Theirs to Keep - A Reverse Harem Romance

by Krista Wolf

  I had my robe cinched defensively as I looked them over. With their shirts off, they weren’t exactly trying to hide anything.

  “What about you?” demanded Camden.

  “Me too,” I admitted. “I haven’t been laid since I came down here, and it’s been building up. So when the opportunity presented itself?” I gave them half a shrug. “You can be damned sure I took it.”

  The guys were looking at each now, as if deciding where to place blame. Or what to do next.

  “I still can’t believe you knew,” Camden said to Roderick. “You know what we did and you took her anyway. You’re lecturing us for what we did, but then you—”

  “Hey, don’t blame him,” I jumped in. I jerked my chin in Roderick’s direction. “He had every right to take me to bed. He won the bet.”

  If their expressions were unbelieving before, they were absolutely incredulous now. Bryce’s jaw dropped. Camden scratched furiously at his head.

  “Wedding planner,” he suddenly blurted.

  “No.”

  Bryce snapped his fingers. “Drill sergeant!” he said. “You were in the military, or—”

  “She’s a cop,” said Roderick.

  “Was a cop,” I corrected him quickly.

  The others glanced at each other, looking utterly crestfallen. Their little weekly game was over. They’d lost.

  “Damn,” Bryce swore. “So close.”

  It was awkward now, lying between them. Subconsciously I bunched my robe a little tighter around my body.

  “Look, we weren’t supposed to do this again,” Roderick eventually growled. “It’s one thing to go out and get your rocks off. But it’s another to—”

  “Hang on,” I said, my eyebrows narrowing. “What do you mean by again?”

  All three of the men froze at my statement, looking suddenly a lot less comfortable. Rather than let them off the hook, I crossed my own arms and awaited an answer.

  “We’ve… uh…” Bryce stammered. “Maybe we’ve…”

  “Done this sort of thing in the past?” I offered.

  My breathtaking blond lover swallowed hard, like he was trying to get something down. Camden nodded.

  “Thought so.”

  “Karissa—”

  “It’s okay,” I shrugged. “We all have a past. Whatever you did before me is your business, not mine. I’m a big girl. I’m fine with it.”

  “Still, you need to understand how—”

  “We can’t want this again,” Roderick declared abruptly. He was inside the room now, standing by the bed. “We can’t need this, not like we did before.”

  His statement was strange, the way he worded it. I wanted to ask more, to understand what he meant by it, but I was already too angry.

  “And what about what I want?”

  I said the words so harshly they all turned in my direction. I was sitting with my back against the headboard, arms folded, mouth tight.

  “You guys strut around here taking your pleasures,” I said, “and I’ll admit I’ve taken some too. But to sit and brood and fight amongst yourselves is just plain stupid.”

  More silence followed, until it was eventually broken by Roderick.

  “Why?”

  “Because you act like one or more of you is taking advantage of me or something, and that’s not the case,” I replied. “I guess it’s protective and cute and all that, but no one’s ever stopped to ask me what I want.”

  The room went silent again. This time they were staring my way, expecting me to break it.

  “And what is it that you want?” Bryce finally asked.

  “I’ll tell you once I’ve figured it out.”

  Gathering myself together I hopped off the end of the bed. All eyes followed me as I swept past Roderick, reached the door, and held it open as I gestured to the empty hallway.

  “You want us to leave?”

  No, my body screamed silently. But it was my ego that won out.

  “Look,” I told them simply. “Seems to me you guys have some talking to do, amongst yourselves. Once you’re all done working that out, get back to me.”

  For five long seconds no one did anything. But then Camden rose, and Bryce followed suit. They picked up their clothes in silence, the party over. One by one, looking somber and forlorn, all three of them filed out the room.

  “Cheer up,” I called after them from the doorway. “This probably isn’t as bad as you think.”

  Bryce risked a look back, but he couldn’t meet my gaze. It was almost adorable.

  “And I’ve got a feeling a lot of this has nothing to do with me.”

  Twenty-Four

  BRYCE

  It was one of those days that really dragged its ass. The kind of day you just want to be over already, but every time you look at the clock it seems earlier than the time before.

  Karissa.

  We’d fucked up. Big time, for sure. Maybe we’d even fucked the whole thing up totally beyond repair, although I was still holding out hope for a miracle.

  “We need to talk, the three of us.”

  Roderick’s words were more of an order than a request. He muttered them immediately after leaving Karissa’s room last night, but as with all things Roderick, he followed them up with something even more infuriating.

  “We’ll do it tomorrow. After work.”

  Camden and I were fully prepared to have our discussion right then and there. I wanted it over with. Done with. Fixed. Hell, I was ready to sneak back into her room last night! That’s how much I hated leaving things the way we had.

  This probably isn’t as bad as you think.

  It was the only ray of hope in an unfortunate situation. We’d put our gorgeous employee in a bad place. We’d just about forced her to choose… only she’d been smart enough not to make a decision at all.

  And we’d broken our vow.

  We’d hired her together, on sheer gut instinct. No experience. No history. No background to speak of. Still, the impression she’d left had been one of being smart, sharp and capable. And almost immediately she was proving us right.

  Karissa quickly became one of the most kickass foremen and general managers we’d ever hired. A month into the job she had everything at the manor working like a well-oiled machine. She’d fired the slackers and hired eager, capable new crews. She’d cut through miles of bullshit red tape with various building inspectors, and whipped most of the other contractors in line.

  As a boss she was strong, unyielding, bitingly sarcastic. But she was also complementary of good work, and rewarded those who put in the extra effort. She was the best of both worlds really — a rare find when it came to a supervisor. Best of all she had a finely-tuned bullshit meter. One that was so impressive, it had our heads spinning with wonder as to where she originally came from.

  The ‘bet’ started as a joke turned suddenly serious. Karissa was overly protective of her past. One of the conditions of hiring her was that we didn’t ask questions. Still, it had been her own idea to give us each a weekly guess. The reward — as gut-churning as it was — had been her idea, too.

  “Nobody touches her.”

  Roderick again, warning us about two months into hiring her. As much as we hated the rule, we couldn’t argue with him either. Our new star employee was right up our alley in every way. She was tall, blonde, and breathtakingly beautiful. More importantly, her multifaceted personality exhibited all the same traits the three of us loved and wanted in a woman.

  It also didn’t hurt that she reminded us of Maddy.

  That had a bittersweet realization, and one we all had to admit to. Karissa practically was Maddy physically, mentally, even emotionally too. So much so, that to point out their similarities became almost sacrilegious.

  We tried to ignore it. Tried to ignore her. But in the weeks and months that followed, our attraction only grew. What was the old saying? You always want the things you can’t have? Well that was Karissa in a nutshell. She was our employee, her persona hit a little
too close to home, and she was strictly off-limits according to our own gentleman’s agreement.

  Three strikes, we’re out.

  The only thing left had been our little guessing game, which I knew Camden and I looked very forward to each week. Roderick too, although he’d never admit it. He still made guesses though. He still tried.

  And now… this.

  I’d been weak, sure, but hadn’t we all? As Karissa said, the pressure had been too much. The added sexual tension of actually living with this beautiful creature had pushed us all over the edge, whether we wanted to take responsibility for it or not.

  Still, breaking our agreement had been so fucking worth it.

  I replayed our first encounter in my mind again, as I already had a dozen times before. She was amazing, inside and out. Socially flexible and emotionally open. Physically flawless. A total sexual goddess.

  Just like…

  I couldn’t say it. Couldn’t even think it.

  As always, I had to push it away.

  I ended up jumping into my truck and quitting our new job site an hour and a half early. It’s not like I was getting much done anyway. All I could think about was getting home and straightening things out. Meeting the others and going over our options, even if it meant fighting Roderick’s inevitable plea that we stop what we’d been doing and go back to the way things were.

  Because quite honestly, fuck the way things were.

  I’m a big girl. I’m fine with it.

  Karissa’s voice reverberated through the hollows of my mind. Would she really be fine with it, what we actually wanted? It was a hell of a lot to ask.

  Still, she wanted us to talk. To somehow work it out between us and get back to her.

  And I couldn’t wait to get back to her.

  Twenty-Five

  KARISSA

  “So all principle framing is done, and the stucco guys should finish by Tuesday,” I said. “They’ll come back here to patch up anything we punch holes in of course, but that’ll be at the very end.”

  Roderick nodded, pushing a forkful of eggs onto a piece of burnt toast. He was always burning his toast. Either our toaster sucked, or he just liked it that way.

  “And what about the electrician?”

  “Rough electric is finished,” I declared proudly. “As of this morning.”

  “And the panels?”

  “Done. Both wings.”

  Bryce glanced at Camden, who seemed to make an ‘I told you so’ face.

  “Sweet.”

  It could’ve been an awkward breakfast, if we weren’t discussing business. But it was Saturday, and we couldn’t talk business forever. Only a handful of crews would be here today, and most of them would be working the outer grounds.

  Last night I’d made myself extra scarce, to give the guys time. I’d left shortly after they all arrived home, and stayed out well past midnight. There was a bar near Easton’s Beach I’d been meaning to try, and it seemed as good a time as any.

  “We’re going out then tonight,” said Roderick abruptly, “to celebrate. All of us.”

  I paused, halfway to bringing my coffee to my lips. Hiding my surprise would’ve been impossible, so I didn’t even try.

  “All four of us?”

  “Yes.”

  “To celebrate the electric being done?”

  Roderick chuckled through his beard and rolled his eyes at me. “Sure, that.” He chewed through another bite of eggs before mumbling: “And also, so we can talk.”

  I’d avoided them last night by nursing a few drinks, and then walking along the beach in the moonlight. As with most things in my life, I’d done it alone. Going solo, I’d found, was the best way to clear my head.

  That’s not entirely why you’re alone, Karissa.

  No, I supposed it wasn’t. I hadn’t always been alone, just as I hadn’t always been here. Once upon a time, I’d had a life. A career. The family I’d grown up with.

  A brother.

  The sharp stab of sorrow returned, somewhere deep in my chest. It was a little duller now, a little less sharp around the edges.

  But of course, it was still there.

  Concord. The department.

  Reese.

  I swallowed my latest sip of coffee, determined to pull myself back to the present. Reese was gone. Had been for a while. So was everything to do with my past life. I’d cried about it enough times to realize crying didn’t change a single fucking thing. No amount of tears would put things back the way they were. Not after what happened.

  Instead, I decided to stay true to my own little vow: to stay focused on the here and now. After my fifth beer at the bar last night, I’d finally managed to come to a decision. It was a little unorthodox, a little crazy, but it was the only thing to do considering our unique set of circumstances.

  And now apparently the guys had come to a decision as well.

  “So we’re all going out, huh?”

  Roderick crunched down on his toast and nodded.

  “What time?”

  “We figured we’ll head out around six, grab something to eat,” said Camden.

  Hmmm. It seemed they were on the same page, suddenly.

  “Should I dress up?”

  “Probably,” smiled Bryce. “Besides, wouldn’t you want to? You have to be tired of wearing jeans all day.”

  “My jeans are comfortable,” I countered. “But… okay. I’ll dress nice.”

  I could only imagine what was going on in their minds. They probably thought my entire wardrobe consisted of jeans and workboots.

  And thongs.

  Yeah. That too.

  “Then we’re all set,” Roderick declared, clapping his hands together. He pushed back from the table and dropped his napkin. “We’ll meet you downstairs later at six, all three of us.”

  “So a triple date,” I smiled.

  “Quadruple date,” Camden corrected. “Sort of.”

  “Whatever,” I shrugged, smiling as I picked up one of Roderick’s uneaten pieces of toast. I wrinkled my nose at it. “As long as you guys are buying.”

  Twenty-Six

  CAMDEN

  She was an absolute knockout, wrapped snugly in her tight red dress. It criss-crossed her midsection and hugged her incredible hips. It crept down those two shapely legs to about mid-thigh… still dressy, still elegant, but leaving just enough skin for the imagination.

  Not that I needed my imagination to envision what was under there.

  Karissa had blown her hair out and layered on some makeup, which was something we’d never seen before. It enhanced her natural beauty but it also changed her look. She seemed more sophisticated somehow. More feminine and refined.

  But damn if it didn’t make her even hotter.

  “So… where are you boys taking me?”

  Karissa posed the question as she got into the car, scissoring one long leg after the other. She sat in the back with Bryce, while I drove. Beside me, Roderick leaned back over the passenger seat and smiled.

  “Where are we not taking you?”

  The ride was actually relaxing. Conversation wandered from standard work stuff down more personal avenues, as Karissa asked more in-depth questions about our shared pasts. She knew we’d grown up together, but she never knew details. One by one we regaled her with stories from our youth — the funny ones, the ones you could tell over and over again and still laugh at them, and her laugh was as charming as she was.

  “So where exactly were you a cop?”

  The laughter ended abruptly at Bryce’s question. While it seemed innocent and casual, I was pretty sure she’d consider it out of line.

  “Up north,” Karissa responded very carefully. “New Hampshire.”

  Roderick shot me a surprised glance. We were both equally stunned.

  “Cool,” said Bryce. “Did you like it?”

  “Yes and no.”

  Roderick coughed. “You’re gonna need to elaborate.”

  “Well you know how I can’t sit s
till?” she smirked.

  “Oh yeah,” I laughed. I caught her gaze in the rear-view mirror. “We know all about that.”

  “It’s one of the reasons we hired you,” Roderick agreed. “You have boundless energy.”

  “Yeah, well boundless energy is great for a police officer,” Karissa said. “You’re constantly doing something new, always moving from call to call. You can’t really get bored, either. Those things appealed to me.”

  “So what about the ‘no’ part?” asked Bryce.

  I watched as she turned slowly away, to stare absently out the window. As she did, her expression changed. While still heartbreakingly beautiful her face seemed colder now, like it was chiseled from marble.

  “Some people…” she began, talking so low we could barely hear her. “Well…”

  “Suck?” Bryce offered.

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll bet you saw your fair share of people that suck,” Roderick said.

  Karissa nodded slowly, her gaze still very far away. I felt a sudden sorrow for her. I didn’t even know why.

  “When someone calls the police, something’s already gone south,” she said. “That’s the hard part of the job. Imagine showing up to fifteen or twenty calls a day. And every single time, someone’s hurt, or they’re in trouble, or they just had something bad happen to them.”

  She looked back at me in the mirror, almost on purpose.

  Was it on purpose?

  “Bad things,” she said again, softly. “Over and over, they can be tough to deal with.”

  Her eyes locked on mine and I could suddenly feel it: the deep-set heaviness in her heart. The pain of something terrible, an experience that somehow changed her. Still, there was more to it than that. Because reflected back in her eyes was also an understanding. It was almost like… like she somehow knew.

  I get it.

  A thousand words passed silently between us in that single look. A kinship. A shared sorrow. Then she blinked a few times and looked away.

  “Sorry,” she chuckled, her voice a little thicker than before. “Didn’t mean to go all doom and gloom.”