by Marla Monroe
They discussed her hours and a tentative schedule that would get her approximately thirty hours a week. She could make ends meet on the salary at that, but it would be close. She really needed that thousand dollars a month from Stewart for a year to get on her feet and find a more permanent job.
By the time she left the grocery store, she had her smock with her name badge and a time card with her name on it. She sighed and walked down the street to James, Jr.’s office. The secretary smiled at her and asked her to take a seat.
“He’s on a phone call, but should be finished in just a few seconds.”
“Thanks, I can wait.”
Five minutes later, the secretary escorted her in to James’s office. He stood up and offered her his hand.
“Glad you could come in, Jackie. We really are going to have to talk.”
“What’s going on, James?” Unease immediately sent a cold shiver down her spine.
“Let me show you the pictures I have.” He pulled out an envelope and slid it across the desk to her.
Jackie opened the envelope and pulled out three pictures. All three were of her and Sam and Mitch in very compromising positions. Even to her, they looked very intimate. Still, all of her clothes were on. She sighed and slipped them back into the envelope and handed it back to James.
“I agree, it looks bad, but there will be no more and nothing happened, like I said.”
“Stewart’s lawyer called me this morning and said he wants to reconcile, and will fight you over the divorce.”
“If the thousand is off the table?” she asked.
“No deal.”
“Why would he want to reconcile?” She couldn’t think of a single reason he would want her.
“Well, I did some digging, and I found out that he is up for full partnership in his firm soon. They will probably look down on his being divorced.”
“So, I’m a means to an end. That really makes me feel special.” She closed her eyes and blew out a breath. “So, what are my options?”
“There are only two that I can come up with. That is provided you really have no intention of reconciliation.” James leaned back in his chair.
“There is no way I will ever go back to that poor excuse of a man,” she assured him.
“Then we can fight him as it is and, provided you keep the pictures from getting any worse, you can expect it to take at least a year to get a court date with everything he can throw our way.
“What’s the other way you mentioned?” she asked, appalled.
“We can ask for everything you could possibly want and fight him for it. Make it public and he’ll cave in to get you off his back. You could quite possibly ruin his chances of ever becoming a partner.”
How long do you think that will take?” she asked.
“It could take as long as a year, but I would put money on him backing down within a few months.”
“I guess I don’t really have much choice.” She sighed and crossed her arms. “Let’s take him to the cleaners.”
They spent the next hour drawing up a counteroffer asking for half of everything he owned, down to his favorite horse. The detective that James had hired already had some compromising pictures of Stewart with Julia in a hot tub and in the living room of the house on the couch. She could look at them and it not upset her as much as it had when she’d walked in on them that night. She was already over him. She’d probably been over him long before that.
He had slowly been killing their relationship since nearly the beginning, by tearing down her self-esteem. He belittled her until she felt an inch tall. Well, she was worth a lot more than what he owned, and if he was going to put off the divorce, she would own as much of him as she could.
“Thanks for helping me with all of this, James. Let me know what happens. I’m going to be working at the grocery store starting tomorrow.”
“You’re kidding,” he said.
“No, I need a job, James. It’s honest work.” Suddenly she felt as if she were defending herself.
“Hey, I’m not knocking it. I’m just surprised with your degree you couldn’t get something more along those lines, is all.”
“Well, there haven’t been a lot of openings in the paper.”
“You can always find another job later when one comes up,” he suggested.
“That’s my plan.” She walked over to the door. “Thanks again and I’ll talk to you when you know something new.”
She thought about her so-called marriage all the way back home. She should have realized early in their marriage that it wasn’t going to work. Instead, she’d dutifully worked harder and harder to please Stewart, thinking that she just wasn’t trying hard enough. Then when she knew she would never please him, she’d resigned herself to living that way because she didn’t believe in divorce without a damn good reason. Well, she got her damn good reason slapped in the face.
When she pulled into the drive, Sam’s truck was gone. She sighed, a little disappointed, but knowing it was for the best. She let herself into the house and found not only the ceiling painted in the dining room, but the walls as well. They’d finished her dining room for her.
Tears formed in her eyes as she realized they actually did care more for her than she thought. They’d even cleaned up all the paint supplies and put everything back like it had been. She was totally floored. They were not only handsome, hot-bodied, sexy men. They were also thoughtful. How would she ever be able to resist them? Did she even want to?
Chapter Seven
She pulled out her cell phone before she could talk herself out of it and called the house number. It rang three times, and Mitch answered it.
“Hello?”
“Mitch? It’s Jackie. I wanted to thank you and Sam for finishing my dining room for me. I really do appreciate it.”
“It was his idea. It didn’t take long at all. It’s not that big of a room.”
“It helped me tremendously, though,” she said.
“We still have a few more boards to replace on the barn before we can paint it.”
“Do I need to go ahead and get paint them for it tomorrow?”
“We got the paint already. You can pay us back after we finish with it.” Mitch’s voice sounded strained.
“I can’t thank you enough.”
“So how did the job interview go?” he asked.
“I start work at the grocery store in the morning. I work from seven till three tomorrow.”
“Doing what?”
“Cashier. I’ll check groceries.”
“That’s beneath you, Jackie.”
“Nothing’s beneath me when I need a job, Mitch.”
“I told you we would be glad to lend you money if you needed it. You shouldn’t have to work at a minimum wage job.”
“I don’t mind working at the grocery store. I’ll get a discount on my groceries, for one thing.”
“It’s not something to joke about, Jackie. You shouldn’t have to work at all. The bastard hit you.”
“Mitch, I didn’t call to argue. I wanted to thank you for being so nice to me.”
There was a sigh over the phone.
“I’m sorry. It just tears me up inside to know he hurt you, and now you’re working a minimum wage job when you have a college degree. I care about you, baby.”
“I know.”
“Here’s Sam. He wants to talk to you.”
Before she could tell Mitch good-night, he’d handed over the phone to Sam.
“Hey, baby. How are you doing?” Sam asked.
“Fine. I told your brother, but I’ll tell you. I really appreciate your finishing my dining room for me.”
“No problem. We wanted to do it, and it didn’t take long at all. Did he tell you we still have a few boards to replace on the barn?”
“Yeah. I’ll be gone to work in the morning when you get there, so I’m going to leave a key under the flower pot next to the back step in case you need in the house for anything.” She could hear him rep
eating that to Mitch in the background.
“Sounds good. Mitch said you’re going to be working at the grocery store. You really okay with that?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m really okay with it. It’s an honest job, Sam. It doesn’t pay much, but it will pay my bills.”
“So, anything else going on?”
“Stewart is fighting the divorce. I had a long talk with James, my lawyer, about it. We’ve decided to ask for half of everything he has to hopefully get him to back down. As it is now, the divorce is going to take a while.”
“Fuck. I’m sorry, Jackie. We screwed it up for you.”
“He’d have fought it anyway. He wants to become a full partner at his office and that means not getting a divorce. So…” She let it trail off.
“He’s going to fight you on this thinking he can get you to come back to him.”
“Yeah.” She sighed and looked at her wristwatch. It was getting late. “Look, I need to go so I can get ready for work tomorrow. I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciated your help.”
“Sleep well, Jackie. We’ll take care of the barn tomorrow and talk to you later.”
“Night, Sam.” She hung up and stood looking at the dining room again.
Stewart would never have done something so nice. He wouldn’t have even hired someone to finish it for her. What had she ever seen in him in the first place? She honestly couldn’t remember. Her parents had liked him well enough, but she did remember that several of her friends, Mitch and Sam especially, hadn’t liked him much.
When the divorce was finally final, what was she going to do about them? Could she ignore the talk and date them both? Did she want to? Well, if her dream was any indication of what her body wanted, she was sure dating them both would be a definite possibility. Scratch that, probability. It was obvious her body was turned on by them and the promise of what they could do for her together, but what about emotionally? Could she handle the logistics of a threesome relationship? What were they called, ménages?
She walked around the house, thinking. She knew she could fall in love with them easily, as she was already halfway there, had been since high school. Even back then she’d been smart enough to know it would be a mess to deal with, and had stayed away from them. Why didn’t she do the same this time?
She sighed. Because she was already half in love with them, and part of her didn’t want to stay away from them. She wanted to have that relationship that would probably end in a mess. She wanted to fall fully in love with them and see where it could take her.
She finally gave up and took a bath and went to bed. She had a long day tomorrow, the first day of a new job that she knew absolutely nothing about. She hoped James would come back soon with some good news. She could sure use it.
* * * *
Sam was arguing against backing off.
“Mitch, we’re going to lose her if we back off too much. She’s going to shore up her defenses and refuse to date us.”
“Sam, she’s got a lot on her mind right now. We’ve made it worse by giving Stewart something to use against her. She needs some space.”
Mitch didn’t want to back off, either. He wanted her in their bed as much as Sam did, but he also knew they could screw everything up by pushing her, especially with her divorce hanging in the balance. No, he felt it was best if they backed off a little.
“Doesn’t mean we have to stop seeing her, Sam. Just no more physical contact for now.”
“Well, I’m going to the grocery store tomorrow to pick up a few things. Do you want to go with me?”
“Fuck, Sam. Don’t cause a scene.” Mitch ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
“I won’t. I’ll just smile and say hi. I don’t want her to forget what I look like.”
“She’s not going to forget. If we stick to our guns and don’t harass her, maybe the divorce will go through faster without pictures of us all over her to stall it out.”
Sam’s jaw worked, a testament to how aggravated he was.
“She doesn’t deserve to have to go through the damn thing in the first place. That scumbag should have just given her the divorce after hitting her. End of story,” he said.
“You’re preaching to the choir, Sam. I agree. There’s nothing we can do but back off.”
“We can finish her house for her. Let’s get the barn done, then find out what she wants done to each room and do it.”
“We can do that. We should have the barn finished by the weekend,” Mitch agreed.
“I’ll try to find out what her schedule is like when I go tomorrow afternoon to the grocery store,” Sam said.
“Don’t push her, Sam.”
“I won’t.” Sam walked off to his part of the house.
Mitch grabbed a beer from the fridge and popped the top. He chugged the first few swallows, then slowed up. He needed to rest, and if he had to get up and pee every hour, he wouldn’t get any sleep. Truth was, he wanted to sleep so he could dream. They’d been so real lately. The one last night had ended up being a wet dream. He hadn’t done that since he’d been in high school.
He and Sam had her between them in their bed in the master bedroom. They’d saved that room for their bride when they found her. He was glad they hadn’t used it yet. It would be there all new for Jackie when they finally convinced her to be their bride.
She was writhing between them as they covered her with kisses. Sam would lick her from breast to breast, and he would inch his way to her pussy. He couldn’t wait to taste her. She would be sweeter than sugar and spicier than a cider. He had his tongue between her wet folds licking her sweet pussy while Sam nibbled her nipples.
He’d located her hotspot and was stroking it as he sucked her clit. She came all over his face. It had been the hottest thing. He hadn’t been able to wait. He rolled on a condom and pulled her from Sam’s arms to the edge of the bed so he could shove his cock inside of her. She’d cried out and wrapped her legs around his waist. Sam had moved and continued feasting on her breasts while he tunneled in and out of her sweet cunt. He had to work his way inside of her with each thrust, her tight pussy squeezing him with each pass.
The faster he fucked her the more she begged.
“Harder. Please, more, Mitch.”
He pounded into her over and over until he felt his balls draw up. He knew he was about to come. She wasn’t ready yet.
“Sam, I’m going to come. I can’t hold off. You’ve got to finish her off.”
“I’ve got her.” Sam pinched her breasts, and she moaned.
“Fuck, she’s so fucking tight, Sam. You’re not going to be able to hold out, either.”
Mitch redoubled his effort to hold on just a little longer. He wanted to see her face when she came. He would miss it when he came, so he was glad that Sam would finish her for him. He felt the cum begin to boil in his balls. He changed his angle and bumped her cervix with each thrust until he filled the condom with his cum. The climax seemed to go on forever, and he couldn’t see for the stars exploding behind his eyelids. Finally he was able to move, and carefully pulled out. He discarded the condom by the bed and climbed up the bed to let Sam between her legs.
Jackie was begging to come now. He reached down and rubbed her nipple with the palm of his hand. She groaned and thrust her breast further into his hand. Then she screamed, and he saw that Sam had started to enter her. Watching his brother’s cock disappear inside of her was one of the most erotic sights he’d ever seen. Inch by slow inch, he pushed his sheathed dick inside of her hot cunt.
Mitch watched the mirage of expressions cross Jackie’s face as he played with her nipples while Sam fucked his way inside of her. Once he was all the way in, he rubbed his pubic bone against her clit. She tried to push back against him for more sensation, but he pulled out then slammed back in all the way.
She must have liked that because she tried to meet him halfway with the thrust the next time. He placed a hand over her pelvis to keep her still while he pummeled her w
ith his cock. She thrashed from side to side as he shoved his thick cock in and out of her hot cunt. When he began to get close, he nodded at Mitch. Mitch began twisting her nipples and pulling on them while Sam found her clit and pinched it. She screamed as she came long and hard. Sam’s shout of release could barely be heard over hers.
Mitch felt his cock grow even harder just thinking about the dream. He prayed to have another dream like that tonight. As hard as he was, he would probably end up jerking off in the shower just to get some relief so he could sleep. As good as the dreams tended to be, he knew the real thing would be ten times better. Her smile came to mind and he knew he would do most anything for one of her smiles. If that meant backing off for a while, he’d do it. It wouldn’t be easy, but he would do it.
* * * *
Jackie rose early the next morning with a plan in her mind of what she wanted to do after work. She wanted to start on the living room next. She would wash down the walls after work and paint the ceiling the next day.
She showered and dressed and headed to work. She prayed she would be able to catch on quickly. Once she arrived and had clocked in, the manager took her over to a cash register and explained the mechanics of operating the new scan systems. She practiced for thirty minutes, and he declared her ready for the real thing.
She counted her drawer and set up on register number four. The manager worked with her through her first two sells and then left her on her own. She worked until nine, when he gave her a break. She sat down in the break room and got off her feet. She could tell her legs and feet were going to ache after today.
She got a lunch break at eleven thirty. When she got back from lunch, she worked steadily until Sam came in. He waved at her and continued down the aisles with a cart. A little while later he got in her line and waited for her to check out a family of four with food stamps. She had to have help in figuring them out.
Then Sam was next. He’d bought what looked like the makings for a soup of some type. She concentrated on scanning his groceries. He seemed to be concentrating on her. It made her nervous. Being nervous made her fumble-fingered. She sighed and frowned at Sam.