by Marla Monroe
“Oh, my, God! How did you do that?” she asked turning to look up at him.
He smiled and before she knew what he was going to do, Brent kissed her. It was over with before she could even think about it and he started talking.
“It’s a program that we used some in school to help plan buildings so that you didn’t have to cut down every tree on the property to have a really nice home. They actually use it for a lot of other things, but we used it in my class on home planning for that. I figured it would work with anything you wanted to put on top of something else to see the outcome and played with it till I got this.” Brent looked proud of himself.
“You took home planning in college?” Erica focused on that one point as she studied the monitor.
He chuckled. “Yeah. We had to have electives and I decided on that as one of mine. I had fun with it and now Kent and I are using it some to plan the way we want the ranch to look.”
“It’s amazing. I sure could have used something like this for a lot of my projects. Is it expensive? Where can I get it?” she asked rubbing her hands up and down her jean-clad thighs. The possibilities were endless.
“It’s a free downloadable program. I’ll show you later and you can set it up on your computer at the office,” he said. “So what do you think of what I have so far?”
Erica tried not to cringe. The lights weren’t too bad, but some of the other things he’d stuck up here and there didn’t look very good that way.
“That bad, huh?” he asked lifting one brow.
“Hey. That’s why you hired me in the first place. Let’s get to work.” She started to get up, but Brent held her in the chair.
“Wait,” he said. “Watch. I took pictures of all of the decorations you plan to use and made them movable jpeg files you can manipulate however you want to. Here is the file with all of them in it. You just copy and paste them on the house site then move them wherever you want to put them.”
Erica started looking through the decorations then moved the ones he’d already put out to the top of the screen so she could figure out where everything needed to go. The program was amazing and would be so useful once she got the hang of it.
Twenty minutes later, Kent joined them with fresh coffee and pastries. She absently accepted a cup and sipped from it while she moved holly around on the porch railing until it looked the way she wanted it to.
“I take it she likes the program,” Kent whispered loudly behind her.
“Yeah. Took right to it. We may not get anything done this morning while she plays on the computer,” Brent whispered back just as loudly.
“If you’ll give me about five minutes, I’ll have a working plan ready for you guys to follow,” she teased without looking at them.
At some point while she was working, one of the twins began lightly massaging her neck and shoulders. It felt so good. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a massage of any kind. She didn’t count the light scalp massage she got when they washed her hair before giving her a haircut. This was ten times better. Oh, God! Had she just closed her eyes and moaned? She had to make them stop before she really embarrassed herself.
“I–I better check on Aaron or he’ll play around and not get anything done,” she said starting to stand up.
“Under control,” Kent said directly behind her. He was the one with the magic fingers she realized. “Brent is making sure he stays on track. Your only job right now is to finish your plan and enjoy the massage.
“Oh, I’m enjoying it a little too much,” she admitted under her breath as she tried to concentrate on what she was supposed to be doing.
The soft chuckle behind her only made her smile. He knew what he was doing to her. No doubt he and Brent had this planned from the very beginning. They were devious men. No doubt they’d been just as bad growing up. She pitied their parents. No doubt the twins tried their patience on more than one occasion.
Finally, after nearly falling out of her chair twice from how good the expanded massage had gotten, Erica had a finished plan for them to use on the outside of the house. She made a note to ask Brent to take pictures of the living room and kitchen so she could decorate them as well. The program was going to take her planning of events to a new level. Now she could actually show them the ideas she had in her head so they could start making alterations to her plans before she had them up.
“Somehow I don’t think some of the areas you managed to ‘massage’ were part of a normal neck and shoulder chair massage, Kent,” she said, lifting her brows as if waiting for his answer.
“Of course they are. Or they should be. If that’s not what you’ve been getting then you need to change masseuses. They aren’t doing you right,” Kent said. “Let me take care of that for you and I promise to always do you right,” he waggled his brows suggestively.
Erica was still giggling when Brent returned with Aaron in tow.
“What’s so funny, Mom?” her son asked.
“Nothing, hon. Kent’s funny.” She really needed to calm down with Aaron around.
“You always say that when there was something you didn’t want me to know about,” Aaron said with a huge sigh.
Brent chuckled. “Looks like the two of us are out in the cold together.”
“Come on, Aaron. You can help me pull the boxes of lights out on the porch. Your mom has the plan ready on how we are going to string them up.” Kent winked at her and ushered Aaron out of the office, closing the door behind them.
“Are you going to fill me in on what you two were laughing about? I’m not a little boy,” Brent said as he sat on the edge of the desk.
“Oh, no. You are definitely a grown up man, Brent Stone, a very find looking one at that,” she said, surprised that she was able to tease the man after having just flirted with his brother.
But then she’d made the decision to give the relationship a try. She might as well go all out and enjoy it while she could.
* * * *
Erica’s phone rang just as they were moving everything inside to start on the entrance hall and living room. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw that it was Ricky.
“Hey, kiddo. Is everything okay?” she asked.
“Yeah. Jeremey and Levi want Aaron and me to spend the night tonight. Their parents said it was fine if it was okay with you. We’re going to watch the Transformer movies back to back and cook hotdogs in the backyard,” Ricky said.
“Let me ask your brother if he wants to. Hold on.” Erica held the phone against her thigh. “Jeremey and Levi want you and Ricky to spend the night tonight. They’re going to watch the Tranformer movies and roast hot dogs. Are you interested?”
“Woo-hoo! Yeah, I want to go,” Aaron said with a grin. Then he turned to where Brent and Kent were standing with boxes in their hands. “Uh, is it okay if I go? I know I was helping and all.”
Kent grinned. “You’ve done a tremendous job today, sport. Go and have fun with your brother and your friends. You can help us take it all back down after Christmas.”
Aaron rolled his eyes. “Like that’s going to be fun. Thanks!”
“Sounds like he wants to come. I’ll bring him over as soon as we get cleaned up over here,” she said. “Are you there now?”
“We’re here. Just got back from picking up the movies. Their dad is building the fire in the fire pit now.”
“Okay. See you soon.” She ended the call and shoved the phone back into her pocket. “Okay, sport. Get to work. We have a lot to clean up. Are you school books all packed?”
“Almost. Won’t take long to shove them in my pack,” Aaron said.
“Hey, why don’t I go ahead and take him over there so he doesn’t miss anything and then come back and finish helping you clean up?” Kent asked.
“Great idea,” Brent said.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that. It won’t take that long if we all work together,” Erica said.
“No need to hurry it along. Besides, if you stay a little longer, w
e could work some more on the entrance hall while Kent takes Aaron.” Brent set the box he’d been holding on the floor.
“Does he need to stop by the house to pick up clothes?” Kent asked.
Erica was proud of Aaron for not latching onto what the twins suggested without waiting for her to okay it first. She could see the hope in his eyes though. He didn’t exactly play fair.
“Okay. I guess that would be okay. Aaron knows how to get there,” she said. Aaron started to whoop but she stopped him. “Do you still have a trip pack in the car?”
“Yep. Ricky and I changed it out after the school lock in last month at Halloween,” Aaron told her.
“Okay. He can grab his overnight pack out of the trunk and that should do him for one night. Be sure you thank their parents for letting you come over, Aaron. I know Ricky did, but you should, too.” Erica frowned and shook her head when her youngest rolled his eyes but agreed.
“Well then, let’s go.” Kent took the car keys she held out and waited for Aaron to grab his back pack out of the other room.
He stopped and hugged her then said bye to Brent before he followed Kent out of the house. She realized it didn’t worry her in the least to send her youngest out the door with Kent. She trusted him, trusted both of them with her children. Their dedication and obvious enjoyment of their nieces and nephews had gone a long way to giving her the trust she was showing them with her kids.
As the sound of her car faded down the drive, Erica sighed and turned to get Brent to help her unpack the box with the greenery. She found herself in his arms instead. Looking up, she had no doubt that he planned to take advantage of their situation. No Aaron meant no chaperone. A little of her earlier bravado at jumping into the mix faded when faced with one of the mouthwatering man wrapped around her with warm, sticky lust apparent in his eyes.
“No way I’m going to let the opportunity pass by to really kiss you, babe. I’ve dreamed of kissing you and a lot more,” he said as he slowly lowered his head.
Erica had no time to prepare herself and on hindsight, nothing she could have come up with would have done one bit of good. Brent was a master. He expertly manipulated her like a puppet master, moving her body where he wanted her and driving her insane as he kissed her, using his mouth, lips, and tongue as well as his fingers to show he just how good it could be.
His lips coaxed hers to open for him, letting his tongue slip between them to tease and torture her. He stole her breath and only when she thought she might pass out for lack of oxygen did he finally pull back. He didn’t release her from his embrace. Instead, he nipped her chin then trailed a line of kissed along her jaw to suckle on her earlobe.
“Oh, Brent. It’s too much. I can’t think when you touch me like this.”
“That’s the plan, keep you off balance until you agree to let us take you out and get to know each other. There’s no way we could let an opportunity to spend more time with you alone pass by. You are driving us crazy, Erica. We can’t concentrate on anything because we want to be with you instead. Have mercy on us and go out with us so we can get some work done,” Brent said.
“I thought you weren’t really all that busy right now,” she teased in a breathy voice.
“We aren’t, but there are some things we still need to do during any season and you’re keeping us too preoccupied to get them done,” he said with a frown.
She laughed. “I’m not letting you blame me for your laziness.”
His frown twitched until he finally gave up and laughed. “Doesn’t matter. We’re not giving up, Erica. Come on, babe. Just give us a chance,” Brent said.
She couldn’t think straight with him so close and his hands running up and down her spine like they were. Her body was already on overload and every touch of his hands stimulated a nerve that kept her pulses racing and her pussy dripping.
“Okay. I’ll go out with you,” she finally said. She decided not to tell him that she’d already decided that if they asked her again she would say yes.
“Really?”
She nearly laughed at the incredulous look on his face. Even his eyebrows looked surprised. He laughed and pulled out his cell phone but didn’t let go of her.
“What are you doing?” she asked with a laugh.
“Calling Kent,”
“Why?” she asked, but the other twin had already answered.
“She said yes. She’s going to go out with us,” Brent told the other man.
She heard something but wasn’t sure what it was until Brent started laughing.
“Don’t have a wreck with Aaron in the car. I’m pretty sure that would screw up our date plans,” Brent said in a teasing tone.
Erica just shook her head. They were like her kids. She’d thought they were men and that one day her kids would grow up to be adults, but it looked like only girls grew up with good sense. Men just got bigger.
When he’d ended the call and snapped the cell back into its case, Bent finally released her for all of four seconds. She found her back plastered to the front door with Brent all over her, kissing along her jawline and down her neck to where the T-shirt collar stopped him. He returned to her mouth and repeated it all over again on the other side of her neck.
The moment he released her, Erica collapsed against his muscular chest, resting for a few seconds in an attempt to recover some measure of control again. Brent had wrested it from her grasp without her realizing it until it was too late. Now she needed to exert some rules before they talked her into something she knew she wasn’t quite ready for.
“Good Lord you can kiss, Brent. Hold up. I need to catch my breath,” she said with one hand against his chest.
When she looked at it though, it was to find that she wasn’t holding him back at all. Instead, her hand curled into his shirt, kneading like a kitten but without claws. She was in so much trouble.
“We both need to hold back some. I’m sorry. I’ve wanted to hold you and kiss you for so long now that it’s about driven me mad. Might as well get ready for another assault when Kent gets back. You know we’re just alike don’t you?”
“You’re teasing right?” she asked as she continued working on her breathing.
“Babe, you’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever met. There’s no way Kent is going to be able to hold off tasting you. He’s already gotten a little taste of you from me,” Brent told her.
She stilled. “What do you mean?”
“We have a really strong relationship, Erica. He and I can sort of communicate with each other without speaking. It’s sort of like telepathy I guess, but it’s more than that. Sometimes we can feel what the other one feels without being in the same room. He felt us kissing and making out a few seconds ago,” he told her.
Erica opened her mouth to ask him again if he was joking, but with everything she’d already seen and the serious look on his face, she closed it again, knowing he was telling her the truth. The implications slowly sank in to shock her.
Chapter Fourteen
Brent watched the color drain from Erica’s face then slowly reappear. By the time she was able to say something again, her cheeks were rosy and looked hot to the touch. He’d shocked her more so than he’d thought he would. Now he wasn’t sure what to do next. Kent would have his head if he scared her away when she’d finally agreed to see them on a personal level.
“So when you kissed me, he felt that?” she asked.
“In a manner of speaking, yes,” he told her.
“So if I hadn’t agreed to date both of you and only went out with one of you, he would have still known if we’d kissed, or, um fooled around.”
“That wouldn’t have happened, but yes, pretty much. That’s one of the reasons we knew we’d always date a woman together and never alone. It nearly drove us insane in high school so we decided we wouldn’t seriously date anyone apart again,” he said.
“You’ve never, um been with a woman alone before?” she asked appearing completely astonished.
“No! I
mean, yes we have been alone with women before, if by alone you mean had sex with women without the other being present, but it can be uncomfortable for the one not there so we rarely did.” He sighed. “We don’t always feel everything, but it happens often enough and usually in the worst possible times that we didn’t want to chance it for the rest of our lives. We decided to marry the same woman.”
“I guess I can understand that. I really never believed in telepathy or ESP or anything before, but there are times when you look at each other or finish each other’s sentences that I was beginning to wonder,” she admitted to him.
“I think that only a few sets of twins are this in tune with each other, but there are some. We met sisters once that were so close that when one got sick the other did, too. One of them went on a school trip in college with a science club but the other twin was more English oriented and wasn’t in the club so she was at home. The twin on the trip got food poisoning while they were gone and both sisters threw up until the twin who’d gone on the trip got better. Thank the good Lord we don’t have that problem,” he said with a wink. “It could get messy.”
She gasped and color heated her cheeks in less than a second. No doubt she’d gotten his little innuendo without a problem. He loved seeing her blush like a teenager. The fact that she still could after three children told him just how sweet she really was. He and Kent had fallen for the most perfect woman in the world.
“Let’ get these boxes unpacked and ready to go by the time Kent gets back,” he said, changing the subject. He was pretty sure she’d had all she could handle for now.
They worked together and had everything unpacked and stretched out so they would be easy to handle when they started up ladders to secure them to beams and doorways. He loved working with her and couldn’t believe that most couples argued when they did things like this together. All he wanted to do was please her. He was confident that she knew what she was doing and happy to be her man Friday while she transformed their home into a Christmas show place.
