A Valentine for Two

by Lia Davis

  Before I could say anything back, he lifted me in a bear-hug and carried me to the living room. “Okay.” I laughed. “Put me down and I’ll give you the attention you clearly are looking for.”

  I figured that’s what he was after. The past year had been a whirlwind of fun and discovery. Mostly the three of us had settled into a comfortable pattern, where I split my time between them. On the rare occasion, we’d all spend the night together, but more often than not, they seemed to have an unspoken agreement about who would take the lead on certain nights. I didn’t mind. I loved them both and cherished every moment respectively, no matter who I was with.

  “What about me?”

  I heard that deep voice and twisted in Ty’s arms enough that I saw where Sandy was seated. “You’re home too?” As soon as I asked that question I noticed what Sandy had draped over his lap. A black silk blindfold and several lengths of rope.

  “Happy Anniversary,” Ty gave me a squeeze and then let me slide down his body before he released me. Once my feet hit the floor I turned to face Sandy who was sitting in our big upholstered chair, looking as regal as King Tut.

  His gaze smoldered. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Red.”

  Oh yeah. The air in the room suddenly felt heated. Energized. And why wouldn’t it? The desire pouring off both these men was palpable. That familiar sizzle, of half euphoria and half blatant lust, coursed through me, but no one spoke.

  Hm.

  Were they trying to gauge my reaction to their party favors? If so, I figured I should put them at ease. “Wow, and here I thought you two would chip in to buy me flowers and chocolates.”

  I was trying to be funny and lighten the mood a little, seeing as how I was dying to check out their props, but all Sandy did was smile.

  Uh oh. His eyes were gleaming and I knew what that meant.

  “Flowers? Not so much. Try fresh rose petals to lie on. I scattered them on our bed,” Ty curled down to whisper in my ear. Sandy, on the other hand, hadn’t moved, remaining seated, his gaze hotly drilling, while he studied me.

  “Not chocolates, but we do have some edible body paint. Remember how much you liked becoming a living work of art?”

  I remembered. The experience was one I’d never forget. Now I was the one whispering, for no other reason than I couldn’t seem to find a firmer voice, “Yes.”

  “Before we get to rules, we—”

  Despite my curiosity that they always managed to exploit and devilishly use against me, I couldn’t help myself. This sounded a little too one-sided for my liking. “Rules?”

  Sandy raise a brow at me, while Ty made some tsk, tsk, tsk, sounds behind me. After a second or two it was Sandy who spoke, “I’m really going to miss the habit you have of interrupting me when we break you of it.”

  He didn’t scare me. I knew his secret. He might be the biggest alpha male I’d ever met in my life, but with all that power the guy came with a unique ability to use it with a softness and grace that made me breathless most times.

  “I hope you didn’t forget to tell her Ty.”

  Okay, I said most times, not all. I narrowed my gaze at him.

  Ty wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to him, so that my back was against his front. What did that tell me? I wasn’t going to like what he had to say. “I think I did forget.”

  He knew he did, the creep. “Tell me what?”

  “Ty’s been studying up on operant conditioning. His birthday gift to me next month is to teach you not to interrupt me.”

  “Train,” Ty corrected, giving me a squeeze.

  Sandy obviously saw the huge mistake with that pronouncement when he quickly replied, “Yeah, I wouldn’t go there buddy. Women don’t like—”

  “Wasn’t that Skinner’s theory?” I tried to twist and see if Ty was smiling. He better be. But then I remembered. “Hang on a minute. Didn’t Skinner do behavior modification with...with... dogs?”

  I was outraged and Sandy knew it because he sighed. “Rats. It was Pavlov who studied dogs.”

  I stopped moving and glared. “Oh, yes, that’s much better.”

  When Sandy laughed, I smiled. I don’t know why, but in the rare times he showed a joyful side it always lightened my mood, no matter how I was feeling. “We were going to wait until after the fun,” He held up the rope and silk, before putting the items on the side table. “But now that Ty has dampened the mood with his—”

  “What did I do?”

  Sandy stood and gave me and Ty a look that said, Man you guys are killing me. Then he gained a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “Maybe you should switch off with the modifying behavior lessons.” His gaze settled on me once more. “He never used to interrupt me. He picked up that bad habit from you.”

  Yeah, it was probably true, but I wasn’t going to admit it. “He’s picked up some of your bad habits too.”

  “I know,” Ty’s wickedly husky whisper sounded in my ear. “You should thank him.”

  There was no winning with these two.

  “As I was saying.” Sandy cleared his throat. “We were going to wait to give you this.”

  Ty let me go and moved to stand beside me while Sandy retrieved a large red velvet box from the dining room table. When he handed it to me they were both silent.

  “Hmm...It’s too big to be a ring.” I was joking as I went to the chair Sandy had vacated, and sat down.

  “I told you we should have gone with a carat or two.”

  I looked at Ty and shook my head. “You drive him crazy. You know that, don’t you?”

  Both of them smiled and I shook my head again. They made quite the pair. Then I rested the box on my lap and shimmied off the top. Once I put that aside, I opened up the tissue wrap and peered inside. It was crystal. A beautiful pink hued glass sphere and when I carefully took it out I realized what it was shaped like.

  A heart.

  It was gorgeous and inside the piece there was an inscription that read:

  When love hits hard.

  It shatters the soul.

  It has the ability to break a heart, and bruise a spirit.

  That’s why a woman needs a super hero...or two.

  We’re here, babe.

  For you.

  Always and forever

  Ty & Sandy

  “It’s too long, isn’t it? I told Ty we should have kept it short with—”

  I clutched the glass heart against my chest, and shot a look between them. “No. It’s perfect.” When I realized they were truly worried over their gift, I swallowed the rising lump in my throat and whispered, “I love you guys.”

  Ty pointed at Sandy and said, “Okay, you were right. I owe you five bucks. We didn’t need to dangle an emerald-cut carat to bribe her.”

  “Not to say the words.” Sandy corrected, quickly popping his brows at me, before he reached to playfully snatch up the blindfold and rope. “But we may need the ring we bought her to use as leverage to get her to agree to our nefarious plans.”

  One minute I was on the verge of happy tears and in the next I was in feminine commando mode. Forget the ring. “Not a chance. I’m all over those rose petals.”

  Ty beamed. “And I’ll take my five bucks back. I told you she’d be down with it without the jewelry.”

  I laughed and then laughed harder when Sandy quipped, “Not so fast there, buddy. I bet there’s a catch.”

  I was thinking he was wrong until Sandy curled down over me and asked, “Do you want to see the rock we bought you for Valentine’s Day to commemorate your long ago early morning visits to our building before we get to having fun?”

  When he put it like that. “Absolutely, and not a second before.”

  Sandy straightened and then deadpanned to Ty. “I’ll keep the fiver. Get our girl her stone.”

  I didn’t know what to be more impressed with. The beautiful square-cut emerald surrounded by gleaming diamonds, or the two handsome men who worked together to present it to me.

  Ah hell, who am I kidding? A
fter Sandy helped me to slide it on my finger, and Ty kissed my knuckle just above it, I put the box on my lap and smiled up at them. “This is wonderful, but now I’m wondering. Who do I get to blindfold and which one of you will be straining in the ropes?”

  “She’s sassy,” Ty said with a devious grin.

  Sandy affected a mock frown as he pulled me out of the chair. He took a second to admire the ring on my hand, and then playfully swatted my behind. “More like delusional.”

  But I knew what I really was as we made our way to the bedroom.

  I was happy.

  Very, very, happy now that I could put my heart of glass on the shelf and admire it from afar.

  What a gift.

  About the Author

  Riley Murphy writes sexy, humorous, and emotional romance, happy ending guaranteed. An optimist, she believes life is amazing, people are complicated, but in a good way, and we should never stop learning. Riley currently calls Florida home with her gorgeous husband. She has two phenomenal kids, one adorable-to-the-max grandchild, and a very bossy pooch.

  When Riley’s not working she enjoys reading, oil painting, and getting to the Sunday crossword before anyone else does, so she can fill-in all the easy answers first, and pull the smart card with the family.

  If Riley wasn’t an author she’d be an international spy with top-level security so she could have a peek at Area 51 and decide for herself if those green guys are for real. Failing that, she’d likely go with chicken sexer.

  Social Media links:

  Website: www.AuthorRileyMurphy.com

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/Riley__Murphy

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/riley.murphy.9469

  Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5764709.Riley_Murphy

  Three is a Charm

  An MFM Menage Romance

  Amy Brent

  Chapter One

  EVE

  Standing outside of Dominic Weston's mansion brought back a lot of memories. Being that Dominic had been my dad's best friend meant we'd spent a lot of time there over the years. Back when I'd been a little girl, I'd come over to play with his daughter, Charlotte. We'd been close in age and I recalled having a lot of fun playing games on the grounds of his estate. When I'd gotten a little bit older, I'd babysat for his youngest son, Xavier. After his divorce, Dominic often called me to come sit with Xavier while he went out on a date. And he'd called me a lot. He seemed to have a never-ending stream of women vying for his attention.

  But not one of those memories compared to the time Dominic came home tipsy, shortly after his divorce hearing had been finalized. I'd been staying over, sleeping in Charlotte's room since she'd been away at college, keeping an eye on Xavier. It wasn't an unusual arrangement. I'd been asked to stay over a few times that summer – the summer before I too went away for college. The summer after I'd turned eighteen and had broken up with my high school sweetheart. I realized it wasn't going to work out since he was headed for the east coast and I was preparing to go away to Stanford. Long distance relationships never worked out.

  But that one night, I didn't sleep in Charlotte's room.

  And I hadn't seen Dominic since that night. I never knew why, but he'd never called me back over to watch his son again. And a few weeks later, I'd moved up to San Jose, leaving Newport Beach behind.

  But there I was, a few years older and – I hoped – wiser. I had a degree in business in hand, ready to step out into the world for a bit before going back for my MBA. Experience was what I lacked and what I needed most. And I knew that Dominic had that to offer me. He had a position open within his company. A position that, if everything went well, would give me a much needed leg up in my field.

  And after so much time had passed, there I was, walking up to his home. A home I knew all too well, to interview for the position.

  I knocked on the door and waited. A moment later, an elderly Hispanic woman opened the door and smiled broadly at me.

  “Oh my gosh, Eve! Is that really you? Look at you! You've grown into such a beautiful young woman,” she said, reaching out to hug me.

  “Thank you, Lupita,” I said, hugging the woman back tightly. “You're looking good too.”

  Lupita had worked for Dominic for as long as I could remember, going back to when Charlotte and I were still running around dressed as princesses. She'd often give us special treats – and look the other way whenever we got up to our mischief of one sort or another.

  “Come, just wait until Dominic sees you. He won't believe his eyes!” She took my hand and led me through the foyer and down the hallway to Dominic's office. “I barely believe mine!”

  I held my breath the entire trip down the familiar hallway. As my footsteps echoed off the tile, I felt nervous. Insecure. Like an awkward teenage girl all over again. What would he think of me? Since he last saw me – when I was eighteen and just developing into a woman – I'd learned how to dress for my new adult figure.

  No more designer jeans and baggy boho-inspired shirts. I was in a suit. A tailored suit. One that hugged my curves. My hair was no longer dyed bleach blonde, I'd decided to let my natural color shine through – only adding some golden highlights. A nice reddish brown, a color that suited me more than the platinum blonde of my youth – or so I thought.

  I was no longer that skinny kid who would skip out on real food in favor of salads and low calorie stuff. At the time, I was trying to keep myself slim and trim for whatever boy I was after at the time. And at the time, I'd thought nearly starving myself was the way to go. Since then, I'd grown up and had matured. I'd filled out and had an actual waist, hips and butt. I looked like a woman, and hell, I felt like one too.

  But no matter how grown-up I felt, I realized that I was in no way prepared to see Dominic again.

  Lupita knocked on the office door and Dominic pulled it open. As I stood there, my heart raced and my pulse quickened. It was knocking so loud, there was no way he couldn't have heard it. I could have sworn I heard it echoing off the walls in the hallway. I held my breath as I stared up at the tall, dark and handsome man I'd had a devastating crush on for as long as I could remember.

  And he hadn't changed one little bit.

  Sure, there was a little more grey at his temples and perhaps, a few more laugh lines, but that only made him sexier to me. He looked more refined. More distinguished, even more gorgeous than before. Or perhaps I'd merely forgotten how gorgeous he was. Whatever it was, I couldn't stop the trembling in my hand, the stuttering of my heart, and the roiling sensation in my belly.

  I noticed that as he'd gotten a little bit older, he'd also started working out. It was more than obvious by the way his suit hugged his arms and chest. He had more muscle than I remembered. There seemed to be a lot more strength in his upper body and I couldn't stop myself from staring.

  “Wow, Evie,” he said with a laugh, using my childhood nickname, mercifully breaking the trance I'd been in. “Is that really you?”

  “Yes, Mr. Weston,” I said with a shy smile. “But please, call me Eve now.”

  “Of course. Forgive me,” he said, a sheepish grin on his face. “It's hard to accept that you're all grown up. An adult now. How could I forget? Thank you, Lupita, I'll take over from here.”

  Yes, please take over, I thought to myself as I stared into his heavenly blue eyes. I could never get past how someone with dark hair could have such beautiful, blue eyes. It just wasn't fair. The contrast was enough to distract even the most logical of women, and at that moment, as the memories and emotions washed over me, I wasn't the least bit logical.

  I was running purely on emotion at this point – which meant that I was screwed. I'd been hoping to have a cool, calm, professional interview, but with the tornado of memory and emotion swirling around inside of me, I figured that plan was probably out of the window.

  “Come in,” he said motioning for me to follow him inside his office. As soon as I stepped into his office, he closed the door behind me and we were a
lone – which set my heart racing all over again. “I can't wait to hear all about your experience up at Stanford. You knew that was my alma mater too, right?”

  “Yes, I did,” I said, still staring at him with some expression I was sure looked ridiculous on my face.

  My eyes felt like they were the size of dinner plates and I couldn't think of anything to say. I wasn't even sure how to make normal, polite, civilized conversation. It was ridiculous – I'd known this man for almost the entirety of my life, had a million conversations with him, and yet, sitting there in his office, my entire head was blank. All the dialogue I'd had running through my head earlier in the day, as I prepared for the interview – not to mention my powers of speech – were apparently gone the moment I saw him in his tight, tailored business suit.

  “I mean, yes, I knew that,” I finally managed to croak out. “I remember my dad mentioning it. He'd said that's how you two became friends – he went there too.”

  Jesus Christ, stop talking, I told myself. I wanted to slap myself upside the head. Of course he'd gone to Stanford – and of course Dominic knew that. I'd just said they went to school together. My brain wasn't cooperating with me and I was starting to sound like an idiot.

  But if Dominic noticed, he didn't let on. He cleared his throat as he sat down at his desk, something of a bemused smirk on his face. I sat across from him, my hands folded in my lap, cringing on the inside.

  I realized that my skirt was riding up a little high, showing off more leg than I'd meant to. Afraid he would think I was coming on to him, I tried to subtly yank it down, holding the fabric over my knee with my hand, just waiting for Dominic to say something, to put me out of my misery and start the interview already.

  Clearly, I'd already failed the normal social interaction part of the interview, I just hoped that I'd be able to impress him enough with the professional interaction part of it that he'd overlook my rambling, awkward, idiocy.

  “Oh yeah, you would know that, wouldn't you? I'm sure your father talked to you all about our college days. Sure you've heard the stories enough times to be bored stiff by them,” he said with a laugh.