Trusting Chance [Fate Harbor] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Caitlyn O'Leary

  “I guess that answers the question.” Sam laughed.

  “Let’s get you sitting up, honey. Before you get anything to eat or drink, we have to take your temperature, okay?” They maneuvered her into a sitting position resting against Sam, while Chase placed the thermometer in her mouth. Before she ate, she so wanted to brush her teeth. Opening her mouth for Chance had made her want to cringe. She rubbed her neck. It was killing her. As a matter of fact her entire body felt like she had been run over by a Mac truck. Chance pulled the thermometer out of her mouth and read it.

  “Okay, it’s hovering around a hundred, so it’s down from last night,” he said. “Do you feel like some oatmeal or toast?”

  “Maybe you’d like both, huh, baby?” Sam asked. He reached up and brushed her hand away from her neck, and started to rub her shoulders. God, his hands felt wonderful, it’s like he knew all the perfect places to rub.

  “I’d really like to brush my teeth, then I’d like to know how I got here. The last thing I remember, I was sick at my house.” Josie stood up, then immediately plopped back down on the couch for two reasons. One, she realized she was naked. Why was she always naked around these two men? Two, she realized she was as weak as a kitten, and needed to get up a whole hell of a lot slower.

  Chance grinned at her, and Sam looked concerned. She turned to Chance.

  “So explain to me why the hell I’m here, and not at my place.” She wrapped the comforter around her, trying to cover all the important bits.

  “We hadn’t been able to reach you since Thursday night. When we went to Sweet Dream Saturday afternoon, Elise spilled the beans and said you’d gone to Florida and she expected you back on Sunday. We figured you’d call us when you got back. When you didn’t, we went over to your apartment. That’s when we found you delirious with fever. You scared us to death.” Chance ran his fingers through his blond curls in frustration.

  “Fine, I had the flu and I didn’t feel like talking! I just needed some alone time to get well. It’s not the first time I’ve been sick alone and had to take care of myself.” If she was going to have to have to yell at him, she at least wanted some mouthwash.

  “It’ll damn well be the last time!” Sam roared. “There will be no more leaving across the country without telling us, and getting so sick you almost need to go to the hospital without calling us for help.” Josie’s back was pressed against Chance’s chest as Sam pushed into her space.

  “I’m a big girl. I have been taking care of myself for years just fine,” Josie yelled back, hurting her head in the process.

  “You’re one of the strongest and most capable people I’ve ever met, baby,” Sam relented. “I’m just saying you have two people who want to be here for you, who want to make your life easier because they care about you. Now don’t yell anymore. You’re hurting your head.” He reached around her, and started to massage the back of her scalp in slow, soothing circles. Josie dropped her head onto his chest.

  “Still want to brush my teeth,” she slurred into the muscled warmth of his chest.

  “Give yourself a minute,” Chance said, as his hands began to knead her shoulders. Josie’s fingers released the blanket, giving Chance more to massage. These men have talent, she thought. She was never going to win an argument at this rate.

  When her stomach growled again, they both slowly stopped their ministrations, and got her back up to a sitting position. “Let me carry you to the bathroom,” Sam offered.

  “I don’t want to be carried anywhere. I want to walk,” Josie grumbled.

  “All right, let me walk you to the bathroom, so you can brush your teeth.” Sam smiled down at her.

  “And put on some clothes.”

  “And put on some clothes,” he agreed.

  “I’m going to make fresh food,” Chance said, picking up the tray and heading toward the kitchen. Josie and Sam just shook their heads at him, as they made their way down the hall. After Josie was done in the bathroom, she made her way to the bed and sat down.

  “How about we just get you a nightie?” Sam pulled out one of the exquisite pieces of silk from the fourth drawer.

  “Sam, can I just sleep in one of your shirts?” Josie asked. Sam pulled back the covers, and got her settled. “Let me go get one from my room. I’ll be right back.” She frowned, knowing she wanted to ask something but having trouble plucking the question from the fog inside her brain. He placed a kiss on her forehead and left the room. Josie rested against the pillows, and when he finally got back she had figured out her question.

  “Why aren’t your clothes in one of the dressers? Chance has his clothes in that one.” Josie indicated the dresser to the right side of hers.

  “I guess for the same reason you didn’t tell us you were going to Florida, or that you were sick,” Sam said slowly. “Let’s call it out. Chance is already in the deep end, but you and I are in the shallow end.” Sam helped Josie into his T-shirt, and she absorbed what he was saying. She looked down at her hands. “Hey, look at me, baby. I didn’t say that to make you feel bad. I’m just not sure about this whole relationship with the three of us working. You and Chance make sense to me. There’s not a doubt in my head that you two could live happily ever after. But I have my doubts about adding me to the picture.” Sam’s voice trailed off.

  “I kind of feel the same way,” Josie said softly. “Not so much that you and Chance will make a cute couple.” She laughed at Sam’s indignant expression. “But I just keep coming up with reasons why this won’t work. Why a relationship with three people won’t work. Why I suck at relationships. I keep wondering why two guys as wonderful as you and Chance would want to be with me.” This time it was Josie’s turn to trail off.

  “I brought food, and I think I was just in time, because if you two spent much more time together alone I’d have to truck in the Valium.” Chance put a tray of food over Josie’s lap. Neither she nor Sam could bring themselves to look at Chance.

  “Let’s take this one step at a time, shall we, children? I want to hear about the trip to Florida.” Chance sat down right beside Josie, picked up the spoon, and handed it to her. “So, was the weather nice?” he asked in a bright voice. She snickered and Sam laughed. She took a bite of oatmeal.

  “It’s March in Florida. It’s wet, like here, only it’s humid, too.” Chance handed her the glass of apple juice, which she took with a raised eyebrow.

  “Was your flight nice?” he asked after she had taken a sip of her juice.

  “Oh, cut the crap, Chance. I have the flu, my body aches, my head aches, and my heart aches, okay?” Chance put his arm around her shoulder, and hugged her close.

  “So talk to us, Zee. We’re here for you,” he assured her.

  “They’re my sisters! They’re supposed to be there for me, too.” Sam came up to her other side and took her hand.

  “Yeah, but we’re adults. They’re still just babies, Josie. Tell us what they said.” Josie looked down at her hand, where Sam was tracing circles in her palm.

  “It wasn’t both of them. I was actually expecting more of a problem from Sarah, but she was fine with everything. She can’t wait to meet you both. It was Becca. She said she just didn’t feel that in her heart, it was the right thing for me to do. She hugged me and told me she would always love me.” Josie burst into tears, and Sam and Chance just held her.

  “I couldn’t be mad at her. That was the most loving rejection of this I could have gotten, you know?” She looked at each of the beautiful men who were holding her. Sam’s beautiful green eyes looked as wounded as her own, while Chance’s blue eyes betrayed his deep thoughts.

  “Zee, why did you think that Sarah would be the tougher sell, but Becca would be all right with us?” Chance asked.

  “Sarah went to Bible study vacation with some of our Baptist friends when she was growing up. Becca was never into that. There are a lot of alternative lifestyle girls on Becca’s volleyball team, and she supports gay marriage equality, so I just thought she’d
be more open to something like this.”

  “What did you say to her, when she said she didn’t think it was the right thing to do?” Sam asked.

  “I told her I was proud of her for speaking up. I told her that no matter what we disagreed about, or how often, I would always love her, too.” Josie grabbed the napkin off the tray and blew her nose. “What else could I say? I mean that was so brave of her, you know? I was proud of her, I am proud of her. It just hurts so damn much.” I wish I wasn’t bawling, and looking like a mess. But I have to say something. I love you both so much. I’m in love with you both so much. I just don’t get how this is supposed to work.” Josie looked down at the tray in her lap, then looked at Sam, and gave him a soft snot-covered kiss. He grabbed the back of her head, and delved deep into her mouth, placing his brand on her heart. When Josie finally pulled away so she could draw a breath, she looked at him.

  “I know you are still trying to get your legs under you, and I’m not asking for a commitment from you. But I’ll be waiting for you, because, Sam Booth, you are a man worth waiting for.” They stared at one another, and Sam leaned in and gave her another tender kiss. Josie understood its meaning, Sam was giving her a solemn promise that he would try. Then she turned to Chance.

  “And you, you manipulative bastard. You scare the absolute hell out of me.” She hit his chest.

  “What the hell!” he yelped. “You’re hitting me? That’s not fair. Where’s my kiss?” Chance protested.

  “You’ll get your kiss, and I hope you get the flu! Look, I know you see us with ten kids and thirty grandkids, but I’m still not there. You have to give me time. Just know that I’m getting there. I’m really close, okay?” she asked with a pleading look in her eye.

  “It’s okay Zee. I’m not asking for a commitment from you right now, but I will, very soon, because you’re a woman worth waiting for.” Josie melted into his arms, and Chance softly took her mouth in a reverent kiss, showing her all the love that he had.

  Chapter 15

  They left Josie to nap, and walked out to the dock to have a couple of beers.

  “I don’t know how you drink that swill,” Chance teased Sam.

  “One day when you run out of money, you’re going to regret having changed your palate to only accept expensive beer,” Sam warned.

  “You know, you have a hell of a lot of money, too. You don’t have to be drinking that crap.” Chase used his bottle to point to Sam’s.

  “That portfolio you set up for me doesn’t count. Hell, Chance, I only have money because you made me invest it in your company. I haven’t touched any of it. It doesn’t feel like it’s mine.”

  “You’re an idiot,” Chance said, without any heat. “The initial money was yours. I just helped you to multiply it a hundred fold, so that’s yours, too.”

  “Still doesn’t feel like I earned it,” Sam groused.

  Chance leaned back on the dock, admiring how clear the day was now that the clouds had disbursed. “Did you ever consider the possibility that you might have an inferiority complex? That somehow your parents fucked you over into believing you weren’t worthy of anything good? So whenever something bad happens, you blow it out of proportion and let it justify your underlying belief system?”

  “Jesus, Chance, are you planning on putting out a shingle? I already have a shrink.” Sam took a long pull from his beer and reached for another.

  “Nope. I just figure it’s time I said my piece, because this is important, and I want it to work. You and Josie fit because you both come from the same fucked-up childhoods. You can really relate to one another, and help one another. I fit, because I can lighten the mood. You both need me. Not to mention the fact that neither of us is going to let the other one have her to himself.”

  “There is that. You try to take her away from me, and they’ll never find your body,” Sam said in a pretty serious tone that made Chance laugh.

  “You could try, brother. You could try,” he said, still laughing.

  Sam looked over at him, and realized it might not be as easy to take down Chance as he would like to think. “Yeah, yeah, I’ve thought about why I have a glass-half-empty outlook,” Sam admitted.

  “No, you don’t have that at all. You always see the good in others. You see the good in a lot of different situations. But when it comes to yourself, you have a broken mirror. You, son, don’t think you are good, nor do you think you deserve anything good.” Chance paused, letting his words sink in. “Do you want Josie?”

  “I’ve had Josie,” Sam said with a great deal of satisfaction.

  “Do you want Josie for the long haul?” Chance asked. Sam took another swig from his beer, trying to picture his very long life without Josie in it.

  “Yeah, I want her. But I don’t know how I can do it.”

  “Remember how we were talking one day at a time?” Chance asked.

  “Yeah, I remember.”

  “Try this. Spend some of the money,” Chance urged. “And you have to spend it on something for yourself, something that you want. Something that really matters to you. Something selfish!”

  “You’re sounding a little like my shrink,” Sam warned.

  “Jesus,” Chance opened another one of his Belgian ales and took a long pull. He looked out over the water. They were silent a long while, enjoying the peace and quiet. This was a large part of the reason that Chance chose this property to build his house.

  “So, what do we do about Becca? It doesn’t sound like we can just woo her like you were thinking,” Sam said.

  “The more I hear about those girls, the more I think I’ll love them. It hurts my heart, can you imagine? I’m counting on Sarah. I’m betting she’ll make a difference with Becca,” Chance said thoughtfully.

  “I hadn’t thought of that,” Sam admitted.

  “I also don’t know why it is weighing on Becca’s heart. I think we have to get to the bottom of that. I think she just has to see the love, you know? She really loves her sister, so when she gets here and sees that Josie’s happy…” Chance trailed off.

  “I think we need to get back in there and check on her.”

  “You’re probably right.” Chance picked up his empty bottles and gave Sam a hand up. They took a last look over the lake, and headed back.

  Josie was in the kitchen rooting around the refrigerator when they got back to the house.

  “You must be feeling better,” Sam grinned.

  “Well, my appetite is definitely back.” Josie pulled out some leftover pizza, which Chance promptly put back into the fridge.

  “I think we can do a little better than that.”

  “Shouldn’t you be wearing your brace?” Sam admonished her.

  Josie sighed. “I’ve had such bad body aches from the flu, I don’t know what is pain from that and what is normal back pain.”

  “Let’s you and I get you taken care of, and Chance can fix you something reasonable to eat. I think pizza is a little drastic,” Sam said as he took her arm and led her out of the kitchen. Josie had to admit it was nice to have people taking care of her, for a change.

  “Do you want to take a shower?” Sam asked as they got into the master suite.

  “Oh God, I probably should! I haven’t showered since I was in my apartment,” Josie said. She sat down at the foot of the bed, and Sam could see that she was once again tired out. She looked up, a little lost. He crouched down in front of her.

  “Honey, are you feeling a little worn out?”

  “Darn it all, I only walked to the kitchen and back!” she complained.

  “Baby, two days ago we were thinking about taking you to the hospital,” Sam told her seriously.

  “You were? It couldn’t have been that bad,” she protested.

  “Your temp was a hundred and four. Chance called Betty and she said if it stayed like that for twelve hours, we had to take you in. So, of course you’re still weak.”

  “Sam, I need a shower. Can you help me?”

  “Oh, b
aby, of course I can. But to tell you the truth, we already gave you a shower the first night you were here. It wasn’t how I imagined taking a shower with you. I had plans for our first shower together.” Josie gave a tired chuckle when he waggled his eyebrows.

  “I don’t remember the shower.”

  “You were out of it, I’m not surprised. Do you need me to carry you into the bathroom?”

  “No, I just need to lean on you.”

  “Well, we’re showering together, baby.” Josie thought for a moment, and decided it was for the best. What’s more, seeing Sam naked was a bonus.

  He reached to pull her shirt over her head. “Nuh-uh. You first. If we’re doing this, I want as much naked Sam time as I can get. I’ve been sick, this is my treat.” Sam gave her a long look, and then nodded at her, and then a grin broke over his face.

  “So me naked is a treat, huh?”

  “Oh, yeah!” she crooned. “I even daydream about you naked.”

  “Do you ever think about me when you’re in your bed?” He watched as she slowly nodded.

  “What do you do in your bed, when you think about me naked?” Josie felt a flush creep up her face, and was thankful for her dark skin. He looked at her intently.

  “I can see your nipples hardening, Josie. Answer me,” he said in a sharp, deep voice. Oh God, she felt her pussy get moist. It was that voice of his, and his hooded gaze. She put her hands to her face, trying to cover her reaction. He pulled her hands out to her sides, which only made the shirt she was wearing tighten across her chest. He looked down at the evidence of her arousal.

  “Answer me, now,” he demanded. “Don’t make me ask specifically what you do. I will keep track of your infractions.”

  “I touch myself,” she whispered breathlessly.

  “Where?” She shook her head. “I asked a question,” he bit out. Moisture flooded her pussy. She tightened her legs together. She knew her sweatpants were going to be wet.