by Calista Fox
There were inherent risks to the situation, no lie there. But his dick had exploded like nothing he’d experienced with any other woman. That was the sane thing to latch on to. Not all the messy emotional stuff.
For now.
Vin appeared ready to throttle Rogen for roping him into the trip, but he said, “I’ll clear my schedule.”
Rogen saw the e-mail from Cameron come through and he opened the itinerary. Scanned it. “Interesting combo—we’ll bring tuxedos and shorts.”
“Perfect,” Jewel said. “I’ll see you both tomorrow at one.” The line went dead.
Vin ground his teeth for a moment, then asked, “What are you planning on telling your father about this impromptu scavenger hunt?”
Rogen flashed a grin. “That we’re going deep-sea fishing. Cabo’s our first stop.” He hit print and handed a copy to Vin. “I haven’t seen Jewel in a bikini since we were sixteen. Now that she’s all shapely and womanly…” He sucked in a breath. “I guess you ought to bring a full box of condoms.”
Vin’s jaw worked. “This really isn’t the best approach when it comes to her. We should discuss this.”
Rogen rounded his desk and clasped his best friend on the shoulder. “I agree. And we will. But first, let’s go get the scotch and set this deal in motion. Then we’ll figure out where everything stands.”
Vin eyed him curiously. Perhaps suspiciously? “You think she’s going to choose, don’t you?”
“I’m not exactly sure what’s currently on her mind. And I’m not saying that I want her to choose.”
They stared at each other.
Rogen added, “Though it’s likely the only viable solution. I mean, could she really handle having both of us in her life—in the way we want her?”
Vin scowled. “It would be a bit unorthodox. Neither of us knows her well enough in her adulthood to say whether or not she’s cool with an unconventional relationship, now do we?”
“No, we do not. So maybe we can try to figure it out. By the way…” The corner of his mouth hitched again. “Guarantee I’ll garner her sympathy during this trip, what with the split lip and all.”
“Bastard,” Vin said on a low chuckle. “You are just too much of a scoundrel for your own good.”
“Look,” Rogen told him, turning serious. “I don’t know what the fuck is going to happen with the three of us tomorrow or Tuesday or ten years from now. All I know is that we’ve both waited a long time to get back together with Jewel and she wants us both. Is it sensible for the two of us to get so deeply involved with the same woman? Hell, no. But has it been happening our entire lives with Jewel? Yes. So. Just … chill for the time being and let’s see where this takes us.”
“Not exactly wise counsel,” Vin warned.
“We’ve survived a lifetime friendship being in love with Jewel. We can survive this.”
Hopefully.
Vin didn’t seem to buy that sentiment, either, if his scowl was any indication.
“It is what it is for now,” Rogen offered. “Let’s go pack. I’ll meet you at the hangar.”
* * *
Jewel was a nervous wreck.
What had possessed her to invite Rogen and Vin along on her journey to secure the scotch? For the love of God! The three of them in a Gulfstream airplane, in such close proximity to one another for four days? How was she going to keep her hands off them?
And the nights … Sure, Cameron had booked accommodations to lodge the trio. Condos and suites with three rooms each. Could Jewel stay in her own room? Would the guys?
Flashes of The Secret of My Success with Michael J. Fox creeping through hallways during a weekend work retreat, trying to find his girlfriend, who had a boyfriend, who had a wife—and all of them secretly slipping in and out of beds to try to find their desired partners—made her cringe.
Not that Jewel needed to slip in and out of beds to find her desired partner. She knew exactly who she wanted.
Rogen.
Vin.
Together again.
She sighed. Left her office and took a limo to River Cross. She boarded the plane an hour before the guys were scheduled to arrive and settled in with her laptop, trying to concentrate on business. Everything for this trip was in order, but she had two other deals on her plate. So she sent e-mails and reviewed spreadsheets. In the back of her brain, however, thoughts of her two lovers simmered.
Her stomach flipped when visions of the previous evening invaded her mind. Both men naked and so, so hot. Hard. Wanting her.
And Jewel wondering if they’d only just scratched the surface.
She snapped the lid of her laptop closed. Pulled in some deep breaths.
She’d actually been relieved when they’d told her they had an early Board meeting in River Cross the night they’d all gotten together. They’d seemed to know that she needed time alone to process. And to sleep. Lord, they’d worn her out.
But in a really, really good way.
However, the morning after, as she’d stood under the hot spray of water in her shower, Jewel had encountered a serious bout of guilt. For coaxing the men to yield to her whim. It had stayed with her.
Then she’d realized that there truly was no coaxing either of them. Rogen and Vin were strong of mind and will as much as of body. They’d caved, yes. But because they’d both wanted her.
So that wasn’t really what her guilt was about. It’d been festering, and now she considered that a part of it was due to not being able to choose between them. To adding to their internal strife in order to assuage some of hers.
It was selfish to want two men at the same time. Like, at the exact same time.
She tried to placate herself by contending that plenty of women filled their social calendars with more than one man during a given time period. Men did it as well. Nothing new there. Nothing to obsess over. Right?
Besides, Jewel hadn’t established mutual exclusivity with Rogen after they’d made love at his house. Nor had she and Vin made any sort of commitment after Bristol’s.
So what really gnawed at her had to be the emotional aspect of the threesome. The fact that she knew Rogen and Vin had had deep-seated feelings for her long ago, and clearly still held tight to them. And Jewel had intense feelings for them as well. Hence the reason she’d never be able to choose between them.
So then … how would that work in the grand scheme of things? If she couldn’t choose, then should they all just walk away?
Now her stomach churned.
To walk away again …
She closed her eyes. Rested the back of her head against her seat. Tried to find a little inner peace.
She’d existed for ten years without either man being a major force, a major presence, in her life. She’d excelled at SFSU because it had been her sole focus. Ditto with Catalano Enterprises.
In the end, that had left her satisfied professionally. She loved her work, loved when she could execute transactions that made her father proud and contributed to the family legacy.
But personally? Emotionally? Sexually?
Jewel couldn’t lie and say she’d had any sort of romantic fulfillment in the past decade. Including visiting Rogen in Italy that one time seven years ago. Another fleeting weekend that had left her feeling as though they were on varying planes. Again, the different trajectories of their lives that just didn’t match up.
And Vin? Well. That was an excruciating scenario unto itself. To now know that he’d learned of her trip to Trinity. For him to have not realized—all this time—that she’d gone to speak to Rogen about them and that she and Rogen had not made love, had not gotten back together.
Was there any way under the sun to make that up to Vin?
The prom stand-up, his disappearance … none of that mattered to Jewel anymore. He’d had every right to blow her off. For his own sake. She could validate and accept that now.
What Jewel couldn’t accept was that Vin hadn’t confronted her. Hadn’t asked her about her intentions. H
e’d just left.
And that was something else Jewel had to contemplate. When Vin was done with her this time around … could he simply leave her again?
Whether it was completely effortless or not for him to do it—could he? Would he?
“Fuck,” she mumbled. She might as well have swallowed a box of rocks for the dead weight in her stomach.
She certainly hadn’t made things easier for any of them.
But holy hell. Had it been an incredible night!
She pressed her thighs together as the tingling of her clit made her restless. Breathless. It’d been amazing to have both of them touch her, kiss her, make her come.
So, yeah … She wanted more.
Which made the guilt return.
A vicious cycle. But one she didn’t have time to deliberate over further because there was activity in the hangar, which she heard through the opened jet door.
She jerked alert just as Vin ascended the steps and entered the cabin. She stood and moved into the aisle. Greeted him with a hug.
He held her tightly, the way he had in her kitchen. When she’d cried on his shoulder for all that they’d been through. The wounds they’d both inflicted.
“Damn, you always feel so good,” he murmured.
Heat flowed through her veins. She threaded her fingers in his lush hair and said against his neck, “I like your arms around me.”
Not helping matters.
She couldn’t seem to contain her response to Vin. She knew his torment now. And suffered right along with him.
His embrace tightened. Jewel sighed contentedly.
But then, over Vin’s broad shoulder, she saw Rogen enter the plane. She gasped.
“Aw, fuck,” Vin grumbled, instantly releasing her. He shook his head and dropped his laptop bag into a single seat on one side of the aisle and plopped into another seat arranged in a foursome facing each other.
Jewel stared at Rogen’s split and swollen lip, his slightly bruised chin.
Her heart wrenched.
“Rogen.” She lifted her hand but didn’t dare touch him.
Rogen shot a look toward Vin. “Isn’t that sweet?” he ribbed, as Vin had done when Jewel had called the day before. “She’s worried about me. Thanks for the punch, pal.”
Jewel whirled around and glared at Vin. “You did this to him?”
With a noncommittal shrug, Vin said, “He’ll survive, baby.”
Her jaw slacked.
Rogen snickered.
Recovering quickly, she asked Vin, “Are we in junior high again?”
“Oh, right,” Vin said with a nod, a glint in his emerald eyes. “Rogen laid me flat for…” His gaze flashed to Rogen. “For what, exactly?”
“For telling Mrs. Peterson in English class that I used CliffsNotes when I wrote my paper on Hamlet, because I hadn’t read the book.”
“Yes, now I remember.” Vin smirked. “I had to give you up on that one, man. Everyone should read Hamlet.”
“And War and Peace?” Jewel tossed in, pinning Vin with a look.
He grinned. A knowing smile that told her he instantly recalled the first time they’d realized they were hot for each other—and had done something about it.
“I offered to lend you my copy,” he told her.
She gave a slight shake of her head. “It’s, like, a million pages long. I didn’t have the attention span back then.”
“Because you were trying to help Bay and Jonathan pick out the proper condoms.”
“Whoa,” Rogen interjected. “Bay and Jonathan Higgins? Not a fucking chance in hell.”
Jewel turned to him. “’Fraid so. Until that night they planned to have sex. Blew up in their faces when their parents showed up at their hotel room. I told Jonathan not to leave any trails. But he used his dad’s credit card, for God’s sake. Pre-paid, no less, so it was already on the statement before they’d even made it into the lobby.”
“Fuck.” Rogen laughed. “Jonathan never was too bright. Too many concussions on the football field, I always suspected.” He took a seat by the window.
Jewel sat next to him. The flight attendant, Melinda, emerged from the galley and Jewel requested an ice pack for Rogen’s lip.
Vin scowled at her doting. Said, “I thought it was to the victor that went the spoils.”
“Not when it’s a sucker punch, asshole,” Rogen told him.
“You two aren’t seriously going to fight over me, are you?” Jewel asked, consternation brewing. Then she added, “Wait. What did you fight over?”
“You,” they both said in unison.
She grimaced.
In a serious tone, Vin said, “Rogen never should have told you about Holly.”
She mulled this over, the consternation becoming a bit of a cyclone in the pit of her stomach. She dared to ask, “You both regret our night together?”
Vin shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Rogen heaved a breath.
Neither spoke as Melinda returned with the ice pack, which Jewel delicately applied to Rogen’s lip.
The attendant said, “Welcome onboard, Mr. Angelini and Mr. D’Angelo. I’m Melinda. If there’s anything you need, please don’t hesitate to ask. We have catered food and a fully stocked bar. I habitat in the galley.” Her tone was a bit flirty at her little quip, but then she turned professional again. “It doubles as an operations center. We have two laptops set up with Internet service, a laser printer, scanner, and high-speed copier. Everything is connected via satellite, so we rarely ever have any interruptions, downtime, or cycling.”
“Good to know,” Vin said with a nod.
Melinda smiled prettily at him and asked, “May I bring you something to drink, Mr. D’Angelo?”
“Pellegrino will be fine,” he said. “Lime twist.”
Her attention shifted to Jewel’s other guest. “And for you, Mr. Angelini?”
“The same.”
“For me as well,” Jewel chimed in. “But skip the lime in Mr. Angelini’s drink.” She eyed his lip. “Citrus would hurt like hell.”
“Good point.” He grinned warmly at her. “Thanks for taking such good care of me.”
Vin swore under his breath. Then said to Melinda, “Make mine a scotch. Neat.”
“Of course.” The attendant gave him another beguiling smile. She obviously took a liking to him.
Not a big surprise.
“Better make it a double,” Vin added as an apparent afterthought.
“I’ll be right back.” Melinda left them.
Jewel was still leaning over Rogen, holding the pack to his lip. She glanced at Vin and said, “If you’ll recall, I held a package of frozen peas to your shiner over the Hamlet debacle.”
“That was before we’d slept together,” Vin said in a slightly cantankerous tone. “Before you and Rogen had slept together, too.”
“So me playing nursemaid has a different connotation now?” she challenged.
Vin grinned. “You never back down.”
“Are you waiting for me to do just that?”
It was a question issued in jest yet it held quite a bit of meaning.
Vin appeared to give her inquiry the consideration it was due while Melinda served drinks and then returned to the galley.
Rogen sipped his sparkling water, then set the glass in the gold-plated holder in the arm of his chair. He said, “Vin had a point about Holly. I shouldn’t have brought her up.”
Jewel’s gaze shifted to Rogen. “So you really do regret what happened, like Vin does?”
“Not a chance in hell. It was sensational.” He reached toward her and his fingertips grazed her cheek. “I just regret that nothing is ever cut-and-dried with the three of us.”
She frowned. “Well, there is that.”
Rogen gently pulled her hand away from his mouth. Took the ice pack from her. “Better buckle up for takeoff, sweetheart.”
She settled in her seat. Sipped her sparkling water. Stared at Vin.
Jewel didn’t miss the mix of emo
tions playing across his devilishly handsome face. He wasn’t feeling as glib as he was trying to project. She understood that about him. Vin had always been a bit sarcastic, sure. But after his parents’ plane crash, he’d developed an edgier, rawer side. And Jewel had been fiercely attracted to it. Still was.
For better or for worse.
THIRTEEN
Vin was glad he’d requested the scotch. He needed something to help dull the razor-sharp vibes he knew he exuded. Jewel sitting across from him in her tight black skirt with a hem so short she showed the majority of her long, bare legs made him hot and bothered. As did the silver satin blouse that was unbuttoned just enough for him to catch a glimpse of the scalloped trim of her black lace bra when she bent forward.
Conversely, the confused and somewhat remorseful look on her beautiful face made his gut pull tight.
She thought he and Rogen regretted sharing her when they’d been at her house. Vin couldn’t ascertain whether or not it was true, even for himself. It’d been exciting. They’d all gotten caught up in erotic sensations.
And the truth was, Vin had gotten over Rogen touching her and kissing her when Jewel had started moaning. When she’d started to burn for them both.
Vin had wanted to give her whatever she needed—and he’d wanted Rogen to do the same.
But what Rogen had mentioned in his office, about whether Jewel could accept them both in her life, as her lovers, created enough conflict to keep Vin on edge.
The sensible thing would be to have Jewel choose between them. But the more provocative and thrilling notion was to continue to share her. They were good at it. She’d obviously enjoyed herself. And well, hell. He and Rogen were nuts about her, so it wasn’t at all far-fetched.
Except for that whole unorthodox concern.
Admittedly, a committed ménage would keep them all out of dating hell. She wouldn’t have to make time for Vin. Then make time for Rogen. In this scenario, both men would know the other was sleeping with her. It’d all be out in the open, as she’d suggested.
Vin wouldn’t be wondering about what went on behind closed doors with Rogen. And vice versa. If they were all together, then they’d all be involved.
He gulped down a healthy amount of scotch as he contemplated this further. Since law school, it was in his nature to chew over complex situations and determine the correct course of action—before he took that action.