“Yeah?” Fletch squeezed her lightly, drawing her closer.
Her breast flattened a fraction against the hardness of his pectoral muscle. Her nipples prickled beneath the thin silky bra she wore. More thought than substance, the saleswoman had said. She sure had that right. Her bodily reactions were starting to get embarrassing. What she wouldn’t give for body armor right now.
“What are you working on? Is it top secret or are you allowed to share?”
“It’s secret, but the board is testing my products during the next week. If the tests go well and they like them, James and Alice intend to market the favorite one for Christmas.”
“That’s great, Gaby. Congratulations,” Liam said. “We should have a toast.”
“Definitely,” Fletch said.
Liam refilled their glasses and put the bottle aside. “To good inventions and favorable results.”
“To Gaby and success,” Fletch said.
Gaby grinned, thrilled with their support. “To success.” She’d hoped to conduct her own testing this weekend with Marc’s help. Of course now she’d use the vibrator by herself. She probably would have anyway, but sharing the experimentation helped too. “Thanks for being supportive. I appreciate it.”
Liam peered at her intently. “Is your mother giving you grief again?”
“Always. I don’t let her worry me anymore.” At least she tried not to let her mother’s attitude concern her. Sometimes her protective barriers slipped and a needling comment rammed through. Gaby swallowed more of her whiskey.
They sat in companionable silence with Liam moving only to top up their glasses.
“The bottle’s finished,” he said.
“Probably just as well,” Gaby said. “I’m not sure how my legs will cope when I need to stand.”
“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” Fletch said. “We’ll take care of you.”
“Thanks. I didn’t want to be alone tonight.” She took a couple of sips of her whiskey. “I’ll have to find someone else to help test my inventions. I don’t have time to do the whole romance thing.” Cripes. Babble alert.
“Why does romance have to come into it?” Fletch asked, stretching one arm over his head and yawning widely.
Immediately her hormones hummed to life again. Lord, there was something wrong with her. She wanted to jump her roommates. Either of them would do at present. She wasn’t fussy. “Most guys are intrigued when they hear about my job, but faced with the realities of some of the tests they freak. They don’t want their performances measured and compared.”
“Ah, so that was Marc’s attraction,” Liam said. “He knew exactly what the tests involved.”
“Part of it.” She hadn’t expected to fall for him.
“You could always let us test some of the stuff for you,” Fletch said. “All you have to do is ask.”
“I might have, but neither of you has a steady relationship. James and Alice are very careful about security. Besides, I don’t want anyone to rip off one of my designs.”
“She’s telling us we sleep around,” Liam said to Fletch. “I think I’m insulted.”
“Yep,” Fletch said. “Definitely a slight.”
“I didn’t mean it that way. Jeesh, I need to go to bed.” But the idea of heading to her bedroom alone didn’t hold much appeal. The last thing she wanted to do was dwell on Marc and lost opportunities. There might even be crying involved. “I don’t want to go the bed alone.”
“She’s propositioning us,” Fletch said, nudging Liam in the ribs.
“That’s not what I meant.”
The guys ignored her protests to smirk at each other.
“Never mind. I’m going to bed.” Gaby pushed to her feet and wobbled before staggering two steps.
“Whoa there, sweetheart,” Liam said in a rough voice. He grabbed her before she knocked into the coffee table and barked her shins.
She leaned into him, savoring his strength, his warmth and his outdoor scent. The elusive fresh green element reminded her of an amble through the bush and a bright clearing bathed in sunshine.
“You can sleep in my bed,” Fletch whispered. “We’ll keep you safe.”
Chapter Three
Gaby woke slowly, toasty warm and relaxed. At least she hadn’t stayed awake half the night, brooding about Marc. Her eyes popped open. It took a few seconds for her to realize she wasn’t in her own bedroom. She gasped, the harsh intake of air loud in the dim lit room.
Oh heck. What had she done? She remembered drinking at the Cricket. She remembered arriving home, but her memories were a like insubstantial mist once she tried to recall what happened after their homecoming.
“Too early to get out of bed,” a masculine voice rumbled near her ear. “Go back to sleep.”
She turned her head, shock sending a swift kick to her lady parts when her gaze met Liam’s naked splendor. “Did we…um…do something?” Her eyes roved his bronzed, practically hair-free chest. Nice.
“We talked.”
“Fletch?” Her snap in the other direction would have put professional soldiers to shame.
“Yes, sweetheart?” He slid closer, his body heat like a sharp poke at her feminine senses. Too close. Wait…
She jerked away in alarm. “You have an erection.”
Fletch’s brows rose. “Your point?”
Damn, she wanted to take a bite of his pectoral muscle in the worst possible way. She wanted to touch her fingertips to his chest and test the springiness of his chest hair. He looked fine. Sexy even with the sticky-up hair. Her fingers started to itch with the urge to stroke him—his chest, his cheek, his kissable lips. Then she became aware of Liam’s warmth searing her back and something prodding her bottom.
A warm hand curved over her hip, holding her in place. She swallowed, instantly sensitive to her return response—the tightening of her breasts that echoed in her pussy. Her breath hitched and she froze, unsure of what to do.
“We’re guys,” Liam whispered, his breath whispering across her ear, pushing her arousal higher. “We have erections.”
Gaby’s breathing kicked back and settled into a choppy beat. The rich rush of desire stunned her. They were her friends. Slowly she turned back to Liam. What the heck had she done last night? She catalogued the sensations skipping through her body and realized she still wore her underwear even if the two men were naked. The unapologetic prod of a cock at her back sent her closer to Fletch. Didn’t help. The atmosphere in the bedroom—Fletch’s bedroom, she noted—pulsed like a live creature. Like a lion preparing to jump its prey.
Jump. No, no, no! Her nostrils flared in alarm, sensing danger ahead. Bad word choice. There would be no jumping of anything or anyone.
“Why am I in bed with the two of you?” Quite a sane question, considering the circumstances, and to her credit, she managed calm when her nerve endings were snapping like rubber bands on speed. One little touch. One little touch wouldn’t do much damage. Right?
“You flaked out last night,” Liam said. “The whiskey did it.”
No kiddin’? At least she didn’t seem to have suffered more than a fierce thirst for a glass of water and an overactive libido. Perhaps she should’ve listened to the guys when they’d told her to order the roast beef instead of a salad. The salad hadn’t soaked up much alcohol.
Fletch brushed a black spiral curl off her face. That would be right. Even her hair had gone haywire, the flattening irons she used to tame it, a dim memory. Like her rebellious hair, every inch of her skin pulsed with irrepressible energy.
“You told us you didn’t want to spend the night alone.” The innocent note in Fletch’s voice raised her suspicions. The pair was up to mischief. A practical joke at her expense. Maybe she’d string them along. One thing was true—they’d never hurt her. Both men had proved themselves to her time and time again. The three of them were like family, which was what made her sudden attraction to them so peculiar.
“You promised us a kiss each this morning for keeping you company,” Liam
said, interrupting her thoughts.
“I did?” She frowned at him while struggling to keep a lid on her intense yearning.
“You did,” Fletch confirmed.
They studied her—blatant masculine appraisal at its best. It made her feel both hot and cold at once, as if she’d applied one of her test lubes designed to create a perfect O. “What…about…morning breath?” Cripes, they had her stuttering like a nervous virgin.
“Don’t try to wriggle out of a promise.” Fletch tugged sharply on an errant curl. “We intend to have our kisses for behaving like gentlemen.”
Gaby sucked in a deep breath, frantically praying for all parts of her brain to start working as a team. Wasn’t happening. Sensual tension choked the room, making her puddle into a mass of want.
Liam couldn’t believe their luck. Marc was history, the field clear for them to convince Gaby to take their friendship a step further. Fletch’s idea to put her in his bed and for Liam to join them was brilliant. Undressing had been his idea. A kiss—now that was an excellent ploy. Maybe this plan would come to fruition.
“Me first.” Fletch snared her attention. Liam watched her eyes widen as Fletch leaned over, pressing her into the mattress with his upper body. Then he blocked Gaby’s expression from Liam with his big fat head.
Liam shifted position, craving the visual. There. Now he could see the slide of lips, the flash of a tongue before Fletch settled in to kiss her a good one. He heard the needy little sounds and saw one of Gaby’s hands creep behind Fletch’s neck to hold him in place. Hell, he’d never realized watching Fletch with Gaby would push him this hard. Blood crowded his cock. His hand reached to stroke without permission from his brain. When he realized, he hesitated then gave a mental shrug and continued. If he and Fetch had their way, things would become much more intimate.
Unable to resist, he touched her shoulder with his free hand and ran a finger down her bra strap and over the swell of one breast. Her Maori heritage lent her skin a rich and creamy honey tone. He badly wanted to follow the same path with his tongue and learn if she tasted of honeyed sweet spices. Too soon. Way too fast. He forced himself to halt the impulse.
“My turn,” Liam said finally, and he moved in, angling his head in preparation for their kiss. He grazed Fletch’s lips on the way to his target. A jolt of lust struck him, reinforcing the idea that Fletch’s half-baked idea wasn’t so bad. None of the disgust he’d envisaged eventuated. Score one for Fletch’s scheme.
To his relief, Fletch pulled back, clearing his way. The next instant, his mouth hit Gaby’s. Soft lips. Sexy lips. He started cautiously, exploring with his tongue, giving her time to adjust to his touch. A shudder rocked him when she took the lead. Oh yeah. Nothing better than a woman who knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to seize an opportunity. Their mouths mated, tongues twining as they explored each other.
If she thought he’d had an erection before, she needed to check him out now. Unbidden his hips flexed, the head of his cock brushing her hipbone and shooting arousal through him. Liam groaned into her mouth then eased back from the kiss to study her face.
Not a shred of fear painted her face. If anything, she appeared stunned. “Um, I need to go to the bathroom.”
“Are you going to come back or run away?” Liam sensed Fletch’s intense interest in her answer.
Gaby stared at them both. Her tongue flickered out to lick her lips, and she glanced away. “I don’t know.”
She could run but she couldn’t hide. Liam peeled away from her semi-naked body, rising from the bed to let Gaby escape. She scrambled across the mattress and scuttled from the bedroom without glancing back. Liam waited until the bathroom door slammed shut and turned to stare at Fletch. “That went well.”
Fletch sat up and adjusted a pillow behind him, the sheet pooling around his waist. “Do you think she’ll come back?”
“I honestly have no idea. How was it kissing her?”
“Perfect,” Fletch said.
“Yeah.” Liam agreed and couldn’t wait to do more. His dick pulsed when he visualized running his lips down her neck and taking a nip or two. He pictured faint bruises on her breasts. His mark. Fletch’s mark. The intrusion of his friend into his fantasy brought a frown. Hell, he was truly considering sharing. Sure, he’d said yes, agreed with Fletch to commence their wooing, yet at the back of his mind he’d questioned, worried. His subconscious had bought in, invested in the program already. Interesting.
Fletch cocked his head, a faint smile playing with his mouth. “You kissed me too.”
“I didn’t mean to.” Should he admit the physical contact had turned him on? But a full-on kiss with another man… He studied Fletch’s face and upper torso in the different light. Speculating. No point going ahead if his body screamed homo each time they climbed in bed together.
Fletch’s smile faded, his expression intent. Mischief lurked at the back of his brown eyes. “Do you want to try a real kiss?”
“We’re both naked.”
“Your point?” Fletch’s gaze strolled across his chest and downward, stilling only when he reached Liam’s groin. His erection had faded since Gaby left. Now, to his embarrassment, his cock jolted and started to fill again. Heat built in his face, and Liam battled the need to cover himself with his hands. He wanted to crack a wiseass quip, but his brain blanked like a fresh piece of notepaper. Not a word came to mind, yet he couldn’t seem to resist Fletch’s challenging stare.
Without warning, embarrassment transformed to pissed. With two swift steps, he reached the bed and fell onto the mattress. He straddled Fletch, pinning him in place and glared down at him. Part of him expected Fletch to fight. Didn’t happen. His friend met his gaze with a mocking one of his own, practically daring him to make his next move.
His head dipped and his lips met Fletch’s.
He disobeyed his mind’s first instinct to jerk away. Instead, he let his eyes drift closed and pretended he was kissing a woman instead of his best friend. The kiss started out hesitant. They used lips only, starting with the basics. Soft lips brushed his, the faint rasp of Fletch’s stubble bringing a difference. Fletch’s scent was different too as was his unyielding body, the hard grip on his biceps. The kiss wasn’t too bad. The sky hadn’t fallen.
But what would happen if they took the kiss further?
Before he could waver, Liam flicked his tongue along the seam of Fletch’s mouth. Amusement bubbled through him when Fletch jerked in shock. There. Take that.
Liam started to lever away, but Fletch’s arms came around him like bands. He pushed his tongue past Liam’s lips and took control of the kiss. Their tongues danced together while Fletch thrust his fingers into Liam’s long hair and held on, demanding a response.
The kiss wasn’t disgusting. In fact, it was kinda hot. Fletch knew his way around a kiss. He didn’t mine for the tonsils, making small forays instead, taking his time and teasing a response, demanding surrender. Liam shifted closer, aware his erection was a full-bloomed one and there was no way Fletch wouldn’t realize. Sensations unfurled in him, shocking ones, yet he didn’t fight. He lifted his hands to Fletch’s face and stroked his cheek and strong jawline.
Gradually, the kiss softened and their mouths parted. They stared at each other. Liam didn’t know what Fletch saw on his face, but he’d take a bet their expressions would rate identical.
Fletch started to speak but nothing emerged apart from a croak. His throat worked in a swallow then he tried again. “I have an erection. You have an erection.”
“Yeah,” Liam said. “Shocked the hell out of me.”
Fletch’s gaze was hooded and, despite their long friendship, Liam couldn’t read him. “I’m gonna deny this if you ever tell another person, but I want more.”
Hell, Fletch had balls of steel admitting that out loud. He could give something back. An admission. “I liked it. Man, I’m gonna deny this too, but you can kiss.”
An affronted snort escaped from Fletch. “There was never doub
t.”
Liam sniggered, rolling off Fletch to lie beside him. Suddenly they were both laughing like mad hyenas on a nature show. The release of tension felt great, almost as good as the kiss.
“Gaby didn’t come back,” Fletch said when their chuckles subsided.
“I smell coffee.” Liam fought the impulse to lean over and steal another kiss. “Gaby isn’t gonna be easy.” Hell, where had the urge to jump Fletch snuck from? He felt as if his entire world had tipped upside down.
“Would we want her any other way?” Fletch stretched, the play of muscles in his arms and chest drawing Liam’s interest. “What’s our next move? Man, stop staring at me. I’m starting to feel like a slice of roast beef.”
Liam grinned, despite his discomfit. “You’ve created a monster.”
“I better not catch you ogling my butt on the building site.”
A guffaw erupted and they started laughing again. Still chortling, Liam climbed off the bed and searched for his boxer-briefs. They were here somewhere. He felt the weight of a stare as he searched but didn’t let on. Good to know the curiosity worked both ways. He discovered his jeans and decided to go commando.
“Let’s play things by ear.” Liam fastened his jeans and dragged a rough hand through his hair, dragging the straight strands away from his face. “Let’s get a coffee and see what shakes down with Gaby.”
On the far side of the room, Fletch paused in pulling on his jeans. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. We might have to start over.”
Liam glanced at his friend. “You still want to do this?”
Fletch met his gaze with honesty. “Now more than ever.”
A surge of admiration filled Liam. Fletch was one out of the bag—honest. He never told lies, no matter how much the situation might scare him. With Fletch at his side, he could do nothing less. “I feel the same way. It scares the crap out of me, but I don’t want to back off.”
“Good.” Fletch stalked around the bed. He swept him into a tight man-hug, holding him for a few long seconds before stepping away. “I can’t always read you. I wanted to make sure we stood on the same page.”
Christmas Is Coming Page 3
