Not Safe for Work
Page 7
“Yep, the very same. God he hates them.”
“He hates everyone. Except me and you.”
Now she looked at him, as directly as she could. Mostly so he couldn’t leverage his way out of things in that effortlessly charming way of his. The other day she had tried to talk him into getting out of bed so they could work on a proposal together, and they somehow wound up fucking until four in the afternoon instead.
She didn’t even know how.
He just had a gift—that she now had to circumvent.
“But does he though?” she asked.
“Does he what?”
“Hate everyone except me and you. Sometimes I think maybe he hates us, too.”
“He didn’t seem to hate you last night, when you put your finger—”
She covered her face with one hand, as an image of that very thing flashed behind her eyes. He had shuddered when she’d done it. And then Abel had said curl your finger, and the shudder had become something else—something desperate. Something that almost made her believe he loved this as much as they did.
“Oh Christ, don’t make me think about that right now,” she moaned.
Though she suspected it was already too late.
Abel was looking at her in that heated way now.
There were still twenty minutes before they would arrive at the airport.
I’ve played this all wrong, she thought.
But then to her surprise, he answered.
“Sounds more like you’re troubled by the things we do.”
“That wasn’t troubled and you know it, you absolute nightmare.”
“Hey—you’re the one who accosted me in the elevator the other day.”
“I was just thinking of our first meeting. The memory made me do it.”
“Wanted me to fuck your ass then, did you?”
She flushed from her collarbone to the roots of her hair—and this time it wasn’t just the remembering that did it. She could still feel him there, trying to work his way in. Still hear him saying: That’s it baby, open up for me just like he does.
But she did her best to shake it off.
She gave him an exasperated look and said, “We were talking about Tom.”
“Ah yes, Tom and how troubled he is.”
“I didn’t say he was troubled.”
He gave her a pointed look. “But that’s what you meant.”
“Yeah, okay. Maybe I did a little bit.”
“Even though he asked for two meetings a week, instead of one?”
“That would probably mean more if he didn’t call our dates meetings.”
“He calls all his dates meetings.”
“So he has other ones, with other people?”
Abel laughed at that. And it was obvious why.
She could hardly stop herself frowning, or leaning forward.
“You’re jealous,” he said.
He had a point.
“Of course I’m jealous. I like him.”
“You love him. You love him as much as you love me.”
“You think I’m going to deny that? Because I’m not. I do. I just don’t know if he loves us, too. Sometimes he seems so . . . disturbed by the whole thing. And I can’t exactly blame him. He could barely kiss a woman in public before three months ago, and now he’s in . . . he’s in a . . . polyamorous relationship.”
“Is that what you call what we do?”
“It’s what I call what we have.”
“Nice correction.”
“Thank you.”
His expression softened. More than that in fact. He crossed the distance between their seats, took her hand, and kissed her.
She could never have doubted what Abel wanted.
He wanted the three of them, together, in this crazy thing.
But that still left one question in her mind.
“So?” she asked when he pulled away.
“So what?
“Is he okay with that? Can a man like Hartford ever be okay with that?”
“Oh my darling, my darling, Amy,” he said. “The whole thing was his idea.”
About the Author
Charlotte Stein is the RT and DABWAHA nominated author of over fifty short stories, novellas, and novels. When not writing deeply emotional and intensely sexy books, she can be found eating jelly turtles, watching terrible sitcoms, and occasionally lusting after hunks. For more on Charlotte, visit www.charlottestein.net
You can sign up for email updates here.
Thank you for buying this Swerve ebook.
To receive special offers, bonus content, and info on new releases and other great reads, sign up for our newsletters.
Or visit us online at us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup
For email updates on the author, click here.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
About the Author
Copyright Page
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novella are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
NOT SAFE FOR WORK. Copyright © 2017 by Charlotte Stein. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Annette Defex; people © Period Images.com
ISBN 978-1-250-13241-3 (ebook)
Originally published in the Filthy and Rich anthology in 2016 by SMP Swerve.
First Swerve Edition: June 2017
Our eBooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, ext. 5442, or by e-mail at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.