Tart

by Lauren Dane

  “Now, damn it, I need you to, Gideon.” Cal’s voice was hoarse, desperate, and Gideon swiveled once, twice, and then once more and began to blow. The warmth on his belly told him Cal had tipped over as well.

  Cal smiled up at him. “I feel much better.”

  Gideon laughed as he got up. “Me too. Next time,” he said, handing Cal a towel, “we should try taking our time. But whenever I see you naked, I lose all my control.”

  “Jules was right to send me over here.” Cal stretched. “I needed that.”

  Gideon came back to bed, dropping to the mattress next to Cal. “I miss her too. She’s run ragged with the wedding stuff. She wants it to be perfect for Gillian. We’ll have the day after the wedding to recuperate. Jules has the day off, I took the day off, you’ll be off.”

  “Let’s go wild and sleep until eight.” Cal laughed.

  “Mmm, we might sleep till noon. I expect we’ll be at the wedding until late. We’ll wake up late, go out to breakfast maybe. Or lunch. And have sex. Lots and lots of sex.” And push her into making a commitment on moving into the house.

  “I don’t know how I lived without sleeping with Jules and you. I miss fucking her when she wakes up.” Cal got up and went into the bathroom, returning a few minutes later. “I’ve gotten used to her. She makes me happy. I’m grumpy when she’s not around.” Cal jumped back to the bed next to Gideon.

  “Good to know I’m not the only one. She fills my life up with, well with a certain level of Jules-ish-ness. Or whatever. She makes me laugh and I like to fuck her. Oh and she can bake.” Gideon thought the combination pretty much rendered her perfect.

  “She doesn’t take any shit. And she’s not helpless.”

  Gideon smiled a moment before it fell away. “She sees being upset about her family as a weakness. Or a personal flaw.”

  “For as long as I can remember, Jules took care of people. She wants to take care of her mother and her brother and those kids and they won’t let her, and it’s them, not her, but she doesn’t see that clearly.”

  “She’s scared to move in with us.” Gideon sighed.

  Cal snorted. “Not because she doesn’t love you and me. She does. She can’t hide it and she sucks at lying anyway.”

  “Do you think she’s still worried about the gay thing?”

  “She sent me over here tonight. Not as an afterthought, not as a way to get rid of me, but because she knew I needed to be loved and touched and she wasn’t up to it. I’ve seen her watch us together. There’s no fear there. No anger or sadness. I think she’s telling the truth when she says she’s not feeling worried anymore.”

  “So maybe she’s afraid to fail? Afraid we will? I don’t think she gives a damn what anyone in town thinks about our relationship. I don’t think she’s worried about the backlash, though she is for us, but that’s how she is.”

  “Sunday, after the wedding, we’ll work it all out.” Cal turned to face Gideon, kissing him. “For now, let’s have a glass of wine and then you can suck my cock later.”

  Gideon slapped his ass as he stood up. “Deal.”

  21

  The night before the wedding all the men stayed at Gillian’s old house and the women stayed at the brand-new one. Gillian led them through the place, giving the first official tour since the very final touches had been applied.

  The house was set up on a sloping hill from the water. Adrian had purchased a boat recently and it sat at their dock. The views were insanely beautiful and there was one from pretty much every single window in the house.

  Gillian practically glowed with happiness. “Brody and Elise gave us the landscaping out back as a wedding gift.”

  “God, all I got you was a vibrator and some silver crap.” Jules threw a look over her shoulder at Elise and raised a brow. “Some of us just like to show off.”

  Elise, Adrian’s sister-in-law, who was also a former principal ballet dancer, burst out laughing. “Haters gonna hate, Jules.”

  It was beautiful work. The path down to the dock was bordered by butterfly bushes and a riot of flowers of all types. Halfway down there was a little deck carved out of the hillside with some tables and chairs.

  The studio was in a separate building, across a breezeway from the main house. Adrian had been working there for a few months and had just finished recording his next record. They’d be leaving to go on tour right after they got back from the honeymoon. Erin, Ben, Todd and Alexander would go along, as well as Gillian and Miles. A Brown family rock-and-roll tour. Jules liked that a lot, even though she’d miss Gillian and Miles fiercely.

  The master suite took up half of the second floor and Miles was on the first level. Gorgeous bedrooms and common spaces. The house was large and totally swank, but at the same time, it was comfortable. The furniture invited you to stay and visit. Gillian’s touch was everywhere and kept it elegant but comfortable rather than impersonal and so spotless you couldn’t sit down anywhere.

  A home theater where they’d watch all the horror movies they wanted. A big playground area to the front of the house, fenced and away from the water so all the various little ones could come and play. And maybe when and if Adrian and Gillian decided to expand their own family too.

  The kitchen was a dream. Jules wanted to marry the giant oven and Gillian had assured her she was welcome to come and bake things there anytime she wanted.

  “You’re getting married tomorrow.” Jules took Gillian’s hand as they looked out over the area they were setting up for the wedding. They’d do more the following day, but they’d put up the structure for the tent. Though it was already July, it was still the Northwest. Rain was a given all year long, and quite often near July Fourth, so they didn’t want to take a chance. It’d be open on the sides though if the weather stayed nice so people could wander all around.

  Jules avoided any mention of the security and how they’d had to set up artful flower and drape displays to block paparazzi. There was no way around that necessity, but she knew Gillian hated it and Jules just wanted everything to go off without a hitch.

  “I really never thought I’d marry at all, much less someone like Adrian. I had Miles. I was content to wait until he was out of high school and then maybe date. And here I am, marrying his father. A rock star who buys me boats and builds me dream houses before he packs us up on tour with him.”

  “Not a sedate life, for sure.” Jules winked.

  “Says the woman with two boyfriends.” Gillian winked back.

  “Oh! I didn’t even tell you. Wait, we need drinks and something to eat for this.”

  They got settled in the family room with a few trays of margaritas and the appetizers Mary brought with her. The room was full of awesome women, and Jules took a moment to admire them all.

  Erin was there along with Raven. Elise, who was married to Adrian’s brother Brody. Ella, who was married to Ben’s brother and was Erin’s sister-in-law and an old family friend. Ella drank juice instead of a margarita because she was expecting. Then all of Delicious. Daisy, looking adorable in some sort of retro sailor dress thing that anyone else would look ridiculous in but that Daisy made look stylish. Gillian of course and Mary, who clucked over the food.

  “Don’t worry everyone, these are totally different appetizers than the ones we’ll be serving tomorrow.”

  Jules patted Mary’s hand. “Good, because I was totally judging you for it in my head.” She rolled her eyes. “None of us would have cared. We would have eaten just as many tomorrow, only we’d have advance notice of our favorites.”

  Gillian laughed. “Good point. Now, what happened?”

  “Well, Mary knows because she was there, but Cal told his family and they’re totally fine, thank goodness. But in the middle of dinner Gideon just up and starts talking about how we’re all going to live in the farmhouse. Cal chimes in and they’re planning and talking about all this stuff I have no idea about.”

  Mary snorted. “You should have seen her face. You know the one she gets where i
t’s sort of placid on the outside but her mouth flattens out and she gets very stiff? Took them a few minutes to get it. Boys can be so clueless.”

  Gillian shook her head. “Is everything all right now?”

  “Yes, it’s fine. I told them why I was pissed. We made up. We’ve shelved the moving-in talk until after the wedding.”

  Gillian sniffed and then sipped her margarita. “Are you excited about it?”

  “Yes. And scared. The usual. But it’s not about me right now. I told my story. Let’s talk wedding!”

  Gillian frowned and waved a hand. “Ugh, let’s not. It feels like it’s all I’ve been talking about for months now. Let’s talk about you.”

  Raven nodded. “Agreed. We know about Gillian and the man who should thank his lucky stars to have her. He loves her. She’s moony for him. Blah, blah. We got that. We want to talk about you and your two dudes.”

  Jules rolled her eyes. “Nothing to tell really.”

  “Do you want to move in with them? Patrick is all right with all this?” Gillian asked.

  “Patrick is beyond wonderful. He’s supportive of Gideon. He’s sweet to me and he loves Cal too. It’s really beyond anything I ever expected. He deeded the farm over to Gideon, including the house. He wants us all there, he says. There’s a whole mother-in-law apartment in the main house. He wants to live down there. Part of me thinks it would be good because we can keep an eye on him better. He’s in good shape, but he’s got some chronic health issues. He and Gideon can clash when Gideon gets too pushy with Patrick about taking care of himself. He’s nicer to me.”

  “Because you spoil him with cherry turnovers.” Daisy winked. “Damn, Mary, these little cheesy ham things are made of win. I would eat an entire tray of them. Hell, I may just do that right now. But look, we’re all with pushy dudes. It seems to be a trend with us. Levi, good lord, he’s so bossy. Which you know, works in the bedroom and stuff. But outside he likes to be in charge too. It’s work but really, I can’t imagine being with some guy who just sort of let stuff happen without worrying about it.”

  “And you have two of them. I imagine the sex is pretty fabulous though, to make up for the work of fending them off when they get to be too bossy,” Ella spoke from where she sat. “And I also vote for eating an entire tray of those ham things.”

  Mary beamed.

  Raven tucked her feet beneath herself. “Yes, let’s talk about the sex. Erin should too.”

  “Raven, you clearly haven’t gotten any of late. You’ve got a one-track mind.” Erin sent her friend a look. Raven shrugged.

  “Oh, are we supposed to pretend none of us thinks about it? ’Cause you know we do.”

  Jules laughed; she couldn’t help it. In truth she was totally curious about Erin and her dudes before she had a threesome of her own. Leave it to Raven to just say it out loud.

  “The sex is . . . well, I can’t lie, it’s fucking spectacular. They’re both, um, really accomplished. And when they team up on me, it’s unbelievable.”

  “I’d totally be smirking if I were you.” Raven raised her glass in a salute.

  “I am in my head. All the time pretty much. And the two of them together? At first I did worry. You know, what if Cal decided a woman wasn’t what he needed and then you know, they left me. But after a while?” She shrugged. “It doesn’t worry me anymore. They’re grown men. They can make their own choices and they’ve chosen me as well as each other. And it’s hot as hell to watch them have sex.” She realized the way she sent Cal to Gideon earlier that week had been a sign that she really didn’t worry over it any longer.

  Erin laughed. “Yes, gurl, yes.”

  “But you’re avoiding the moving-in stuff.” Gillian of course missed nothing.

  “Not avoiding. Precisely anyway. I like being with them. They’re not helpless. I don’t need to pick up after them or manage their lives. Though Cal is a messy man, so I imagine he’ll have to find a way to deal with that. I do pick up around his place when I’m there, but as a sort of absentminded thing as we’re there. I don’t want to do that full time.”

  Gillian gave Jules a look over her glass. “Really? Your key issue is Cal’s beard hairs in the sink? Pull the other one, Jules. I know your game.”

  “Damn you, Gillian.” She frowned and Gillian pretended not to notice and circled her finger in a go-on movement. “They’re better at this stuff than I am. I’ve never lived with anyone before. They’ve both been in long-term relationships and I never have. They have a lot more experience than I do. Plus, well, you may not be aware, because I’m so ladylike and all, but I’m not always easy to be around. I want to be left the fuck alone when I have cramps and I want to eat ice cream instead. I don’t want to have to apologize for my moods. And when you live with people, you have to take that into account. Or you’d be a dick, and I’m not a dick. Just sort of a bitch.”

  “Your bitchiness isn’t a secret, sweetheart.” Gillian patted her knee. “They know it’s part of you, just like you know their moods too. Anyway, it’s a whole different experience living with people you’re involved with. Living with Miles was not really an adequate primer on what it’s like to live with Adrian. I just think it’s one of those things you can’t prepare for. You just have to do. Of course they’ll piss you off. That’s what men do. And you have two of them. But I’m not worried about you. You’re totally capable. If you want to do it.”

  “And I think you do,” Mary added. “Look, I’ve seen Cal with people over the years. Some of them nice enough. He was good to them all, but he never really, I don’t know, he never really let himself be with anyone. You know, just let it be natural. He’s not putting on his company manners around you. Or Gideon. You’re the real deal for Cal, and I think that’s been true for a long time. He’s totally spoiled. Look at him! But he doesn’t really take that for granted with you the way he might have with the others. And he’ll just have the cleaning lady come to the farmhouse. He’s a slob, that’s just how he is. I’m biased because he’s my brother, but this is real, Jules, and you should do it.”

  “I agree with Mary.” Daisy nodded.

  Gillian tipped her chin toward Erin. “And you don’t even have to do this blind. It’s sort of awesome to have two triads in our group. Erin can be your ménage mentor.”

  Jules snickered. “We should get her a shirt with that on it. Anyway, she makes it look easy.”

  Erin guffawed. “It’s not easy. But nothing worth doing ever is. I do know I’ve got more love in my life than I ever thought possible. I know those two love you. You can see it on their faces. I watch the way the three of you work together and that’s the foundation for everything. But yes, Ben and Todd team up against me all the time. It’s sort of hot, even when it’s annoying.”

  “You’re happy, Jules. Things are going well in your life. The business is doing great. You’re in love. Let yourself be happy.”

  22

  The morning of the wedding was clear and bright. Jules thanked the weather goddess and hoped it would continue to stay clear as she made her way over to Tart to handle all the cake details.

  She’d finished it all the day before and all that needed to happen was to get the levels put together and delivered to the house.

  “So I want this brought up to the reception tent. I’ve marked the table exactly how I want it.”

  Alison, Jules’s assistant, nodded and heroically didn’t roll her eyes at Jules’s going over the same things repeatedly.

  “You mean where you showed me yesterday?”

  “Yes, okay, we all know I’m anal retentive. But this is my best friend’s wedding. She deserves a totally perfect day.”

  “The cake is gorgeous. You know it tastes awesome. It’ll be fine.” Alison had been in wedding catering for a few years before she came on at Tart. She knew her stuff.

  “All right, all right. I get it. And it totally is a yummy cake. I’ll check in with you once the ceremony is over.”

  “I’ve got the checklist. I�
��ll talk with you then. Go on. You’ve been here two hours already and I know you want to get back to Gillian.”

  “First she needs to get back to me.”

  Jules turned to catch sight of Gideon standing in the doorway, looking all delicious and distracting.

  “I totally do.” She turned back to Alison. “You know where I am if you need me. Thank you so much for all your help!”

  Alison hugged her. “Go!”

  Jules took Gideon’s hand and went out the back door with him. “Hi there.”

  He bent and kissed her. “Hey yourself. Cake looks beautiful, by the way.”

  “Thank you. I made the frosting this morning. Thank God it worked out. The caramel was being a little . . . Never mind, I can see your eyes glazing over. What brings you here? Is everything okay? Do they need anything at the house?’

  “Nope. A lot of people aren’t even up yet. But Brody is in charge at the house so everything is on track. Gillian seems very calm, which is her normal setting so that’s good. They’ve got the tents up and the chairs are being set up now. Adrian made Gillian eat breakfast and I figured I needed to do the same. Cal is waiting for us.”

  “You’re good to me.”

  “Course I am.” He opened her door and she got in. She and Mary had driven in together and Mary had been going back and forth, making sure everything was exactly how it was supposed to be. She’d hired extra staff as well, but of course they wanted the day to be perfect for Gillian.

  The breakfast place was one of Gideon’s favorites. Big, hearty plates of food. They were open at five, which meant he could work for a while, come to town and get breakfast with her or Cal and still get back to his day.

  Cal waited at a table already and she slid into the booth next to him.

  “Coffee is on the way. I said to bring the whole pot.”

  She grinned and Gideon just looked at her a while. No makeup on, hair in a messy bun, she was still gorgeous.