For Research Purposes Only

by Stephanie Williams

  During college, Jerry’s life was going downhill, Marty pulled him up and straightened him out. He knew Jerry never forgot that. At that time, Jerry wanted to be the big man on campus, Mister Popular. That came with a price. Drinking, womanizing and who knew what other vices.

  Marty had the luxury of being independently wealthy. His uncle had passed and left him a mint. He went on to college anyway to study engineering; something that always fascinated him. That’s when he met Jerry and Lacy. Marty hated seeing such a brilliant mind like Jerry’s go to waste. So, after a few fistfights over his drinking, suspected drug use, and an intervention, Marty kept on top of him like an older brother. He felt he owed it to him, and he really didn’t mind, especially since Jerry had been man enough to let Lacy go, and steered her his way.

  Marty wanted to be the man for Lacy. He’d done everything for her. Bought her anything she wanted and took her to exotic places during summer vacation. Lacy didn’t bite; she’d still had a crush on Jerry. Then out of nowhere, they clicked. They became soul mates during one of their summer vacations overseas. They were staying in Venice, shared a hotel room as usual. When he came out of the bathroom with just a towel wrapped around his waist, she couldn’t control herself. Neither could he. It was as though they’d been lovers for a lifetime. He’d hoped he wasn’t a rebound for her, but it turned out they’ve been inseparable ever since.

  He and Jerry remained tighter than brothers because of what Marty had done for him. Maybe that’s the kind of friendship women had between each other. Whatever the explanation, he’d give his life for Jerry and Lacy. Now the opportunity arose where he could share something precious with the two people he loved.

  Marty often doubted Jerry would never find the right woman. Maybe the only one for him was Lacy. Like he’d said, he left that door open. Would this be a permanent arrangement? That remained to be seen. One step at a time.

  When Marty discovered Lacy’s latest book project—a threesome—everything clicked, sort of. He didn’t ask Lacy her thoughts on the matter. She was already freaking out just trying to write on the subject matter. To ask her to participate? That would take some finagling. He would do anything to please Lacy, emotionally, financially—sexually. If she wanted to try a threesome for the sake of research, she wouldn’t get an argument from him. To be honest, he wanted to know just what her reaction would be.

  “Marty?”

  He turned toward the deep, sultry voice of his woman. How would she sound with two men pleasing her? “Yes.”

  “Um…I…uh….”

  He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. A tongue-tied writer. How ironic. “Go on, honey.”

  “I don’t know how else to put this.”

  “That’s funny. Maybe if you write it down, you can give it to me.”

  She put her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes at him. Even pissed, she still looked sexy. “I would get mad at that if it weren’t so true.”

  “I’m sorry, honey. What’s the problem? Nothing serious?”

  “I’m not sure.” She sighed.

  “Huh?”

  “Listen.” She sat at the breakfast nook and started playing with the salt and pepper shakers. “When we were talking upstairs about my problem, you mentioned I should do some research.”

  “Uh huh.” Marty joined her at the nook, sitting across from her.

  “You also mentioned Jerry in the same sentence. Now, I know you didn’t mean anything.” She laughed nervously. “I mean, those were two different thoughts, separate subject matters. Right?”

  Oh, yeah. Her thoughts ran along the same lines as his. Now, just a little push. “Wrong.” He wasn’t sure what to make of her deer in the headlights look.

  Chapter Two

  The teakettle went off just as Marty spoke. Maybe the sound of the whistle confused her, but she must have heard him correctly.

  “You better tend to that.” She pointed toward the stove.

  “Of course.” He got up and removed the kettle from the burner.

  She watched him pour water into their cups. The smell of raspberry scented the air. He brought the cups over to the nook and sat back down.

  “Now, where were we?” he asked.

  “You said you meant to make the connection between my story and Jerry, in so many words.”

  “Yeah. How do you feel about that?”

  “You mean an actual threesome. Marty, I thought you and I had something.”

  “We do. I love you. Would this question be a problem if the threesome included Jerry?”

  Good question. Jerry had to be the sexist man on the planet, next to Marty, of course. When Jerry walked into a room, women and some men’s jaws dropped. Tall like Marty, his presence took one’s breath away. Where Marty had long, dark hair, Jerry’s was medium length and a deep golden honey color. She’d never seen anything like it. His gray, soulful eyes made her melt. His lips begged for a woman to touch, kiss, and even lick them. When he smiled, his cheekbones became even more prominent. And he had a voice like a sultry caress. He could be talking about the weather and it made her panties wet.

  Oh, God. She realized that she’d been paying way too much attention to Jerry. But she couldn’t still be attracted to him like that. Could she? She just found him attractive, two different things. Right?

  “Well?” Marty’s voice snapped her to attention.

  “Huh?”

  “You were thinking about Jerry, weren’t you?” He smirked.

  Damn! There he goes again. “Um…just thinking about this book.”

  “The hell you were.” Marty took a gulp of tea. “Come on, Lacy, we’ve never kept secrets from each other. It’s okay if you find Jerry attractive. It’s okay if you feel a little something for him still. It’s okay if you think about both him and me—with you.”

  Lacy had her cup to her lips, about to take a sip, when she stopped. “You’re kidding?”

  “No. It’s only natural. Look, you’re writing a book on threesomes. I tell you that our mutual friend is coming by, a mutual friend who happens to be attractive to every straight woman on earth according to your friend Edith.”

  Lacy had to snicker at that. Edith did make it a point to let Jerry know the sun rose and set with him.

  “I’m not upset, if that’s what’s worrying you,” Marty continued.

  “I’m not worried…anymore. I’m more confused now.” Confused? What an understatement.

  “Understandable. The man you’ve been dating for some time just told you he’s not ticked you’re thinking of another dude, a mutual friend at that.”

  “Duh!”

  Marty reached over and took her hand, sending an electrical pulse to her soul. Pair that with his mesmerizing glare and she’d have sex with him in Times Square with the CNN news cameras going. Did adding Jerry to the mix make it any different?

  “We can talk about this later. Jerry won’t be here for a couple of days.”

  “You’re serious.” She couldn’t believe it.

  “I didn’t actually offer Jerry to you, or agree to anything. I’m just letting you know I understand if you have, let’s say, unconventional thoughts about the three of us.” Marty got up with his tea and left the room.

  Unconventional thoughts. Goodness. This wasn’t thinking about having sex in the elevator. This was about bringing another person, another man, into their bed. Just went to show, no matter how long you’ve known a person, you’re bound to be surprised.

  Lacy got up, leaving her tea, and raided the fridge. She needed food to get her brain cells functioning again. She grabbed the previous night’s fried chicken, not bothering to heat it up, and a soda. This would hold her—for at least another two hours. She made her way to the hall to go upstairs, when she bumped into Marty.

  “Sorry, with all this talk about threesomes, I forgot to get you something to eat.” He glanced down at the chicken she had in her hands. “I see you managed.”

  “Just something to tide me over. You can still w
hip me up one of your classic Spanish dishes.”

  Being half Spanish, and the rest mutt, as he liked to put it, Marty embraced his Latin side, and it showed in his cooking. He made a mean Paella Valenciana.

  “Deal. Going back to face the blank computer screen?”

  “If I can just get an opening sentence, I’ll feel better.”

  “I’m sure you’ll come up with something. You’re too clever not to get any ideas.” He kissed her on the mouth. Not a peck, but a deep, hungry kiss. A kiss that said I want to fuck you on the kitchen floor. But when they broke it, he sauntered on into the kitchen and began looking for his ingredients. Lacy shook herself and immediately went back upstairs.

  Half an hour later, she stared at three sentences on the screen, and none of them were attention-grabbing. How did other writers do it? She wondered if they were writing from first hand experience.

  “Hey, Lacy, it’s Jerry.”

  Startled, Lacy spun around in her chair, and faced the doorway. Marty stood with his cell phone in hand.

  “Oh. Tell him I said ‘hi.’” She turned back in her chair. Timing couldn’t be worse, she thought. Marty talking to Jerry, her writing this book, talking and thinking about a threesome with Marty—all would make for a very odd conversation.

  Marty spun her in her chair and smirked. Bending down, he whispered in her ear, “You’re not getting out of it that easy. You tell him.” He offered her the phone.

  She took it, looking at it as if it were new technology. Slowly, she put the phone to her ear. “Hello, Jerry. How are you?”

  “Hello, doll face. I’m doing great. I’m looking forward to seeing you. But, I guess you knew that.”

  She wanted to faint.

  ***

  Marty watched the expression on Lacy’s face. She tried desperately not to show any enthusiasm. Her face always lit up when she talked to Jerry. Not this time. She looked at if she were talking to customer service at the cable company.

  That will soon change. And if he knew Jerry, which he did very well, he would be the one to change it.

  “I’m looking forward to your visit. Three weeks? Do you think Berman, Hostead and Kendall can afford such a long absence?”

  Marty grabbed a chair, slid it next to her and fiddled with one of her desk puzzles. He needed to see how this played out. After the conversation he and Jerry had, this should be very interesting to watch.

  “What am I working on?” Lacy continued. She turned to face him. The look on her face could only be described as sheer panic. “Oh, you know, the same old, same old. I don’t want to bore…how’s that? It’s just another chick book, nothing that would interest a macho guy like you. So, what do you plan to do when you get here? I see, playing it by ear. No, nothing. Look, don’t mean to be rude, but I really need to get back to this book I started. Sure. Hold on.”

  She handed the phone back to him, and immediately left the room.

  “Well,” Marty said, as he took the seat at Lacy’s now-vacated desk.

  “Are you sure she’s interested?” Jerry asked. “She didn’t mention the subject matter of the book.”

  “She’s a bit—what’s the word—perplexed.” Which intrigued him even more. The fact she didn’t try to shut down the conversation downstairs earlier, made him even more curious. She had to be considering it. That was the only thing to explain her unease.

  “But she didn’t flat out say no,” Jerry said.

  “No, which tells me the option is open. She just needs a little more convincing.”

  “And you? You’re still willing?”

  “I told you how I felt, anything to please Lacy.” He glanced over her desk and saw several false starts to her latest project.

  “And, help her with the book.”

  “Exactly. This is with the woman I love. But since the opportunity seems to be presenting itself, I don’t see why not. I loved what we shared back in college. I’m curious to see if I can bring that bond in with Lacy. I want that. I don’t want her thinking if she thinks about you, she’s cheating on me. I want her to think of us as one.”

  Besides, Marty all but fantasized about Lacy in both their embraces and being so turned on she didn’t know what to do. He wouldn’t have done this for anyone else but Jerry. He trusted him with Lacy’s heart, because he knew his friend loved her just as much.

  “All right then. If she’s still not fully persuaded by the time I arrive, we’ll think of something else.”

  “Don’t have to think hard, buddy. She still finds you very attractive, coupled with the fact she’s known us for fifteen years, I think there’s quite a bit of trust there.”

  “Fine. Go do your magic and keep me posted.” He disconnected.

  Magic, indeed. The fact Lacy found Jerry attractive didn’t mean squat. It helped, but not enough to push her to the edge of engaging in a threesome. Trust? That remained to be seen. Doubt, definitely.

  To find out the man you love is willing to share you with another could break a lesser relationship. For all he knew, she could be in the bedroom packing and calling her sister, letting her know she had a new roommate.

  He put his cell phone in his pocket and went downstairs. Once there, he found Lacy sitting on the couch looking at the television. Not watching, just staring at it.

  “Lacy?”

  She slowly turned her head and faced him. Lines of doubt and concern etched into her features. “Yes.”

  “Don’t think about it.” Marty walked over to her and took a seat next to her. He rubbed her back and buried his face in her hair, inhaling deeply, always enjoying the different scents of her various shampoos.

  “Don’t think about it!” Roughly, she pulled away. “Marty, you’re asking me to invite Jerry into our bed. Why? I mean, does that turn you on?”

  “What if it does?” He stroked the sides of her cheeks. “I’m not asking you to do anything. Whatever decision you make is entirely up to you. I merely put the idea out there.” And hoped she would jump at the chance. Lacy tried anything he suggested when it came to sex, never being disappointed with the outcome. To the contrary, she used their experiences in her books. He hoped this would be just as easy.

  She huffed. “How thoughtful of you. I didn’t realize our sex life bored you so.”

  Marty laughed and wrapped his arms around her. “It’s not, believe me, no woman can give me such pleasure. But with all this talk of ménages, I just assumed, or at least thought that maybe….”

  She pulled out of his embrace and walked to the window, her back to him.

  “Don’t be mad at me, Lacy.” He went over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. She flinched at his touch. It felt like a stab in the heart. First the pull away, now this. “I only want to make you happy, that includes any sexual fantasy, or curiosity you might have.”

  She turned to face him. “But Marty, this wasn’t a fantasy of mine.”

  “Really? You know, sometimes there are fantasies so deep, that sometimes it takes a little nudge to bring them to the surface.” Marty thought a moment. He might as well have been talking about himself. Right now he had no time to psychoanalyze himself and Lacy. He needed to keep this spark going and bring it to a raging fire.

  “This would never have surfaced if I wasn’t stuck with that damn book.”

  “Yes, it would have. Maybe not now, maybe not a month from now, or even a year. But it would have come up eventually.” She tried to move away from him, but he stopped her and held her tight. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of. You know I’m the last one to judge you.”

  “I know. It’s just that…I don’t know.”

  He continued holding her, rocking her back a forth. “Let me make love to you right now. Then maybe you’ll have a better grasp of the situation.” Her eyes focused on him. “All this sex talk got me hot,” he said, caressing her face.

  “I will admit it got me a little warm, too.”

  “Warm, I won’t tolerate. I want you melting.”

  Chapter Th
ree

  Marty led Lacy to the bed and sat her down on the edge. He stared down at her; her breathing was erratic. She couldn’t hide her arousal. But what turned her on? The fact he wanted to make love to her, or the conversation they’d just had? He knew Lacy all too well, to the point he could almost read her mind. And why not? They were lovers and friends. His main goal in life: making and keeping her happy. Even if it meant giving her something she didn’t realize she wanted.

  He meant what he’d said earlier. He wasn’t jealous, but very intrigued. He knew why he wanted a threesome. But had she thought about engaging in a ménage à trois? Or did she shut that particular fantasy away, feeling too ashamed, only to have it reemerge again because of this book. Either way, he loved the fact it turned her on, even though she made a deliberate effort to conceal her arousal. That needed to be rectified.

  “I can tell the thought of Jerry and me turns you on.” He ran his hand through her spiral locks, enjoying the feeling of the coarse, thick curls.

  “I have a better question. Does the thought of me being with Jerry while you’re there with us turn you on?”

  He cocked his head and thought a moment. Should he tell her about their college adventures? Maybe not now. He needed to feel her out first, see where she stood on the subject, and what he had in mind would do just that. “I’ll admit I have fleeting thoughts about it.”

  “You know you always turn me on. I don’t need to add anything extra to what we have.” She took his hand, brought it to her face and rubbed her cheek with it. He knew she was telling only half the truth. He didn’t mind—for now. Lacy loved him, never any doubt about that. But he wanted her to face her own desires, to be honest, if not to him, then to herself.

  “I’m glad I get you hot. But I think you’ll get even hotter if you think of the possibilities of more adventurous sexual experiences. Tell me—if I weren’t here right now, and you were turned on like you are now, what would you do?”