tomi”s expression confirmed her words. She wanted to
see him again. One look at Mitch and it was obvious that he felt the same way.
“That sounds good.” Linc spoke casually, trying not to sound too excited or appear too
anxious. It was hard to do when that”s exactly how he felt.
After the waiter returned with Mitch”s credit card and receipt, they left the restaurant
and got into the car. The ride back to their hotel seemed much shorter than the ride to the restaurant, and Linc was tempted to take a scenic route in order to stretch out their time
together.
All too soon, he pulled up in front of the hotel. Linc got out of the car and met them
around on the sidewalk. He forced a smile and prepared to thank them for dinner, say good
night, and get the hell out of Dodge before either of them had a chance to see how deeply
they”d affected him in such a short period of time. However, when he opened his mouth,
what came out was nothing like he”d intended.
“I have to be honest with both of you. I”m not ready for this night to end. I don”t want
to say good-bye.”
There. He”d said it. The looks on their faces left no doubt that they”d gotten his message
loud and clear. It was too late to pretend that he hadn”t said it, to act as if he didn”t mean it.
