by Maya Banks
hard, edgy, the rock-your-world kind of sex. And yet, when he touched her, she still felt . . . cherished.
There was an edge of steel to him, like having sex with him would be akin to chasing a storm. He’d held back the one time they’d made love. She knew it.
Part of her wanted to tap that wildness. The other part of her was scared shitless.
It was also why she was convinced that this thing . . . what they wanted . . . would never work. How could it when each of them held back, reserved that part of himself that made him uniquely him?
The mattress dipped as Sawyer eased onto the bed beside her. He pointed the remote at the television then turned back to her.
“You ready?”
She nodded, and he patted the pillow he was resting on. She moved over, and he raised his arm so she could nestle in the crook of his shoulder.
“Put that hand on my chest so it doesn’t get bumped or smushed,” he said.
She smiled and settled her brace across his body. His arm tightened around her, and his fingers brushed up and down her arm from her shoulder to her elbow.
“This is nice,” he murmured. “Been a long time since we did this.”
Yeah, it had. And she was to blame. She’d missed it too, though.
Despite the action and noise of the movie, she settled into a comfortable haze. Sawyer’s body heat seeped into her and lulled her closer to sleep.
“Sawyer, for God’s sake, turn the damn TV down. You’re going to wake—”
Regina turned to see Cam standing in the doorway in just his shorts. His hair hung to his shoulders with just enough muss to make him look damn sexy.
“You were saying?” Sawyer said dryly.
Cam walked into the bedroom. “Sorry. Didn’t know you were up, Reggie. I could hear the TV all the way in my bedroom, and I worried it would wake you.”
She smiled. “I couldn’t sleep, and Sawyer was the only one up.”
“You could have wakened me. I wouldn’t have minded.” He turned his attention to the TV. “What are you guys watching?”
“Rush Hour,” Sawyer replied.
Regina lifted her hand off of Sawyer’s chest and carefully patted the space beside her. “Want to watch?”
Cam climbed onto the bed and lay down beside Regina, his shoulder touching her back as she turned toward Sawyer once more.
“Are you all right? Having any pain?” Cam asked.
“I’m good,” she replied. She yawned even as she said it.
Sawyer looked down and smiled. “Getting sleepy?”
She frowned. “No. I’m comfortable. Let’s watch the movie. I don’t want to go back to my room yet.”
“Honey, no one said you had to move. Stay as long as you like.”
She burrowed deeper into the pillows and nestled between the two men, and it suddenly occurred to her how right it felt. Her brow furrowed as she contemplated that notion.
No, not tonight. She wasn’t going to rehash it all. It made her head hurt. For now she just wanted things to be like they used to be. When they were all friends and comfortable around one another. Before sex had screwed up everything.
CHAPTER 13
Hutch pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and stepped barefooted into the hallway. He paused at Reggie’s door to look in, only to find her bed empty. He walked on to Cam’s room, where the door was also open, and found it empty as well.
Everyone was up early this morning.
He headed for the stairs but stopped at Sawyer’s door when he glanced in and saw Sawyer, Reggie and Cam all in Sawyer’s bed asleep. He leaned in, his arm resting against the door frame, and grinned at the sight.
Reggie was cuddled up close to Sawyer, who was laid out in an uncomfortable-looking position with one arm above his head and the other tucked under Reggie. Cam was relegated to the sliver of bed left by Reggie and Sawyer and was spooned up against Reggie. Part of his ass hung off the bed, and if he so much as moved, he’d probably land on the floor.
Hutch shook his head. No telling how this had all come about, but if he had to guess, he’d lay odds on Reggie seeking out company in the middle of the night.
He stood there staring for a long time, waiting for jealousy to come. Waiting to feel resentment toward Sawyer and Cam. But it never came.
Instead he felt the prickle of anticipation, as if they were one step closer to achieving their goal. And he supposed therein lay the reason for his acceptance. As ridiculous as it sounded that wooing a woman would be a team effort . . . Hell, it didn’t sound ridiculous, it was ridiculous.
He needed to have his head examined.
With a shake of his head, he turned and headed back into the hall. He walked down the stairs and rounded the corner to go into the kitchen to start breakfast.
That team effort thing—it bugged him. Even as he knew it was something he and Cam and Sawyer had agreed upon, had talked about for many long hours, it still made him cringe. Maybe he wasn’t as accepting as he’d thought. But no. It wasn’t the idea of sharing her with two other men—no, not just two other men—people he was closer to than anyone. Guys he trusted. It was the idea in general that the woman he loved would never be completely his.
Was he really okay with that? And if he was now, was there any guarantee he’d be okay with it a year from now? Two years?
Children. Jesus. That was one angle he hadn’t discussed with the others, primarily because Reggie had never really expressed a strong desire to have kids. But what if she wanted them? Did they draw straws to see who fathered her baby or did they just leave it to chance, and if they were all living together, did it matter anyway?
He was giving himself a killer headache, and he was talking himself in circles. He dragged out the ingredients for pancakes then took the ham out of the refrigerator.
It had been a lot easier when this was all in theory, an arrangement discussed in the hypothetical. Now that they were actually trying to make it work, he wondered if they weren’t the biggest dumbasses in the universe. No wonder Reggie was having such a hard time with it all. No sane person could wrap their brain around the fact that three normal men would consent to sharing the woman they loved with one another.
“Dude, if you don’t let up on that batter, there’s not going to be much left for pancakes.”
Hutch’s hand stilled from the vicious rotation, and he looked up to see Sawyer standing there, eyeing him with open curiosity.
“Reggie still asleep?” he asked.
Sawyer sat down on one of the barstools and leaned his arms on the counter. “Yeah, she and Cam are still passed out.”
Hutch resumed mixing the batter then stopped to slice the ham into thick breakfast steaks.
“So what’s eating you this morning?” Sawyer asked casually.
“Nothing. I’m good.”
Sawyer snorted. “You’re not pissed because Reggie was in bed with me are you?”
Hutch looked up and met Sawyer’s gaze. “No,” he said honestly. “I think . . .” Hell, what did he think? But then they’d always been honest and up front with one another. There wasn’t a reason to deviate from that now. “I think I’m pissed because I’m not pissed.”
Sawyer crooked one eyebrow. “That’s some messed up logic.”
“Tell me about it,” Hutch muttered.
“Care to elaborate?”
“Think about it, Sawyer. What normal guy wouldn’t be pissed that the woman he loves is curled up in not one man’s arms, but two? His two best friends. I’m beginning to wonder if I haven’t lost my damn mind. I stood there in the doorway this morning looking at the three of you, and all I did was grin. How fucked up is that?”
Sawyer pursed his lips thoughtfully. “So you’re more messed up over the fact that you’ve accepted our arrangement than you are over the idea of sharing Reggie with me and Cam.”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“Well, if I had to guess, I’d say that it’s very similar to what Reggie is struggling wi
th. I don’t think the idea of being with the three of us freaks her out nearly as much as her considering the possibility.”
Hutch nodded. “Yeah, I can relate to that.” He put the knife aside and turned on the electric skillet. “As much as we’ve always given less than a damn what other people think about us, as much as we’ve always gone our own way, I can’t help but wonder over the fallout over our . . . relationship.”
He pulled out a frying pan and set it on the stove then plunked three slabs of ham into it. Then he returned to the electric skillet and held his hand over the griddle to test the temp.
“So you’re worried about what other people will think?” Sawyer asked with a frown.
Hutch shrugged. “Maybe? I mean I don’t worry so much about me, but Reggie has a public service job. Can you imagine what the citizens of our esteemed community are going to do when they get wind that she’s shacked up with the three of us? And her father. Jesus. There’ll be no end to his screaming. She could very well lose her job over this.”
“We’ll always take care of Reggie,” Sawyer said.
“But will she be happy?” Hutch asked softly. “Because I want her to be happy more than I want me to be happy or you or Cam.”
Sawyer rubbed a hand over his face. “That’s a good question,” he murmured. “But all we can do is try, Hutch. We all want her to be happy. I’m going to do everything in my power to make that happen, and I know you and Cam will too. And maybe in the end, that’s all we can do.”
Hutch sighed. “I know you’re right, man. It’s just messed up. I mean even the fact that we’re sitting here discussing the pitfalls of sharing the same woman . . . it’s twisted.”
“I didn’t realize this bothered you so much,” Sawyer said quietly.
Hutch carefully ladled out the batter into small circles on the skillet. “Most days it doesn’t. I won’t lie to you and say that like you said, in a perfect world, it would only be me and Reggie. I’m okay with this. I really am. And I think that’s what bothers me. That I’m okay with it. When the sane part of me is screaming what the fuck at me.”
“Get over it,” Sawyer said. “It doesn’t do any good to let your sensibilities scream bloody murder. Yeah, it’s unorthodox as hell. No doubt it’s going to gain us a few raised eyebrows and public censure. But it’s our job to be above that and to protect Reggie from as much of it as possible.”
Hutch nodded. “You’re right. I know.” Then he leveled a stare at Sawyer. “I wasn’t jealous this morning. I’ve been up front with you from the beginning. You know I’d tell you if I was.”
“It’s okay, man, even if you were jealous. I don’t expect this to be some freaky utopia where we never have to work at things.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “Christ, I’m starting to sound like freaking Cam. He’s the one who usually does all the feather soothing. When did it become my job to babysit your asses?”
Hutch chuckled and relaxed. “Sorry, man. I think I just hit the panic button this morning.”
“Yeah well, cut that shit out. We’ve got other things to worry about.”
“What are we worrying about?” Cam asked as he entered the kitchen. “And has anyone seen my glasses? I swear I left them in the living room but hell if I can find them.”
Sawyer grinned and picked up the wire frames from the counter and held them out to Cam.
“Thanks, man,” Cam mumbled. He slid the glasses on and shoved his hair back from his face. “Now what are we worrying about?”
“Yeah, do tell,” Hutch said. He picked up the spatula and flipped the first pancake. Perfect.
“Hello? There’s some freak out there stalking Reggie?”
Cam’s face darkened.
Hutch flipped another pancake and gripped the spatula a little tighter.
“It would figure that it’s some psycho trying to get at Peter Fallon. Why he just doesn’t go after the asshole directly is beyond me,” Sawyer muttered.
“We couldn’t get that lucky. Besides, how’s psycho boy supposed to know that Peter Fallon could give a shit about Reggie?” Cam asked.
Hutch grimaced. “Good point.”
“Maybe we should hold a press conference and announce to the world that the best way to punish Peter Fallon has nothing to do with his daughter,” Reggie said in a bitter tone.
They all looked up to see Reggie standing in the doorway of the kitchen, her face pale and drawn.
“Shit,” Sawyer whispered.
Cam stood and crossed to where Reggie was standing and took her hand. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have opened my big mouth.”
She raised an eyebrow. “What are you apologizing for, telling the truth?”
He shook his head. “No, just for being an unfeeling jerk, for blurting it out like that.”
“You’re not the unfeeling jerk,” she said pointedly. “My father holds that title.”
She moved past Cam and walked over to where Hutch was plating the first batch of pancakes.
“Smells good. Are those mine?”
He stared balefully at her. “You drag your ass out of bed last and expect to get the first plate of food?”
She grinned. “Umm, yes?”
He dropped a kiss on her lips. “Sit down and I’ll slap some ham on the plate and bring it over.”
“Don’t forget the syrup,” she added as she walked around to sit beside Sawyer.
Cam walked back over and slid onto the stool next to her. Hutch forked a piece of ham onto her plate and then set it on the counter in front of her. Then he reached into the drawer for a fork and snagged the syrup sitting by the skillet.
“Eat up,” he said as he placed the objects next to her plate.
She turned the bottle down and poured copious amounts of syrup over the stack of pancakes. Hutch tried not to wince, but even Sawyer, Mr. Sweet Tooth, was cringing.
She capped the bottle and then licked her thumb. “Are you guys working today? I thought you said you had a tight deadline or something.”
“Well, technically, Cam has the tight deadline. He’s the architect. Hutch and I are just the grunts who do the hard labor. I turned over the two job sites that are under construction to our foreman so that we could be here,” Sawyer said.
She lowered her fork back to her plate and glanced over at Sawyer. “I’m curious about something. Your office is in Houston. You have a house in Houston. And yet here we are in this brand-new house an hour away. Obviously my little run-in with Mr. Freak Show had nothing to do with your relocating here. What about your business?”
Sawyer glanced at Cam and then at Hutch, and it amused Hutch that there was a light of panic in Sawyer’s eyes. No doubt he would love for Cam, Mr. Smooth, to step in and take this one.
Cam cleared his throat, and Hutch had to look away or risk laughing. Yep, he’d nailed that one.
“We’ve had plans to relocate here for a good while,” Cam said.
“Obviously,” Reggie said dryly. “This house must have taken eons to build.”
“For now we’re keeping our office in Houston. We have four crews working under us and two others that we contract with when we’re pressed for manpower. I can draw plans anywhere. We’ll have some traveling back and forth to do, but it’s only an hour.”
Her eyebrows drew together. “I had no idea you guys were doing so well. I mean I knew you had a great start, but didn’t realize you’d expanded so much.”
“If you’d spent more time around us and less time running balls to the wall, you’d know that,” Sawyer pointed out.
She flushed and dropped her gaze to her plate. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” she mumbled.
She ate a few more bites then glanced back up again. “If one of you isn’t too busy later, I hoped you could run me over to my house so I could get my car.”
Hutch frowned. “Why do you need your car? You sure as hell don’t need to be driving yet.”
She blew out her breath impatiently. “I would feel better if I had my vehicle here, just like
I feel better that I have my gun.”