[Indecent 01.0] An Indecent Proposition

by Stephanie Julian

  “They sound like amazing men.” Her mom took advantage of Jules’ pause to get more tea. “That still doesn’t tell me why they gave you enough money to pay off our debt and then some.”

  No, it didn’t. “A few weeks before Christmas, I waitressed their Christmas party for Carol. Erik saw me, wanted to ask me out but…”

  “His scars,” her mom said.

  “Yeah, his scars. He sat in a room by himself watching the party on monitors, connected to Keegan through an earbud.”

  Her mom’s expression melted with compassion and Jules knew it was time to drop the rest.

  “Erik didn’t think I’d ever consider going out with him so he and Keegan offered me half a million dollars,” she sighed as her mom’s eyes widened with shock, “for one night. For me to have sex with Keegan so Erik could watch. I wasn’t supposed to know Erik was there but I figured it out. And before you have a meltdown, please realize that I never would’ve gone to bed with either of them if I hadn’t wanted them. Not for all the money in the world.”

  Her mom’s eyes widened. “Oh, honey—”

  “Don’t freak.” Jules held her hands up in front of her. “Okay? Just…try not to freak. I like them, Mom. Both of them. A lot. But they’re a package deal and I’m okay with that. They treat me great.” And holy hell, the sex was awesome. But she wasn’t going there with her mom. Not yet. Maybe not ever. “They treat me more than great, actually. They both have issues but name me one person who doesn’t. And what we do in private shouldn’t matter a damn to anyone.”

  Her mom took a deep breath, nibbling on her bottom lip as she formulated an answer. “Is this…relationship serious?”

  “Do you mean are we talking rings and place settings? Not yet. We’re having fun. We’re getting to know each other. But, yeah, it could be serious.”

  Her mom shook her head. “Wow.”

  “That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”

  Her mom laughed but the sound held no amusement. “I’m not sure what you want me to say. You just told me two men paid you to sleep with them and you did it to pay off our debt.”

  Jules winced at the disappointment in her mom’s tone but she had to get her to see that wasn’t the entire story. “That’s not why I slept with them. Yes, the money got me to Keegan’s house that first night but that’s not why I stayed.”

  “And why did you stay?”

  “Because I connected with them. Because we fit together. Because when I’m with them, I feel part of a whole.”

  “Oh, honey, don’t you think you’re rushing into this whole arrangement pretty fast?”

  “I know it seems fast but I’m not talking about marrying them. I’m just talking about spending time with them.”

  Grimacing, her mom walked to the fridge, reached in, and pulled out the carton of chocolate milk before sitting opposite Jules again.

  “I’m not going to pretend I like this.” Her mom shook her head. “Or understand it. But the money…”

  “I know what it looks like. But I’m not sorry I took it. And I refuse to give a damn about what other people say. Those men saved our asses. And even if you take the money out of the situation completely, I’d still want them both.”

  Her mom took a sip of chocolate milk then a bite of cookie. “People are going to talk.”

  “I know. And I’m willing to put up with it. But Erik…”

  After a short pause, her mom prompted, “Erik…what?”

  “He wants me and Keegan to pretend we’re dating and that Erik’s just a third wheel.”

  “Well, it’s not pretend if you actually are dating.” Her mom started to look a little less stressed. “And it seems like the perfect solution. It’ll keep the gossips at bay.”

  “Mom, the only people whose opinions matter are the ones in this with me. Keegan and Erik. And you. ” She paused. “When Dad—”

  “No.” Her mom shook her head. “Your dad’s gone. He did what he did and we survived. What other people said hurt, but nothing hurt worse than what that man did to our marriage and our family. I’d cut off his balls if I thought I could get away with it. But he gave me you and it’s really hard to hate a man who gave you the most wonderful thing in your life.”

  Jules didn’t know what to say about that so she grabbed her mom’s hand across the table and squeezed.

  “Sweetie, I still don’t see a problem with the way Erik wants to handle things. It seems like a good idea. We live in a small town, not Philly or New York. People are going to talk. And it’s going to get bad. Erik’s suggestion seems reasonable.”

  “And I don’t want to lie about our relationship. I’m pretty sure part of the reason Erik wants it this way is because he wants to remain in his little hole, away from the world.”

  “I don’t see how letting people believe you’re only dating one of these men would be lying. Although I see your point about Erik. But he’s a grown man, honey. You have to take him as he is because you’re not going to change him.” Her mom’s wry smile popped out. “I learned the hard way that men aren’t going to change their ways and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

  Jules shook her head. “No. I can’t believe that. If I do, then there’s no hope for Erik to get on with his life.”

  “He was here, wasn’t he? He took you out to dinner. What else do you want from the man?”

  The question made her stop and think and the only thing she could come up with was, “Maybe everything.”

  * * * * *

  “Erik,” Keegan called out as he opened the front door to Erik’s house. “You home?”

  “No, he’s not. He went to the lab. What do you want, Keegan?”

  Keegan stifled a sigh as he pulled the door closed behind him.

  Katrina stood in the doorway to Erik’s living room. Dressed in jeans that looked starched, a cream cable-knit sweater, her blond hair combed back and held with a clip at her neck, she looked wealthy, imperious, and cold. If she had superpowers, she’d be able to freeze a man into a block of ice at a hundred paces.

  Maybe other people saw her differently but he didn’t think so. She’d always been like this, at least for as long as Keegan had known her.

  She’d been a challenge and, yeah, he realized that’d been part of her appeal. He’d wanted to be the man who cracked through that outer shell. He hadn’t realized it wasn’t a shell. That hardness went all the way through.

  Reaching for calm, because all he wanted to do was shake some of that attitude out of her, Keegan stood his ground, “Hello, Katrina. How are you?”

  Staring at him through narrowed eyes, she didn’t answer right away. Probably looking for hidden meaning in his words.

  After a few seconds, she sighed. “I’m fine. Thank you for asking.”

  Oh, so very polite. He could do polite. And get the hell out before he said anything to jeopardize what seemed like a truce.

  “I’m glad to hear that. Sorry to have disturbed you.”

  He turned to leave but before he could, Katrina said, “Keegan, wait. Can I have a few minutes of your time?”

  He smoothed out his expression, made sure none of his impatience showed. It’d only make things worse.

  Facing her again, he nodded.

  Her hand rose to play with her necklace, a heavy gold chain with what had to be a five-carat sapphire hanging from it. “Erik came to me for information. I just wanted you to know that I never would have poked my nose into your business otherwise.”

  Keegan’s stomach tightened into a lead ball. “What information did he want from you?”

  Katrina’s chin went up and she managed to look down her nose at him even though she was several inches shorter. “I found the company that ordered the sabotage.”

  That lead ball became a red-hot bubble of lava. “And how exactly did you do that?”

  Her mouth thinned even more. “By looking. For three years, you and Erik trusted the police to do their job. They didn’t. They wrote off the explosion as an accident
because it was easy and it was made to look like one. They didn’t dig deep enough. And you kept telling Erik to let it go, to forget—”

  “I wanted him to move on. Jesus, can’t you see he needs to let this go?”

  Finally, he saw emotion shimmer in her eyes. “How can he when every time he tries to talk to you about the explosion, you deflect him onto something else or blow him off? Damn it, Keegan, why were you so sure no one rigged that explosion?”

  Katrina’s voice had risen to a level he hadn’t heard since the night she gave back his ring. Actually, she’d thrown it in his face but he couldn’t think about that now. Not on top of the bombshell she’d just dropped.

  “I’m not. Is that what you want to hear? I’m not sure the explosion wasn’t sabotage. I also know if it was, someone inside our company might’ve helped. But letting Erik wallow in the past and what happened isn’t going to help him deal with his scars. He needs to come out of this on his own.”

  “And finding out who was responsible will allow him to do that.”

  Keegan’s anger started to boil. “You haven’t been here. But I have. Every single day. I see how he struggles. And now, when he’s finally started to come out of his shell, you show up and—”

  “I show up?” Katrina was livid now. Her pale skin flushed bright red. “I show up and…what? Do you think I’m here just to interrupt your depraved games? Are you serious?”

  “We don’t play games.” He bit off each word. “Just because you don’t appreciate the lifestyle—”

  “Lifestyle? Now your sex games are a lifestyle? I guess your new friend,” she made the word sound like the filthiest curse, “lives the same lifestyle? How lucky for the three of you.”

  “I know you don’t understand.” He kept a vicious hold on his temper, which had almost reached the critical boil-over point. “I know you don’t approve. But just because you think it’s wrong doesn’t mean you get to stick your nose in where it doesn’t belong.”

  Katrina’s eyes widened as that barb hit home and he felt like complete and utter ass. Erik and Katrina had been close when they were younger. He knew Erik held some deep-seated guilt where she was concerned. He also knew there was something in Kat’s past that had made her the way she was. But neither he nor Erik had been able to discover what that was.

  “Damn it.” Keegan rubbed the knot at the back of his neck. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

  “No, you meant it exactly the way you said it. And trust me, I don’t want to come between you two. Not again. But when my brother asks for my help, I give it to him. And now that I have, I’m going.”

  She turned on her heel and would’ve made a dignified exit except Keegan caught her arm. “Katrina, stop.”

  She did but she wouldn’t turn to look at him and the arm he held went rigid as stone. “I don’t want you to touch me.”

  He released her immediately. She sounded almost like she was going to cry. Which had to be his faulty hearing because the only time he’d ever seen Kat cry had been after Erik’s accident. Which apparently hadn’t been an accident.

  “I’m sorry.” He took a breath, put his thoughts in order. “I’m sorry for the way things ended between us. We both said things we shouldn’t have, and I wish I could go back and do it again, but it doesn’t change the fact that we were never going to be compatible.”

  She sliced a glance over her shoulder at him. “You’re absolutely right. And we should remember that the next time we meet. Let’s just retreat to our own corners now and go back to ignoring each other. I need to get my bag. My taxi will be here in a few minutes. Goodbye, Keegan.”

  She disappeared up the stairs before he could say anything more.

  He stared after her for several long seconds before heading back to his car.

  He needed to get to the lab.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Erik had meant to do some testing on the new retinal scan they’d been perfecting for the past two years but he hadn’t been able to concentrate.

  Kat’s discovery about Eggert Labs’ sabotage wasn’t unexpected. He’d known the explosion had been deliberate. And until TinMan had come along, Eggert had had a lock on the biometric security market.

  So a little friendly sabotage made to look like an accident should’ve been expected. In the corporate world his dad worked in, it was part of doing business.

  He didn’t think whoever had ordered the sabotage had meant to harm anyone. Erik had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  But now that he had evidence, it was damn hard not to want to go after them and bring down the behemoth. He and Keegan had both interviewed with Eggert before deciding to start their own business. They hadn’t wanted to be wrapped up in corporate red tape while they worked.

  So what are you going to do with the information?

  He should hand it over to the police, let them do more digging. But a part of him wanted to exact his own revenge.

  Sitting in his personal lab station, he spun his stool in a slow circle, his eyes open but not focused on anything.

  What he really wanted to do was punch old man Eggert, owner of Eggert Labs. He had a tight leash on his company and he would’ve known what was happening. The bastard had even sent a card and flower arrangement after the accident.

  What he wouldn’t give to stuff that arrangement right up—

  Shit.

  He threw the tiny screwdriver he’d been holding at the table, swearing when it missed and fell to the floor.

  Between his anger over the explosion and his thrill of victory after getting Jules to agree to his plan, there was no way he was going to get any work done. Even though it was Sunday and no one else was here to bug him, his brain was too fractured to work with any efficiency.

  He kept flashing back to earlier today. Yes, Jules had agreed to this plan but neither she nor Keegan had seemed happy about it. He couldn’t quite figure out why.

  Didn’t matter. They’d realize soon enough that this was the right way to handle the situation. None of them needed the hassle their relationship could bring if it went public.

  Yes, last night’s date had gone well but people would talk. They always did. Rumors would start. He didn’t care if they talked about him, but he didn’t want Jules to have to go through that again. Carol had relayed some of those rumors about Jules, though she assured them they held no truth.

  Yes, she’d had an affair with a married man, who she’d had no idea was married. Erik figured he and Keegan were damn lucky she’d agreed to spend more time with them after they’d bribed her to have sex with them. It’d been an arrogant, selfish move and it’d been all his idea.

  Still, it would work out for the best. It had to.

  “Why the fuck did you go behind my back and get Katrina involved in our personal business?”

  Erik’s head snapped back at Keegan’s harsh question.

  His partner stood in the doorway to his lab, leaning against the frame as if he’d been there awhile. Maybe he had.

  Taking a few seconds to formulate a reply, Erik gauged Keegan’s emotions. Pissed but not furious. And not holding back his anger.

  Good. He was glad to see the old Keegan reappearing. He’d seen more of that guy in the past few weeks than he had in the last two years.

  “Because I needed to know what happened that night and she was willing to help me find out. I knew it wasn’t an accident. Kat was the first person to actually listen to what I was saying and run with it.”

  “God damn it, Erik. It’s not that I don’t believe you. It’s—”

  “Bullshit.” Erik felt his own anger immediately begin to churn. “I wish you’d just fucking admit that you thought I was chasing my tail on this one. Well, I’m not, so now we have to figure out what we’re going to do.”

  Keegan didn’t hesitate. “We give the information to the police and that’s that. We let them handle it.”

  “They didn’t handle it the first time, did they? They ruled it an
accident, basically said it was my fault. Like I had a plan to blow the damn lab up with me in it. They were fucking incompetent. No, we find the dirt and go after them publicly. Hit them where it hurts. Strike at their reputation. Then we turn the information over to the cops and let them clean up the aftermath.”

  A muscle in Keegan’s jaw started to flex, but he kept his mouth closed tight.

  Erik shook his head in disgust. “You have nothing to say?”

  “Yeah, I do. You’re becoming obsessed again.”

  That stopped Erik dead. “What do you mean ‘again’?”

  “You know what I mean. You got like this a year ago. You barely ate or slept. All you did was try to figure out who rigged the explosion.”

  “So now you believe that someone deliberately sabotaged our lab? Well, damn, it only took you two years.”

  “Fuck you, Erik. That’s not fair. Of course I want to know what really happened. I want whoever blew up our lab to rot in jail. And then I want you to let it go and actually live your damn life. Not spend every waking minute thinking about what happened to you and plotting revenge. I want you to move forward.”

  “What the fuck more do you want from me, Keegan? Jesus, I’m working. I’m even dating, for Christ’s sake.”

  “And that’s a great start. But it’s not enough. And you know it.”

  “What exactly do you want me to do? You’re not my psychiatrist, damn it.”

  “No, I’m not.” Keegan crossed his arms over his chest. “And you don’t have one of those anymore because you decided you were done.”

  “Because I was. I don’t want to talk about my parents to anyone. I don’t want to think about how I felt when they took off the bandages. I just want it all to disappear.”

  “And you know that’s not going to happen. Erik—”

  “No. I’m done. You’re not the one living in my skin. You don’t get to tell me how to feel or how to live my life. I don’t give a fuck what other people think of me.”