Two for the Shrew (As We Like It Anthology)

by Green, Bronwyn

  “Because we want strings,” Simon said, wrapping his arms around her from behind. “We want strings with you.”

  The tiniest spark of hope flared to life in her chest, but she ignored it.

  John stared into her eyes. “Strings and neckties and handcuffs.”

  “Rings,” Simon murmured against her ear.

  The spark grew brighter and almost impossible to ignore. But she tried.

  “Whatever will keep you with us,” John added.

  She shook her head, standing stiffly between them. “I don’t want to be with you.”

  The words sounded like the lie they were. She refused to yield and sink into their embrace, but she couldn’t bring herself to shove them away, either.

  “You can drop the act,” she said. “Your account is safe. We have a signed contract. I’m not voiding it.”

  “Fuck the contract,” John bit out, frustration and anger evident in his voice and the tension tightening his body against hers.

  “We love you,” Simon said.

  She rapidly shook her head, heedless of the tears that welled in her burning eyes and slipped down her cheeks.

  “If we have to give up the contract to prove it to you, it’s gone,” John said. “Hell, we’ll even give all of the work we’ve done to another company and let them take the credit.”

  Simon tightened his grip around her. “John’s right. All that’s important is how we feel about you…and how you feel about us. I know you’re outraged and hurt, but I believe you love for us the same way we love you.”

  “I love you, Cat. You’re the best thing to ever happen to me,” John said.

  She swiped at a fresh rush of tears, unable to quell the hope that threatened to take root in her heart.

  “And I know Simon feels the same way,” John added.

  “I do,” Simon whispered. “I love you.” His lips brushed her temple. “More than I have the words to express. We’d planned to tell you on our weekend away, but…plans changed.”

  John’s lips quirked, but the slight smile didn’t quite reach his anguished gaze. “Yeah. Our plan was to present a brilliant campaign that would knock your socks off…professionally speaking, of course.”

  She couldn’t stop the tiny snort that escaped.

  “But that plan changed when you walked into the conference room last month. Please don’t shut us out now.”

  With difficulty, she pulled from their arms and walked to the door.

  “Cat?” John called, worry heavy in his voice.

  At the same time, Simon demanded, “Where are you going?”

  She might be the biggest idiot on the planet, but she believed them. And more importantly, she loved them, too. She’d already sacrificed too much to get where she was. She wouldn’t sacrifice them and this chance at happiness, too. She just hoped she didn’t live to regret it.

  She put her hand on the doorframe but couldn’t quite bring herself to turn around and face them. She’d never gotten nervous no matter how big the presentation. Until now. Her clammy hands trembled, and butterflies slammed into each other in her stomach.

  “My plans changed, too,” she said, her voice shaking slightly. “After what happened, I’d planned to never see either one of you again. But you’re right.” She paused and turned around. “I do love you. Both of you.”

  The tension and worry faded from their faces as she gazed at them. They both wore almost identical expressions of cautious hope.

  “So like I was saying, my plans changed.” She reached behind her and threw the deadbolt lock on the door. She felt the clunk of the tumbler mechanism in the pit of her stomach, the sound echoing the gravity of her decision. “I’d like for us to try again.”

  Before she’d even crossed the room, they were there, kissing her, taking turns devouring her as if they’d never see her again. She could almost taste the desperation and need on their lips. It mirrored her own.

  John cleared the papers and files from her desk with a quick shove. “I’ll make it up to you,” he promised when she raised her eyebrows at him.

  Simon lifted her to sit on the edge. “We both will,” he assured her. “You won’t ever regret it.”

  Taking a breath and shoving aside the remnants of her hurt feelings and shrewish defenses, she melted into her two men, willing to take a chance and let them into her heart.

  Epilogue

  Eleven Months Later

  Blindfolded, Catherine held John and Simon’s hands as they led her along the uneven terrain. She could tell from the fresh scent of the air and the sounds of the waves that they were somewhere along the Lake Michigan shoreline.

  “You guys remember we’re supposed to be at Dad’s at six for dinner, right?” It was Bianca and Cameron’s anniversary and apparently, they had big news they wanted to share. Not that it was too difficult to figure out what that might be.

  “We’ve got time,” John said.

  “Okay, but you know how B gets when her plans are thwarted.”

  Simon laughed. “She should take a lesson from her older sister about being more flexible when it comes to plans.” He nuzzled her neck. “Actually, come to think of it, her older sister’s pretty flexible when it comes to a lot of things.”

  Catherine laughed despite of herself. The last year with these two had been the best of her life. And every day, she realized she loved them a little more.

  They guided her to a stop. “Okay. Are you ready?” John asked.

  She nodded, and they pulled off her makeshift blindfold—Simon’s tie. Squinting, she blinked at the storm clouds gathering over the lake. To either side of them were deserted stretches of land. Nothing but water, sand and dune grass as far as she could see. She took a deep breath remembering the last time they were on the beach when a storm rolled in.

  “So what do you think?” Simon asked.

  “It’s beautiful.”

  “How would you feel about living here?” he asked.

  She grinned. “Might be a little cold in the winter…”

  John smacked her on the behind. “Smartass.”

  Simon grinned, but he looked a little nervous. “We’re thinking of buying it and building a house for the woman of our dreams.”

  “The woman we’d like to be our wife,” John added, his dark eyes shining.

  “I know it’s not a conventional proposal, or a conventional relationship, but will you marry us?” Simon asked.

  Emotions tumbled through her—nervousness, surprise, happiness. Happiness won. They might not have the typical relationship, but it worked for them, and in the end, that was all that mattered.

  Nodding, she met each of their gazes. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes.”

  Simon kissed her deeply, before John spun her to face him and claimed her mouth. When he finally lifted his head, he met her eyes while Simon locked his arms around her waist and nibbled at the side of her neck.

  “We can start looking at house plans as soon as you’re ready,” John said. “But we insist on one thing.”

  “What’s that?” she asked, too happy to care too terribly much about specifics.

  “The gazebo goes here,” Simon said, his voice growing rough with arousal as his cock prodded insistently against her ass.

  She shivered with anticipation, squirming between her men.

  “And it’s gonna have lounge chairs big enough for all of us,” John added.

  Lifting her lips, she kissed him before turning to kiss Simon, and shrewdly deciding it was doubtful they’d make it to B’s party on time.

  About the Author

  Bronwyn lives in Michigan with her wonderful husband, two amazing sons and five somewhat-psychotic cats. When not tormenting her characters, she can usually be found helping with reading and writing projects in her sons’ classrooms as well as being the car pool mom extraordinaire for seven teens. Besides writing, she also enjoys reading, knitting, sewing, cross stitching, pottery, drawing—basically anything that helps her avoid the tortures of cleaning
and cooking.

  Bronwyn loves to talk to her readers and can be found at www.bronwyngreen.com.

  Also Available from Resplendence Publishing

  Autumn Sacrifice by Bronwyn Green

  Phases: Book Ten

  When Brenna Alten returns home to attend her cousin’s wedding, she expects to reconnect with friends and family. She doesn’t anticipate hooking up with her adolescent crush Caleb Mahingan or his brothers. Despite a night of sizzling hot sex, Brenna believes this can’t turn into more, but Caleb has other plans for her. As Alpha of his small pack, he knows she’s his mate and he doesn’t intend to give her up without a fight.

  The Temptress by Abigail Barnette

  As We Like It

  When a tree falls in Miranda Prospero’s yard, she has no idea what lies in store for her. Trapped at her father’s cottage on Mackinac Island with no job and no boyfriend, the last thing she’s looking for is a romance with the guy she rejected when they both were in high school. But Ariel, the meddling, horny spirit who has spent two-hundred years watching her from his bark-covered prison, has different plans for her.

  Greg Ferdinand spent his adolescence pining for Miranda. A success at business and a failure in love, he’s using his summer at his parents’ house to recover from a messy divorce. Seeing Miranda again turns him back into that insecure, nerdy kid desperate for her love. The timing couldn’t be more terrible, but Greg isn’t willing to let his chance to be with Miranda slip away.

  Despite the sexual sparks that fly between them, getting Greg and Miranda together will take a miracle, and Ariel is more than willing to be that miracle. Never has there been a matchmaker more devoted, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes, even if that means creating a tempest or two…

  Twelve Nights by Mia Watts

  As We Like It

  Viola Leinmann is pissed when her twin, Sebastian, books a publicity event for a client twelve days before it is scheduled to occur, then leaves town. What makes it worse is that the new, way-too-mouthwatering-for-his-own-good boss doesn’t like working with women. But making sure her new company stays in the black is worth pretending to be her brother for a night.

  Jeff Sarto likes Sebastian’s style. He’s a go-getter who’s self-motivated and makes him laugh. He’s also the key to getting the office hottie to go out with him. And that’s what he wants, until he meets Sebastian’s sexy sister, Viola. A stolen kiss makes him forget every rule about mixing business with pleasure.

  But as the convention deadline winds down and his new friend Sebastian turns out to be Viola, can he forgive her for lying to him? Or has Jeff lost both his best friend and the girl to a hurtful prank?

  Reawakening by Charlotte Stein

  Forever Dead Series, Book One

  June has spent the last two years of her life trying to avoid death at the hands of murderous psychopaths and ravening zombies. So when Jamie turns up on the scene, careless, still whole and promising her safety on a little paradise island, she isn’t quite sure she can trust him. Especially when he tells her that it’s just him, and his equally big, burly, handsome friend Blake.

  But Jamie and Blake are even better than her wildest dreams—sweet and funny and charming. And worst of all: sexy as hell. Though they’re trying to be gentlemanly with her, all she can think about is how much she wants to get tangled up in them, and forget the nightmare the world has become. She’s waiting for her reawakening—back to life and happiness and love.

  And they seem like just the right sort of men to wake her—body and soul.

  Three Ways to Wicked by Melinda Barron

  Bestselling Author Krisily Carmichael needs a break from her life. Her horrid ex-boyfriend sold naked photos of her, and now she’s plastered all over the nation’s largest skin magazine. So when an advertisement for a rental cottage near Bath appears in her mailbox, she snatches up the offer.

  When she arrives at the remote English cottage, she finds a charming country home with a huge botanical garden…complete with four magical beings trapped inside.

  Victim of a wayward spell, the Sorcerer Uriel and his alchemist cousins, Bythos and Acolius, have spent centuries trapped inside their garden with an evil witch who wants their secrets. Krisily’s arrival sets off a string of events foretold to bring about the witch’s end. Unfortunately, they have to contend with the witch’s curse, which took one sense from each of the men.

  But the four of them find a way to communicate, and they come together in a blaze of passion that helps them to destroy the witch and meet their destiny.

  We Kill Dead Things by Sommer Marsden

  Zombie Exterminators Series, Book One

  Poppy thinks her life is weird working the food court at Parktowne mall, until in one brief moment of creeper killing, things change forever. Now she’s a freelance zombie exterminator along with her long lusted after co-worker Garrity (her not-so-secret crush), a somewhat lusted after bad boy Cahill, and pretty gay boy Noah.

  When the four are hired to do a ballsy zombie clean up at St. Peter’s Hospital, Poppy finds out just what’s more scary than creepers: The Evoluminaries, a zealot cult who think zombies are part of God’s chosen, who happen to end up thinking Poppy might make a mighty good zombie incubator. She finds herself finally sleeping with Garrity, being hunted by a crazy preacher man and stumbling over the fact that Cahill and Noah have become lovers somewhere in the chaos. And that’s all on the job.

  Just another day in the life when you kill dead things…

  Oriana and the Three Werebears by Tia Fanning

  Oriana Ricci has taken over the family business—flying cargo and rich tourists around Alaska’s barely inhabited Kodiak Archipelago. When her plane malfunctions and she’s forced to make an emergency landing, she finds herself stranded in the middle of a National Wildlife Refuge. With no civilization for miles and no hope of rescue, she thinks all is lost… Until she stumbles upon the entrance to an underground bunker.

  Jack, Jordan, and Jonathan McMathan own and operate a secret intelligence firm contracted by the US Government. Hidden away in an old Cold War spy station located the middle of the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, the brothers are not only able to do their top secret jobs safely without fear of discovery, but are better to protect their other, more personal secret: They have the ability to shift into Kodiak bears.

  Like a fairy tale gone bad, the brothers return home to find their lunch tasted—or eaten, their computer chairs adjusted—or broken, and a beautiful blonde sleeping in one of their beds. This situation poses a big problem for the brothers… Their location is now compromised. But more importantly, what are they to do with the lady?

  www.ResplendencePublishing.com