by Rhian Cahill
“Misery loves company.” Ethan took the glass from Finn and held it up. “To getting what we want.”
Finn swirled his drink but didn’t take a sip. “And what do we want?”
Ethan laughed. “Don’t try to hold your cards close to your chest. You’re forgetting who you’re talking to.”
One corner of Finn’s mouth kicked up. “Okay. So where do we go from here?”
“Straight to hell if we can’t convince Kelly we want more than tonight.”
“Jesus.” Finn turned and paced across the room. “I don’t think I can live with that.”
“You think I can?”
He faced Ethan. “No. But I don’t know how to fix this.”
“Fix what? All Kelly knows is that we want her in our bed. She’ll expect it to be over now we’ve had her. We have to show her we want more.”
And they were back to his original question. “More what?”
“Everything.”
Finn nodded. “Agreed. The question is how we get it.”
“Same way we got to this point.” Ethan tossed back the last of his drink and reached for the bottle. “We keep at her until she agrees.”
“You want to tell her how we feel? What we want?” Finn strode over and snatched the bottle from Ethan’s hand before he could pour another drink. “You don’t think that will freak her out?”
Ethan shrugged. “I’m not suggesting we lay it all out there. Not yet anyway.”
“Then what are you suggesting?” Finn couldn’t erase the image of Kitty running out the front door from his mind. It was stuck on replay, torturing him over and over every time he thought about telling her how he felt—what he wanted.
“We just keep at it until we convince her we want more than sex.”
“Yeah but how?”
Ethan didn’t have a clue what to say. He was winging it. They both were. There’d never been a woman in their lives they’d wanted to keep around for longer than a few nights of sex. And certainly not one so deeply ingrained in their lives as Kelly was. If he thought about it too much, he’d realise just how much they stood to lose if this thing between the three of them went south.
It terrified him to say the words out loud, but he had no choice. “I don’t know how.”
“Fuck.” Finn thumped his glass on the bar top.
“I think we should just take it day by day. She’s here now. In the morning, we’ll distract her so the last thing on her mind is leaving, and even if she does want to, I’ll suggest we have breakfast. Or lunch, depending on the time. Anything to keep her with us.” Ethan knew his suggestions sounded desperate, but the truth was they were.
“Jesus. “ Finn filled his glass with scotch.
“Do you think that’s wise?” Ethan asked. The last thing he needed was a drunk Finn to worry about on top of everything else.
Finn capped the bottle and put it back behind the bar. “No. But I’m doing it anyway.”
Ethan watched as his friend gulped every last drop. If Finn was guzzling top-shelf scotch like water, things were definitely bad.
“I’m going to crawl back into bed with Kitty.” Finn placed his glass on the bar gently this time. “If tonight is all we get I’m not wasting another second of it.”
Ethan nodded. “I’ll be there in a second.”
He needed a few minutes to think, and he thought best when on the move. Pacing the living room wasn’t exactly a run, but he couldn’t be bothered putting on clothes even if he didn’t have to leave the house to get what he needed. The gym down the hall was equipped with the best machines money could buy. All he had to do was slip on some shorts and hop on the treadmill.
Too agitated to do either, Ethan made use of the seven metre length of the living room. Back and forth time and again, he moved his body but it didn’t move his brain. All he could think was that they were going to fuck things up with Kelly. He knew he should be worried about the possibility of losing a brilliant office manager, and he would as soon as he got past the fact he could lose the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
Chapter Six
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
She hadn’t thought anything through. Hadn’t thought beyond getting to the party and being the woman Ethan and Finn wanted to take home. Her sister had dropped her off with a good luck and a wave so she had no car, no keys, no wallet…
Shit!
She’d even left her phone at home. Her outfit hadn’t offered any place to store it.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
What the hell was she supposed to do now?
Kitty scanned the street. It was a typical up-scale housing community—large houses, expensive cars in the driveways and well-manicured gardens that spoke of paid gardeners and not your average suburban yards strewn with kids’ toys. In fact, there wasn’t a swing set or bike or skateboard to be seen.
Nothing like the neighbourhood she’d grown up in—still lived in. Sure, her parents had divided the house so that her and Jillian had a separate entry and living quarters, but essentially Kitty lived with her parents.
So much for being a sophisticated sex goddess.
Ethan and Finn would probably laugh their arses off if they knew the woman they’d taken to bed still slept in the single bed she’d had when she was a teenager.
She scanned the street in both directions once more before heading to the right. Kitty had no idea which way would lead to a main road and the possibility of a taxi, but standing at the end of her bosses’ driveway looking lost wasn’t an option. Not if she wanted to make her escape undetected.
Her sister’s shoes dangled from her fingers and she was minus the corset she’d worn last night—God knows where that had ended up, but she couldn’t afford the time to look.
Getting out before they woke was priority number one.
Her skirt and top felt skimpier in the bright light of day, but there was a small part of her that was impressed with her walk of shame. The rest of her, the timid little girl who’d never once gone after what she wanted like she had last night was mortified to be wandering around a strange neighbourhood without any way of getting home.
Kitty’s face burned with embarrassment, and she knew anyone watching would know exactly what she’d been up to the night before. Her body still hummed with satisfaction and a need that hadn’t been satiated. She’d known one night wouldn’t be enough, but she didn’t have the courage to go for more. Better to do the walking than to be walked. And that’s what she was doing.
Leaving before they could ask her to.
There must have been someone somewhere looking out for her, because when she hit the end of the street she saw the rush of cars on a major road only a block away. Picking up her pace, Kitty looked straight ahead and pretended she wasn’t out of place, pretended she was taking a normal Sunday-morning walk. Not that there appeared to be anyone around to see her.
Hopefully, it stayed that way until she managed to flag down a taxi.
Her luck held when she reached the busy road. Fifty metres away to the left was a set of traffic lights, and right in front was a taxi with its rooftop light illuminated.
Thank God.
Raising her arm, she stood on the curb and flagged the cab. The headlights flashed and the indicator light blinked out. For a split second, she thought the driver was fobbing her off, but when the traffic lights changed, the taxi headed in her direction and pulled to the curb beside her. With a sigh, Kitty opened the back door and climbed in.
The driver didn’t blink or look down on her or even look at her. “Where to?”
Her shoulders relaxed and the churning in her stomach slowed. “Silver Street, Marrickville, please.”
Kitty was relieved when he didn’t strike up a conversation as the cab pulled out into traffic. She was more relieved when she realised she was only about thirty minutes from home. Hopefully early morning traffic wasn’t heavy and she’d be home, in the safety of her room, before Ethan or Finn noticed she was gone.
Ethan rolled over and landed on a hard, warm body.
“What the fuck?” Finn shoved him off.
“Shit.” He bolted upright, his head swivelling on his shoulders, his eyes scanning the room. Ethan saw the emptiness immediately. “Fuck!”
Kelly had run.
“What?” Finn sat up, his gaze following Ethan’s. “Ah, shit.”
They scrambled out of bed and ran from the room. Ethan headed one way while Finn went the other. When they met up in the kitchen, it was obvious Kelly was no longer in the house.
“Fuck.” Finn dragged a hand down his face.
“It’ll be okay.” Ethan wouldn’t let himself think anything else. “We’ll get dressed and go find her.”
Finn looked at him but Ethan couldn’t hold his gaze. If he did, he’d lose it, and that wasn’t an option. Not if he wanted to get Kelly back
He spun on his heel and headed towards his room. “Five minutes to shower and dress or I leave without you.”
Ethan didn’t wait for Finn to answer. He tried not to think about the fact that Kelly had left them. Or that neither of them had woken when she’d crawled out from between them. That had never happened before. Then again, they’d never let a woman sleep in bed between them before. Their usual MO was to fuck them until they’d had enough and then ship them out.
Day or night.
In fact, Ethan couldn’t remember sleeping with a woman since he was a naïve teenager and didn’t know any better.
Kelly was different on so many levels and she didn’t have a clue.
Because they hadn’t told her.
That changed today.
Today—once he got his hands on her—she’d know everything in his heart and mind. Every little detail of the future he could see for them.
Ethan grabbed his phone and dialled Kelly’s number. No answer. He left a message to call him back and then rushed through a quick shower, virtually ran under the spray and out again, threw on a T-shirt and jeans—sans underwear—and shoved his feet into flip-flops.
Finn met him at the garage door. “Your car or mine?”
Ethan scoffed. “Mine.”
“Fine.”
They climbed in and Ethan had his Audi reversing out of the driveway in under a minute. He poked at the nav system until he pulled up the programed address book and Kelly’s home address.
“Since when is Kitty’s address in your sat-nav?” Finn asked.
“Since she’s our employee and I’ve picked her up and dropped her off a few times.” He glanced at his friend before returning his eyes to the road. “You know that, so what’s really going on?”
Finn slapped the dashboard with his palm. “Fuck.”
“Yeah, we’ve done that. Now we’ve got to convince her we want everything else.”
“Sorry. It just burns my arse that she slipped out and neither of us noticed.”
From the corner of his eye, Ethan saw Finn fist his hand. “Don’t you dare punch my car.”
Tension radiated off Finn and did nothing to ease the tight knot cramping Ethan’s gut. Angry and frustrated, Ethan figured his best friend was feeling the same and cursed under his breath. They needed to take it down a notch or they’d really scare Kelly into running. He reached over and cranked up the air-con. A slap of cold air might not be any relief, but it might snap them out of the anxiety rolling around the car.
“Jesus. What are you trying to do? Freeze me to death?” Finn growled while reaching to turn the system back to normal.
“Nope. Just cooling your jets a little.”
Finn laughed. “Not going to happen.”
Ethan shrugged. “Worth a shot.”
They didn’t say anything else and Ethan concentrated on getting them to Kelly’s house without getting a speeding ticket.
Due to traffic, the thirty-minute trip took forty-five and felt like an eternity. He pulled up at the curb and shut off the engine. Neither of them got out. Ethan knew his reluctance was due to fear of Kelly rejecting all he planned to offer and he figured the same apprehension consumed Finn. But they couldn’t stay here and wait for her to find them. If they wanted this they had to go after it. They had to prove they were willing to fight for her.
“We have to think the same way we did when we started the business. It’s ours for the taking. We just have to make it happen.” He turned to Finn. “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
Ethan opened his door and climbed out. All the while he kept his eyes on the house, hoping Kelly would come through the front door with a smile on her face. Shaking his head, he skirted his car and met Finn on the footpath. “Let’s do this.”
As a united front, they made their way to Kelly’s door. Ethan rang the bell and they waited. He took a half step back when a small older woman answered.
“Hello?” She smiled up at them. “Can I help you?”
“Um, yes, we’re looking for Kelly,” Ethan said.
“Kelly?” The woman’s brow furrowed and a frown tipped the corners of her mouth. “You mean Kitty? No one calls her Kelly.”
“Yes, Kitty. Is she home?” Finn asked.
“Oh, she doesn’t live here.”
Cold washed over Ethan from head to toe. “Doesn’t live here?” When had she moved?
“No, Kitty and Jilly live in the other half of the house.” She leaned out of the doorway and pointed to the left. “Go round the side. You’ll find the door there.”
Ethan glanced that way. “Okay. Thanks.”
“But she’s not home.”
He turned back to the old woman. “Not home?”
“No. I heard her come in earlier and leave almost straight away. But Jilly is there. She might know where her sister is.”
With that, the woman shut the door in the faces.
“Well. That was…interesting,” Finn murmured.
“C’mon.” Ethan led the way around the house, but they didn’t even make it to the door before a woman who could only be Kelly’s sister met them.
“She’s not here, and no, I don’t know where she’s gone.” Her gaze raked them one at a time. She sighed. “And for the life of me I have no idea why she went.”
“She’s not answering her phone,” Ethan said.
The woman looked at him. “Well, she isn’t going to if she doesn’t want to be found, now is she?” she said with a tone that implied any idiot would know that. Instead of taking offense, Ethan accepted her less than subtle insult.
“Can you at least tell us she’s okay?” Finn asked.
Laughter bubbled up out of the woman’s glossy lips. “If it were me you two were looking for I’d say yes, but we’re talking about Kitty, and she hasn’t known what to do with the opposite sex a day in her life.”
“Hey!” Ethan took a step forward.
“No, wait. She’s my sister. I love her but she’s never done very well in the boy-girl game and you two are a little more game than most.”
Heat filled Ethan’s face. Christ. He was blushing? “Ah…”
“I don’t know details, but I get the gist of what went down, and my only advice is to give her some time.”
“It’s not like we have a choice,” Finn muttered.
Kelly’s sister smiled, and for the first time Ethan thought she might prove to be an ally in their battle to win Kelly’s heart. “Look…Jilly?”
“I prefer Jillian. Only my mother still calls me Jilly.” Her eyes darted to the window a few feet behind them. “We should take this conversation away from the house.”
She walked around them and out onto the street, leaving them no choice but to follow. It seemed today would be full of things he had no control over. Ethan was man enough to admit he didn’t like it.
Not. One. Bit.
Finn could see the anger and frustration rising in Ethan and knew if he didn’t defuse his friend in the next few minutes, this poor woman would bear the brunt of the coming explosion.
“Jillian. Is there any way you could giv
e us a hint of where we might find Kitty?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Nope. She didn’t tell me. Probably because she knew the second I saw you two I’d spill the beans.”
“Is there somewhere she goes often? A favourite café or restaurant? A park?” Ethan asked.
“No. She works or she’s at home. Last night was the first time she’s gone out in months.” Jillian grinned. “I was rather proud of her when she came trudging in just after seven this morning.”
Shit. They’d slept at least another hour after Kitty had snuck out. “If she contacts you or comes home can you let her know we’re worried about her and just want to talk?”
“Sure. Don’t know what good it’ll do though. She might be the quiet mouse, but Kitty has always known her own mind, and once it’s made up there ain’t no changing it.”
Not something Finn wanted to hear. He glanced at Ethan. “Helpful or not, we’d appreciate it.”
“Yes. We would.” Ethan turned towards the car, but Jillian spoke again before he took a step.
“For what it’s worth, I think she’s freaked out over what she’s discovered about herself not you two.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Finn asked.
Jillian smiled, and he was instantly reminded of Kitty’s mouth and all the X-rated things she could do with it. Shaking those lusty thoughts from his head, he took another look at her sister. The two were very much alike. He figured Jillian was a year or two older, tops.
“Whatever the hell the three of you did, she liked it. A lot. That’s what sent her running.”
A horn blasted behind him and he glanced over his shoulder to see a BMW pull up to the curb.
“Gotta go.” She strode away as though their lives weren’t hanging in the air ready to crash to the ground and shatter into a million pieces at any moment.
Finn watched the woman get in the waiting car. He wasn’t sure what to make of her comment. Did she mean once Kitty accepted her reaction to them she’d come back?