Naked Love

by Jones, Lisa Renee

  How could he speak to her in such a manner? She watched her youngest child like he was a stranger. Didn’t he know his obligations? Hadn’t she spent his whole life making sure he understood what he owed his family?

  Walter ignored her. He was too busy looking at his fat wife.

  “I love you, Jan. I love you. I will always choose you.” He finally turned to Ruby. “As for you, Mother, I’ll make certain the housekeeper knows to take care of you.”

  Her whole world shifted. She steadied herself as her son turned to leave. She still had one card to play. “I will cut you off, Walter. I will make sure you don’t get a dime.”

  Walter shook his head. “I’m not the idiot you think I am. I don’t need your money, Mother. I have worked my entire adult life, and I know how to save. Daddy made sure I knew how to take care of myself financially. I’ve made some very savvy investments. Jan and I will do fine. You keep your money. I suspect it will be the only thing you have to keep you warm at night.”

  With that, he took his wife’s hand and walked up the stairs. Ruby Echols sank to the antique divan that had been in her family for generations.

  Her head felt heavy. Adam was leaving. Again? That was what Adam had said. He’d stood right here in this living room and said the words.

  I don’t need your money, Mother. Abby and I will be fine.

  Adam was leaving her again and this time he was taking Walter, too. Abigail Moore was the reason she was losing her family. Just tonight Adam had tried to take her to a fancy restaurant. He was going to make fools of them all and that couldn’t happen.

  She picked up the keys to her car. Abby Moore wasn’t going to win this time.

  * * *

  The honky-tonk seemed even louder than before after the quiet intimacy of Sam’s room. Abby immediately spotted her best friend still sitting at the bar. Christa’s left eyebrow was practically in outer space as she walked up to her. It took everything she had not to pat her hair or smooth down her dress self-consciously. Did she look like a woman who had recently had mind-blowing sex with two men? Suddenly, with her body still humming from the recent orgasms, she didn’t care.

  “You look like the Cheshire Cat, you know.” Christa smiled as she slid a frosty cosmo Abby’s way.

  “Do I?” She took the drink and sighed. “I can’t ever think why.” The grin on her face wouldn’t go away.

  “Probably for the same reason I need to hose down my desk from this morning’s session,” Christa complained good-naturedly.

  Embarrassment flushed through her system. “I am so sorry about that.”

  “No, you’re not,” Christa replied. “I wouldn’t be. So was it Sam or Jack on the desk?”

  She gingerly sat down on the barstool, the small butt plug still lodged discreetly where Jack said it would do them all the most good. She leaned over to her best friend and was so happy she had someone to confide in.

  “Sam was on the desk. Jack was in the chair.”

  Christa’s mouth hung open for a moment before she shook her head and laughed. “Girl, I am gonna live through you from now on. I want Facebook updates hourly. I can see it now. Abby Moore…is exhausted from doing her two gorgeous men.”

  She gnawed thoughtfully on her lower lip. “I think I love them, Chris. Hell, I don’t think, I know I love them. I’m seriously considering staying in this two-bit town so I can be with them.”

  Christa’s hand went up in victory. “Yes! Another evil plan works. Damn, I’m good. My brain is wasted on this town. Mike is gonna owe me a week’s worth of dish duty.”

  “What do you mean?” She glanced over to where Jack stood talking to Mike. Sam was joining them, his blond hair still slightly damp from the shower. Abby’s insides fluttered when she thought about what he’d done to her in the shower.

  Christa looked entirely satisfied with herself. Her jet-black ponytail bobbed as she nodded. “Oh, yeah, it was me. I sold you out. I told Sam to rifle through your book collection if he wanted to know the way to your heart, which, by the way, is apparently through your…”

  “Christa Marie Wade!” she admonished righteously, then ruined it by grinning. “You hush that filthy mouth of yours. I should be angry with you for giving that away. Girlfriends are supposed to keep quiet about their friend’s porn.”

  “Not in this case,” Christa argued. “I saw the way you looked at them. Every time either one of them walked in the room you would go all gooey. Sam followed you around like a puppy, and Jack brooded even worse when you were around. They wouldn’t approach you because they didn’t believe you would be okay with their lifestyle. Those books let them know you were an open-minded girl. If I hadn’t shown Sam, the three of you would still be all about unrequited love. Instead, you’re practically glowing. And you owe it all to the fact that I can’t keep my nose out of other people’s business. If it keeps my best friend in town, then all my plotting was worth it.”

  Sam eased up behind her barstool. “Oh, Christa, did you confess?”

  He lifted his hand to let the bartender know he was ready for another beer, and then his palm settled on her back, warming her.

  “I did, indeed.” Christa favored Sam with a saucy wink. “It’s my weakness as a super villain. I have an undeniable need for credit. I was thrilled to hear that Abby was thinking of staying.”

  A single brow rose over Sam’s eyes at the pronouncement. “Thinking?”

  “Well, it’s a big decision.” She noticed Sam’s handsome face had turned mulishly stubborn, and she was beginning to recognize all the signs of Sam getting ready to tattle on her to Jack. She put a hand on his arm. “It’s not like I’m planning on leaving anytime soon. I have to make sure my mom is fully healed, and I have to find a job.”

  “Why would you need a job?” Sam asked a bit too loudly.

  She looked over, and sure enough, Jack had heard the exchange. He was staring at them, his green eyes filled with suspicious concern.

  What exactly did he expect her to do? Lie around and wait for one or both of them to need some attention? She’d worked all her life and she wasn’t going to start selling herself out now. Especially not when there was zero real commitment between the three of them. “Because life requires money. Did you expect that I’d hang around in my mom’s trailer for the rest of my life? It’s going to take a hell of a lot of money to put my daughter through college.”

  “You don’t trust us to take care of you?” Sam asked, sounding perfectly indignant.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she confirmed that now Jack was hurrying toward them.

  Like she hadn’t heard that one before. Several doctors had offered to “take care of her” before she’d married Ben. They had been quite easy to chase away. Her head was a little buzzy and she felt some of the recklessness of her youth flowing back through her veins tonight. “If you want me to trust you to take care of me, maybe you should think about marrying me.”

  The minute the words were out, she sobered and realized what she’d done. That wasn’t something she should joke about. They weren’t flirty doctors looking for a quick hookup. She was about to apologize and take it all back.

  “All right,” Jack’s deep voice said from behind her. “Thursday work for you, sweetheart?”

  Christa’s eyes were wide and Abby realized she wasn’t the only one watching this scene play out.

  She turned to Jack, certain her whole body was a nice shade of pink. “Jack, I was only trying to freak out Sam a little. He was being a tad bit overbearing. I wasn’t demanding that you marry me.”

  “She sure as hell was.” There was an arrogant grin on Sam’s face. “She said she wouldn’t be able to trust us if we didn’t marry her.”

  She shook her head. “Don’t be ridiculous. I was joking. Besides, you are overlooking the fact that it’s illegal to be married to two different men at the same time.”

  Sam shrugged. “We got it all worked out. We’re going to rock-paper-scissors for it.”

  Jack sighed and
shook his head. “No, we are not going to do that. We take this very seriously. I am going to legally marry you. You’ll be Abigail Barnes in the eyes of the law, but we expect you to wear Sam’s ring, too. I expect you to take him as seriously as you do me.”

  Sam was wearing a dippy grin. She put one hand on her hip. “That’s hard sometimes.”

  “You’ll muddle through.” Jack leaned over to steal a kiss. “I’ll apply for the license tomorrow. It takes three days. We’ll move your mother into the guest house.”

  Her head whirled. “Wait a minute. We’ve only known each other for a month and a half. You can’t railroad me into marriage.”

  Jack smiled wistfully. “Would it help if you knew I considered it more like I’m gently herding you into marriage?”

  “No.” She had to laugh at the picture of Jack and Sam treating her like prized cattle. They did love their cattle. “That doesn’t make it better.” She got serious, thinking about what had happened earlier. “There’s a lot I don’t think you’ve considered. Marrying me means something in this town, and not something good.”

  Jack shook his head. “It’s too late, Abby. You said you loved us. You’re not going to be able to wiggle out of it now.”

  “You belong to us,” Sam said implacably.

  “And you belong here.” Christa looked as serious as the men. She reached over and grabbed Abby’s hand. “I’ve missed you. I love you and I’m tired of being apart. This is the time in our life when we get to go crazy again. This is the time when we get to be who we are instead of who we thought we should be. I can’t stand the thought of figuring that out without you.”

  Sam’s hand reached out to wipe away the tears she didn’t even realize she’d shed. Was she really going to let something that happened twenty years ago cost her all her happiness now? If she did that, then she wasn’t the woman she believed herself to be. If she let them run her out of town, she would be going against everything she’d worked to become. The idea of explaining to her daughter that she now was going to have two stepdads was daunting, but at least she knew her mom was all right with it.

  Had anything in her life ever felt as good and right as being with these amazing men?

  She looked at Jack and Sam and grabbed her joy with both hands. “Thursday sounds great.”

  The smile that spread across Jack’s face was well worth it. He looked happier than she’d ever seen him, and his masculine beauty took her breath away. Jack leaned in and kissed her lightly, but with the promise of so much more. “I love you, Abby-almost-Barnes.”

  “I love you, too,” she said solemnly.

  Sam was less circumspect. He hauled her off the barstool and twirled her around before leaning her back for a wildly passionate kiss.

  “Damn, Abby, you made us wait long enough.” Sam’s hands cupped her cheek with a tenderness that took her breath away.

  “I made you wait a whole month and a half,” Abby pointed out. She couldn’t take her eyes off him.

  “Like I said, it was too damn long.” He smiled over at Jack, but something else seemed to catch his attention. She watched as his face went stark white and he swallowed deeply. His face twisted like he was really trying to think of how to put something to her. “Baby, you know how I explained to you that I don’t always make the best decisions when I am inebriated? Here comes one of those bad decisions. Please save me.”

  He placed her strategically in front of him in a suspiciously shield-like fashion.

  “Look what the trash man forgot to pick up.” Christa stood up and came to Abby’s side.

  Abby was aware that Jack had moved onto her barstool. He looked terribly amused as a bleached blonde slinked into the room, wearing a shirt that barely contained her store-bought breasts and jeans that someone had spray-painted on. Her hair had been teased to within an inch of its life, and Abby couldn’t tell how old she was under the pound of makeup she was sporting. There wasn’t anything wrong with a woman wanting to look good, but this was way, way too much. There was no mistaking the predatory gleam in the blonde’s eye as she looked around the bar. Her brown eyes were hard, but they widened when she caught sight of her prey cowering behind another woman. It didn’t seem to affect her. She gestured to someone, and yet another peroxide devotee of far too little clothing came out of the woodwork.

  “Oh, look. She brought a friend,” Christa said with a sarcastic grin. “I do believe she did that for you, Jack.”

  Jack had the good sense to shudder. “I would hide behind Abigail, too, but Sam is taking up all the space.”

  The dynamically tacky duo pushed their way across the crowded dance floor, making a beeline for Sam Fleetwood.

  “You want to tell me who I’m protecting you from, Sam?” Abby had a guess.

  “Melissa Paul.” Sam confirmed her suspicion. “She took advantage of me one night while I was drunk out of my mind, and then she had the horrible idea that she was my girlfriend.”

  “Women get that way when you sleep with them,” she murmured.

  “Well, they shouldn’t.” His hands tightened on her shoulders. “I assure you I didn’t mention it to her. I could have been stone drunk out of my mind, but the words I love you wouldn’t have passed my lips. I saved those words for you, baby.”

  “Uh-huh,” she muttered with a resigned sigh. She looked back at her cowering future husband. “Does it bother you that you’re currently hiding behind a woman’s skirts?”

  Jack laughed but Sam looked unrepentant. “No, ma’am. You will find I am very flexible when it comes to your skirts. I will attempt to get into them as often as possible, and when the need arises, I will hide behind them shamelessly.”

  Abby grinned because he was really heartbreakingly gorgeous. He was going to make her life a joy to live. She would never be bored with these two around. Abby couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face.

  She was going to marry them.

  “Sam,” Melissa Paul breathed in a sultry voice. It was so deep and sexy that she wondered if the woman got paid by the minute to talk on a sex line. “If I didn’t know better, I would think you’re avoiding me.”

  “Then you must know something we don’t.” Christa sounded sassy and confronted the blondes with one hand on her waist. “Because he is definitely trying to avoid you.”

  There was a huffing sound from the secondary blonde, but Melissa Paul rolled her eyes and focused on Sam. “Can we go somewhere and…talk? Leslie here can keep Jack company. She doesn’t mind at all, do you, Leslie?”

  The other blonde was slightly unsteady as she took a step toward Jack. “I don’t. He looks hot. I don’t think he’s scary at all. Lissa thinks you’re too kinky for her, but that don’t scare me none.”

  She reached out and put a hand on Jack’s chest.

  That was too much. Abby reached out and forcibly removed the offending hand. “Hands off, honey. This one is mine.”

  “Maybe he should decide.” The blonde was now paying attention to Abby.

  Jack was stumbling all over himself to get the words out of his mouth. “Oh, I am one hundred percent hers. Yup, all hers. We’re getting married on Thursday.”

  Abby heard Christa laugh and barely managed to contain her own because Jack looked positively terrified at the idea of having to deal with the horny chick.

  Melissa Paul looked infinitely pleased. “So old Jack is marrying the village whore. Good for him. I always knew he didn’t mind used goods.”

  Sam suddenly wasn’t cowering anymore. He stood straight up, and Jack was out of his barstool, too. Leslie had the good sense to look afraid, but Melissa didn’t have the Darwinian instincts to know she was in trouble. She was still looking coyly at her prey. If she wanted to defuse the situation, she would have to take it in hand. When she thought about it, this was a ridiculous situation to find herself in.

  Her throaty gut laugh got everyone’s attention. Sam, Jack, and Christa all looked at her like she’d gone the tiniest bit crazy. Abby gestured toward the b
londe. She couldn’t stop laughing. It was making her cry a little.

  “Look at her. She called me a whore. Seriously? Honey, I can see your nipples. Don’t be ridiculous.” She took a deep breath. “Now, turn around before you make a complete idiot of yourself.”

  Melissa Paul’s head bobbed in outrage. “I’m not the one making a fool of myself. You’re some old cougar trying to get her hands on a man who could be her son.”

  Abby’s hands went up in disgust. “What? Did I have him when I was five? I am not that much older than him. What have you done, Sam? Have you slept with every twenty-something blonde in the county?”

  Sam looked at her with wide eyes. She was beginning to think of it as his kicked puppy look. “Not every single one. I’m sure there are some I missed, and now I promise my blonde-banging days are over. I swear I haven’t slept with a single other person since I met you. I am all about the redhead now.”

  Abby sent a questioning look back at Jack.

  He smiled angelically. “I don’t even like blondes. You’ll find I’ve practically been a saint compared to Sam.”

  “I believe that,” Abby said flatly, shaking her head the whole time. She turned back to her younger rival. “Now, you’re scaring Sam. Please go away.”

  Melissa looked between the two men and Abigail, a revelation slowly dawning. “It’s true, isn’t it? I thought that was some ugly rumor. You two perverts like to share women. Well, hell, Sam, if that’s all you need, I can do Jack, I suppose. You don’t have to settle for some old chick. I can be kinky, too. Me and Leslie will even do a four-way if you like.”

  “But I’m the whore.” Abby looked to Christa, who had the same look of disgust on her face.