by Ramona Gray
Her cheeks flushed a little. “I mean, do I spend one weekend with Ian and then the next weekend with you? Or does this itch scratching work during the week too? And if so, is it one week on and one week off with each of you?”
“No, Chloe, we, “Jackson glanced at Ian, “we’d all be together. At once.”
She cocked her head. “Together. All of us.”
“Yes. The three of us together.”
Her mouth dropped open and she knew she looked like an idiot, but she couldn’t help herself. “Do you mean like a…a threesome?”
Jackson grinned and Ian gave him a sharp look. “Don’t tease her, Jackson.”
“I’m not going to,” he said defensively. “Yes, we mean a threesome, Chloe.”
She stared silently at them for a moment. “Are you and Ian, I mean, do you and Ian like to…”
Ian shook his head. “No, Jackson and I are only into women.”
“It’s fine if you, um, like each other,” she said quickly. “I don’t – I mean, I’m cool with it. Love is love, right?” She finished lamely.
Jackson laughed. “Yes, but Ian and I aren’t bisexual. We do, however, enjoy fucking a woman together.”
She blushed at his crude language before glancing at Ian again. “But you slept with me, uh, alone.”
“We occasionally sleep with women individually,” Ian said.
“But our preference is together,” Jackson said.
“Right.” She stared into her tea again, trying to wrap her mind about what they were asking her to do. Anxiety and worry were creeping into her stomach. She hardly knew how to please one man, let alone two. What if she did or said something stupid? What if she couldn’t keep up with them? She’d watched threesomes in porn from time to time, and it occasionally looked…painful. The men were sometimes rough and they…
They wouldn’t be rough with you, Chloe. You know they wouldn’t.
No, maybe not. But if she tried to sleep with both of them at once, she’d end up disappointing them both. She didn’t have enough experience for a goddamn threesome. She’d be humiliated and they’d wonder what the hell they ever saw in her in the first place.
You can learn. Ask them to teach you how to –
Nope. She couldn’t. Besides, thinking that she was the type of girl to sleep with two men was ridiculous. She was a one-guy woman, a one-orgasm girl, a one -”
“Chloe? You okay?”
“I can’t,” she said abruptly. “I’m sorry. I – I appreciate the, um, the offer, but I can’t do that. It doesn’t have anything to do with either of you, it’s all me. I’m not that type of…girl.”
“Chloe, don’t say no right away. Think about it and -”
“Jackson,” Ian said, “she said no.”
Jackson took a deep breath. “Yeah, okay.”
“I’m sorry,” Chloe whispered.
“Nothing to be sorry about,” Jackson said. “But if you change your mind, you know where to find us, right?”
“Right,” she whispered.
He was still holding her hand and he squeezed it again. “Promise me you won’t quit, Chloe.”
She didn’t reply, and he said, “If I find out you handed your resignation in, I’ll quit on the spot and leave before you can. Do you hear me?”
She frowned at him. “No, you can’t.”
“I can, and I will. Don’t quit, Chloe. I won’t make this awkward at work, I promise.”
“Okay,” she said.
Ian visibly relaxed and she gave him a tentative smile. He smiled back but it was strained, and she bit back the disappointment when he stood up. “We should go, Jackson.”
“Yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow at work, okay, Chloe?”
“Okay.” She followed them to the door and waited as they slipped into their boots.
“Bye, Chloe.”
“Bye,” she said.
They left, and she shut and locked the door behind them. She reached up to run her hands though her hair and groaned when she remembered the towel. Shit. She stared at her flannel pajamas and her terry-cloth robe. Could she be wearing anything less sexy?
What does it matter. You rejected them. Two Greek gods wanted to fuck you and you said no. You asshole.
She banged her fist on the wall and then grunted a curse before rubbing her aching hand. It was for the best. She couldn’t sleep with two men at once. She couldn’t.
Chapter Six
“Okay, so if you’re sure you don’t mind picking up the cake, I’ll grab the rest of the decorations.” Jane studied the piece of paper in front of her before taking a bite of her sandwich. “Oh crap, I forgot about the booze.”
“I can pick that up as well,” Chloe said.
Jane shook her head. “Nah, that’s fine. I’ll get Luke to pick it up Saturday morning.”
Chloe sat back in her chair and poked at her salad. It was Thursday at lunch and, afraid Amy would walk into the staff lunchroom and catch them, Jane had brought her to Luke’s empty office to eat lunch and finish the plans for Amy’s birthday party.
She poked again at her salad. She’d had very little appetite since Ian and Jackson had left her place Tuesday night. She knew she needed to eat, but it was hard to eat when you were consumed by the thought that you had made the biggest mistake of your life. Why couldn’t she have at least considered sleeping with them both? Why did she have to say no so damn quickly?
Because you’d make a fool of yourself, that’s why. You can’t sleep with two men at once, especially two men who have the experience that they do. Until Ian, you’d slept with one man and you weren’t known for your adventurous nature in bed, were you?
“Mark’s telling her he’s taking her for dinner, but that he has to stop by our place first, so as long as all the party guests are there by seven, we should be fine.”
Jane was still talking, and Chloe forced herself to concentrate on the small brunette. She set her container of salad on Luke’s desk. “If you need me to come early and help decorate, I can.”
“Yeah?” Jane gave her a look of gratitude. “If you’re sure you don’t mind, that would be so helpful. Amy’s mom was going to come early and help, but she got roped in to some volunteer thing, so she can’t.”
“I don’t mind at all,” Chloe said.
They both turned when the door opened and Amy strolled in. “Hey, Luke? I know it’s lunch, but do you have time to… hey, what are you guys doing in here?”
“Oh, uh, hi,” Jane said. She scrambled to turn the paper over when Amy joined them at the desk. “Luke is, uh, having lunch with Mark, and Chloe and I are, we’re, um… hanging out in here for lunch because, uh… the lunch room was really full.”
Oh lord, Jane was a terrible liar.
“Oh yeah? Because I was just downstairs in the lunch room and there were only three people in it.” Amy grinned at Jane who gave Chloe a desperate look.
“Oh, actually I had a terrible headache and Jane suggested we sit here in Luke’s office because it was busier and noisier in the lunch room earlier,” Chloe said.
Crap. She was a terrible liar too.
Amy hesitated. “Is this about my birthday party?”
Jane’s mouth dropped open. “Son of a bitch! Who told you?”
“I’m sorry.” Amy sat down in the chair next to Chloe. “On Tuesday night, I’d grabbed Mark’s phone to look up something just as you texted him about the party. It was really bad timing, that’s all.”
“Shit,” Jane said.
“I’m so sorry,” Amy repeated. “I didn’t tell Mark that I knew. In fact, I was going to keep it a secret. Don’t be mad, Janie.”
“I’m not,” Jane said. “I feel bad that the surprise is ruined for you.”
“It was a lovely surprise on Tuesday night,” Amy said.
Jane burst into laughter. “Oh good, I’m glad.”
“You’re the sweetest woman ever, and I adore you.” Amy reached across the desk and squeezed her hand. “Thank you, Jane.”
&
nbsp; “You’re welcome.”
“Okay,” Amy stood up, “well, I’ll leave so -”
“Stay,” Jane said. “We’re done the party talk, and you can help me find out what’s wrong with Chloe.”
“There’s nothing wrong,” Chloe said.
“I know that isn’t true. Tell us why you’re sad, honey,” Jane said.
“I’m not sad, I’m…”
She stared at Amy who gave her an encouraging look.
God, she really shouldn’t be telling either of them this, but she needed to tell someone. She couldn’t eat or sleep, even the clothing sketches she was trying to do for Amy were turning out terrible. She was consumed by thoughts of Ian and Jackson, and if she wanted to get back to normal, wanted to have a shot at becoming a full-time designer, she needed to get them out of her head.
She took a deep breath. “The guy I slept with? The one-night stand? He’s Jackson’s best friend, Ian.”
“Holy shitballs.” Amy stared wide-eyed at her. “How do you know? When did you find that out? Does Jackson know? Okay, you know what… start from the beginning.”
Her cheeks red and her pulse skittering like a jack rabbit, Chloe told them everything. It took almost fifteen minutes, even with glossing over the confrontation with her sister. When she was finished, she stared at her lap, a little afraid to see the look on their faces. What kind of woman even entertained the idea of sleeping with two men at once?
“You seriously turned them down?”
Chloe’s head snapped up and she stared at Amy. “Of course, I did.”
“Why?” Amy grinned at her. “Jackson is super hot, and from what you told us before, so is Ian.”
“Be-because I work with Jackson and because…nice girls don’t do threesomes.”
“We nice girls do all sorts of bad things,” Amy said with a laugh. “It’s what makes us so awesome.”
Jane grinned at her. “It really is.”
“Oh, so both of you have slept with multiple men at once?”
“Is two really considered multiple?” Amy asked.
“Yes, it is.”
“Is it, though?” Amy said. “I mean I hear multiple, I think three or more. What about you, Janie?”
“Definitely three or more,” Jane said.
“Fine,” Chloe said. “Have either of your ever slept with two men at once?”
Jane shook her head as Amy said, “No, but Mark ties me up and spanks me on a regular basis, and in the bedroom, I call him Master or Sir and he calls me his slave.”
Chloe sat back in her chair, staring dumbfounded at Amy. Amy grinned at her and stole one of Jane’s crackers from the container on the desk. “I think I’ve completely shocked her.”
“Yep.” Jane ate another bite of her sandwich.
“Really?” Chloe said.
“Really, really,” Amy said.
“Mark seems so…nice,” Chloe said.
Amy laughed. “Mark is nice. The nicest, sweetest man I know. He also happens to be a Dom who’s into impact play in the bedroom.”
“Which you like?” Chloe said.
“Very much so. I’m a submissive who’s also into impact play. It’s one of the things that makes us perfect for each other.” Amy stole another cracker. “My point is, don’t let society or what other people think, dictate what you should and shouldn’t do in the bedroom. If you want to sleep with two men at once, sleep with two men at once. There’s no shame in a woman taking what she wants.”
“I work with Jackson, remember?”
Jane grinned at her. “I work with Luke and Amy works with Mark. You’re talking to the wrong women about whether you should have a relationship with a co-worker.”
“It wouldn’t be a relationship, just sex,” Chloe said quickly.
“Right, you mentioned that,” Amy replied. “And you’re good with that? Because honestly, that’s the part I’m worried about for you. You don’t seem to be the type of girl to have sex without a relationship. No judgment for that – I’m the same way.”
“I didn’t think so either, but that was before…”
“Before what?” Jane asked.
“Before I realized I was terrible at relationships.”
“Are you?” Jane said.
Chloe nodded. “Yes. After John broke up with me, I really thought what I wanted was to find another nice guy and fall in love again. Only, I keep putting my sister and her problems first, and I’ve realized in the last few weeks that I’m not meant to be in a relationship. I can’t stop trying to save my sister no matter what she does and says, and it takes up a great deal of my time and energy.”
She stared at the smooth surface of Luke’s desk. “I was with John since college and he tried to be supportive, he did, but I don’t blame him for finally dumping me. The amount of times I had to cancel plans on him to take care of my sister… I don’t want to get into it, but trust me, it was all my fault that our engagement ended.”
“Eh, not sure if I believe that,” Amy said.
“Anyway, I’m not interested in getting into a relationship again after all, so the no-strings-attached part is actually perfect. But, again, there’s the fact that I work with Jackson and -”
“Has he made it weird since you turned them down?” Amy asked.
Chloe shook her head. “No. I – actually, I’m pretty impressed by how normal he’s acting. He’s been the perfect gentleman and he’s made no mention of…you know.”
“Well, that’s good,” Jane said.
“Yeah.” Chloe wondered if they could see the disappointment on her face. Jackson really had been a perfect gentleman the last two days. In fact, she’d have no idea he was even attracted to her if they hadn’t made out in their damn office. Gone was the flirting and the occasional lingering glance. He was his usual friendly and funny self, but also completely and utterly professional at all times.
She was happy about that. She didn’t miss his flirting. Nope, not one bit.
“Is it good?” Amy asked. “No offence, Chloe, but I’m wondering if you’re upset because he’s being a perfect gentleman.”
“Oh God.” Chloe buried her face in her hands. “I’m such an idiot. I have stupid amounts of regret over turning them down. I know it’s for the best, but I want to sleep with both of them. I really do.”
“Then you should,” Jane said.
Chloe didn’t reply, and Amy touched her shoulder. “Chloe? Is working with Jackson the only reason why you don’t want to sleep with both of them?”
Chloe lowered her hands but continued to stare at them as they twisted in her lap. “I’m afraid I’ll disappoint them. I could barely satisfy one man in bed. My ex and I didn’t have sex a lot and when we did… I mean, it was good, but it wasn’t…”
“Blow your hair back, good?” Jane said.
“Yeah, and I think it was partially his fault and partially my fault, but still – having sex with two men is very different than having sex with one man. Ian was really amazing in bed and I have a feeling Jackson is too, and I don’t… I don’t want to disappoint them.”
“Well, everyone has to learn,” Amy said, “and I bet those two will be amazing teachers. You’d be surprised how far enthusiasm and a willingness to learn will go when it comes to sex.”
Chloe sighed. “Yeah, maybe.”
“I think you should at least think about it,” Amy said. “I’m sure if you decide this is something you want, both Jackson and Ian would be more than happy to hear you changed your mind. Now, I’m gonna grab something from the café downstairs for lunch before I eat all of Jane’s lunch.”
Jane laughed and Amy grinned at her. “Thank you again for the party, honey. I promise to act surprised on Saturday night.”
Jane shook her head. “I don’t think we need to keep up the ruse. Just be there for seven-thirty like planned.”
“All right. I’ll talk to you ladies, later. Oh, and Chloe, if you can, I’d like at least two sketches from you by Monday. Okay?”
; “Uh, yes, that’s no problem,” Chloe said. “Sorry, it’s taking me so long.”
“It isn’t,” Amy said. “But I’d like to include scans of them in the digital package I’ll be sending to Pierre and Julien. I’m emailing it on Wednesday, but that’ll give us time to look them over and make any tweaks if necessary.”
“I’ll have it to you on Monday,” Chloe said.
“Good. See you later.” Amy left the office and Jane gave Chloe an encouraging smile.
“I’m so happy that you’re doing some design work, Chloe. Amy told me you’ve always wanted to design.”
“Thanks. But if I don’t get my shit together, it’ll be over before it’s even started. I can’t even seem to get anything on paper, lately. I’m just so…”
“Horny?” Jane gave her an innocent grin and Chloe burst into laughter.
“I’d like to say no, but I’m not a very good liar.”
Jane popped the last bite of her sandwich into her mouth. “Maybe what you need is a little help from two really hot men.”
“Maybe,” Chloe sighed. “Maybe.”
* * *
“Thanks for meeting me for lunch.” Jackson studied Ian as the big man stirred his soup. He was wearing his uniform and that, combined with his size, meant more than one person in the café was staring at him.
“How’s work?” Ian ignored the stares, like he always did.
“How’s Chloe, you mean.”
“Is her cheek bruised?”
Jackson shook his head. “No. It looks fine. You have to stop obsessing over her, man.”
“I’m not.”
“You think I can’t hear you jerking off every night through the goddamn wall?”
Ian stirred his soup again. “You’re one to talk.”
Jackson set down his chicken wrap. “We’re both idiots.”
“Yeah.”
“She’s not going to change her mind.”
“Nope,” Ian said.
“We need to go out this weekend and find someone else to fuck. It’s the only way to get her out of our heads.”
Ian ate a spoonful of soup. “Are you actually interested in sleeping with someone else?”
Jackson sighed. He wanted to say yes, but he couldn’t lie to Ian. “No.”
