by Redrae Gunn
“Hired?” Jace asked as he looked at Tony and ran his hands through his shoulder-length wavy hair.
“Definitely,” Tony said.
Jenna met the eyes of both of them and couldn’t help but smile. “Why?”
“Honesty,” Jace and Tony said together.
Kira patted Jenna on the shoulder.
“I am to stay and see you get settled in,” Kira said. “Rock is coming to pick me up later. He wanted to make sure that you weren’t overwhelmed by the country life and stuff like that. He’s also bringing leftovers from the party so you won’t have to worry about supper.”
“Supper?” Jenna asked.
“Supper is an informal dinner,” Kira explained. “We have breakfast, lunch, and supper. Sometimes it’s breakfast, dinner, supper and sometimes breakfast, lunch, dinner. It all depends on who you are talking with.”
Jenna pulled a notebook from her bag and wrote down the word. When she looked up at the table and saw the looks from Jace and Tony she explained. “I am a visual person. I learn from watching other people do things and I associate words by looking at them and recalling their meaning.”
“That’s pretty cool,” Kira said. “I’m more a trial-and-error type of learner.”
“So what should I do first?” Jenna asked, looking at Tony and Jace.
“You know what?” Kira asked. “Miles lives only a mile from here. I think I’ll go visit him and be back before Rock gets here, if that’s okay with everyone.”
“You can take the truck,” Jace offered.
“I’ll walk,” Kira said.
Jenna watched as Kira held up her cell phone. “I’m a call away if you need anything, but honestly you are in great hands.”
Jenna nodded her head and watched Kira leave. She was alone with the wolves.
“This will be your room,” Tony said as he pointed to a green and yellow room off of the kitchen.
“Will you need help moving your stuff inside?” Jace asked.
Jenna shook her head.
“Any questions?” Jace asked.
“A thousand,” Jenna replied.
“Like what?” Tony asked.
“When is lunch? What do you like to eat? Do you need laundry done now? What do you want me to do?” Jenna asked. “I have no idea what expectations you two have of me.”
“Why don’t you take the next week to get accustomed to the place, to the schedule, and there are no expectations right now,” Tony said.
“Laundry needs to get done, though,” Jace said.
When the two men started to walk out the door Jace turned to her. “We’ll be back right around noon to eat lunch. Usually sandwiches and a salad. Something simple and not too heavy.”
When the door shut behind him Jenna ran to it and pulled it open. “Wait,” she called and they both turned to look at her. “Is there any place that I shouldn’t look or can’t go? I mean something that is private? Dresser drawers or something if I’m putting laundry away?”
Jace crossed his arms across his chest and looked at Tony. Tony shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged his shoulders.
“I think you are free to explore whatever you want,” Jace said. “Not many secrets between the two of us, so there doesn’t need to be any with you.”
Jenna nodded her head and went back inside. Jace was pretty much a to-the-point type of person and Tony seemed to be more relaxed, as he laughed often and easily. She looked around the room that was to be her new home for the next four months. The contract could be extended to a year if she decided to stay and proved that she could hold her own.
Jenna wandered around the house as she tried to put each room to memory. The laundry room was first on the left when she had come in the door. A door to the right led to the basement, with a small area for shoes and hats between the basement door and the main door. Then a bathroom to her left and three steps up into the kitchen. Small but country and cozy.
A bedroom done in yellow and green was to her right off of the kitchen. Then the living room. A bedroom off the right of that. Finally an enormous bedroom at the end of the house. Each side had a king-sized bed and it was sectioned off by dressers. One side was blue, the other was red. Double French doors opened to a bare but peaceful porch. The windows were not curtained and the sun reflected off of the white pine floor.
Jenna made her way back through the house and wandered downstairs. There was a bathroom to her right, a recessed space that held a fridge and two large, deep freezers. Then a little living area with a wood-burning stove. Two bedrooms were on either side of the living area. One in blue and one in red. Two enormous pantries held all sorts of canned goods and boxed items.
She went back upstairs to the room that would be hers. The queen-size bed had a pretty green and yellow quilt. The walls were painted bright green on two sides and bright yellow on the other two sides. A large closet was built into the wall and it had drawers below it. A rather large desk was tucked next to the bed.
It wasn’t a big room by any means but it was still cozy, especially with the brown and yellow braided rug under her feet. The thin white curtains allowed the sun to filter in and she could see into the driveway and across to the pen where Tony and Jace had just mounted their horses. Jenna watched, mesmerized at the way both of the men moved the horses around with ease. They took off at a brisk trot and Jenna noticed that Tony was grinning back at Jace.
By the time that Jenna had moved in all of her things and gotten her media space set up on the desk it was a little past eleven. She started a load of laundry and went into the kitchen to prepare lunch. She opened all the cupboards, snapped pictures of them, and then went downstairs to where she had seen the pantries. She snapped pictures of them, too. The men had a ton of supplies but it was all relatively boring.
Mustard and ketchup seemed to be the only two condiments in the house. No ranch, no mayonnaise, no salad dressing, and no pickle relish. How did someone eat sandwiches without adding lettuce and tomatoes? A good sandwich should have so much stuff on it that it squeezed out of the bun when a bite was taken.
Plain potato chips. No dip and no salsa. Sliced American cheese but no parmesan or shredded cheese of any type. There was bologna but no turkey, salami, ham, or shaved beef. Jenna wondered what type of a budget she had for groceries and how close the nearest town was where she could get groceries.
Jenna took a moment for herself and called her parents to let them know where she was and what she was doing.
Her father, like always, was happy and excited for her as she took the path less traveled and settled in with her new adventure. Her mother, as usual, was condescending and judgmental. She wanted to know why two grown men couldn’t cook and clean for themselves. She scolded Jenna for not using her college education to the best of her abilities and reminded her that she should be settling down with a nice husband and not running around the country looking for anything other than a nice man, with a nice 401k retirement plan, and a house that had a white picket fence.
Jenna managed not to cry with her mother’s critical assessment as she held onto her father’s words of encouragement about doing whatever it took to be happy in life and finding what she needed.
When Jace and Tony came inside for lunch Jenna noticed that they both removed their boots and washed their hands before coming into the kitchen. A smell, very foreign to her nose, wafted past her when they sat at the table and dug into the sandwiches. Jenna closed her eyes and sniffed the air. It smelled good.
“What are you doing?” Tony asked.
“You guys smell different,” Jenna said as she opened her eyes and blushed.
“What does it smell like?” Tony asked as he tilted his head to the side.
“I don’t know,” Jenna said. “I can smell the clothes but they smell warm like the sun and like they have been in the rain?”
“Sweat and dirt,” Jace said, nearly grunting. “We smell like sweat and dirt.”
“I liked warm rain better.” Tony smiled at
Jenna as he lifted his arm and smelled his armpit. “But yeah, it’s mostly sweat and dirt.”
Jenna grabbed the jar of peaches that she had chilled and set it on the table. “I have never seen canned fruit before. I had to look it up on the Internet but there aren’t instructions on how to open it so I’m at a loss here.”
Jace looked at Jenna and tilted his head. It took some guts to admit that she had no idea what she was doing. He liked this. He liked teaching. “It looks like you got the ring off.”
“I did, but this thing.” Jenna tapped the top of the jar. “It won’t budge.”
“Did you read about canning fruit on the Internet?” Jace asked.
Jenna nodded her head and looked a little embarrassed. “It looks complicated but I understand the principle of the seal.”
“The best way is like this.” Jace stood and grabbed a large spoon. He placed the jar on the counter and had Jenna take the jar in one hand and the spoon in the other. He stood right behind her and looked over her head at the jar. “Run the spoon around the grooves until you find where it meets the top of the lid.”
Jenna could feel the heat coming from Jace’s body. She focused her thoughts on what he was saying and finally felt the spoon catch against the rim. “Okay.”
Jace reached around her and his big hands enveloped her small ones. “Then you twist the spoon against the top of the lid until you hear a pop.”
Jenna felt the pressure of Jace’s hand on hers as he twisted the spoon. She heard the pop and smiled. “I heard it!”
Jenna smiled when she heard Tony laugh at her. When Jace backed away from her and sat at the table Jenna realized that her hands were shaking from Jace being so close. She really didn’t need to be thinking lustful thoughts about her employers, no matter what had happened the day before.
“Any other problems you have encountered?” Tony asked Jenna. He smirked at Jace when Jace adjusted his groin while Jenna had her back toward the table.
“Yes,” Jenna said as she sat the bowl of peaches at the table. “I need your Wi-Fi password. It’s locked and I had to use my phone as a mobile hot spot.”
“Anything else?” Tony asked, avoiding Jenna’s request to the password. He’d handle that in a second if Jace didn’t.
Tony came over and looked at the notebook.
“You have more than a couple questions,” Tony said as he looked down her list. “Tonight when Rock and Kira are here we’ll have a few drinks around the fire pit. Not the burn barrel.” He smiled warmly at Jenna. “You will ask questions. We will answer. You will not get offended if we laugh. We will not think that any question is unreasonable or silly.”
“Grocery budget?” Jace asked as he looked at the notebook.
“Um, yes,” Jenna said. “Everything around here is pretty tame.”
When Tony laughed again Jenna smiled at him and raised her eyebrows. Tony had a great laugh. He laughed openly and honestly. She couldn’t get mad at him for laughing. He hadn’t laughed at her. He was laughing with her.
“I like my meat and potatoes,” Jace said.
“Well so do I,” Jenna said. “But throw some shredded cheese on the potato, add some relish to a hotdog, a good sandwich needs some mayo, and stop eating that white bread. It has no nutritional value at all.”
Tony was laughing so hard he excused himself to the bathroom when the tears started to roll down his cheeks. Jace just crossed his hands across his chest and leaned all of his weight on one of his legs as he tapped the floor with his other foot.
“If that has to come out of my salary, so be it.” Jenna leveled her brown eyes at the fire sparking behind Jace’s blue ones. “This isn’t up for negotiation.”
“Fine.” Jace stopped tapping his foot. “The farm pays for all expenses and we all receive a salary. That’s how we manage the income and how we manage not to go under in rough years.”
“I’m your guinea pig, Jenna,” Tony said as he came back into the kitchen. “I like trying new things. So if you are going to make Jace his meat and potatoes then I will sample whatever concoction you come up with. I’ll give it a yea or nay.”
“Traitor,” Jace said to Tony.
Tony had stiffened and balled his fists.
“Guys,” Jenna said softly. “I like to cook. It’s no fun cooking for just myself all the time and I thought that if I could get some enjoyment out of cooking for both of you then it would make cooking a lot more fun and a lot less boring.”
Tony smiled at Jenna. She wanted to take care of them both. That was noble, thoughtful, and something that he had been hoping for in his past failed relationships. He knew that he probably would never be with a woman without Jace next to him. He had realized that at a young age. But having a woman who truly wanted to take care of both of them? Now that was an idea he could get used to real fast.
* * * *
It was around six when Jace and Tony came home.
Jenna saw Tony’s surprise as she met them at the corral and watched as they took care of the two horses they had taken out earlier. She asked a few questions about what they were doing but mostly she just watched them.
Jenna informed them that their laundry was on their beds, Kira was on her way back from Miles’s house, and Rock would be arriving shortly with supper. Both smiled appreciatively and then turned their gaze to the driveway as a sheriff’s patrol car pulled to a stop in the driveway.
“I didn’t know Sam was a cop,” Jenna said as she watched Sam Morgan get out of the car in uniform carrying a large brown paper sack.
“I didn’t know you knew Sam,” Jace said.
“He was with Carmen at Kira’s party,” Jenna replied, meeting Jace’s ice-blue eyes with her own golden brown ones. “Carmen invited me to play with them late last night but I don’t do the girl-guy-girl thing.”
“So you only do the guy-girl-guy thing?” Tony asked.
“Pretty much,” Jenna said nonchalantly as she started toward Sam. She looked back at where Jace and Tony were staring at her from the corral with their mouths open. “This isn’t my first rodeo, cowboys. At my age, a girl knows what she wants. She knows when she is satisfied, she knows what she needs. Sometimes, she just needs more.”
Chapter 2
“I cannot believe that you told her that sex wasn’t part of her contract,” Tony said as he watched Jenna cross the drive.
“For the record,” Jace replied. “You told her that sex wasn’t part of her contract.”
“She said she needs more,” Tony said. “But what is more? Are we the ‘more’ she needs?”
“Can she handle me?” Jace asked. “And will she respond to you being what you are?”
“You make me sound like a cult leader,” Tony said. He had seen the way that Jace had looked down at his own crotch, clearly showing his insecurity. “I don’t prey on the innocent. I just like talking dirty.”
“And inflicting a little pain,” Jace said.
“Only sexual pain.” Tony cussed at Jace under his breath. There was a huge difference between a sadist and a sexual sadist. “I like it when you hurt them and they like it. When they don’t like it then it does nothing for me. I’m not about to start beating women.”
“This is so messed up,” Jace said, and rubbed his hands through his hair. “She’s tiny. She’s what? Eight years older than me, ten years older than you and we are thinking about this? We need a good employee, not a relationship.”
“So you are bigger, taller, and have eleven inches on her,” Tony said. “Put that eleven inches in her. She gave us an invite. Don’t tell me that you aren’t going to take it. And for the damn record we need a relationship beside each other worse than we need a good employee.”
“I don’t want any of us to get hurt emotionally,” Jace said. “Especially her. She seems too nice for us to just use her. As much as I want her. I don’t want to use her.”
“I felt the same way yesterday,” Tony said, looking where Sam was talking with Jenna. “Then I saw that glimmer of
hope. That moment when she surrendered to you and to me and it was beautiful. She wants us. Both of us. She will take you.”
“How do you know?” Jace asked.
“Because I saw it, last night,” Tony said. “She isn’t into the flogging, the whips, or the paddle. Hell, she’d probably bend us over her knees before she would even consider getting spanked, but she wants to be had, to be overwhelmed and to be held by more than one man.”
“She is very pretty,” Jace finally spoke. “We’ve been going for women our age. Maybe we need someone who has had time to figure out what she wants.”
“The girls we have been messing with didn’t know their head from a hole in the wall,” Tony replied. “They haven’t experienced anything. They are still worried if their pussies are tight. They have no idea that all pussy feels great when it’s wrapped around a cock.”
Tony watched as Jace turned around and looked at the driveway. Jenna was still talking with Sheriff Morgan and it was probably getting on his nerves. Sam had made Jenna laugh and that was the last straw as Jace clenched his fists. Jace had never been this protective about a woman before and certainly not this quickly.
“I’m going over there,” Jace said.
“Right behind you, brother,” Tony replied, wondering what had taken Jace so long.
* * * *
“Sheriff Morgan,” Jace said as he walked up behind Jenna.
“Jace,” Sam said smiling. “It’s good to see you again. I wanted to talk to you.”
Jace let Sam led him away from Jenna and Tony.
“If you are going to start with the tag-teaming twin thing,” Jace said with a warning in his tone.
“Not at all.” Sam looked at the ground and then glanced back at Jenna and Tony. “I’m sorry for teasing you and Tony about it. Um, I didn’t know anything about this stuff and Carmen gives me quite a bit to think about every time I see her. Carmen has a soft spot for Jenna and she wanted me to check in on your new employee.”
“I heard that Carmen invited Jenna to a three-way last night,” Jace said, getting it out in the open. He might as well know up front what had happened.
