by Virna DePaul
“Hey, didn’t realize carrying you around was part of our job description,” Taylor said, grinning at me.
“You saw that?” I asked.
Taylor pointed to the railing. “It’s a loft. I can see you guys from the stairs, remember?”
“Ah, yes.” Funny, I didn’t feel embarrassed he’d caught me in Dom’s arms. In a way, I already felt free to be natural around them. They were a package deal, and the sooner I got used to thinking of them that way, the more possible it all seemed. “I’ll expect you to carry me everywhere in the future. Understand, Dominic?” I joked.
“Yes, Kayla. As you wish.” Dominic tipped an invisible hat at me.
“And what about me?” Taylor cocked an eyebrow. To my shock, he marched over, leaned down, then thrust his massive arms under me. In a flash of a second, he’d slung me over his shoulder as if I didn’t weigh a thing.
“What are you doing? Taylor!” I laughingly shrieked. Taylor carried me out of the room as Dominic chuckled and followed us out. God, it felt good to laugh, to shriek. Took my reservations right out of me.
Taylor headed straight for my bedroom, and I knew why. My heart revved up, thumping against my breastbone.
“Are we… I mean, I’m...I’m…” Not ready, is what I almost said, but I cut the words off before they could exit my mouth. I was ready—mostly. I just didn’t know how to navigate this unusual pathway.
At the doorway to my bedroom, Taylor’s hand gripped my hip, fingers digging into my flesh. Images of him fucking me as he dug fingers into my thighs flashed through my mind.
“Just returning you to where Dom found you,” he murmured.
“Oh, okay.” Did I sound disappointed? I must have, because he patted my hip and laughed.
“Everything in due time, Kayla.”
The room swirled for a moment, and not because Taylor was carrying me, but because my brain reeled. The fact that he was saying this with intention that I now had to wait for it was starting to drive me insane. Yes, Taylor. Teach me your ways.
These guys were so ripped, both of them could toss me about like a rag doll. I shuddered to think what would happen if we ever started getting it on. Still on Taylor’s shoulder, I looked over at Dominic and gave him an apologetic face, but he flashed me a smile in return.
No hard feelings.
This really could work out.
They didn’t get jealous when one paid me attention, like taking turns with the lady of the house was normal. Was this crazy? Or was this perfect?
I clung on to Taylor for dear life until he planted me down on the edge of my bed with a little thud, the springs squeaking below me.
He panted a bit through his smile. I couldn’t help but imagine him naked, hovering over me, out of breath in much the same way.
“Have you had fun at my expense? Pleased with yourself?” I pouted playfully.
“Yep. I made you scream, and that alone made my day.” He chuckled, all that cocky charm going straight to my groin. He was standing, and I was sitting. I couldn’t help but notice what I was on eye level with. I looked up at him slowly, letting my eyes trail over his body. I had no interest in being demure. I had just as much confidence as he did and wasn’t afraid to use it.
Taylor brushed back a strand of hair that had escaped from my ponytail. I closed my eyes and tilted my head into his hand, letting him know I wanted more. When I opened them again, I was sure I could see the outline of his cock pressing against his jeans, and things got real as fuck. We were going to do this. Whether now or tonight or tomorrow, we—two or more of us—would be exploring our chemistry. My head felt woozy. His fingers grazed me softly, as they trailed over my cheek and down my jaw, but I didn’t want soft and gentle.
I wanted him.
I wanted both of them.
But I couldn’t just rush into a decision as momentous as this one.
“You guys are good at convincing,” I said with an exasperated laugh, then I sobered. “It’s not a hundred percent certain that I’ll do it, but pretty darn close.”
Taylor’s serious face was as sexy as his gorgeous grin. “Happy to hear it, Kayla. Take your time—no pressure.” For a moment he was silent, casting a glance back over his shoulder at Dom, then he turned back to me and asked, “What about the other proposal we gave you? Are you in with us renovating the house and using it as a showroom? Reimbursing us for the fifty percent I quoted you when you sell?”
I was pretty sure I wanted to. They were big boys, astute businessmen, and they knew what was worth their time as far as work was concerned. Given that, their proposal seemed too generous to pass up. But my desire to say yes was more than that, more than just the house, I realized. My entire adult life I’d felt like I’d never belonged. Never belonged as just me. Grant had made me feel like I had to act a certain way, look a certain way, be a certain way to fit in as his ideal image of a girlfriend. “Are you sure you want to eat that fry?” “Are you really going to spend Saturday night baking?” “Don’t you want to put more make up on before we leave?”
But Taylor and Dom seemed to accept me for me. Hell, the first time they laid eyes on me I’d just rolled out of bed, hair a mess and not a wink of makeup on my face, and yet they’d found me beautiful. Maybe I was being a sucker. Maybe I was being played. Maybe this was all fake.
But I know it made me feel something real. Something I hadn’t felt in a long time: belonging.
With their help, this house could be mine. This town could be mine. They could be mine. And I could be theirs. Even if it was just physically, and temporary, I yearned for that.
“Great,” I said, suddenly unable to look up at them as I was too afraid my cheeks were beet red. “Thank you so much. I’m going to say yes. You guys are…the best.” I hoped it was clear to them exactly what “offer” I was talking about.
Taylor beamed that mega-watt smile again. “We haven’t even started, sweetheart.” He quickly added, “Since you’re saying yes to the renovation work, Dom and I will get started today. We’ll head down to the hardware store and buy everything we need for repairing those holes in the walls. Be back in an hour. Sound good?”
All I could do was gulp and nod. Then I blurted out, “You have to add the cost of replacing the kitchen faucet to my bill. No discounts on that, okay?”
Taylor froze, then shook his head and grinned. “You are one tough negotiator, lady. You got it.” After giving me a quick salute, he walked out, and a minute later I heard Dom and him leaving.
If someone had told me a week ago that I would be considering a threesome with two construction guys who came to fix a broken faucet in my house, I would have laughed. But there I was, considering it, truly considering it.
I flopped on my bed, heart still pounding. I let out a long sigh. It’d only been a few days with these guys, and I already felt as though each was determined to sear themselves into my brain. But I also felt something I hadn’t felt in months, maybe even years, and it put the biggest, goofiest smile on my face.
I felt alive.
9
Kayla
For the rest of the day, I hid out in my room, sitting cross-legged on my bed with my laptop perched on my knees, making minimal progress on my job hunt. I’d been right—there wasn’t much need for a food and wine critic in Fosterman, although the area seemed to be growing. It appeared that food and wine tourism was beginning to take off like a lot of other cities in central California, but no immediate need for a critic. There were a few positions for editorial work on lifestyle and a couple of food magazines in the Bay Area that I sent in applications for—some I could work remotely, which meant that if I got the job, I could stay in Fosterman while Taylor and Dom worked on the house. After it sold, I could move to the Bay Area to be closer to work.
Then I checked out rental prices in the Bay Area and almost fell off my bed. How much did they want for a studio apartment? And here I’d thought New York was bad! How had I thought it would be so easy to leave my entire life in New
York behind, show up in Fosterman, and start in on this whole self-discovery thing?
And holy crap, was it ever hard to focus. Especially since every twenty minutes or so, either Dom or Taylor would drop by my room to ask me questions about the house—what to keep, what to scrap. Each time they’d go, they’d give me a little hint of sexiness—a lingering stare or a mischievous smile.
Taylor was all playful grins and teasing banter. A simple wink from him was enough to build heat between my legs and make me want to toss the laptop and spread myself across the bed in invitation. Dom, with his dangerous flashes under his hooded eyelids and the way he bit his lip as he got one last look at me before closing my bedroom door made me want to call him back in and allow him to crawl over my trembling body.
As soon as they’d leave, the fantasies would start playing in my head: Dom was the teeth sinking into the sensitive skin just below my hip, and Taylor was the kisses to soothe the delicious throbbing. I wanted both.
I needed both.
No, what I needed was a freezing cold shower.
Finally, sometime after five, I finally gave up on the job search after finding little to nothing. I sighed and closed my laptop. Lying back, I let my head rest on the pillow and my eyes focus on the cracks in the ceiling above me. Who would I want to kiss first? Earlier, I’d pictured Dom kissing me in the truck, but after Taylor had carried me to my room, I couldn’t stop imagining his mouth all over me.
Ye gads—my head wouldn’t stop having sex games with Dom and Taylor.
Frustrated, I wandered into the hallway, where I found Taylor standing in the stairwell, his attention on a light fixture that was on. Dom was on his knees in the small closet that held the breaker box.
“Not that one. Try the other breaker,” Taylor said, waiting while Dom flicked through the breakers.
“Hey,” I said.
Taylor spun around. “Well, well, the princess emerges.”
I grinned, enjoying the way his gaze flicked from my face to my body and then back up again. “If I’m a princess, then you must be my loyal subject, fixing up my kingdom. What are you working on?”
“Testing the breakers. Last item for today. Then we’ll be out of here. Leave you alone.”
“Oh. Okay.” Disappointment curled inside my belly. Granted, it was late afternoon and past time for any workers to get going, but these weren’t just my workers anymore—they were now my business partners. And even better, I felt like we’d become friends. Dom emerged and came to stand next to Taylor, expectant expressions on both their faces. I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, a nervous habit. I wanted something but I didn’t know how to ask.
“Need something from us?” The corners of Taylor’s smile turned up. He could tell I did, and I wasn’t going to deny it.
Luckily, Dominic spoke so I wouldn’t have to answer that loaded question. “Did you ask her?” He nudged Taylor with an elbow.
“I was about to.”
I blinked. “Ask me what?”
“We want to take you out to dinner.”
“Oh, wow, really?” A warm flush swept over me. If I said yes to dinner, would that mean I was saying yes to the...well...the other thing?
“Just dinner, Kayla,” Dom said quietly. “All you’ll have to decide on is if you want a steak or pasta.”
My heart skipped a beat. I was pretty surprised by my immediate reaction. Two days ago I’d turned down a dinner invitation from Taylor and now I was getting another chance. A lot had changed in forty-eight hours.
“You know, after being in the house all day, that sounds really great. I’ll go get ready,” I said, my excitement obvious.
Taylor laughed. “Take your time, sweetheart. We’re going home to shower and change, then we’ll be back to pick you up. You don’t want to hang out with two sweaty guys.”
Like hell I didn’t.
We arranged for them to be back at my place at eight, then I dashed back to my room to scour my closet for something to wear. When I heard their truck rev, it occurred to me that I wasn’t even fazed by having two men in the house who could come and go at their will without me having to let them in or out. It was like they lived here, and I didn’t mind one little bit.
I took a shower, blow-dried my hair, and spent about twenty minutes shivering buck-naked in my bedroom, trying to pick out which dress I should wear. I settled on a knee-length dress embroidered with flowers that I’d picked up at a thrift store months before. I was pretty sure I could pass it off as formal or casual depending on where we ended up.
As I looked at myself in the mirror at a quarter to eight, I couldn’t help but smile. I was going on a date with two guys. Two friends. Two potential lovers, if I could finally wrap my head around it. Double the fun, double the pleasure. It could be an incredible adventure.
I could also be setting myself up to be hurt. With each loving caress of the cheek from Taylor and each unexpected play-slap of the ass from Dom, I was entangling myself further and further. I knew it would make leaving harder. For all of us.
But it was tough to listen to that rational voice when the image of the three of us kept occupying my mind: limbs intertwined, bodies in rhythm, breathing ragged and desperate.
I’d be rational later, I finally told myself. Tonight I wanted irrational. Tonight I wanted crazy, impossible, mind blowing.
When they knocked on my door an hour later, I carefully stepped down the stairs in my low heels, sweater in the crook of my arm. Opening the door and stepping back, I nearly fainted. “Holy shit,” I blurted out.
Taylor wore a different pair of jeans, a pressed dark blue button-down shirt, and black low boots. His shirtsleeves were rolled up casually to show off a fancy watch that looked sexy against his tanned skin and muscular forearms. His hair had been carefully gelled on top, but holy crap—that smile!
“Hello, pretty lady,” he said. “That dress looks fucking gorgeous on you. I mean—” He tapped his mouth as if remembering his manners and potty mouth. “Very gorgeous on you.”
“Thank you,” I said, shivering with excitement. “And you two…”
I looked at Dom. Tonight, he’d pulled out a sexier side of himself with his fitted gray pants and dark gray buttoned shirt, a black vest and loafers. His smile was more low-key, self-conscious, but sexy all the same. He reminded me of the real estate agent I’d met yesterday, Logan. Dom’s friend.
I froze. Dom’s friend, who had seemed more than interested in me...who’d hinted that he’d shared women with Dom before, at a time when Dom had been willing to share before that had changed. My throat tightened. Dom and Taylor were willing to share me—and even as a threesome. Was that offer limited to just the two men, or…
Was there a chance I could get it on with three guys?
Wow, now who’s being greedy, Kayla?
“You’re simply stunning, Kayla,” Dominic said, bringing me back down to earth. I had enough to evaluate—this was not the time to start fantasizing about a third man in my life.
“Thank you. You look amazing as well,” I said, then added, “You both look hot. What can I say? I’m a lucky girl.” I was tired of hiding my true feelings, and these men looked too damn fine not to tell them.
They smiled big, dimples fully showing. They escorted me to the driveway, where I didn’t see their work truck but instead noticed a deep blue, glossy car. Some kind of sports car—and a motorcycle, all fancy and full of chrome! One of them had told me the other day that they weren’t hurting for money, and I guess this was proof.
“Since you’re wearing a dress,” Dominic said, “why don’t you go with Taylor in his car? I’ll meet you there. I needed to give the bike a little exercise.” Dom strolled to his motorcycle, straddled the seat, put on his helmet, and started the rumbling engine. I admired his taut forearms. And those hands gripping those handlebars.
Oof.
I sighed and followed Taylor. He opened the door for me and I slid into a tanned leather passenger seat. Inside smelled like aft
ershave, and come to think of it, that’s what was different about Taylor—he’d shaved. Smooth and sexy. All for me.
Man, this was going to be a fabulous night.
Dinner was simply wonderful.
They took me to a Peruvian-Japanese restaurant serving fusion cuisine, and I couldn’t have had a better time. It was more like three friends out for a night of fun than a date between us, though occasionally, either Dom or Taylor would toss flirty comments my way. I’d volley them back, especially after my second glass of wine. At one point, Taylor touched my knee when he asked what I thought about some renovation they wanted to do to the sun room, but I almost couldn’t focus on the conversation because of how surreal it all felt. I only knew his hand felt solid, real, and safe on my knee.
I wanted it there. I wanted it everywhere.
I felt like the center of attention, and it seemed like everyone in the restaurant knew it, too.
“So, Kayla.” Dom turned his eyes on me and I marveled how they could be so dark and yet so soft and warm at the same time. “Have you had any luck with the job hunt?”
I told them about how difficult it had been to find something that interested me, which led to me talking about what always held my interest—baking. “You already know how much I love baking, though,” I laughed. “I’m more than a little obsessed with it. At least you guys seem to appreciate it.”
Taylor nodded. “Right. You said your ex didn’t appreciate it. Can you believe that?” He looked at Dom.
Dom scowled. “Your ex sounds like an asshole.”
I laughed. “Well, he cheated on me, so I’m not going to disagree. Plus…”
“Plus what?” Taylor asked.
“My ex, Grant, would make me feel guilty for eating what I baked. He had an image of me that rounded curves on my hips didn’t fit. So I stopped baking for a while. Stopped doing what I loved. Stopped being me.”
“Kayla, first of all, you’re beautiful and sexy as you are. And second, screw that guy.” Dom’s voice was harsh and full of protection. “You should always be yourself.”
