by Cari Quinn
Dammit, she would.
“Marsh? Do I have to come home and put you over my knee?”
Yes, please. She smiled so hard that tears popped into her eyes. When Tony used that stern tone of voice, there was no arguing with him. Not that she wanted to argue this. Ever.
“Thank you.” She cleared her throat and hoped he couldn’t hear how soggy she was getting. Not yet. But soon. If he kept being so damn nice to her, she’d probably lose control of her ducts and go to town.
“Nothing to thank me for,” he said gruffly. “Takes some time to ease into something big like writing a book is all. You haven’t done any sprints and now you’re trying to run a marathon.”
“You’re right.”
“Yeah, I am. Why don’t you take a break from the screen and go for a walk or something? Better yet, why don’t you come down here and give me a big ol’…” He paused and she grinned, wondering exactly how he’d finish that sentence. “Kiss.”
“Kiss? Jeez, in the old days you would’ve asked me to liplock other, more needy parts of your anatomy.”
“Didn’t specify where, now did I?”
“Good point.”
“And I might miss you, just a little,” he continued, each word making her grin widen. “I might also be thinking about last night.”
“Really?”
“Uh huh. The Tied Piper suggested we go back to Kink again tonight.”
Marcia laughed at his new moniker for Cale before the rest of his statement sank in. The possibility of another night at Kink should’ve made her ecstatic. But what if too much of a good thing was just too much?
“Are you okay with it?” She gripped the phone tighter. “If you’re not, we don’t have to.”
Truthfully, she wasn’t even sure she wanted to. Last night had proven to her exactly how much she had at home. Sex clubs and threesomes were fine but so was alone time with her man. In fact, it was better than fine. It was all she needed.
“Okay with showing off and enjoying my gorgeous, sexy woman? Hell yeah I am.”
“You’re incredible.” What was her problem? If Tony could handle more, so could she. Especially when she’d be reaping most of the benefits. “Thank you.”
“Since I’m the greatest boyfriend ever and you can’t keep your hands off me, why don’t you grab us some lunch and we’ll go down to the park behind the store and make out?”
“You really expect me to step foot near that place again? What if the fire-breathing hag is lurking around?”
Tony chuckled. “Diana’s on vacation. Besides, are you really going to let her cow you?”
“I’m not cowed. I’m just—”
Cowed. She narrowed her eyes. Like hell.
“I’ll be there in half an hour. Save your appetite for me.” His laughter floated over the line just before she clicked off.
An hour later, their quickie picnic lunch in the park behind the store had been consumed. “Sure you have to go back to work?” Marcia linked her arm around Tony’s waist and matched her steps to his as they strolled up the wide sidewalk in front of the Nook. “I could keep you busy quite nicely this afternoon,” she added, dropping her hand to the bulge behind his zipper.
She’d already teased that bulge in the park. A whisk of her fingertips here, a brush of her arm there. Could she help it he made her horny? One slow, seductive smile from her guy and she wanted to mount up and play ride ’em cowboy, sans saddle.
Or condom, like last night.
Though, truth was, she was too old to take chances without thinking things through. Especially chances like that.
Having children hadn’t ever been part of her life plan. If she wanted to change her mind, she needed to get on the stick. Literally in this case. Time didn’t grow on trees and her ovaries wouldn’t produce forever.
Without a doubt, Tony would be a good dad. In the olden days, didn’t women pick men based on their protective instincts? Maybe current days too. She’d been picking them by the size of their instruments and their prowess in bed for so long she wasn’t sure what typical women did anymore.
“No doubt about that, darlin’.” Tony squeezed her hand and gazed into her eyes. “But there’s always tonight.”
Tonight seemed like a lifetime away. Her thoughts weighed so heavy that a night of play like last night almost seemed beyond reach. How could she have a good time when one concern after another kept whacking at her psyche?
She’d never been an introspective sort before. Why now?
Because you’re jobless and without any secure footing whatsoever. You have no savings. Your lease runs out in a couple months and you won’t be able to afford an increase, unless you ask for help.
She couldn’t ask for help. She wouldn’t. She’d just stop doing stupid things and work hard and everything would fall into place. No more impulsively quitting jobs, no matter who her boss was. No more condomless sex, no matter how good it felt.
No more threesomes after tonight, because she couldn’t risk losing Tony and the stability he brought to her world—and the love.
“So we’re definitely on for tonight?” she asked in her most cheerful, carefree voice.
“We’re on.” He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “How do you feel about that?”
She jerked a shoulder. She’d have fun when she got there. Hopefully. “I’m good with it. It’s not like we’ll be going when it’s just you and me.”
He stepped closer and tipped up her chin. “You still want that? Just you and me?”
“Of course. We’re just having a good time. Right?” A good time that was already entering two-night territory, which made it dangerous for all sorts of reasons. But she hadn’t instigated it tonight. That had been all Cale’s doing. And Tony’s.
“Right.” He threaded his fingers through her hair. All of a sudden, his eyes seemed too serious. Her heart thudded in her chest. “Marsh, I l—”
“Marcia!”
Marcia turned at the girlish squeal. The person who’d exclaimed her name was not who she’d expected. Or it was, in that she’d recognized the voice but she didn’t match the woman Marcia remembered.
“Leigh?”
“Yes, it’s me.” Leigh enfolded Marcia in a hug she wasn’t prepared for. As small as Leigh was, she had a heck of a grip on her. Not to mention Leigh had never been a hugger. Or one to shout out hellos.
Marcia pulled back as Leigh smoothed down the bent cover of the book she’d been clutching. A book that had “orgasm” in the title.
Marcia’s eyes widened. Whoa. Had Leigh been snatched by the Borg and replaced by a lookalike? Was that why she wore sultry eye makeup and a coat of plum lipstick that managed to make her look vampy even in her café apron and sedate skirt and top?
Leigh didn’t look vampy. Ever. Her makeup matched her attitude. Cool, aloof. Nice enough but forgettable.
This girl had arresting green eyes. The rest of her verged toward the knock-you-out, slay-you-dead side too.
Marcia frowned. Damn, should she really be noticing how sexy Leigh had become? Had last night’s threesome somehow made her horniness grow to encompass everyone, including petite female bakery managers?
Nope, it was the sex book. Had to be the book. She was just more aware, that’s all.
“Well, uh, hi. How’ve you been?” Marcia shot a helpless look at Tony, who appeared amused at the way Leigh stared up at Marcia as if she’d hung the moon and draped it in tinsel. “You look nice.”
“Thank you. I had a makeover this morning at Bailey’s department store. They kind of went overboard.” Leigh fussed at her low-hanging ponytail, trying to bring more of her hair over her face.
“Don’t do that.” Marcia stilled Leigh’s hands. “You want to show off, not hide.” Without thinking, Marcia pulled off the band around Leigh’s hair and fluffed the waves around her shoulders, taking a moment to envy her reddish-gold waves. “You’re a beautiful girl.”
“I, um—”
“Don’t hide,” Marsh sa
id again, tilting her head to the side to survey her work. “Much better.” Smiling, she stepped back. “So what’s new? How’re things at the den of dirty Diana?”
With a laugh, Tony hooked his hand around Marcia’s waist and pressed a kiss to her neck. “Gotta get back to work, babe. Have fun.” He patted her ass. “Can’t wait ’til tonight.”
She smiled. “Me neither. Have a good afternoon.”
“He’s really in love with you,” Leigh murmured once Tony had gone into the Nook.
Marcia’s gaze snapped to Leigh. “Why does everyone keep saying that?”
“He eats you with his eyes.” Leigh’s shiver didn’t speak of envy as much as distaste.
Uh oh. Marcia curled her fingers into her hand. Coupled with Leigh’s look of adoration in her direction, that wasn’t good.
It had been months since Marcia had seen her former coworker. Last fall, actually. A lot could change in a season.
Maybe Leigh had switched teams.
Marcia tossed the door of the Nook a desperate glance. How did she get herself into these situations when she was just minding her own business? She had to get home to write her book.
The book she sucked at. She couldn’t write. Who was she kidding? She excelled at sex but writing about it was a whole different bowl of latex.
Shut up, doubt demons! Shut up!
“So, ah, Leigh, how are you?”
“I’m good.” Leigh smiled. “I almost called you actually.”
Why? You’re pretty and all, but I don’t need that experience for my book. Already did the girl sex thing, thank you.
Now if Leigh happened to wield a paddle, Marcia might have a use for her. After her discussion with Cale the night before, she’d decided she could use a little fetish research. But that didn’t appear to be the case here.
“You did?” Marcia asked reluctantly.
Leigh tucked her hair behind her ear. Vamp makeup aside, she didn’t seem ready to embrace her inner vixen. “Yeah. How’s your brother?”
“Spencer?”
“Who else?”
Hmm. Leigh’s crush on Spencer had been well known around the Nook. Had she misinterpreted Leigh’s fascination for her or had Spencer’s lack of interest put her off men altogether? Shit, if any man could turn a woman off sex with men, Spencer probably could. It took a strong female to put up with his crap.
That and a prescription of Valium.
“I do have another brother, you know,” Marcia said drily.
“I know.” Leigh squished up her nose. “I met Adam. He’s annoying.”
Two for two with the Galvin men. Maybe together they’d dealt the death blow to Leigh’s heterosexuality?
“He’s a man. Men, by and large, are annoying. They also have their uses.”
“When the batteries run out?”
Marcia stared. Leigh had developed a sense of humor too? “What happened to you?”
Leigh flipped her book around just long enough for Marcia to see the full title. What A Woman Knows About Orgasms That Men Don’t. “What do you mean?” she asked.
Huh. Maybe she hadn’t been so misguided in her assessment of Leigh after all. Not that she cared either way but it would certainly explain Leigh’s sudden affection toward her. It wasn’t as if women were ever driven to actually become her friend. “You’re, ah, different,” Marcia hedged.
“Oh. That. Yes, I am. Very.” Leigh clutched her orgasm book against her chest and tipped her chin toward a nearby bench. “Can we sit down for a minute?”
“Sure.” Writing the great American sex advice book could wait a few minutes probably.
“So how’s Spencer?”
Marcia frowned. If Leigh had become a lesbian, she obviously hadn’t abandoned the heterosexual life completely. Her tongue practically lolled every time she brought up Marcia’s younger brother. “He’s fine. He and Kelly, his girlfriend,” she enunciated carefully, not wanting Leigh to harbor any illusions, “are still very happy together. They’re going to open their new bookstore in a few months.”
“That’s great. He hasn’t talked to you about anything, has he? About me?”
So maybe she wasn’t a lesbian. Hard to say for sure. “No, he hasn’t,” Marcia said gently.
When Leigh’s face brightened, Marcia decided she had no clue about Leigh’s preferences, sexual or otherwise.
Was it any wonder she avoided chicks? They weren’t easy like men. Giving them sex and home-cooked food rarely gained good favor and they never said what they meant. Every comment included subtext that required a special decoder ring and 3-D glasses to interpret.
“Awesome. So anyway, here’s the thing.” Leigh glanced over her shoulder, blushing so deeply that her cheeks and hair became the same shade. “You have an active sex life, right?”
Marcia blinked. God, had rumors about last night’s threesome already made it around the Nook? Cale had a big mouth. Maybe he’d been bragging.
She grinned. That really didn’t bother her. At all.
“Yes. I do. Extremely active.”
“Man, rub it in.”
Marcia laughed. She liked this new Leigh. The old version had been fine—rarely late, a good worker, never any trouble in a store of miscreants—but this one had some spunk. “Sorry. But yeah, it’s active enough. Why?”
“How do I get one?”
Marcia narrowed her eyes. “Did you talk to Tony?”
“Tony? No. Why would I?”
“He’s your boss, for one thing.”
“Not anymore. I report directly to Diana.”
“Listen, kid. Rules of discussing sex or anything else with me? Don’t mention her. Seriously. I just ate salami at lunch and now I’m queasy.”
“Sorry. I won’t bring her up again.”
“Thank you.” She slanted a look at Leigh’s orgasm book. Maybe she should check it out. Market research and all. “So what’s with all the sex questions?” Is my boyfriend trying to make me feel better by putting you up to asking me for advice?
Because Tony would do that. He was just that sweet. Though she couldn’t see him approaching an employee and broaching the subject of sex advice. That was a tad unprofessional. And odd. But today, when the scuff on the bottom of her shoes ranked a little higher than she felt, she wouldn’t mind his interference.
She just needed a good writing hour under her belt. Something to encourage her to keep going, some kind of sign she hadn’t made the wrong move to become a provider of naughty assistance.
Not that she’d had a ton of other moves to make currently but still.
“I’ve just heard stuff, over the years. Nothing bad,” Leigh added. “All really good. That you’re, like, amazing. In bed.”
“Amazing?” Marcia didn’t bother to rein in the urge to preen. She needed to preen. Badly. “Well, I wouldn’t say amazing. Capable, maybe. Skilled, perhaps.”
“Hot guys want you. That’s so obvious. Tony, Cale…Tony,” she corrected, as if she’d said too much.
“Yeah, but Tony and I are in love.”
“You’re in love?”
Only when Leigh repeated the question did Marcia realize what she’d said. Holy mother of all that’s holy. She’d said that. She’d told Leigh she loved Tony when she hadn’t even told him.
Hell, when she hadn’t even told herself.
But she was in love with him. No arguments, no excuses. She loved the man, and she needed to tell him. Later. After she slept with his best friend once more.
Marcia winced. Ouch. Not exactly proof of love under normal circumstances but Tony got that she was different. And from what she could tell, Tony had enjoyed last night as well. Enough to seem fine with another night.
Heck, she might as well get drunk on the threesome punch before someone took the bowl away.
“Yes, I think we are,” Marcia said softly.
“Is it a new development?” Leigh asked, sounding surprisingly gentle considering she’d been the one seeking advice. Sooner or later, the student al
ways became the teacher.
“Very new.” Marcia smiled and tucked her purse against her hip. “So you’re looking to become more sexually active?”
“Yes. But I want to sort of ease in. I just don’t know where to meet people.”
“What kind of people?” Women or men? Both?
“Someone nice. Not too pushy. Someone who’ll let me call the shots, at least at first.”
Marcia laughed. “And you had a thing for Spencer? That’s so not him. He gives directions on how to face the toilet paper on the roll.”
Leigh flushed again. “You knew about that? That I liked Spencer?”
“Everyone did.”
“They did?” Horror crossed Leigh’s face.
“Of course not everyone.” She needed to learn some tact if she was going to be an advice guru. Or even live in the civilized world.
Trying again, Marcia patted Leigh’s leg. She thought better of it when Leigh’s color deepened. Maybe she’d just better keep her hands to herself. “I’m his sister. I just sort of guessed.”
“Oh yeah. I couldn’t believe it when I found out you were his sister.” Leigh shook her head. “That store’s so full of secrets.”
“Secrets are bad. Very bad.” Marcia shifted closer and attempted to look non-threatening. Maybe she was just thinking too hard. She needed to listen to what Leigh actually said and not play armchair psychologist.
Leigh sucked in a breath. “So, meeting someone. How do I do it?”
“Meeting guys is easy. Or people. Depending on your preference.” Marcia cleared her throat. She also needed to stop being so damn uptight. Roll with the punches. Freely discuss her love life on the fly, even when sitting on a bench outside her former place of employment. “Do you have a preference?”
“Sexually? I don’t know.” Leigh tugged down her skirt. “I’m not experienced enough to be sure.”
“You need to experiment to discover what you like.” Very advice guru of you.
“Well, yeah, but I need to find someone to experiment with.”
Smothering a smile, Marcia cocked her head. Maybe Leigh didn’t know how to approach the subject. Maybe she only felt comfortable reading about it. If so, Marcia could offer her a conversational twig. “Have you considered sleeping with a woman?”