by Mika Lane
“Because,” he explained, “if I have to suffer by going to work at normal hours in the morning, then so should my best friend. Take it as a compliment!”
“I don’t see it as a compliment…”
“So. Which ones have you gone out with? And most importantly, which one has the biggest dick?”
“Oh, Matty. You’re such a jerk.” I pushed myself up in bed, my room still fairly dark thanks to the blackout shades I’d thought to close. I took a sip from the glass of water on my nightstand.
“Well?” he asked.
“Calm down. So, I’ve been out with three of them. Apparently there is a fourth.”
“So…” he prodded.
“So far, there’ve been Nat, Linc, and Win.”
“Ohmygod. Hot names—“
“Matty, are you gonna let me talk?”
Silence.
“Nat took me out on a sailboat that we spent the night on. He’s smart…and funny. And a great lover, I might add.” I could practically hear Matty biting his tongue, trying not to interrupt. He eventually would, though. He always did. “Then, there was Linc, who owns a gym. Super buff. We played right there in his office, overlooking the basketball court. Last night was Win, the groundskeeper at Grandpa’s property. We messed around in the alley next to the Zeitgeist bar and oh my god, was he amazing.”
He waited a minute to make sure I was through talking.
“You. Little. Slutbag. I love it! You’re finally becoming the wild woman I always knew you would,” he said.
“You mean I’m becoming like you, don’t you? Well, I’m not. I’m testing these guys out to see which I might be able to get married to.”
“Yeah, yeah. Enjoy the ride, girl. Anyway, what do they say when you tell them you might inherit millions?” he asked.
“I’m not telling them that. Are you crazy? First, I have to find out whether they like me for me.”
“Right. Makes sense. So when are you gonna choose?”
“I don’t know. I have one more guy to go out with.”
“Wow. When it rains it pours. Girl, you’re about to have men and money. I think I hate you.”
“Well, don’t hate me yet. Because as of now, I have neither.”
But god, I hoped that would change.
Chapter 16
Ambrose “Brose”
Win must have talked me up because Garnet seemed happy to hear from me when I’d called. Christ, he was a good friend, always doing me a solid. A lot of people would think it was crazy to do what we do. Hell, it pretty much was crazy. But sharing a woman worked for us, and when we found the right one, it worked for her just as well. He was busy with Cordy’s property, and I was working insane hours at the restaurant, so neither of us had what it took to be a full-time boyfriend. Between the two of us, we managed to make our women pretty damn happy. At least, that’s what they’d tell us.
So when Garnet agreed to go out with me, I felt like I’d won the lottery. She was smoking hot with those long curls and big, curvy butt. Yeah, I know most brothers like a big old ass on our women, but I didn’t like anything too extreme. Maybe it was from growing up around so many white people. I did like a substantial ass—but that didn’t mean one that went on for miles.
Not that there was anything wrong with that.
So when Garnet walked into North by Northwest wearing a swingy little skirt, my cock sprang into action. I had a vision of walking down the street behind her with just enough wind blowing up the back of her skirt, leaving me a delicious little view of her ass cheeks. Of course, framed by a pretty lace thong of some sort. God, I loved a woman’s ass in a thong.
But I was getting ahead of myself.
I’d grabbed a seat at the restaurant’s bar for a quick drink before she joined me. The place was pretty much closed for the night, with just a couple tables left to finish coffee and pay the bill. We didn’t like to rush people out—it was a shitty way to treat folks who’d just dropped a boatload of money. Plus, it gave the head chef and me the chance to come out, say hello, and thank them for coming by. That was one of the most important roles of being a chef, welcoming diners. It made them feel real special.
“Brose, hi!” She was all smiles. I loved that.
“Well, look at you,” I said, trying not to drool. I didn’t want to be that sort of guy. At least not yet.
“You don’t look too bad yourself with those cool duds you’ve got there,” she said.
I looked over my chef’s jacket. “I managed to keep myself pretty clean today. No major spillage.”
“Well done.”
She was eyeing the bar, probably comparing it to the place where she worked. “Can I get you a drink?” I asked her.
“Oh, that’d be great. I bet you guys have the good stuff here. Unlike Drive By.”
“Hey, there’s a time for everything. Sometimes a fancy place like this is called for, and sometimes a down-home place like Drive By is just what the doctor ordered.”
I called the bartender over to get Garnet something bubbly and pink, and I got a refill on my Jamesons. Garnet turned to face me on her barstool and held up her glass as a toast. She also gave me a peek at her long, long legs, which ended in those little high-heeled boots all the girls were wearing.
“Here’s to making new friends,” she said with that crooked little smile that just about killed me.
“Cheers to that, goddammit,” I said. Christ, I wanted to kiss her. Down boy…
“So Brose, how long have you been here as sous chef?” She looked truly interested, unlike some women I dated who just wanted to know if I was making bank yet.
I took a swig on my whiskey. “Four years. Started as a line cook and moved up pretty quickly. The head chef yells a lot, but that means he likes you.” I laughed, shaking my head. The restaurant world was a funny one, no doubt about it.
“Are you hoping to be head chef some day?” she asked.
“Not sure. My real dream is to open my own place. But that takes a boatload of money. And time. And business skills that I don’t have.”
“There’s always something in the way of the dream, huh? Did you always want to cook?” she asked.
As she was looking around, checking out the restaurant, I was able to stare at her without being a creep. She wore some sort of crisscross sleeveless top that showed just enough cleavage and also showed off her silky skin. I followed her arms down to her fingers, which were long, thin, and delicate. Hard to believe she shilled cheap beer all day long.
“Hell, yes. Ever since I could reach the stove I’ve been cooking. My mom taught me a lot about the southern dishes she was raised with. When I get the chance to develop a recipe, I take what I learned from her as a starting point and kind of update it with today’s trends.”
Her eyes widened. “Are you gonna cook for me tonight?” she asked.
“Heck yeah. The last of the diners are just about gone, and Chef said I could have the run of the place. I picked up some groceries. I gotta be honest with you, however.”
Trepidation washed over her face. “What?”
“I’m putting you to work. You’ll be my assistant.”
She threw her head back and laughed. “Fair enough! Let’s go.”
I unpacked the steelhead trout I’d picked up from the fishmonger and got Garnet to work chopping vegetables. I had to see if she was competent in the kitchen. I didn’t mind teaching, but if she had no interest in fine cuisine, that would be a problem for me. Just like Win would expect whatever woman he was dating to have some affinity with the great outdoors. She didn’t have to hike the Himalayas, but if she couldn’t get her hands dirty with a bit of gardening, all bets were off.
To my delight, she sliced and chopped like an old hand.
“Hey, you’re doing great there,” I told her.
“Actually,” she said, looking at me with a smile, “I love to cook. It’s such a treat to be in a giant kitchen like this with room to spread out and all the tools you need.”
I knew exactl
y what she meant. “Agreed. I feel like a kid in a candy shop in this kitchen. The possibilities are endless.” That’s why I loved cooking. I never ran out of ideas.
And I also had some ideas about what to do with my own little sous chef.
I bent across the prep table where Garnet was hard at work and reached her with my lips. To my delight, she stopped what she was doing and tilted her face toward mine.
As soon as our lips touched, an electric jolt shot through me, leaving my toes on fire with tingling. I had to stamp my feet to make sure they were still there, all the while keeping my connection with some of the most delicious lips I’d ever tasted.
“Mmmm,” she murmured.
I pulled back and licked my lips. I had to leave her wanting more.
She boldly gave me her crooked smile, as if she’d been anticipating my affection. That was good, though. It meant she was open to me.
Win had told me he’d a great date with her—that she was smart, ambitious, and sexy as hell. He also told me she hadn’t balked at the idea of us sharing her. I planned for my time with her to seal the deal.
I walked around to the side of the table where she was prepping and stood behind her, one arm on either side. She was effectively trapped between me and her work, her delicious ass pressed against my growing erection. With a tilted head, she gave me her neck, which was soft as an angel and smelled even better.
I dragged my lips over her heated skin as she put down her knife and the vegetables to press harder against me. It was all I could do not to shoot in my pants.
Chapter 17
Garnet
Good lord, Brose was one beautiful man with his smooth brown skin, shaved head, and curly eyelashes. And when he ran his lips up my neck, I had to put down the vegetables I was chopping. I didn’t need a knife in my hand when I might possibly pass out.
I leaned onto the stainless table where I’d been working, and he pressed a huge cock against the crack of my butt. His hands moved from the table where he’d wedged me and began to stroke my bare arms. My skin pricked into immediate goosebumps, and I could feel the throb building between my legs.
His fingers reached between mine, and he gripped them in a gentle embrace, rubbing his erection into me. I could hear his breath quicken and knew he was as turned on as I was.
My head dropped back. He showered the side of my face with light kisses until I turned enough that our lips could meet again. Eventually, I was fully facing him, still pressed against the prep table, but this time, with his hard-on grinding into my tummy.
He put his hands on either side of my face, and his gaze drilled into mine.
“Beautiful, just beautiful.”
A heated blush blasted over my face, and I knew my pink face was giving away my feelings like it often did. Every girl loved a compliment, but why did it always feel so damn embarrassing?
Maybe because I felt like I didn’t deserve it? Anyway, this was not the time to try to make sense of my insecurities.
Brose continued studying my face. “Win told you about our um, particular appetites?”
Ah-ha. I had been waiting for that.
“Yes. Yes, he did.” I nodded slowly. I was still trying to figure out what it all meant, but I had to admit, I was intrigued as hell. Of course, I’m not sure it moved me closer to my mission of finding a husband in what was now two weeks’ time, but at least I had options.
Brose fisted my hair to bring me to him and ground his lips down on mine, fierce and primal, like a man starving for oxygen. I draped my hands around the back of his neck and let myself melt into him, running my fingers over his smooth, bald head, playing with the thick hoop rings dangling from each ear.
His hands wandered down my back, where he pulled me away from the table just enough to reach under my skirt for a fistful of ass in each hand. His huge mitts felt like fire on my sensitive skin, even more so when he kneaded so hard I nearly cried out. Thank god for the table behind me.
Before I knew it, he’d propped me up on it, the stainless steel icy against my skin and just as shocking as his heated hands had been. He lifted my butt enough to yank off my thong, leaving my sex against the cold table. I rocked back and forth on the backs of my thighs to keep myself from sticking.
His fingers found my wet opening and slowly entered until they were buried to the knuckle. He made that come here gesture, putting the perfect pressure on my G-spot. My breathing began to come hard, and my moans echoed, filling the empty kitchen.
Grabbing his arm, I helped him piston my pussy faster and harder, gasping for air as he brought me to my edge. From my position seated on the edge of the table, I drew my knees up and placed my feet on the shelf below for leverage. Brose was finger-banging me so hard that if I didn’t find a way to hold on, I might have shot across the room.
“Fuck me,” I mumbled, unable to form anything more coherent. “Please, Brose, give it to me…”
As my moans turned to screams, he opened his jeans and freed one of the most beautiful cocks I’d ever seen, long and smooth and brown. While he worked me through my orgasm, he stroked himself to his own, spurting beautifully against the top of my thigh.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he mumbled, leaning his forehead to mine. His breath was hot and minty on me, and my mouth sought his as we both calmed after coming so powerfully.
* * *
We finished the dishes after the incredible meal he cooked and we walked outside, hand in hand. While he locked up the doors to North by Northwest, I spotted a homeless man tucked into a doorway, watching the passersby.
“C’mon,” I said to Brose. We darted through the late-night traffic toward the other side of the street.
“Here you go,” I said to the homeless guy, handing him the leftovers Brose had let me take home.
The man looked up, first at me, then Brose. Slowly, he extended his hand to accept the food. He didn’t say anything while he opened the small box, and after he looked inside, he looked back up at us, still silent. That was all the thanks we were going to get, and that was all the thanks we needed.
What a night. And it still wasn’t over.
“That was really cool of you,” Brose said with a smile as we walked to his car.
I shrugged. “It’s not every day we can do something nice like that. It feels good, doesn’t it?”
“It does. It really does.”
He pulled up to my apartment less than ten minutes later and leaned across the front seat to kiss me.
“Are you coming in?” I asked.
He shook his head slowly. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’d rather not. I have to be back at the restaurant early to accept a delivery. But,” he said with a giant smile, “I will definitely take you up on that another time.”
Huh. I don’t think I’d ever had a guy turn down an invitation to my apartment. But then, I’d been doing a lot of things lately that I’d never done before.
“Win tells me you’d like to be a sommelier some day.”
“It’s true. I mean, it’s really just a pipe dream. But a girl can dream, can’t she?” I laughed.
“I could introduce you to the sommelier at our restaurant. You know, just for networking and learning. That sort of thing.”
My heart jumped at the thought. And god, he was gorgeous in the streetlight.
“Really? That would be incredible. I would love to talk to another sommelier.”
He leaned back on the headrest. “You know, if you play your cards right, and I open a restaurant some day, you might find yourself with the job of your dreams.”
This guy was definitely a keeper. Even if he didn’t want to marry me. Which he probably wouldn’t, considering he didn’t even want to spend the night with me. But hey, I’d take what I could get.
“Good night, beautiful,” he said with one last kiss.
“Good night, handsome.” I ran my hand over his head and tweaked his earring. “Next time, I’ll cook for you.”
“It’s a deal,” he said with a laug
h.
* * *
Since Matty had no qualms about waking me up early in the morning, I didn’t feel too badly about calling him late at night, even if I knew he’d already be asleep. After one ring, I could hear him fumbling with his phone, probably looking for the speaker button so he could leave it on the nightstand and just speak as loudly as he always did.
“What?” he whined.
“Hi. Hope you don’t mind—”
“Ugh. I do mind, but tell me what’s going on. Did you go out with the last guy?” He yawned loudly.
“I did. He was awesome. So sweet, good looking. And he cooked for me,” I said.
“And…” I knew what he wanted to know, but tormenting him was so much fun.
“Oh, you know. We messed around a little,” I teased.
“All right. Don’t tell me a goddamn thing. See if I care.” He went silent.
“Matty, what am I going to do? They’re all great, and I have to choose someone like, yesterday.”
“Well, which one do you like the best?” he asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Which one kisses the best?”
“I don’t know.”
“Which one has the biggest dick?”
I had to laugh at that one. So typical Matty. “I don’t know.”
He sighed in frustration. “How the hell can you not know? What are they, all perfect?”
“No, no, of course not. They’re not all perfect. But put together as a package, they are. They’re totally perfect when you take them as a whole. I mean, there’s nothing left to want.”
Oh boy. I was in trouble.
There was rustling in the background. He was sitting up in bed. That meant he was serious.
“Okay. This is what you have to do. You like them all. You have to choose one. Get the key to Grandpa’s house and ask them all to move in.”
Now that made me burst out laughing.
“Oh Matty, you are too funny. I need to find one dude to marry, and you suggest I live with all of them. Okayyyy…”
“Garnet, now listen to me. This is the solution to your problem. If any of them say no, then they’ve self-eliminated. If they say yes, they’re in the running. What do you have to lose, besides five million fucking dollars?”