by Holly Jaymes
“I know we’re not a thing, but that doesn’t mean I want you flaunting your other woman in front of me.”
He stepped back and his expression suggested I was a jealous ninny. “Diana?”
“Is there another ex here I don’t know about?”
His eyes flashed with heat. “There’s you.”
I jerked back.
As if he realized that maybe that wasn’t the right answer, he blew out a breath and swore. “She’s part of the design team.”
“I thought you said there wasn’t money for that. How are you going to pay her, Gabe? With your dick?” Okay, so that was a bit too much.
He scoffed. “You’re jealous.”
“I am not.”
“You are.” He stepped closer and I moved back, but the wall blocked my escape. “I’m not fucking her, if that’s what you’re afraid of. And if you are afraid of that, why not just ask me?”
I turned my head away. “I don’t care what you’re doing—”
“Yes, you do. Just as I’d care if you were fucking someone else. This thing between us may be all for kicks, but it’s only between us, Sam. You and me, no one else.”
I side-stepped away from him and into the middle of the room so his scent and hard body couldn’t confuse my senses. He was saying the right things but I couldn’t allow myself to trust him.
“Does she know it’s my house?”
“Yes.” He put his hands on his hips and looked at me like I was being a petulant child.
“What about the budget?” I hated feeling like I was being hypersensitive. I was a smart, rational woman. I wasn’t going to let good sex with Gabe turn me into a silly jealous woman.
“The design budget isn’t totally gone. She’s a good resource for finding great deals and designing with limited funds. And she’s a friend, Samantha. I couldn’t not hire her, just like I couldn’t not hire some of my buddies from when I worked construction here. I am where I am because they helped me when I was struggling to buy and flip homes.”
Crap, he was being nice. He’d found success and was now helping the people he knew from before share in that. I, on the other hand, was being catty. How was it that I ended up being the bad guy here?
He stared at me and I was a little concerned that he wasn’t making any more attempts to soothe my worry or to touch me. Was he finished with me? The idea of that shouldn’t have bothered me so much. I told myself I was concerned because perhaps I’d overreacted, not that I cared about him and would miss him if he ended our fling.
“Are we good?” He stood with his hands on his hips waiting for me to answer.
I nodded.
“Good. I’ve got to get to work.” He turned and opened the door. I wanted to run after him and ask for the quickie again, but that seemed a little too desperate. I might have overreacted, but I still had pride.
He stopped and I wondered if was going to suggest the quickie again. He looked over his shoulder at me and I waited for what he might say. Instead, he shook his head in disappointment and then headed downstairs.
I stood in the middle of the bedroom as I heard his feet descend the stairs. What was that look for? Like he was saying I had some nerve getting on him about Diana. Like he thought I was being hypocritical. But I hadn’t brought my ex into the house. Sure, I’d talked to Dean on the phone a few times since Angela told me he was back, but we were just friends.
Feeling guilty, I headed downstairs as well.
“Hey Sam,” Steve said as I made it to the landing. “We’d like to take a few interview shots of you in the library.”
The library was the last place I wanted to be in now, since it would forever hold the memories of the first night Gabe touched me during this little reunion. But I nodded. They were fixing my house and I was a good little trooper. If they needed me to smile and perform like a monkey on a chain, I would.
I put on my game face and shared my vision of the room with the camera. I admitted my disappointment that I wouldn’t get the wallpaper, but I shared my excitement at having the fireplace and filling the bookshelves with classics. Just as I completed the interview, Diana walked in with Darryl.
“Oh, Samantha. It’s so good to see you.” Diana was holding my home decorating idea book as she came toward me and gave me a hug. I wanted to think she was being fake, but her smile seemed genuine. “Is this yours?” She held up the book.
“Yes. It’s ideas I’ve collected about the house.”
“You’ve got great taste. Of course, some of this is out of the budget, but I think we’ll be able to get close to your vision in a few of the rooms. I’m told this is one of your favorite rooms.”
It was. I wondered what Diana would think if I told her what Gabe and I had done in there. Stop being petty, Sam. “Yes. I can’t wait to fill it with books.”
Diana took a sweeping inventory of the room with her gaze. “It’ll be fabulous, I promise. I’m so glad Gabe asked me to help with this.”
I smiled and nodded. My mouth was beginning to hurt.
“So…are you two…?”
The fact that she had to ask suggested that Gabe hadn’t said anything to her. I told myself that it was because he didn’t want anyone on the show’s production to know about us, and not that he didn’t tell her because he was fucking her too and didn’t want her to know about me.
“No.”
She laughed. “We’re so mature, the three of us. I mean, who else could work with two of his exes and we all get along?”
I studied her face to see if there was any guile, but I didn’t see anything. Perhaps I was bad at reading people or maybe Diana was good at acting. Or maybe it was exactly as she said it was. I was going to make myself nuts ruminating on it though.
Not wanting to appear ungracious, I smiled. “I’m glad you’ll be able to help me.”
“I’m really glad to help. This house is amazing.”
Darryl, who had been measuring and studying the room, joined us. “Ready to work, Diana?”
“Yes.” She beamed and I began to think she was sincere in her excitement over my house. The camera crew set up to film them, so I stepped out of the way and watched as they discussed the room and plans to decorate it on a tiny budget. Then they left with a camera crew to seek out great vintage finds on a budget to put in the room. I imagined they’d start at her store, which seemed fair. Her knowledge of antiques and vintage items was why Gabe brought her in.
I could hear work going on in the house, but didn’t see anyone. I finally found Megan in the kitchen going over some papers.
“Oh hey. We’ll be demoing the kitchen in a couple of days. Ready to wield a sledgehammer?”
That sounded like a great way to release tension. “Sounds like fun. Where’s Gabe?”
“He’s home dealing with some network stuff.” Megan cocked her head to the side. “It’s none of my business, but a few of us have got a wager about you and Gabe.”
“Oh?” That didn’t bode well for our success at keeping our affair quiet.
“Some think you two were a thing in the past. Others think you’re a thing now. I think it’s both. Which is it?”
“What does Gabe say?”
She pursed her lips. “He doesn’t say anything.”
I shrugged. “Well then, that’s your answer.” I might have been annoyed at Gabe, but I wasn’t going to share his business. I didn’t care what his staff knew or suspected. But he had to work with them. And it was possible he’d get in trouble with the network if it was discovered he was sleeping with the homeowner on his show.
I left the kitchen with Megan hollering, “That’s not an answer,” after me. I wasn’t sure where things stood with Gabe, but I didn’t have a good feeling about it. It was possible it didn’t matter what Megan and her gambling buddies thought. Perhaps all the nocturnal fun and games were over for us.
While a part of me was disappointed by that thought, the rational part of me decided that it was a good thing. Sleeping with Gabe was a dange
rous game to play. I’d loved him once. I’d planned a future with him. Already I’d proven I could still get jealous, which suggested I was feeling more than friendly. It would be better if we stopped getting naked.
Determining I should start now, I considered calling Angela to see if she wanted to come over that evening. Or maybe I’d need to go over to Gabe’s and apologize and then suggest that it was best if we were just friends without benefits.
Ultimately, I did neither. Once the house was empty for the night, I poured a glass of wine and sat on the back sunporch. I turned the fan on but left the light off, so the moon was the only light.
“No hot bath tonight?” Gabe’s voice sounded from the doorway to the sunroom.
My heart did a little dance that he was there, which told me I was in trouble. “Tonight, it’s wine.”
He nodded.
“Want some?” I pointed to the bottle sitting on the kitchen counter behind him.
He shook his head as he came out onto the porch. “I don’t feel I owe you an apology, but my brother Will seems to think I do.”
“Oh?”
He sat on the loveseat next to the chaise I was in.
“He thinks that having an ex around another ex…or in this case, a woman I’m sleeping with, is like lighting a match in a room full of TNT.”
“You told your brother you’re sleeping with me?”
“No, but he’s not stupid. Even if we weren’t, he says exes in the same room is dangerous.”
“Your brother doesn’t think much of women.”
He looked at me. “Your reaction today suggests he’s not wrong.”
Crap. He was right.
He sighed. “Diana and I are friends. We haven’t been a thing since high school. She’s a designer who is willing to work for peanuts. Not that she doesn’t get anything out of it. The exposure on the show will help her business, but still, we’ve got a tight budget and she was willing to work with us.”
I really was a bitch.
Knowing I needed to eat crow, I said. “Your brother wasn’t entirely wrong. I know we’re not serious, but neither do I want to share.” His lips twitched upward slightly. “That little smile better not be from visions of having both of us at the same time.” What was with men’s fascination with threesomes?
He shook his head. “No. I have no interest in Diana or sharing either. Or threesomes.”
“Good.”
“You owe me, though.”
I quirked a brow. “For what?”
He held up his hands out to the side. “I’m innocent. Plus, I was denied a quickie today.”
“You poor, poor man.” I rose from the chaise and went to him, straddling his thighs. All those thoughts about putting an end to this fling were completely gone. “Will you require two quickies or one long, slow ride?”
I felt the ridge of his cock grow against me.
“All three.”
Book 1: Chapter 10 Gabe—Dinner with the Family
Gabe
Knowing that Samantha had problems with Diana, I worked to keep them apart whenever Diana needed to see the house or meet with Darryl. Fortunately, we were still several weeks away from needing to decorate the house, and the paint for each room had already been selected, so most of Diana’s time was spent away shopping with Darryl. I’d asked Darryl to let me know when they’d be in the house so I could work to keep Samantha busy in some other part of the house.
My reaction to Samantha’s outburst at seeing Diana was mixed. On the one hand, it did my ego good to see her act jealous. On the other, it wasn’t wise to think her jealousy meant that she had feelings for me or that our time together was leading anywhere. Even she said that we weren’t serious.
I had to admit I was pissed too. Did she really think I was a man to fuck two women at the same time? And I didn’t mean a threesome. I meant dating two different women simultaneously. It proved that she didn’t trust me. It was her lack of trust and her going back to her ex that had ruined us the first time.
In reality, it was the reason that I shouldn’t have been going to her place each night. The problem was, I liked going over and not just for the sex, although that was pretty spectacular. I enjoyed talking with her, learning about her teaching experiences, getting an update on her parents who’d moved to one of the Carolinas, and just shooting the breeze. Sometimes it felt like old times when our lives had been so easy. That must have been why, with the biggest part of the project about to start, I suggested she stay at my place.
“It’s very hard to live without a kitchen and bathroom,” I said to her as we laid in her bed after a particularly wild bout of sex.
“I can eat out.”
“What about brushing your teeth? Making coffee?” Why did I feel a little desperate about having her stay at my place?
“What about keeping us on the down-low?”
She had a point, although I was pretty sure we weren’t fooling Megan. “I have a guest room and we can make it look like you’re there.”
She smirked. “Tell me the truth, Gabe. You’re just tired of sneaking over here every night.”
I rolled her under me and sucked on her nipple. “There’s that too.”
She arched to me and moaned. “You’re very persuasive.”
“So that’s a yes?” I sucked the other nipple, then licked it with my tongue.
“Yes.”
It shouldn’t have made me so happy to hear that “yes”. It suggested that perhaps I wasn’t keeping the emotional distance I needed. Then again, my excitement could have been lust, because, by that point, I was hard as steel and in need of release.
The next day we gutted the kitchen. Watching her with a sledgehammer knocking down her cabinets was a thing of beauty. And sexy too. She was like a female Thor, the way she wielded the heavy tool. By the end of the day, both her kitchen and upstairs bath were empty, except the clawfoot tub, which was covered.
Knowing she’d be sore from the work, I put her in my garden tub with a glass of wine. Not wanting her to feel alone, I joined her, massaging her shoulders as she relaxed.
“It was sad to see the kitchen empty,” she said as she laid her head back against my chest.
“Oh?”
“It was like taking a piece of the house away.”
“When it’s finished, you’ll feel like you’ve given the house a gift,” I assured her. “The design fits with the style of the home, so it will feel like it belongs but be newer, cleaner.”
“I guess I’ll have to take your word for it.”
“Trust me, I’m an expert.” I kissed her shoulder.
“At many things. You have strong fingers.”
“You like that?” I kneaded her shoulders.
“I do.”
I used my hands on her, moving down her arms, over her belly and lower, until I found her sweet spot and used my fingers in her until she came. I pushed away the feelings of rightness that came with being with her because that was dangerous. But it was getting more and more difficult. Being with her felt so normal. Had things gone differently, going to bed together, waking up together and even taking the occasional bath together would have been normal. There were times I grieved that we hadn’t been able to achieve our plans to be together. More dangerous still were the thoughts that maybe we could still make our plan a reality.
If only I could let go of the fact that she’d gone back to her ex Dean when being apart had gotten too hard.
The next few days were spent cleaning the kitchen, dealing with the wiring in it and then waiting for the cupboards to arrive which were already two days late. Over the weekend, Samantha and I continued to work on the house, mostly painting and sometimes playing.
As Sunday drew near, I needed to make a decision that was causing me a lot of difficulties. Sundays I spent dinner with my family, but I wasn’t sure what my family would think if I invited Sam to go with me. What would Sam think? I was committed to our friends-with-benefits situation, but inviting her to the family d
inner could lead one to think there was more between us. Finally, I decided it would be rude to leave her behind, so Sunday morning during breakfast, I asked if she’d want to come with me.
Her eyes widened, like she was surprised that I was making the invite.
“My brothers and I have dinner with my mom every Sunday,” I explained. “It’s no big deal.”
“I wouldn’t want to intrude.”
Initially, I hoped she’d bow out, mostly because I didn’t want to have to explain Samantha’s and my sex-only relationship to my family. But when she sounded like she was going to pass, I found myself wanting to urge her to come.
“It’s no intrusion. My mother would love to see you again. My brothers will like teasing me. It’s win-win for them.”
She laughed but I could see the uncertainty.
“I’ve told them I’m working on your house, but that’s all they know. We can keep our extracurricular activities to ourselves.” I just had to hope my brothers and mother weren’t as astute at noticing things as Megan was.
Finally, Samantha nodded. “Okay. I’d like to see your family. It’s been a long time.”
“Good.” Why did I feel so fucking happy and nervous about this at the same time?
Sunday evening, I walked into the house with Samantha in tow, with fingers crossed that my brothers didn’t embarrass me too much or hit on Sam, since I’d made it clear there was nothing between us. I knew I wouldn’t get my way on the first wish. My brothers didn’t know how to do anything but embarrass me. I could at least hope they’d not hit on her.
“Samantha!” My mother immediately embraced her. “My God, you look even more beautiful than I remember.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Sloane. I appreciate your having me over. Gabe demolished my kitchen.”
My mother gave me a kiss on the cheek. “I imagine he’ll give you something even better.”
“No doubt about that,” Will said as he came in the foyer to greet us. The teasing gleam in his eyes suggested that he didn’t mean I’d just give Samantha a better kitchen. He wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t need him making such innuendos.