by Becca Van
“I was heading to Bendigo. I just needed a few days away from the rat race, you know. Now, I’m going to have to try and get another car with my vacation money.”
“What do you do for a crust, darlin’?” Duncan turned to face her more directly.
“I work in IT for a major telecommunications company.” Crystal frowned. She was having a lot of trouble liking her job at the moment and didn’t know if she really wanted to go back, but that was something she was going to have to figure out on her own.
“Don’t you like your job?” Duncan asked.
God, these men were so perceptive. How the hell had Duncan picked up on her disquiet already? Maybe the frown had given her away, or maybe the way she had spoken. She knew she wasn’t good at hiding her emotions, but she hadn’t figured she was an open book.
“I used to. I’ve worked so hard to get to the top of the corporate ladder, but no matter how hard I try, there is always someone better than me that has more experience. To be honest, I’ve been thinking of throwing in my job and moving away from the city to find something else to do.”
“Do you know much about coffee?” Alec asked and glanced over at Duncan. The look had been speculative and she wondered what was on his mind, but since she didn’t know them very well, she didn’t feel she had the right to ask.
“No. Just that I couldn’t start my day without a cup or two. Why?”
Alec looked at Duncan again, and when Duncan gave a slight nod of his head, Alec started talking. “We’ve been thinking of getting a website up and running. We own a couple of coffee shops and were thinking about selling ground blends of coffee through a website, as well as plungers and the extras that have to do with coffee. We’ve been searching for someone to hire and set up the website for us. Do you think you might be interested?”
“Are you serious?”
“Of course we are, sweetheart. We wouldn’t be asking otherwise,” Duncan said.
“Well, if you think you might want to give me a go. I would love to set up a website for your business.” Crystal tried to keep the excitement out of her voice but wasn’t sure she had managed to when both men gave her big smiles.
Her mind began to whirl with ideas. To be able to have complete control setting up a website the way she wanted, with no head honcho leaning over her shoulder all the time, would be the optimum opportunity for her. She hoped Duncan and Alec were going to hire her. She couldn’t wait to get started.
“So, when do you want to start?” Alec leaned in and covered the hand she had resting on the table with his.
“Wait a minute, Alec. We need to give Crystal time to recuperate from her accident. The last thing we want is to see you collapsing again, sweetheart. How about you take a week to relax, and then if Doc gives you the all clear you can start work.”
Crystal wondered if taking their offer of a job was the right thing to do. She was speaking the truth when she said she wasn’t happy with her job. Would she be crazy to jump in and accept employment from men she hardly knew? Then she remembered Alec saying that he and Duncan being in the right place at the right time was fate. It was a big decision but for some reason it felt…right. But if it didn’t work out she had the skills to get another job. She looked from Duncan to Alec and back again trying to make up her mind.
If she did take the job, she would need to relocate and find somewhere to live.
“Shit. I would have to move here if I accept the job and I would need to find somewhere to live.” Crystal sighed and wondered if she were insane for even thinking about their offer. But it was just a too good of an opportunity to refuse. She’d even been thinking about setting up her own IT company but didn’t have enough capital behind her to do that. This offer was like a gift.
“Oh no, what am I going to do about a car? I think I had better decline and just get a bus back home, but thanks anyway.” Crystal felt dejected when she realized all the things she had to do before she could start working for them. She didn’t know how she was going to do anything now that she didn’t even have transport.
“How about if I drive you back home Monday next week? I can help you pack your things and then bring you back here?” Duncan suggested.
“That would also give you time to recover from your accident,” Alec interjected. “There is no way you’re starting work until you’re completely healed.”
“Really? Why would you do that?”
“Because we need you to work on our website, Crystal. We’ve been searching for someone with IT experience willing to set up our online store. If it means helping you out to get you to move here so we can have our very own IT consultant, then I will.” Duncan patted her lightly on the arm.
“Oh my goodness, thank you.” Crystal turned slightly then leaned forward and threw her arms around Duncan’s neck and kissed him on the cheek. When she drew back and looked at Duncan, her breath hitched in her throat. Although he was smiling at her and looked really happy, there was something else she could see in his eyes.
She glanced over to Alec and saw the same look in his gaze. Crystal’s body reacted to those looks, and she hoped that she would be able to keep the attraction she felt for her two new bosses under wraps. The last thing she needed was for them to know she had the hots for them, but that was beside the point.
Now that she thought it over, she had come to hate her job over the last few years. The last twelve months had been the worst. It had been a real effort to get up every morning, deal with peak-hour traffic, and then spend eight hours of her day entrapped in an air-conditioned office feeling like a sheep following along with the crowd.
Crystal hadn’t even made any real friends in that place. Of course she had acquaintances, but everyone was only out for themselves and didn’t care who they stepped on in their progression up the corporate ladder. She had begun to be the same as everyone else and hadn’t liked it one little bit.
Duncan brought her out of her introspection, hugged her, and then kissed her on the forehead. She tried to contain her shiver of awareness but wasn’t sure she had managed to when his smile grew broader. She pulled away again and straightened in her seat. Her cheeks heated when she felt both men watching her intently, and she hoped she wasn’t as red as she felt. Alec stroked a finger down her cheek, drawing her attention, and she could have sworn there was heat in his eyes. She blinked and, when she met his gaze, gave a mental shrug and berated herself for her vivid imagination. Even though he was still smiling, his expression was nothing more than friendly.
Taking a deep breath, she decided she needed to apologize.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to behave inappropriately, boss. I shouldn’t have hugged or kissed you.” She wrapped her hands around her coffee mug and stared down at the table. She was embarrassed over her impulsive action and felt kind of guilty over her tactile ways.
“I wasn’t offended, sweetheart. You can do that to me whenever you feel the need. I like you demonstrative personality.” Duncan smiled.
“So, do you like the room we’ve put you in, or would you prefer a different room?” Alec had changed the subject, obviously trying to put her at ease, and she latched onto it gratefully.
“I love it. What’s not to like? But if you know of any places for lease, I would be thankful for any recommendations. I’ll start looking for my own place immediately.”
“You can stay here as long as you like, darlin’. You won’t be upsetting us at all. In fact, it might be kind of nice to have someone else to share the cooking with for a change.” Alec smiled at Duncan.
“Speaking of which, I’ll get the soup.”
“Can I help?”
“No, sweetheart, you just stay right there and relax.”
They all sat down and ate their soup with warm, crusty rolls from the oven. The soup was just right for Crystal after being ill. It wasn’t too heavy and not too light. Once they were done eating, Alec took all the dishes and put them in the dishwasher, while Duncan led Crystal into the living room.
“Come and sit down here, sweetheart. Relax and I’ll put a movie on.”
Crystal was feeling tired again, so she sat down on the sofa and curled up in the corner. Her eyes begin to droop not long after the movie started playing. She was only vaguely aware when one of the men picked her up and placed her in between them on the couch. Her head was resting on a hard, warm, muscular thigh and her feet were picked up and put over another set of steel-hard legs. She felt safe and secure and she hadn’t felt that way in such a long time. Her father drifted across her mind, but she pushed the disturbing thoughts away. She didn’t want anything to mar the way she felt right now. It had been forever since she’d had someone taking care of her, someone to lean on, she sighed with contentment as she drifted off to sleep.
* * * *
Alec watched Crystal as she slept. She was such a beautiful woman. She was not much more than five foot one and her frame was petite, but she had such a lush hourglass figure that had him, and Duncan, guessing from the way he was shifting in his seat, hard as soon as he was near her. Her waist was so small and her blue eyes sparkled with inner warmth and passion. He could see she would be a fiery little hellcat when riled and knew her passion would match theirs. He wanted to lay her down and fuck her until none of them would be able to walk, but he wanted to wait until she was safely living in their home permanently. He didn’t want to scare her off before he and Duncan had her within their reach. The next few days were going to be sheer and utter hell. But the wait would be worth it in the end. He just hoped they could convince Crystal to explore the attraction between them. He’d seen the awareness she had for him and Duncan in her eyes when she looked at them. Could she be the woman they had been waiting for?
Please God, let her be the one.
Chapter Four
Crystal snuck into the laundry when she heard the washing machine finish its cycle and after placing the clothes in a basket she went outside to hang it out. She was feeling much better and wanted to do something to help Duncan and Alec after they had taken such good care of her, but every time she tried to help out, one or both of them would guide her back to the living room and tell her to rest.
It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate them looking after her, but she was feeling fine and wanted to do something to show her appreciation of their care for her. She just hoped that neither man caught her out. She could imagine Duncan reading her the riot act if he knew what she was doing.
As she pegged the clothes on the line she thought back to last night. The three of them had sat in the living room asking and answering questions of and to each other, and she was surprised by how open and honest they both were. Duncan had a more serious persona than Alec, and Alec was quicker to smile, but they were still both very nice men. She could still hear that conversation in her head now and smiled as she thought back over their talk.
“What do you guys like to do when you’re not working?”
“We like socializing with our friends but probably don’t do that as often as we should,” Alec answered and then glanced at Duncan.
“Why not?”
“Most of our friends are in new relationships and are spending most of their time with their women. They’re still in the honeymoon stage,” Duncan said. “What about you, sweetie? What do you like to do to relax?”
“I love to read.”
“So do we,” Duncan said. “What do you like reading, Crystal?”
“Romance. What about you?”
“I like suspense and thrillers,” Duncan answered.
“I like those, but I don’t mind reading horrors now and then,” Alec said. “There is nothing like a horror to get the adrenaline going and your heart pumping.”
Crystal shuddered. “I tried reading a Stephen King book once, but it was too much for me. I had to put it down.”
“You must have a tender heart, honey.”
Crystal shrugged and looked away for a moment.
“What about your friends?” Alec asked. “Did you go out on the town much on the weekend?”
“No,” Crystal sighed. “I was so busy trying to make a name for myself on the corporate ladder I didn’t take the time out to make any real friends.”
“It sounds like making the decision to quit your job came at the right time,” Duncan said.
“What do you mean?” Crystal asked with a frown.
“Every time you talk about your job you get frown lines on your forehead and you looked stressed. I don’t think that you could have kept going at such a hard pace for much longer without affecting your health.”
“You’re right.” Crystal sighed again and leaned back against the sofa. “I was beginning to feel burned out.”
“Maybe now that you will only be working for us and not have such a big demanding workload, you can begin to relax and enjoy life more,” Alec suggested.
“Yes. I think that meeting you two was meant to be somehow. I’m not sure how much longer I could have kept up such a frenetic pace. Even though I hated losing my car and getting hurt, it might have been the best thing to happen.
“What else do you like doing?” Crystal asked, glad to change the subject from herself and direct it back onto them.
“We like watching football.”
Crystal leaned forward. “Who do you barrack for?”
“Fremantle,” Duncan and Alec replied simultaneously.
“Are you from Western Australia?”
“No,” Alec answered. “We arrived in Melbourne from Scotland nearly twenty years ago. The Fremantle football team had just started, and since we were also new to Australia we decided to follow them. Who do you barrack for?”
“The Cats.”
“Why Geelong when you lived in Melbourne?” Duncan asked.
Crystal shrugged and then smiled sheepishly. “I’ve loved cats from a young age but never had one, and since the Geelong Football Club’s called the Cats it just sort of seemed appropriate. What made you immigrate to Australia?”
“Lack of employment, plus our parents were killed in a ferry accident. We didn’t have anything to stay for. Neither of our parents had any living relatives, and we’d seen all the tourism ads on the television for Australia and decided that’s where we wanted to be.”
“I’m sorry for your loss. That must have been a really hard thing to do.”
“Not really,” Duncan said. “We were just in our twenties back then. We worked in Melbourne for a couple of years, but it was too busy for us. We saved every penny we could, and with the life insurance from our parent’s policy, we were okay financially. It took a while, but we eventually found Bendigo and decided to move there, and by the time I was twenty-five we had our coffee shop. We loved being our own bosses with no one but ourselves to answer to. But a couple of years ago we began to get restless, and when the opportunity to own the coffee shop in Passion came up a little while ago, we jumped at the chance.”
“This is a great town to live in,” Alec said. “All the men look out for the women and make sure they’re safe. If one of them is in any danger, an alert is sent out and the men keep an eye out for any strangers.”
“Wow, I’ve never heard of that before. Although I have heard of Passion, but I can’t remember where.”
Duncan went on to explain about the media converging on the small, rural country town when word had spread about the polyandrous relationship involving one woman and three men living and working on the Triple R farm.
Crystal snapped her fingers. “Yes, that’s right. Now I remember. She must be one hell of a woman to be able to satisfy three men.”
When Duncan and Alec didn’t say anything, Crystal went back over what she’d said and felt her cheeks heat. She couldn’t believe she’d blurted that out without thinking.
Alec’s voice gave her the reprieve she had been looking for to break the silence, but then her cheeks got hotter when she processed what he was saying. “There are a lot of ménage relationships in this town now. Most of the people of Passion don’t
blink an eye and aren’t worried about how others live their lives, but there are still a couple of stick-in-the-mud, biased people who haven’t accepted the unusual relationships and will make disparaging comments to those involved.”
“That’s terrible.” Crystal frowned. “It shouldn’t matter to others how anyone lives their life. As long as all involved are consenting and love each other, it should be no one else’s concern but their own.”
Crystal caught a look between Duncan and Alec and wondered what was going on but figured if they wanted her to know they would have told her.
“We’re glad you’re so open-minded,” Duncan said and smiled at her.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“We are very attracted to you and want to have that sort of relationship as well,” Duncan said. “You’ve been here just under a week and we think we could have something really special with you, Crystal.”
Crystal gulped audibly. “Both of you?”
“Yes,” Alec replied and held his hand up when Crystal went to speak again. “Please, don’t say anything right now. We would never pressure you into making a decision. You can take all the time you need to think about it.”
“Just remember that no matter what happens, our relationship outside of work will not affect your job,” Duncan said. “And don’t think that just because we’re attracted to you we offered you work. We have been looking for someone to do the online stuff for us for over twelve months.”
Crystal nodded and then looked away. As much as she was attracted to the two men, she wasn’t about to jump in and make any hasty decisions. She wasn’t normally a spontaneous person, and liked to weigh the pros and cons of every situation before making a decision. But for some reason she wanted to answer yes and see where a relationship with these two men would be like.
She’d been so lonely for so long and was sick of having no one to share her life with. It would be wonderful to come home to two men every night. To be able to share the load of the mundane as well as share triumphs and happiness with them. But if she did, what would happen to her if things didn’t work out between them. Would she have to leave with a broken heart?