by Jodi Redford
Dev appeared in the doorway. “Hey, what’s taking you—” Concern flashing across his face, he stepped inside the room. “What is it?”
Leo swallowed past the bitter misery in his throat. He couldn’t get the words out. He couldn’t even fucking breathe. Feeling like he was going to puke, he stared at her email. No matter how many times he read it the results were still the same.
She was walking away from them.
Tied up in his agony, he barely registered Dev’s sudden presence beside him. After a few minutes of heavy silence, he knew that his partner had noticed the email and finally understood the reason for Leo’s anguish.
How could everything go to shit in the blink of an eye? He couldn’t wrap his head around it. What the three of them shared went far beyond a science experiment. It even surpassed basic chemistry.
“Why would she do this?” Dev demanded, the pain in his voice evident.
The giant gaping hole in his heart refusing to mend, Leo dragged his hand down his face. “Because we fucking scared her off. That’s why.” He’d known something was bugging her last night, but he’d refrained from grilling her about the cause. Then this morning with her being sick, he’d figured that might have partially been the blame for her moodiness.
Damn it, they should have pushed her to open up to them. How was holding everything inside going to solve anything?
He shook his head, grim determination temporarily pushing his misery to the wayside. If she thought they were going to just stand by and calmly let her run from them without an adequate explanation she had another think coming.
He shoved up from his seat and met Dev’s gaze. “Way I see it we have one of two options. We sit here singing the blues. Or we go talk some sense into the woman we love.”
“I opt for number two.”
“Same here.”
Their wills banded in unity, they locked up the office and headed to Sidney’s. The drive was the longest tense-filled twenty minutes of Leo’s life. His pulse didn’t settle until he pulled into the main entrance of her condo community.
One way or another, they’d find a way to break past her fears—whatever they were—and convince her they were meant to be together. If she was uncomfortable because of the employee and boss situation they’d find a way around it. Hell, they’d make her a full partner. And not just in their business. In their lives too. Because bottom line, that’s where she belonged. For good.
***
The hard rap on the front door jerked Sidney awake. Adrenaline leaving her lightheaded and shaky, she burrowed under the afghan, her stomach queasy. She’d known they wouldn’t let the email pass without a confrontation, but the actual reality of them being on the other side of the door was something she couldn’t face yet.
She should have gone with her first instinct to camp out at her parents’ house the rest of the week. Yeah, it would have been a cowardly way out. And a temporary one at that. But it would have given her some time to recover from being a complete emotional wreck.
Another fierce pounding rattled the door. “Querida, we can stand out here all day doing this. Doubtful your neighbors will appreciate it though.”
They wouldn’t. Especially the crabby woman in the unit two doors down. No doubt that’s why Leo had chosen to forego the doorbell. The threat of a filed complaint from the condo association was a surefire way to get what he wanted.
Exhaling wearily, she left the warm comfort of the couch and trekked to the entry on wobbly legs. She closed her eyes and sucked in a fortifying breath, counting to ten. By fifteen, her nerves still weren’t cooperating and she was dangerously lightheaded again. Releasing her breath before she passed out, she slid the deadbolt free and opened the door.
Her tiny front alcove was even more diminutive than usual thanks to Leo and Dev’s overwhelming presence. She’d been right about being ill-prepared for facing them. Because they were—and always would be—the living, breathing embodiment of a future she desperately longed for and could never have.
She covered up her sniffle with a cough. Balling her fists at her sides, she steeled her spine. “I take it you got my email.”
Dev crossed his arms over his chest. “Yep. And your resignation is declined.”
“That isn’t your decision to make.”
Leo mimicked Dev’s posture. “We both decline it.”
She trembled inside, too heartsick to dredge up a glare at their maddening stubbornness. “That isn’t what I meant, and you know it.”
Leo stalked forward, forcing her to take a quick step back into the entry. Her body shaking—this time from his nearness—she held tight to the edge of the door. “Please, I just want you to leave.”
“Not until you give us one damn good reason for shutting us out like this.”
Her eyes stung with the promise of a new wave of tears. This was precisely the reason she’d needed time to get her shit together before having this conversation. Crying and getting emotional would only make things worse. “I can’t keep fooling myself that any of this is real. Don’t you understand that? It isn’t healthy.”
The fierceness slowly eased from Leo’s features. “Why would you think any part of this isn’t real?” He stroked his fingers along her cheek, his dark gaze searching hers. “Last night, when we made love, was that not real? Or how about yesterday morning in the lab? Was that a figment of your imagination?”
Her lip trembled. “That was all for the test trials.”
“Querida, we haven’t even given you the elixir for the last two days.”
She frowned, her foggy brain slowly chugging through the stockpile of her memories. Now that she thought about it, maybe they hadn’t used the Xtacy. An unpleasant thought occurred to her. She almost didn’t want to ask, but she had to know. “Is that why you’re here? Because you two didn’t get all the data you need?”
“Why the hell would you think that?” Leo’s big hands bracketed her face. “Sidney, the damn Xtacy program means nothing.”
“You both put over a year’s work into it. Obviously it means something.”
He blew out a frustrated breath. “The point I’m trying to make here is that this has nothing to do with the program or a damn science experiment. We need you. It’s as simple as that.”
His choice of words spiked her pulse, but for once it was her brain that delivered the much needed lecture on keeping her head out of the clouds. “You’ll find a replacement for me. I’m not the only secretary in the world, you know.”
He leaned back and studied her. The intensity of his inspection was making her uncomfortable, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away from his gaze. Finally he blinked as if a startling revelation had fallen over him. “You think that’s all you are to us.”
“What, your secretary?” She frowned. “What else could I possibly be?”
“Sidney, you’re everything. Even before you signed on for the Xtacy program, you were all I thought about. Every damn day I’d look for excuses for hanging around the reception area just so I could see your smile. And don’t even get me started on what gloomy mopes Dev and I tend to be when you’re not around.”
Dev nodded. “Joe and Margie actually draw straws on who has to deal with us when you’re on vacation. Apparently we’re not as fun as a barrel of monkeys.”
Her head buzzed as she tried to process their mind-bogging admissions. “W—what are you saying, exactly?”
Dev crowded in next to Leo and cupped her cheek. “That we love you, baby. And we’re damn well not letting you go.”
The noise in her brain increased to a dull roar. She stared into their eyes, the emotion swirling in the depths of their irises making her heart skip a beat. “Y—you love me?”
“Since the first day you walked through our doors, sweetheart.” The emotion she’d been too terrified to pin her hope on shone even brighter in Leo’s gaze.
A sob caught in her throat. “This can’t be real.” It couldn’t. Hearing those words come out of their mou
ths? Even in her wildest fantasies she’d never concocted something so crazy.
Leo slid his mouth over hers, his tongue slipping past her lips. She submitted to its wicked invasion with a whimpery moan. Her traitorous nipples tightened and her insides melted. He pulled back, his smile stealing the little breath she had left after his kiss. “Tell me that’s not real.”
Dev scooted Leo over and drew her into his arms. His lips stroked over hers in a tender caress before he rubbed her nose with his. He tipped her chin upward with his knuckle, forcing her to become lost in the warm glow in his eyes. “Or that.”
The tears broke from their dam again, dribbling down her face and likely making her look like a royal hot mess. But with the release of her emotions came a true freedom. She didn’t have to run anymore from the intensity of what she felt for Leo and Dev. Because they felt it too. Somewhere in this wild, insane time with them the fantasy had become...real.
They whisked the dampness from her cheeks and she gripped their wrists, her heart expanding with a joy she’d never thought possible. “I love you too.” Releasing the three words she’d kept locked inside for so long lifted the heaviness from her chest and she could breathe again. In that moment of clarity, it was all too obvious exactly how much the baggage of her past had been weighing her down.
And that was maybe the true fantasy she’d been living in all this time—the stupid fallacy that protecting her heart somehow made her invincible from hurt, when in fact it was the opposite.
Leo and Dev picked her up and took turns swinging her in their arms and kissing the living daylights out of her. Laughing like a fool, she cupped their dear faces, happiness spreading to encompass her entire being. This was her future. These two wonderful, amazing men who loved her. Loved her.
Who needed a fantasy when reality was so much sweeter?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
At the ripe age of seven, Jodi Redford penned her first epic, complete with stick-figure illustrations. Sadly, her drawing skills haven’t improved much, but her love of fantasy worlds never went away. These days she writes about fairies, ghosts and other supernatural creatures, only with considerably more heat.
She has won numerous contests, including The Golden Pen and Launching a Star.
When not writing or working the day job, she enjoys gardening and way too many reality-television shows.
She loves to hear from readers. You can email her at [email protected] and visit her online at www.jodiredford.com, www.jodiredford.blogspot.com, and http://www.lustwithalaugh.com .
Jodi is also on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/jodi.redford.3
and Twitter https://twitter.com/jodiredford
Other books by Jodi Redford
Now Available:
Sweet Sizzle
Naughty Girls Do
Taking Liberty
Light My Fire
Vanessa Unveiled
The Naughty List
Cat Scratch Fever
Breaking Bad
Checking it Twice
That Old Black Magic
That Voodoo You Do
The Seven Year Witch
Maximum Witch
Getting Familiar with Your Demon
Thieves of Aurion
Lover Enslaved
Lover Enraptured
Coming Soon:
Bad Boys Do It Better
Kissin’ Hell
Triple Knockout
Naughty Girls Do
Copyright © 2014 Jodi Redford
Lexie Winters is on a mission—to lose her good girl image and tempt resident bad boy, Ash Bodry, into her bed. Tired of being treated like his kid sister, it’s past time for her to play dirty. She has her work cut out for her though when it comes to the sinfully sexy yet incredibly frustrating man.
As far as Ash is concerned, Lexie is strictly off limits. Not only are they friends, her dad just happens to be the sheriff, and years ago the man steered Ash away from a life of crime. No way is he repaying that favor by giving into his wicked fantasies of Lexie. But when the little vixen strolls into his tattoo parlor and requests a very naughty piercing, Ash’s honorable intentions are tested to their limits.
Now that Lexie’s hammered the first chink in Ash’s defenses, and he’s sweating bullets, there’s no chance in hell she’s settling for his hands off policy. Even if it means some flirty strip tease action and late night skinny dipping to convince him that this newfound naughty girl will do whatever it takes to get her man.
http://www.amazon.com/Naughty-Girls-Do-BOOM-Story-ebook/dp/B00KOFZG1E
Please enjoy the following excerpt:
A massive case of jittery nerves twisting her stomach into a knot, Lexie Winters hesitated outside the entrance to Shores Ink. Tearing her focus from the intricate black and white tribal graphic stenciled on the door, she gave her best friend and co-conspirator, Grace Jennings, a panicked look. “Why can’t I just get a tattoo?” Granted, she’d have to get it somewhere discreet. She didn’t want to completely scandalize her coworkers at the library. Of course, not much chance of that not happening if it ever leaked out what she was intending to get done at Ash Bodry’s tattoo parlor.
Grace indulged in a long-suffering sigh. “We’ve already discussed this. A tattoo won’t get Ash’s attention.”
“What if I get it on my butt? Or boob?”
“Puh-lease.” Grace rolled her eyes. “Can you imagine the amount of asses and boobs Ash likely sees on a daily basis? Not gonna impress him.”
Grimacing, Lexie readjusted her tortoise frame lenses before inspecting her cleavage. “I’ve never gotten any complaints about the girls before.”
“Of course you haven’t. They’re the freaking Eighth Wonder of the World.” Grace gestured to the front of Lexie’s pink halter-top. “I wasn’t referring so much to your attributes as the tattoo in general. If you’re going to prove to Ash that you’re not a goody two shoes, you’re going to have to pull out all the stops. No relying on the miracle twins there to get the job done, Toots.”
Lexie swallowed hard. “I don’t know—”
“Yes, you do. Now pull up your big girl panties and get your ass in there, Wussarella.”
With that encouraging endearment ringing in her ears, Lexie sucked in a deep breath and ducked through the doorway. Heavy metal music drifted from the central sound system, its bass-loaded beat vibrating the floor and amping the nervous tension prickling beneath her skin. It wasn’t the first time she’d stepped inside Ash’s shop. God knows she’d invented plenty of excuses for dropping by over the years. Still, the pretense of bringing him lunch was far less stress inducing than her present plan.
Stalling, she deliberately dragged her feet, feigning a renewed interest in the photos grouped on the nearest wall. The images depicted various shots of Ash’s one of a kind custom ink designs. She leaned in for a closer scrutiny of her favorite out of the bunch—a gorgeously detailed mermaid. Each scale appeared so vividly real, she swore the mythical creature would leap to life with the tiniest flick of its jewel-toned tail. Lexie chewed her bottom lip. Maybe...
A loud rap rattled the front door, and Lexie instinctively jumped. Heart knocking in triple time, she tossed a guilty look toward the entrance. Sure enough, Grace was giving her the stink eye. Gusting a resigned exhalation, Lexie abandoned her post in front of the tattoo gallery and approached the unmanned appointment desk. Dalton—Ash’s assistant—was nowhere to be seen. Thank God for small favors. Because the less witnesses she had for this, the better.
She rounded the corner of the studio, and struggled to kill her lusty sigh as she took in her first Ash sighting of the day. A bounty of muscles flexing in his colorfully inked shoulders and upper arms, he hefted from his seat and leaned over the sketch pad propped open on his work station, his strong, masculine features set in fierce concentration. Dark eyebrows slashing low toward the bridge of his nose, he switched out his blue pen for a red one and continued free handing his creation on the paper. Taking advantage
of his complete absorption with his task, Lexie drank up every ounce of his gorgeous perfection.
No, perfection wasn’t the right word when describing Ash Bodry. He was no pretty boy, by any means. His nose bore a slightly off kilter slant thanks to participating in one too many brawls back in the day, and the faint remnant of a scar still christened the spot above his biceps where he’d been stabbed in a knife fight. For some women, those lingering battle wounds of his past might have been a turn off. Then of course there were the braver, wilder girls who were drawn to Ash’s not-entirely-redeemed bad boy side. In Lexie’s case, her feelings for him ran more than skin deep.
She was one hundred percent hopelessly in love with Ash. Had been for nearly twelve years, ever since the fateful day her dad busted Ash in the act of hotwiring the mayor’s pristine ’68 Corvette Stingray. Rather than pushing to have Ash thrown in juvie, her dad had volunteered to personally oversee Ash’s probation. As the sheriff of a small lakeside community that quadrupled in residency and potential crime rate during peak summer season, taking on the role of Ash’s sponsor had been no small commitment on her dad’s part. But he’d set Ash on the—mostly—straight and narrow, and in the process inadvertently sealed Lexie’s lovelorn plight by arranging for Ash to help her that entire summer at her grandpa’s campground. Despite Ash having two years on her in age—and an infinitely higher amount of years on her when it came to street smarts—they’d formed a close bond that’d remained unshakable throughout the years.
Sending up a silent prayer that she wasn’t about to destroy that record, she steeled her spine and took a tentative step forward.
Sweet Sizzle
Copyright © 2014 Jodi Redford
Valentine’s Day—the bane of Rory Sinclair’s existence. Hard to forgive the one holiday responsible for the single most moronic decision of her life. If it was up to her, she’d skip anything to do with cupid, but with her business partner home sick with the flu, she’s stuck delivering a bunch of cookie bouquets to a local firehouse. Who knows, maybe she’ll cure her Valentine’s Day neurosis and heat up the mattress with a hunky firefighter. Her plan of donning some edible undies and getting her freak on goes up in flames though the instant she steps through the doors of Station 5 and spots Bennet Jackson—the man responsible for her decade long Valentine’s Day boycott.