Then Skye stood up and walked toward Bailey’s desk. “I’ll leave my resignation here. I trust you will see the right person gets it?”
“Skye?” Bailey stopped her as she reached the door. She walked over to her desk and picked up the folder Skye had set down. “Why don’t you hold on to this? Keep your options open.”
“But I…” Skye protested.
“You know the saying from Alexander Graham Bell? When one door closes, another one opens?” Bailey walked over to where Skye still stood in the doorway and handed her the folder.
Skye took the papers, looking quizzically to the other woman. “Yeah?”
“Perfect.” With a gentle nudge, she pushed her into the hallway and closed the door behind her. Leaning against the shut panel, she grinned toward me.
My smile matched hers as I strode over to her, pressed her flat against the door and kissed her until we were both breathless.
“I love you,” I whispered against her lips.
“I love you too, Oliver. This has been the best day.”
“Yeah, it has. Let’s go home and celebrate.” I grabbed her bag off the back of her chair while she took her coat off the coatrack in the corner.
“I like that plan,” she said while I held the jacket for her to slip on.
“I know just the way too.” I kissed the shell of her ear while she fastened the buttons of her coat.
“Oh? Do tell!”
“I was thinking we might make your fantasy come true.” Her back was still to me, and I waited for my words to sink in.
She thought for a minute and then looked to me with a quick snap of her head. “Do you mean…? Are you talking about what I said the other night?” A smile tugged at her lips.
“Have you changed your mind?” We flipped off the lights and made sure the door to her office was locked with a quick test of the closed handle.
“No. But. I mean, you said someday. I didn’t think you meant by the end of the week.” She laughed.
“Well, you never know. These things might take practice. Try, try, try again. I just think we should probably get to practicing. You know, show some effort.”
Bailey’s smile could’ve lit up the entire city block, and that was all my heart needed to know to be certain I was making the right decision. I’d given it a lot of thought since we talked that first night, and I had never been more sure about spending my life with someone or having a family with a woman than I was with Bailey.
“What are your thoughts on getting married again?” I quizzed as we walked hand in hand to the parking structure. Fall nights meant the sun was long gone, and the ocean air brought dampness into the city atmosphere.
“I wouldn’t be opposed to it.” She smiled shyly and then stopped in her tracks. “Are you asking me to marry you, Oliver?”
“No. When I ask you, you’re going to know it, woman. Shit. I have bigger ideas than a parking garage!” We both continued toward the car, now one of the few remaining in the structure.
“Trust me, I’ve seen some of your ideas. I can attest to them being big.” We got into the X5, and I cranked up the heat. We were on the freeway in no time, holding hands and listening to the local news outline Bailey’s press conference in the background.
Happily-ever-afters come in all shapes and sizes. Ours was a work in progress, but I was confident we were on our way to making it happen. Bailey had once told me her days of planning things down to the very detail were behind her, and in general, I would agree. I had every intention of making her plan out the details of a wedding, though, and this time, when she said “I do,” it would be for love, happiness, family, and forever.
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Acknowledgments
A very special thank you to the fabulous team at Waterhouse Press for providing the stage for me to sing my first solo. Thank you to the Night Shift Maniacs, Meredith Wild and Angel Payne, for sprinting and endless words of wisdom. The camaraderie definitely helps make the blank pages seem less daunting, and I truly appreciate your support. Thank you, Martha Frantz and all the sisters of Victoria’s Book Secrets, for your support and love. You are the kindest, most caring group of friends a girl could surround herself with.
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Misadventures in a Threesome
March 2019
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Excerpt from Misadventures in a Threesome
The first time Jasmine Pritchett interviewed for a job, she was fourteen years old and had thought getting paid minimum wage at the local pizza shop would result in her financial independence. It hadn’t. And now, at twenty-five, she found herself in a similar predicament: hoping this job would result in financial independence. Thankfully, according to one of the owners of the gym, the position paid significantly more than her minimum-wage pizza shop gig.
The man who now sat across a desk from her had introduced himself as Wilder. He was at least a foot taller than her five-four frame and had enough muscle on his body to make him appear even larger than he already was. From behind a pair of reading glasses he’d put on when they’d sat down, he studied her résumé closely. His light hair was shaved close on the sides into a high fade, and the longer top was styled into textured, messy spikes. As he played with his bottom lip, she noticed the nuanced hues of his short beard: blonds to light reds with a few grays even. She wondered how old the man was.
She also wondered if he was thinking she was underqualified for the trainer position. Surely she was. Though she had several fitness certifications, Jasmine’s experience in the field was minimal, as was her education. She didn’t hold a bachelor’s degree or even an associate’s in sports science—or in anything, for that matter.
What she did have that she hoped would give her a leg up on her competition was persistence. She’d never been one to retreat just because the opposing army seemed stronger. And she didn’t plan on backing down this time either. If these men questioned her abilities, she’d prove herself one way or another. Even if it involved getting the larger of the two into a firefly pose, which—now that she thought about it—she’d actually like to witness.
Jasmine smiled at the other man who had introduced himself earlier as Maddox. There wasn’t much else to do, since Wilder was still reading her résumé. She wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or a bad one, but she hoped that if they weren’t interested, they wouldn’t have bothered calling her in the first place. She’d only been here ten minutes, and things already felt unbearably awkward.
* * *
Maddox wasn’t sure what to do with his eyes. Wilder had been looking at this woman’s résumé for at least a full five minutes, which was way too long, especially since Maddox assumed Wild would’ve looked at her résumé before calling Jasmine in for an interview.
Now Maddox was stuck exchanging glances with the dark-haired woman as if the two of them were participating in some sort of reverse staring game. The instant the two made eye contact, it was a race to see who could look away first without appearing as though they were doing so. Maddox cleared his throat and held out his hand to Wild—an act intended to move the interview along. Maddox also wanted something to look at other than Jasmine’s dark-green eyes, which had already transfixed him.
He took notice of the way her fingers rubbed against her palms as if they had a mind of their own, and he wondered if she was nervous. He hoped it was the silence that had her uneasy and not Maddox’s stern demeanor. There was no doubt the army had hardened him, changed Maddox in a way that caused him to stay on guard when he didn’t need to, and unfortunately that backfired on him from time to time—especially around people who didn’t know him.
“You have a pretty extensive résumé, Ms. Pritchett.” Wilder offered her a smile before handing the paper to Maddox, for which he was thankful.
Her reply sounded like a question, and Maddox could only guess that was because her previous work experience ranged from helping the elderly with chores to cutting hair to selling essential oils. Thankfully she did have a few certifications that qualified her to coach classes at Transform, or Maddox would’ve wondered why the hell Wild had called her in. Though the picture of her at the top of the page would have answered that question.
“I mean, thank you, Mister…”
“Vaughn,” he said. “Wilder Vaughn. You can just call me Wild.”
Jasmine nodded and gave him a small smile. “You can call me Jaz.” Awkward silence followed until she broke it. “Does your personality live up to your name?”
* * *
The question wasn’t new to Wild, but the way she’d asked it was. Like the idea that he might be a little bit crazy both intrigued and frightened her. Usually comments of the sort had come from high school teachers or previous employers. A time or two it had come with a warning from a date’s father, but never from someone interviewing for a job in his gym.
“Depends,” he answered honestly. “If by wild, you mean fun, then yes. And between the two of us”—he gestured to Maddox—“I’m definitely the funner one.” He was sure the comment would’ve earned him a solid punch to the arm if a prospective employee weren’t sitting across from them.
“‘Funner’ isn’t a word,” Maddox corrected.
Wild rolled his eyes at Maddox, which made him laugh. That always did. Sometimes a raised eyebrow would follow when Maddox caught Wilder talking excitedly about getting matching Hawaiian shirts and tickets to Jimmy Buffett or stumbled around crashing into furniture in their apartment because he’d had too much tequila at Max’s Public House after work…or starting demolition on their gym because his business partner hadn’t yet hired the contractor they’d agreed on.
Mad’s words always said Stop, you’re acting like a fool, or something of the sort, but his eyes said something entirely different. They settled somewhere between What am I gonna do with you? and I’m only intervening because I care. That usually made Wild that much more eager to do whatever it was he’d been up to because he didn’t want to offset the delicate balance of their friendship—a balance each man contributed to. Maddox would never let Wild do anything…well, too wild. And Wilder would never let Maddox become so serious about life that he wouldn’t enjoy living it. Wild hoped, at least.
“I’m more fun, then,” Wilder said. “And also more ambitious. If I had it my way, I would’ve expanded the gym and hired someone like you months ago,” he said to Jasmine.
Now Maddox rolled his eyes. “Ambitious is one way to put it. Though I’d probably go with crazy.”
* * *
There was something Jaz liked about the way the men looked at each other—like there was a trust and camaraderie between them that she hadn’t experienced with another person. The realization saddened her a bit, but she wouldn’t let it show. Witnessing it—though she wasn’t a part of it—was still somehow satisfying. “Mad and Wild,” she said. “Cute.”
Maddox raised a dark eyebrow at her. “Did you just call us cute?”
It probably wasn’t the most professional moment of Jasmine’s life, but it certainly wasn’t the most unprofessional one either. Though she wasn’t sure that realization justified the remark. “Is that bad? If it helps, I meant it as a compliment.”
She hadn’t noticed Maddox’s smooth, tan skin and pink lips before, but they now did things to her that she’d rather not be thinking about during an interview. She wondered what his ethnicity was, because she couldn’t put her finger on it. Not that it mattered. Biology—and the gym—had been good to him. That was for sure.
“That’s how I took it,” Wild said, drawing her attention back to him.
She was sure these guys had never been called cute in an interview before today, and the fact that she’d been the one to break that streak made her blush a bit, though she hoped they didn’t notice.
“We’re looking for someone who can teach a variety of group classes, Ms. Pritchett,” Maddox said.
“Please. Jaz.”
“Jaz,” Maddox repeated, his tone no-nonsense, and the look he gave her was intense. “We already have someone for kickboxing, spin, and Zumba. We were thinking of adding some yoga or Pilates, possibly something else, though we aren’t sure what yet. Guess it depends on what the new instructor’s qualified to do. We’re in the process of renovating the space currently, and we’d like to expand the variety of what we offer and, in turn, expand our clientele. I see you’ve taught yoga and have a few other certifications. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about what you’re willing to teach?”
Anything that pays the bills was what Jaz wanted to say, but she went with, “Yoga, for sure. I’ve taught it for a few years and have recently begun incorporating essential oils into my classes. But I can do Pilates, BODYPUMP, whatever you need really. I’m a Jaz of all trades.” She hoped that her pun—and the bright smile she beamed at them—would lessen a little of the tension she felt when Maddox spoke. Wilder hadn’t been kidding. His business partner was definitely the more serious one.
Maddox opened his mouth like he was about to reply, but Wilder spoke first. “How’d you like to be on the Transform team, Jaz?”
“You’re hiring me?” She couldn’t disguise the excitement in her voice, and she didn’t want to.
Wild raised an eyebrow at his friend, most likely a silent plea for confirmation that his offer was an acceptable one.
After a long moment, Maddox extended his hand to her. “You’re hired,” he said sternly but added a nod and a small smile. “You have time for a tour?”
Jasmine took his large hand in hers and gave Maddox a nod of her own, thinking she had time for whatever these men had in store for her.
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About Victoria Blue
International bestselling author Victoria Blue lives in her own portion of the galaxy known as Southern California. There, she finds the love and life-sustaining power of one amazing sun, two unique and awe-inspiring planets, and four indifferent yet comforting moons. Life is fantastic and challenging and every day brings new adventures to be discovered. She looks forward to seeing what’s next!
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