Parker and Grayson hadn’t deserted her. They’d sent her texts and called a couple of times, although one of those calls she’d missed because she’d been in with the district attorney. When she’d tried to call them back, she’d gotten voice mail.
That was how the last three days had been—just missing each other, phone tag.
With a tired sigh, she walked over to the hotel window and stared out over downtown Louisville, Kentucky. It was a beautiful day with lots of white puffy clouds. Surprisingly, she still wasn’t quite ready to go home. Even though they believed she would be fine, that the threat was gone, she still didn’t quite feel safe.
Whoever would take over for the four men who were killed wouldn’t have any interest in her now. The men she would’ve testified against were dead. She couldn’t do anything to the new mob boss. The FBI believed that any threat against her died with the four men who’d been after her.
She’d talked to the agent in charge and asked about being relocated anyway. Not a name change, but a new city and a fresh start away from what were now bad memories of home. He told her to think about it, where she might want to go, and to get back to him.
She wanted to talk to the guys first. She still didn’t know what would happen with them, but thinking about her future without them felt…wrong.
The idea of having them in her life wasn’t something she was willing to give up, at least not yet. The whole ménage thing didn’t scare her or even intimidate her. It felt right, as though it was meant to be. She just needed to hear that they wanted to try. And if they didn’t, then she would move on. It would hurt like hell, but she would survive. She’d survived this, after all.
A knock sounded at the door, and she turned to stare at it. At first, she was nervous but quickly shook it off. The bad guys were dead. The threat was over. She walked to the door with determination and threw it open without even looking through the peephole. Steve stood there smiling like a loon, a small bouquet of flowers in his hand.
Cheyenne squealed and threw herself into his open arms. “Oh my God,” she said as happy tears gathered in her eyes. “I was so worried about you.”
He chuckled and hugged her tight. “As you can see, I’m fine. I’m sorry, Shy. I should’ve never been so mean to you back at the hospital.”
She pulled away and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “It’s okay. I understand. Come in,” she said, as she stepped aside and allowed him to enter her hotel suite.
He glanced around and smiled. “Nice room.”
She shrugged. “It’s a hotel room.” She motioned for him to take a seat on the couch. “How are you?”
“I’m okay,” he said as he handed her the flowers.
She smiled and sniffed the pink rose in the middle.
“How are you?” he asked pointedly.
“I’m fine. The bullet didn’t go deep, since it went through Grayson first, but it still hurts.”
Steve chuckled. “I bet.”
“I’m thinking about not going back home,” she murmured. “It would just be too creepy.”
“I know what you mean. Where are you going?”
“Not sure yet. I wanted to talk to Grayson and Parker first.” Steve raised an eyebrow, and she blushed. “You’ll think I’m nuts.”
Steve snorted. “Please, if anyone is nuts, it’s…”
She realized instantly that something was wrong. She put her hand on his knee and softly said, “Do you need to talk about something?”
He leaned his elbows on his knees and studied his hands. “Did you ever wonder why the two of us never got together?”
She frowned. “No. I always thought of you as my brother. Why?”
“Yeah, I thought of you as my sister. Your dad pretty much took care of me, more than my own did, so…” He sighed before continuing. “Something happened after we were attacked.”
Her lips twitched slightly. “Did you hook up with your protector too?”
He looked up at her, a startled expression on his face.
“I was joking,” she said with a hesitant laugh.
Steve licked his lips nervously as he stared back down at his hands. Cheyenne tried to remember who his guards were. “Steve, out with it,” she said.
“Shawn Borell…one of my agents…and I…” He drew in a slow, deep breath and let it out. “We slept together.” There was a moment of stunned silence on her end right before he started rambling. “I don’t even know how it happened. It was the morning after we were found. We’d gotten separated from the other agent. Bullets were flying everywhere. I think it was just the situation, the threat maybe, but…”
She gave his leg a squeeze for encouragement. “But?”
He winced. “But I liked it. I liked him… I like him.”
“Have you told him that?”
Steve shook his head sadly. “The other agent showed up then, and the two of us just pretended like it didn’t happen, but…it’s all I could think about. Even now, it’s…” He looked at Cheyenne with a pained expression. “I’m not supposed to like guys, Shy. I’m supposed to like girls. I do like girls.”
Cheyenne gave him a soft smile and reached up to cup his cheek. “You can’t help who you fall in love with, Steve.”
Steve sat back as though wounded. “I’m not in love with him.”
She gave a nod but didn’t say anything.
“I’m not,” he repeated.
“Have you heard from him since you’ve been back?”
Steve sighed. “He wants to meet tonight for dinner and talk.”
“Go,” she said softly.
He shook his head. “I can’t.”
“Why? Are you afraid it will happen again?”
He gave a hesitant nod.
She licked her lips and let out a deep breath for courage. “I had a ménage with the two guys who were protecting me,” she said, and he turned to her in shock. “I know, right? They share. Can you believe that? They share, and I’m seriously considering going into a relationship with the two of them. So, see? You’re not the only one doing things outside your norm.”
He snorted. “We’re an interesting pair, aren’t we?”
“If you want to give it a try with this guy, you know I’ll still love you and support you. I just want you to be happy, and if that means trying things with him, then go for it. There’s not a law out there that says you can’t like guys and girls.”
“Not according to Dad,” he grumbled.
“Yeah, well, what’s that dick done for you?”
Steve started to laugh, then leaned over and engulfed her in a hug. “I love you, Shy,” he said through his chuckles.
She smiled and hugged him back. “I love you too, Stevie.”
He pulled away and stared down at her. “So, are you really considering hooking up with two men?”
She shrugged, but her words were cut off by the beep of her phone, indicating she had a text. She glanced at the screen and bit her lip.
“What is it?” Steve asked.
“It’s Parker. He and Grayson want to come over and talk.” She looked up at Steve. “I guess I’m about to have that answer for ya.”
Steve chucked her under the chin. “If they’re what make you happy.”
Were they what would make her happy?
Chapter Thirty
Cheyenne opened the door, allowing Grayson and Parker to enter. Her stomach was in knots. Were they here to tell her good-bye? Were they here to ask for more?
“Our boss told us you wanted to be moved to another city.” Parker spoke first.
She nodded. “I’m just not sure I can go home. Dad offered to go pack up my apartment and have it sent wherever I wanted to go.”
Parker gave a nod.
“I was thinking Florida. Warmer weather and being closer to Dad, since he’s really the only family I have left.”
Grayson’s lips twitched, but Parker didn’t say anything. He just watched her.
“Parker and I are taking leave for a whi
le. We have a lot of vacation days built up, and I needed the break anyway, so…”
“A long vacation would be good for you,” she said. She turned and walked toward the couch, hoping they wouldn’t see the longing in her eyes. She would not beg them. She wouldn’t even ask. If they wanted her, they would say so, right?
Or was she being stupid and insecure?
God, she didn’t know what to do.
“Cheyenne,” Parker said softly. “Grayson and I have been thinking.”
“Yeah?” she asked as she sat on the couch. “What about?”
“Asking you to join us.”
She looked up at them with a frown. “Join you?”
“Yeah,” Parker replied. “The time we spent together was…interesting.”
“You could say that,” she mumbled.
“We want to see where this goes. The three of us.”
She swallowed and looked at Grayson, who watched her expectantly. Her gaze moved back to Parker. “A ménage relationship will be tough.”
“Yeah. For all of us,” Parker replied. “We’ve never been in one long-term.”
“So this will be a learning experience for all three of us,” Grayson added. “But the three of us just…”
“Feel right,” she finished for him.
They both nodded, and she had to fight with everything she had to keep from rushing them like a schoolgirl.
“Talk to us, Cheyenne,” Grayson said as he stepped forward and sat on the arm of the couch. “If you have any concerns, we need to know now.”
“Well,” she said, then sighed. “What if I grow to like one of you more than the other?”
The two men looked at each other, then shrugged. “We figure that you’ll have a different relationship with each of us,” Parker said. “Grayson may give you things that I don’t and vice versa, and that’s okay. And that may even change over time, and that’s okay too. But I believe we can make it work. It’ll be a figure-things-out-as-we-go-along sort of thing.”
She thought for a moment and tried to slow the wild beating of her heart. They wanted her, and they wanted to try. She had never imagined she would be so excited about sharing two men. “So…where are we going? For vacation?” she asked.
Parker and Grayson grinned at each other before turning back to her. Grayson reached into his back pocket and pulled out an envelope. “I got these on the off chance that you said yes.”
She frowned at him as she took the envelope and opened it. “Oh, my God,” she gasped. “First class to Kauai?”
Parker shrugged. “I hear it’s a great place for photographers.”
Cheyenne smiled and set the tickets in her lap. She wanted to run and hug them, drag them both to the bedroom, but she wasn’t sure that would be the right thing to do. What did a person do who’d just been asked on a trip to paradise?
“I’ll need to go shopping for clothes,” she said, unable to think of much else.
Grayson gripped her chin and forced it up, making her meet his gaze. “You won’t need many.”
She shivered at the lustful promise in his eyes. She might be on a crazy train, but she would definitely enjoy the ride.
Epilogue
Parker stood back and watched Cheyenne examine the young child in CCU. He had a hard time looking at the small little girl with so many tubes coming out of her. He often wondered how she did it every day—cutting open such small chests.
She saw it as saving lives.
She’d flourished in Florida. So had he and Grayson. His cousin had taken a desk job with the FBI in Miami. Parker had left the agency altogether and had gone to work for Miami Metro in the forensics department. He’d been happier the last six months than he’d been in years.
He was sure it was the job, but he also had a feeling Cheyenne had a lot to do with it too. Their relationship was blooming. It had taken some getting used to as well as some give-and-take from all of them, but he wouldn’t trade a day. Not one.
They even had plans to marry in less than thirty days. He still couldn’t believe it was so close. In just under a month, Cheyenne would officially be theirs.
Cheyenne looked up and smiled at the young mother who hovered by the bedside. He watched from the nurse’s station as Cheyenne spoke softly with the mother before giving her hand a squeeze. The mother beamed and said thank you as Cheyenne left the room and handed the chart to the approaching nurse.
When she turned, her eyes met his, and she smiled. “Hey, I wasn’t expecting you for another thirty minutes yet.”
As she got closer, Parker leaned down and kissed her cheek. “I just couldn’t wait.”
She grinned and poked at his chest. “You always were the impatient one.” Parker chuckled. “Where’s Grayson?”
“He’s downstairs talking to Steve and Shawn. I think they’re going to join us for lunch.”
Cheyenne’s smile widened. “Great. Shawn has been so good for Steve.”
Parker snickered. “I have to admit. I never saw that one coming. Shawn always seemed like a player to me.”
“Maybe that was just his front.”
Parker nodded. “Possibly. But I have noticed he smiles more now that he and Steve have finally made it official and admitted they’re a couple.”
A nurse stepped up and handed Cheyenne a chart. “I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said.
Cheyenne took the file and smiled softly at the nurse. “It’s fine. Is there a problem?”
“No, I was just wondering if the Larson boy was ready to have the tubes removed?”
Parker watched as Cheyenne glanced down at the file and the list of numbers that made no sense to him but that she understood perfectly. “Not yet. He’s still draining blood. I’ll check him again after lunch, but I’m sure we’ll get them out sometime this afternoon.” She handed the file back to the nurse. “I have my cell, so just call if you need me for anything.”
The nurse nodded and headed back to the private room where the young boy slept. Cheyenne’s stomach growled loudly. She winced and tried to cover the offending noise with her hand.
Parker chuckled. “I told you that you should’ve eaten more this morning.” He took her hand and tugged her along with him down the hall. “Come on, Doc. Let’s go meet the rest of our threesome and get some lunch.”
Cheyenne let go of his hand and wrapped her arm around his elbow. Parker pressed her arm to his side and covered her hand with his.
“Have I told you yet today that I love you?” Cheyenne asked.
“Yes, but I never tire of hearing it.”
She smiled up at him.
He tapped the tip of her nose. “I love you too, Doc.”
“What? Am I just minced meat?” Grayson asked as he stepped off the elevator, Steve and Shawn in tow.
Cheyenne laughed and gave him a hug. “I love you too, Grayson.”
“I love you too, baby,” he whispered in her ear.
He pulled away and smiled over her shoulder at Parker. Cheyenne also kissed Steve’s and Shawn’s cheeks before they all climbed into the elevator and headed back downstairs. As the five of them debated where to go for lunch, Parker again smiled at how things had worked out. Out of a crazy situation came an even crazier relationship. One he wouldn’t trade for the world.
Loose Id Titles by Trista Ann Michaels
Darkness Falls
Dead Reckoning
Leave Me Breathless
Their One and Only
Shutter
* * * *
The CRIME AND PUNISHMENT Series
Master Delacroix
Theirs to Share
* * * *
The ENTWINED FATES Series
Captive
Destined for Two
Mercenary
Remember Me
Slaves
Her Pirate Master
Up in Flames
Dominating Miya
* * * *
The SPARK OF MAGIC Series
Blood Rite
D
eadly Crimson
To Die For
Lost Without Them
Nature of the Beasts
Trista Ann Michaels
I live in the land of dreams, where alpha men are tender, heroines are strong and sassy, and villains are brutal and conniving. When not deep in the mind of my next serial killer, ghost, or futuristic space pilot, I can be found in the mountains of Tennessee, spending time with family and friends. At least until the next story calls.
Crime & Punishment 3: Theirs to Share Page 19
