Blair, Samantha - Pioneers [Protectors 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Samantha Blair

  There was live music coming from a big red barn at the corner of the fairgrounds and they moved in that direction. The music changed from a fast tempo square dance to a more romantic slow song as they approached, and people shuffled toward or away from the makeshift dance floor accordingly.

  “Dance with me?” Payton asked, holding out his hand for her to take.

  She looked at Andrew quickly before remembering that this whole thing had been their idea and agreeing. She wasn’t going to worry about getting permission for every little thing. This was their idea and they could figure out the details. Ryder walked her out into the middle of the floor and pulled her close putting his hands around her waist.

  “You enjoying yourself?” he asked.

  “Very much, thank you.”

  He pulled her closer, and she didn’t resist. It felt really good to be in his arms. She could feel how strong he was when she ran her hands over his shoulder muscles and up behind his neck. She wanted to lay her head on his shoulder and breathe him in, but she was too timid. Maybe she would have done it, if they were alone, but she could see Andrew watching them from across the room. Ryder spun her around slowly, and Andrew disappeared from sight.

  “Penny for your thoughts?” Ryder asked.

  “Are you going to ask me to choose?” she blurted.

  “What?”

  “Between the two of you. I don’t want to do that. Please don’t tell me that’s what this is.”

  Ryder laughed, and she instantly felt foolish. “No, Annie. We’re not going to ask you to choose.”

  “What then? I’ve been trying to work it out all night, and I’d just feel better if I knew what this was.”

  “For right now, this is a first date.”

  “With two men?”

  “With two men,” he confirmed. “How does it feel?”

  “Good. Strange but good.”

  The music changed again, and she felt a second pair of hands turning her around. They passed her between them easily, and before she could think what had happened, she was dancing with Andrew and Payton had crossed the room to the bar.

  “I couldn’t hear the first part of that conversation, but I imagine you had to be asking some questions.”

  “I only have about a million,” she agreed.

  “There’s no pressure, Annie. We just want to enjoy this night with you.”

  Feeling a little braver this time, she did lean forward and rest her head on his shoulder. “I don’t feel pressured. I guess I just feel lost. I was concerned that you’d ask me to choose between you, but Ryder said that wasn’t it.”

  “No, Annie. We don’t want you to choose. We want you to be with us both.”

  The idea was starting to sink in, but actually hearing it aloud brought it home in a new way. Was that really possible?

  “I know,” he continued. “The idea is foreign to me, too. It was Ryder who first thought it up, if you want to know the truth, but the idea has grown on me. I thought it might grow on you, too. I don’t want to scare you off, but we both really like you, Annie.”

  “I’m not sure what to think, honestly,” Annie confessed. It was surreal to have it out in open conversation.

  “You don’t have to make any decisions tonight. We’re not going anywhere.”

  She watched from the corner of her eye as Ryder left the bar with three beers. He caught Annie looking his way and smiled. When the song ended a couple of minutes later, they joined him just outside the barn. Annie accepted the beer gratefully and took a long swig.

  “Do you want to keep dancing or go find some good seats for the fireworks?” Ryder asked.

  “Fireworks,” Annie said. Being close enough to dance with them was making her head feel fuzzy.

  Chapter 5

  “If no one is opposed, I thought maybe we’d take the truck across the road to watch the fireworks,” Andrew suggested. “Then we can beat the traffic out, and I think the view is just as good.”

  Ryder liked the idea. That would mean a little more privacy than the fairgrounds had offered so far, and he was itching for more privacy. Everything was going about as well as he could have ever hoped for. Annie was responsive to them, and her biggest fear so far seemed to have been that they were going to put her in the awkward situation of having to choose between them. He felt badly that she’d even had that thought, but he’d set the record straight on that account, and now that they were all on the same page, he was ready to move forward.

  “That’s okay with me,” Annie replied.

  The three of them made their way to the front gate slowly, stopping to look at anything that caught Annie’s eye. When they reached the grassy parking lot, Ryder took her hand in his. Andrew followed suit a minute later on the other side.

  “Are you cold?” Ryder asked. It was a pretty warm night for this early in the summer, but now that the sun had gone down it was stating to cool off a bit.

  “No, I’m okay,” Annie answered.

  “I have a sweatshirt in the truck you can wear if you change your mind,” Andrew said.

  They piled into the truck, this time sitting even closer together, and that was fine with Ryder. It only took a minute to get out of the parking lot and cross the street. There was a small strip mall that included a hardware store and a health and wellness boutique, but it was after business hours so the parking lot was empty. Andrew backed into a parking spot and turned off the truck.

  “Look like a good spot?” he asked. “There’s a blanket behind the seat. We can sit on the tailgate.”

  “Looks good to me,” Annie answered. “But can we talk a minute before we go out there?”

  “You can ask anything you want, darlin,” Ryder said. “Not sure I’ll have an answer though.”

  “Have you two done this before? I mean with another woman.”

  “No ma’am. Truth is, I haven’t even thought about another woman since I met you, and I imagine Andrew’d tell you the same thing. This isn’t something that we’ve ever even considered before, but I don’t like leaving your diner at night and going home to an empty house. And I don’t like the idea of being in competition with him for you either. I intended to ask you out on my own, but it just didn’t feel right to me.”

  Annie thought about that for a moment before responding. “I’d have said yes—to either one of you—but I would have been uncomfortable about it, too,” Annie replied. “The three of us have had some pretty good times. I wouldn’t want to have to choose.”

  They all nodded their heads at that. There were some hard to beat moments and they all felt the same way about leaving someone out.

  “I know it’s a lot to think about,” Ryder continued. “Hell, I first thought about it shortly after we met you, but it took me months to get up the courage to say anything.”

  “I’m glad you did. I’m not sure I’m one hundred percent comfortable with the idea, but I’m glad you did.”

  “Don’t worry, Annie,” Andrew chimed in. “I’m not one hundred percent sure either, but I think we’re off to a pretty good start, and there’s no rush.”

  A whistling sound followed by a loud boom alerted them to the start of the fireworks show.

  “I guess we better get out there,” Andrew said, opening the door and reaching behind his seat for the blanket.

  A moment later they were seated hip to hip across the tailgate watching the colorful explosions fill the sky. Ryder was more fascinated by Annie’s expressions than the fireworks, but it was a pretty good show for a carnival.

  Catching him staring, Annie turned to him and said, “You’re supposed to be watching the fireworks.”

  “I’d rather watch you,” he answered.

  Deciding he wasn’t going to get a more perfect moment, he cupped the side of her face in his palm and brought his lips to hers. The kiss was soft and timid, and it didn’t last long, but Ryder didn’t push. He was sure that she was still adapting to the idea of being shared, and knowing that Andrew was watching was likely making h
er shy. They’d all have some adjusting to do on that front.

  They watched the rest of the fireworks in a comfortable silence before climbing back into the truck. Annie put one hand on each of their knees the whole way home, and Ryder took that as a very good sign.

  “Do you want us to take you back to the diner or to your house?” Andrew asked after they were on the highway.

  “Same place,” Annie answered. “I live in that yellow house next to the diner.”

  “Yeah? I didn’t know that.”

  “Yeah, I rent both of them from the landowner. Makes for a short commute to work.”

  “I’d say so.”

  The trip home felt as if it had gone much faster than the trip out. Ryder didn’t feel ready to let her go yet, but he was determined to take this slow. The last thing that he wanted was to scare either of them off.

  Andrew pulled into the parking lot and drove to the far end of the lot where the little house sat.

  “Thank you both, for a lovely evening,” Annie said.

  Andrew opened his door and held up his hand for her to take. Ryder was reaching for the door handle as well, but Annie stopped him. She placed a sweet kiss on his cheek and whispered, “I’ll see you soon,” before taking Andrew’s hand.

  Ryder watched as Andrew walked her to the door. Despite the fantasies and months of wondering what it would be like, he still wasn’t prepared for his own reaction to watching his best friend kiss the woman he wanted. He expected at least some level of jealousy, but it didn’t feel that way at all. What he wanted was to be there, too, behind her, kissing the nape of her neck maybe. They looked good together, just like they had on the dance floor. It was a sight he could get used to.

  Andrew waited on the porch while she unlocked the door, and he didn’t return to the truck until the kitchen light came on through the window. He got in the driver’s seat and dropped his head back against the headrest letting out a sigh.

  “You okay?” Ryder asked.

  “Yeah. Just wasn’t quite ready for the night to be over.”

  “Agreed. But I think we overwhelmed the little lady enough for one night.”

  “Yeah, me, too.” He put the truck in gear and pulled back onto the highway. “Do you think she’ll change her mind in the morning?”

  “I hope not,” Ryder answered. “What do you think?”

  “I think I had a really good time, and despite my reservations, I’m glad that we were all there. I almost hate to admit it, but it wouldn’t have been the same without you.”

  “Yeah. It’s something, isn’t it?”

  When Andrew dropped him off, Ryder went inside and got a glass of water. He was too restless to sleep, and he didn’t feel much like TV, so he sat down on the couch with his guitar. He was never going to make a living as a musician, but he’d always been fond of having music in the house.

  His fingers moved from a C chord to G and back to C again. The old acoustic was in tune, and the sound filled the room with warmth. The best part about playing only for yourself was that you could start with whatever part of the song you wanted, and no one could tell you that it was wrong. It was a song that he’d written just the week before, and he was still putting the finishing touches on it.

  “It’s new and unfamiliar,

  But sometimes you know right away.

  From the moment that I saw you,

  I knew I’d make you mine today.”

  Letting the chord ring out for a few seconds, he started to sing again more softly.

  “I think we have a chance,

  At crafting art from clay.

  So soon you’ve etched my heart,

  And there you’ll always stay.”

  Chapter 6

  When Annie woke the next morning she didn’t want to leave the bed. She needed to get ready for the morning breakfast crowd. The diner was always packed Saturday mornings, but she hadn’t gotten much sleep. Sure the boys had gotten her home at a respectable hour, but she’d had a hard time falling asleep after that evening. Her mind was spinning the way that it does when you have a really good first date, and the world is so full of possibilities.

  That was one of the best things about a new relationship, in Annie’s mind. There were so many wonderful places that it could go, so much potential. This time the imaginable seemed exponentially big. She had three versions of every fantasy, one with Ryder, one with Andrew, and one with the three of them together. She’d considered each scenario on its own because it wasn’t logistically possible for the three of them to be in the same place all of the time. She’d get some one-on-one time, too, which was equally appealing to having them together.

  Rolling out of bed, she forced herself into the bathroom. She was going to need a bigger tub if they were all going to shower together. The idea was as intriguing as it was overwhelming. Like most women, she had a passing fantasy about two men once or twice in her life, but she’d never really tried to think through the logistics before and it was mind-boggling.

  They’d mostly taken turns with her last night, and she had insisted on it at the end of the night. One of the downsides to living right next to your business was that your employees could look across the parking lot at your house. The loss of privacy didn’t usually bother her, but this relationship was new, and she wanted to be sure before she went around broadcasting that she was seeing two men at the same time. In public, she understood the need to keep a little distance from one or the other, but she had a feeling that it wouldn’t be like that behind closed doors.

  She’d gotten a little bit of a taste for each of them the night before. They were similar in body types, both lean and in the six-foot-tall range, which was taller than she’d thought after seeing them at the counter all those days. Payton was a little shorter than Andrew, but only by an inch or two, and they both had dark hair that was buzzed close at the moment, although she’d seen them grow out and be cropped short again. Dancing with them had been easier and more comfortable than she might have imagined. Their jobs kept them light on their feet, and they were graceful and confident—excellent qualities in a dance partner.

  Her phone beeped with her emergency wake-up alarm, the one she set because she had a tendency to ignore the first alarm and go back to bed, and she realized she’d been daydreaming for far too long. She hurried through her shampoo and conditioning routine and climbed out of the shower, nearly dropping her phone into the toilet in an effort to shut it up.

  She was unlocking the door to the restaurant fifteen minutes later. It was nice, early in the morning, before the noisy patrons crowded in and began demanding coffee. She’d already started the brew, and it still smelled good to her, even after years of serving pot after pot. She stood in the middle of the empty room and looked at the booths and tables. Was this going to be her life forever? How would her two men, as she was starting to think of them, fit into this picture? They already fit in pretty well, but that was when they were acting as customers. Could she count on them to help improve her life? It didn’t take long to decide that the answer was yes. She didn’t know what it would be like, but if they were up for trying it, so was she.

  Jack came in through the back door, early as usual, and started up the grills. Annie started bringing out cartons of eggs and loafs of bread, fresh from the bakery that delivered them at six every morning. The other employees filtered in over the next half an hour, and when they opened the doors at seven, they already had two tables to wait. By 7:30 a.m. the place was filling up, and by 8:30 a.m. there was a line out the door.

  Annie was covering half of the grill, and she’d just flipped a pancake onto a plate when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

  “Morning, Annie.”

  “Ryder,” she said, turning halfway around, just in time to watch him and Andrew take the two counter seats behind her, while adding bacon to the plate she was holding. Either they were lucky, or they’d been waiting for those specific seats to open up. She wasn’t sure which, as she had her back to the cou
nter most of the morning. “Didn’t expect to see you two this morning.”

  “Any reason we shouldn’t be here?” Andrew asked.

  “Nope, but as you can see we’re packed,” she said, giving the cakes and bacon to a man a couple of seats down. She turned back to the grill and pulled the next order slip from the rack.

  “We know. We won’t bother you. But we wanted some breakfast.”

  “Then you’ve come to the right place,” she said, smiling over her shoulder. It was sweet that they were back already. She’d take that as a good sign that they were as pleased with the date as she was.

  As soon as she had a free hand she gave them a couple of menus. Jill, one of her waitresses came over to get their order, but Annie told her that she had the two men covered. It wouldn’t have hurt to let the other woman take their order, but Annie wanted to handle them personally, and she didn’t think they’d have it any other way. Already she felt possessive of them.

  They could both eat. Big appetites were a quality that she appreciated in hardworking men. She could probably cook to her heart’s desire with those two and not have to worry about wasted food.

  She didn’t get to talk to them much between arguing with the customer who ate his whole breakfast before saying that he didn’t like it and shouldn’t have to pay for it, and cleaning up the full tray that one of the more junior busboys had dropped. But Ryder came over and squeezed her hand on their way out just to say they were leaving. He wrote both of their phone numbers on a piece of paper and tucked it into her apron, in case she wanted to call when she had more time.

  “Hey Ryder,” she called as he was halfway out the door. He came back up the aisle to hear her.

  “I’ll get a break for a couple of hours…around two, if you’re still around.”

  His smile melted her insides. “Yes ma’am, I imagine we’ll still be close by.”

  They left after that, and Annie went back to work. When the lunch crowd died down, she gave orders to the crew and said she was going home for a couple of hours. She’d be back in time for the dinner rush.