“Will do, Bill, thanks.”
Kat sighed as she left the station and headed to her SUV. She was glad to have managed that apprehension with so little fuss. But for now, it was time to go home and get ready for her date.
* * * *
“I would have driven myself out to your house, you know.”
Lucas spared her a quick glance as he maneuvered his Jag through the city traffic, on the 101 Expressway heading toward Malibu Canyon through the West Valley.
“I do know. But this way, we get to take you home, too, and we’ll know you’ve arrived there safely.”
Kat sat with her arms folded in front of her chest—a stance that reminded him of his sister, Nancy, when she was younger and being driven to the dentist in Gatesville.
After a moment, she said, “I really can take care of myself.”
“Kat, relax, babe. This has nothing to do with our faith in your ability to take care of yourself and everything to do with how we were raised.”
Kat exhaled heavily. “I really am on the defensive, and I told myself I wouldn’t be. You’re right, of course. Thanks for the ride.” She unlocked her arms and assumed a more relaxed pose in the car.
Of course, Lucas wasn’t fooled. Paul had characterized her as “cautious,” and she was. But Lucas wondered what was at the heart of that emotion. He decided a little fishing was in order.
“You’re welcome. I figure if you’re on the defensive it’s because in the past you’ve needed to be. And while we’ve had dinner together a couple times, we haven’t really spent any quality private time together.” He sent her a mock leer, and she laughed. “It’s going to take time for you to get to know us and even more time for you to come to trust us. We know that.”
“I already trust you three more than any of the guys I’ve dated in the past.”
Well, that’s just sad. Of course, Lucas hid his reaction. “Good. And we know you have no ulterior motives, so I guess that puts us all on a level playing field.”
“I guess it does. So how come you’re the only one picking me up?”
“Because Paul and Wesley are cooking dinner tonight.” And putting the sheets on the bed in the guest room, just in case matters progress further than we think they will.
Not that they expected to make love with their Kat just yet. But it was better to have the bed ready than to have to stop and put sheets on the damn thing if the moment suddenly turned right.
“And you’re not on KP?”
“No, I won the toss and got to come and pick you up instead.”
“So who’s taking me home?”
“We haven’t even gotten to the house yet and you’re already planning your exit strategy?”
Kat chuckled. The sound, soft and low, did something very sexy to his body. He wondered if he adjusted his position in the seat whether she’d figure out why.
“That came out a lot different than it sounded in my head.” Kat sounded edgy.
“You don’t have to be nervous, babe. We won’t do anything you don’t want us to do.”
“Yeah, but just thinking about what I do want you to do makes me nervous.” Kat sighed. “I’m more than a little anal. I usually like to know what’s in store for me before I set foot out the door.” She shrugged. “I’m afraid there’s no spontaneity in my personality at all.”
“You share that trait with Paul. He’s the oldest of us—we’re talking mere minutes, please keep in mind—and you’d think he was the elder of the entire community.”
“He takes responsibility for everyone and everything in his world even if that responsibility isn’t really his to grab?”
“Yes, pretty much. He’s been that way since we were kids.”
“I knew he was a natural Dominant.”
Lucas thought there was more than a hint of excitement in Kat’s tone. He wouldn’t speculate aloud that the reason she found that trait in Paul so attractive was because she was a natural submissive. Too many people didn’t understand what that meant.
Curious about her perceptions, he said, “How do you see Wes?”
“Wes is the guy who wants to smell the roses, watch the sunsets, and make sure the color in his world is vibrant. He’s more for the extras and the fun. I have a feeling that his first response to tense situations is to crack a joke. And yet, there’s titanium in his backbone and a need, one I see lurking just under the surface, to be totally and completely in charge.”
Lucas shot her another quick glance because she’d nailed Wes. It was why he was best at troubleshooting their scripts for plot holes.
“And me?”
Kat turned and gave him a big grin. “You’re a teddy bear. I think you tune in to people on an emotional level and know what they need, almost instinctively.”
Heat crawled up his neck. There was no doubt in his mind whatsoever. Katrina Lawson might say she needed to get to know him and his womb mates better, but the truth was she knew them pretty damn well already.
They zipped along the freeway, and before long, he was taking the Malibu Canyon exit and negotiating the less busy roads. As he turned into the long driveway that would end at their house, he wondered if Kat realized one more thing.
He wondered if she understood that those traits that she’d just listed for each of them matched the different facets of her own personality to a tee.
Only time would tell if she did and if she would then grasp how well suited they all were to her—and she to them.
Chapter 4
“Your house is seriously awesome.” Kat hadn’t known what to expect, but she had a pretty good idea what real estate prices were in Malibu Canyon. Anyone who lived there wasn’t living on the edge of poverty.
Still, the stone, wood, and glass structure surprised her. Rather than being a testament to modern architecture, it was more of a throwback to times past, including the turret she could see rising up at the back of the home. It seemed to be a lot of house for three bachelors.
“We had it built,” Lucas said.
Paul and Wesley were both outside waiting for them when they pulled up to the house. She didn’t get a chance to ask about that—about why three fairly young, single men would choose to live away from the “action” and go to the trouble to have a house built. As soon as the car came to a stop, Paul stepped forward, opened her door, and offered her a hand out. It was such a quaint, gentlemanly thing for him to do. Kat accepted his offer, and he did, indeed, help her out of the Jag—and right into his arms.
“Welcome to our California home.” Then he kissed her, his mouth consuming hers while his tongue stroked and caressed every bit of her.
Just that easily she was back in Lusty and those three mind-numbing, body-thrilling good-bye kisses they’d laid on her the day she’d driven away from that small town.
She hadn’t expected the heat would be so quickly reignited.
Just as she was settling in to gorge herself on him, Paul lifted his head and passed her over to Wesley.
Their gazes connected, and as he lowered his head, he had such a fun-filled grin on his face she couldn’t help but smile.
Kat had no idea that two smiles kissing would feel so damn sexy. Then his tongue slid in, stroking hers, and she let herself drown in his taste and his heat.
Wesley had no sooner raised his head than she felt strong hands turning her, and a very serious looking Lucas Jessop drew her into him.
“Here’s that hello kiss I didn’t give you when I picked you up.”
And then he kissed her, and Kat knew one thing for certain. All three Jessop men’s kisses aroused her, and the flavor of all three, mingled on her tongue, was the true nectar of the gods.
Lucas’s tongue danced with hers, just a bit of a twirl and a dip, and then he, too, lifted his head and stepped back.
“How did you know I was wondering about that?” If Kat had intended to behave as normal, which meant not revealing much of her inner thoughts, then she’d just failed miserably.
I meant to be
cool, a little reserved and in control, but these three men just completely unwoman me every damn time.
And all they’d done was kiss her.
“It was that little sideways look you gave me after I got back behind the wheel.” Lucas grinned.
Kat couldn’t help it. She laughed. “I think I know how things are going to go, and then I’m with you three and nothing falls in line.”
“Is that such a bad thing?” Paul picked up her hand. He rubbed his thumb over the back of it, and her heart raced. His gaze connected with hers, and she almost had to ask him to repeat the question.
“No.” She couldn’t keep up any kind of pretense with these men, not even to protect herself. “I guess it’s not such a bad thing.”
“Come inside, Kitty-Kat,” Paul said. “We want to show you our home here in Lotus Land.”
“It’s really very impressive. Lucas said you had it built?”
Paul nodded. “Right after our first screenplay was produced and we knew we were going to stay on the Coast for a while.”
“Most people just rent an apartment.”
“We like our privacy,” Wesley said.
“And we’re just a trio of small-town Texas boys at heart. Hell, you’ve seen Lusty. It’s more country than town.”
“Your hometown does have the feel of country,” Kat said. “I didn’t see much of it, but I liked what I saw.”
“Good.”
Just inside the front door, a wide foyer offered the visitor several options. Large, double doors on either side stood open to rooms that could have been from Victorian England—the classic library and parlor—and a hall led into the heart of the house.
The library came complete with a beautiful fireplace. The blackened interior gave evidence of use. The parlor displayed furniture that looked modern and comfortable.
“Once in a while, we entertain. The parlor is good for that, as is the library. The first door down the hall on the right is a bathroom.”
“Ah, so you can have people in your home and easily keep your guests in one area?”
Paul nodded. “We aren’t comfortable having people prowling all over our personal space, and no, I do not mean that to include you.”
Straight ahead, the hallway led toward the back of the house, with doors on either side. The door on the left, the only door on the left, opened into a very large bedroom.
“Good grief. Is that a double queen bed?” The large picture window across from the bed gave a stunning view of the surrounding hills, with not a neighboring house in sight.
“It is. Our parents use this room when they visit.”
“Ah. In that case, the larger bed makes sense.” She had wondered how three people managed in a regular-sized bed. She supposed that, in the case of the senior Jessops, a king bed might do, if Anna always slept in the middle.
“These are our bedrooms,” Lucas said. He pointed. “Paul’s, mine, and Wes’s.”
“You have your bedrooms in birth order?”
Wesley laughed. “Clichéd, isn’t it? But, yeah, in birth order. We do that with a lot of things.”
Just beyond the bedrooms, the house opened up to a kitchen and dining area, with a large patio that led to the backyard and a beautiful pool.
But between the bedrooms and the kitchen, a wrought-iron spiral staircase beckoned. It didn’t take her long to understand she’d found the turret.
She tilted her head and looked at Paul.
“That’s our studio.”
Kat grinned. “May I?”
“Of course.” Paul motioned for her to precede them.
She counted twenty steps and then gasped when she reached the top. A tiny corridor opened to reveal a large, round, open expanse. Surrounded on three sides by glass, the room provided a breathtaking view. Inside the room three large desks, complete with computers, along with a conference-style table proclaimed this was indeed a working area.
“I wouldn’t be able to get a thing done up here. I’d be too busy looking at the ocean.” While yet a distance off, the placement of the house and the height of the second floor allowed for a panoramic view of hills and a bit of blue water worthy of a postcard.
“It was a challenge at first,” Lucas said.
“Sometimes looking at the view helps.” Paul nodded. “We get stuck from time to time, like any other writers do. Instead of staring off into space, we stare out over the water of Santa Monica Bay.”
And being writers, they likely saw more than the average person staring out to sea.
She turned her attention to the inner space and noticed something right off. One desk looked so tidy if she hadn’t known better she’d say it was a spare desk, never used. The other two were the antithesis of tidy. “Your work space is...messy.”
“No,” Paul said, “their work space is messy. Mine is pristine.”
“The last time our parents were here, Mom took one look around and told Luc and I that we take after our fathers.” Wesley grinned.
“It couldn’t have been so bad a thing because then the dads and mom shared a look that was so sweet.” Lucas sighed.
“They did,” Paul agreed. “We didn’t understand it at the time, but then, on New Year’s Day, they told us the story of how they met and fell in love.”
“You only just heard that this past New Year’s?” Kat was pretty certain that as a teen she’d been forced to listen to her parents’ story a gazillion times.
“They’d told us a softer version when we were kids—mostly because the real one doesn’t speak well of our mother’s mother,” Wesley said.
She wondered if that had anything to do with their mother choosing to marry two men. And that reminded her of something she’d wanted to ask.
“May I ask a personal question?”
“Of course.”
All three Jessops answered at the same time. Their voices meshed so well even the harmony of just their words appealed to her.
Kat had never been so swayed by the male of the species that she’d had to focus on what she wanted to say. She was doing that now and didn’t know whether to cheer or to steer clear of this triple-distraction.
Liar, liar pants on fire.
“How is it done, exactly? I know your mother calls both of your fathers husband, and they both call her wife. But...a woman can’t legally have more than one husband. Can she?”
“Let’s go downstairs to the kitchen.” Paul ran his hand down her arm and linked their fingers. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. She was getting enamored of this man’s courtly gestures. “You can sit and sip wine while we serve up supper and answers.”
“And Kat?”
She turned her head to meet Lucas’s gaze. “Please feel free to ask anything that occurs to you. We promise we won’t be offended.”
“All right, I will.” She already had a lot of questions. She just hoped they were true to their word and would be open with their answers.
* * * *
Leonardo Acosta sat quietly in the back of the barroom, his gaze everywhere, his mind cataloging who was present and listening, always listening, to the whispers and the chatter. None but his own people filled this bar tonight. Pietro, one of the men he’d brought north with him and the only man on earth he trusted, stood guard at the door to turn away any who did not belong. Jorge had already told him about the excitement in this neighborhood earlier that day. Many of his people had seen it happen, of course.
The woman didn’t know that. His people had hidden away, and they’d watched. And then they’d come here, to his place, to whisper and to wonder and to see what he would do next.
They’d seen how that little gringa had dared to come here and taken one of his own away.
It did not matter that Paolo Luna was a fuck-up. He belonged to Leonardo, just as this neighborhood now belonged to Leonardo. He’d worked hard since coming here from Brazil to establish himself. His hold on this place and these people was still tenuous. He couldn’t afford to let this affront pass unan
swered. He had plans, and one little American female cop was not going to interfere in those plans.
“Who is this woman?”
He didn’t have to raise his voice to be heard. With his words, the bodies crowding into this small bar fell silent.
Fear filled the air, vibrating off their bodies as if they were rats. This was his kingdom. No, it’s not a kingdom, not yet. This is where I begin, and it is my job to weed out those who will fail. Mostly, it is my job to clutch this with my bare hands and show all my power—be it benevolence or bloody justice.
Paolo Luna was one of the failures. Leonardo knew that the only members of this organization Luna could give to the policía were the ones who were already dead—the ones he’d swept away when he’d arrived two weeks ago and taken over.
But this territory was his, and he had to prove to everyone that he could hold it.
“We do not know her, sir. She is not from this area, although she did deliver Paolo to the 77th. From there, he’ll be taken to the central detention center. It’s how things are done in this city.”
Leonardo looked at the young man who’d spoken. No more than twenty, he’d stepped forward when all the others had stepped back.
Leonardo put a name and some basic facts to the face. He was second-generation Hispanic, born here in this city to parents who had no papers but worked hard. His predecessors had called him Tommy—a boy’s name. This boy had stepped forward. No, not a boy. His one step forward has made him into a man.
He was man with an excited gleam in his eye, a man with ambition. Leonardo approved of ambition—to a point. “Tell me, Tomás, did you happen to take a picture of this woman?”
“Yes, sir. I took several pictures of her on my phone. She did not see me, of this I am certain.”
Leonardo held out his hand. Tomás had already opened the app on his phone. Leonardo stared at the young woman, her blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail that hung out the back of her ball cap. He thumbed through the handful of photos Tomás had taken. The woman appeared young, if one didn’t look at the eyes.
Love Under Three Valentinos [The Lusty, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 4
