by Beth Walker
"We've mentioned it to each other. Okay?"
"So you have thought about it between you—talked about it."
"Yeah, Natalie, we have. I really don't want to go into this right now, but —"
"Too bad, Cade Weston. You brought it up. I'm only trying to get answers. Now, I can either talk to Kale or you can be truthful with me."
"Fine."
"I want you to answer my questions truthfully and fully. Is that understood?"
Why he got the feeling this was her teacher persona, he wasn't sure, but all of the sudden, he felt like a high school kid again.
"I've never had sex with two men at the same time, obviously."
"All right."
"How does it work?"
He nervously cleared his throat before he said, "Most of the time, it starts with one guy and the second one joins in. There are a couple of ways it's considered a ménage. The term ménage can classify several types of relationships, but for me and Kale, it's always been the two of us and one woman."
"What's the other types?"
"Multiple women and one man or vice versa."
"Oh." Her lip disappeared between her teeth again. "All right. Go on."
"Normally, the woman has one…um…cock in her pussy and one in her mouth or in her ass." He stood abruptly and refilled his cup. This conversation made him horny as hell, even though they'd had sex not an hour before. He pressed his palm to his throbbing cock. Down boy.
"Sounds interesting."
Oh hell! She's actually contemplating this? I would never have thought she'd be game for two on one.
"Let's not jump into this, all right? I mean you and I had sex, yes, but you might not be interested in having sex with Kale."
She tipped her head to the side slightly and smiled. He didn't like that particular smile.
"Maybe. Maybe not. I won't know until I have some alone time with him."
Shit! I don't like where this is going.
The phone rang on the wall, and she got to her feet to answer it.
"Hello?"
Cade took his cup and moved back toward the table.
"Yes, Gram. We'll be on our way in a few minutes. We're having a cup of coffee."
The grimace on her face told him her grandmother figured out something.
"I know I said we, Grandma, but I'm not going to elaborate on the phone. We'll be there shortly." A short pause and she rolled her eyes. "Bye, Gram."
"Caught onto the we real fast, didn't she."
"Oh yeah. Nothing gets by her." Her cup made it into the sink. "Shall we go?"
"Sure." Several swallows later, he set his cup in the sink next to hers. They moved toward the living room where they dropped their coats the night before. "Can we swing by my apartment? I really need to change into something a little more casual."
Her gaze slid down his dress shirt and across the bulge tenting the front of his pants.
"Of course we can. Tight jeans on you are nice too."
"Wicked woman," he grumbled, but he couldn't help the smile lingering on his lips. Saucy wench.
The door closed behind them, and his hand settled on the small of her back as they walked to his truck. Inside the cab, silence surrounded them for the short ride to his apartment.
"Wow. You live here?" she asked as they pulled into the lot. His building actually consisted of an old store in downtown with some of the upstairs converted into apartments.
"Yeah."
"This is great. Where's your place?"
"Second floor. Come on. We'll go through the back. They have a great, old, cage-style elevator we use."
The back door of the building opened into a wide hallway. Bricks lined the walls and tile graced the floors. Wood accents, large potted plants, and gold gilded mirrors completed the picture.
"I thought you made it sound like this place was hardly anything to look at, Cade. It's beautiful in here. I can't wait to see your apartment."
"It's not much. A bachelor pad, if you will. I'm not here a lot."
"Kale said you stay at his place sometimes. Do you have your ménage sex there?"
Hell! This is going to get weird. I can't believe she keeps bringing it up.
"Um. Yeah. Sometimes there. Sometimes here."
He closed the cage on the elevator and up they went. The door to his apartment sat to the left of the landing. Wood paneling covered the walls on this floor, but the same tile lined the floors, and the same large plants and gilded mirrors graced the walls.
It didn't seem like much to him, but the wonderment in her eyes when he opened the door to his place, made him think twice.
"This is yours?"
"Yeah," he replied, trying to see it through her eyes.
His big leather couch took up one wall with a matching recliner on the opposite side of the living room. Heavy wood tables accented the couch and flanked the chair. A large brick fireplace engulfed one whole wall and glass hurricane lamps bordered the edges of the mantle. The state of the art kitchen, with its stainless steel appliances and granite countertops, appeared to the right from the entryway. The big bay window looked over the street below.
She walked to the window and pulled back the white curtain. "You can see everything going on in town from here."
"Yep. More than I want to sometimes."
"This place is fantastic, Cade. I'm glad you showed me," she said, coming back to his side and slipping her arms around his waist.
"Me, too." The brush of her lips against his brought his thoughts right back to getting between her thighs again. "Let me change real quick and we can be gone."
"Maybe I want to watch."
"You do that, darlin' and we'll be here another hour."
"Only an hour?"
"I've created a monster."
Her wild giggle followed him into the bedroom.
A short twenty minutes later, they stood at the door to her grandmothers' room at the hospital, and he had to smile at the sound coming from inside.
"I am not taking Xanax. I have no need for a sedative, and you will not force one on me, young man."
"But Mrs. Oliver, the doctor ordered—"
"I don't give a shit what that lame brained, bobble-head, piece of meat in a lab coat thinks. I have all of my mental faculties about me, and I will not bend to his will. Do you understand?"
"Yes ma'am."
Cade fought the grin on his lips, trying to cover it with his hand, but a matching one lingered on Natalie's mouth, too.
"You can tell him to find some other helpless old lady to stuff full of medication, but this one isn't doing it. Not today and not tomorrow!"
Natalie shook her head. "What are we going to do with her?"
"She's going to give them hell at the rehabilitation center."
"I know. Those poor nurses."
A roar of laughter left his mouth before he could stop it.
"Natalie Marie, is that you hanging out there?" her grandmother called.
"Yes, Gram," she replied.
"Well get your butt in here, girl. I want to find out exactly who we is."
Natalie glanced at him, tipping her head to indicate he should precede her.
"Oh, no. I'm not going in there alone."
"Chicken."
"Bauk. Bauk."
"Fine. I'll go first." She strolled inside, and he didn't mind the glimpse of her perfect little ass either. "Hi, Gram."
"It's about damned time you got here. What took you so long?" He walked in behind Natalie and her grandmother said, "Oh. I gotcha. How did the springs hold up on your old bed?"
"Grandma! Oh my God. You didn't just say that."
"Well you did, didn't you?"
Natalie's face turned bright pink.
"Never mind. You don't have to answer," she replied with a twinkle in her eyes. "How are you, Cade? How'd you sleep? Oh wait, good I would imagine if the red cheeks of my granddaughter tell me anything."
"Yes, ma'am. Quite well, thanks," he said, laying his hand o
n Natalie's shoulder. It bothered him when she shrugged out from under his grasp and moved toward her grandmother as if she wanted to get away from him.
"I would appreciate it if you didn't discuss my sex life, Grandma."
"If you didn't want me to know who we was, then you shouldn't have brought him with you."
"She's got you there, Nat."
"You aren't helping matters here, Cade," she told him and then turned back to her grandmother. "How are you feeling this morning? You seem irritated."
"I am irritated. The stupid, idiotic doctor thinks he can cram drugs down my throat and make me complacent so I won't fight him and his brainless decisions about my care. I want another doctor."
"Gram, no one will take care of you like grandpa did. You have to understand that."
"I know, Natalie, but I'm not going to let them drug me and shove me into some nursing home. I've decided I'm going home."
Natalie opened her mouth to protest, but Mrs. Oliver stopped her in her tracks.
"I've made my decision. I'm stronger today than I was yesterday, and I know my speech isn't quite as slurred. I can walk with a walker and get around some. We will bring in the physical therapist to the house. If you’re staying, we can do it all there."
"All right, Gram. I'll take you home and we'll work it out."
Her grandmother patted her hand and said, "I knew you'd see it my way."
Cade shook his head, smiling when her grandmother winked at him.
"Will you stay one more day so they can evaluate your condition?" Natalie asked.
"Evaluate what? I'm fit as a fiddle."
"They'll need to have the physical therapist do some things with you to decide how best to proceed with your rehabilitation. Please stay one more day."
"All right. I guess I can't argue with you about it, but I won't take any drugs. I'm not letting them knock me out."
"Fine, Gram. No drugs to knock you out."
With a bit of a cocky smile, Mrs. Oliver settled against the pillows, asking, "So, was he good?"
Gratefully, he wasn't drinking anything, because, it would have been a repeat of earlier when he spit his coffee across the kitchen. Now, he knew where Natalie got her snarky remarks and her don't-take-no-shit attitude.
"I can't believe you just asked me how good he is in bed."
"Why not? He's a strapping young man. I think he could satisfy you pretty well. In the bed, in the shower, in the kitchen…"
"Enough, already," Natalie grumbled. "I'm not discussing my sex life with you."
Cade didn't think Natalie's face could get any redder. How could he have known the old lady would know where they'd had sex, or she did a damned good job speculating.
"Knock. Knock." All three of them turned towards the door, to see Kale poked his head inside. "Can I come in?"
Oh hell! How much did he hear?
Chapter Six
"Hi, Kale," Natalie said, shifting her gaze to Cade to gauge his reaction. She didn't like the stiffening of his spine. "Come on in. What are you doing here?"
Kale walked over and kissed her on the cheek.
"I figured I'd come by and see how your grandmother was doin' this mornin'. I didn't expect to see you here." He turned and stared at Cade. "Or you, Cade."
"Kale." The name sounded almost like a growl from Cade when he stepped in front of Kale. "I'm sure you noticed my truck in the lot. There aren't too many trucks with Weston on the tailgate."
"I didn't notice."
"Whatever," Cade grumbled.
"Enough you two," she said, stepping between them.
"Oh, let them go, Natalie. I love a good scrapin' between grown men over a woman." Her grandmother rubbed her hands together gleefully and then folded them over her chest. "I think you can take him, Cade."
"Grandma, will you stop encouraging them, please, for God' sake." Natalie put one hand on each of their chests. "You are not going to fight over me."
"We aren't fightin', Nat."
"You would if I let you, so knock it off."
Cade’s cell jingled in his pocket. With a scowl and a grumble, he pulled it from his pocket, flipped it open, and growled, "Weston." His eyes narrowed and he turned towards the door to take his call.
"I'm sorry, Kale. I don't know why he's acting so possessive."
"Could be because you slept with him," her grandmother said. Natalie wanted the floor to swallow her whole, or a gag for her grandmother. She couldn't decide which at the moment.
"I see," Kale replied. "Well then."
"Can I talk to you a minute?"
He shrugged and said, "I guess."
"In private?" she asked, taking his hand and pulling him towards the door. "We'll be back in a minute."
"Take your time. I'll keep Cade occupied," her grandmother called as they walked into the hall.
They kept walking until they reached the end of the hall. When she turned to face Kale, her heart dropped into her stomach. Sadness stared back.
"Did you and Cade sleep together?" he asked, but uneasiness rang clear in his voice.
"Yes."
A long sigh escaped his lips and stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. "I guess there's nothing more to say then."
He started to walk away, but stopped in his tracks when she said, "He said he didn't care if we went out or even if we had sex."
Kale turned back around and gave her a wide-eyed look. "He did?"
"Yes." She took his hand in hers. "What happened between me and Cade just happened. It wasn't planned. But it doesn't mean there is anything permanent, lasting, exclusive, or whatever you want to call it, between us."
"Wow."
"You know what else he told me?"
"No."
"He told me you two share on occasion."
She almost laughed at the choked look on Kale's face. His eyes bugged and he coughed several times. "He did?"
"Yeah. But he also said it had been awhile." She glanced to her left and then to her right. Several doors on patients' room stood open. "I'm not discussing this here, in the middle of the hospital, but you and I need to talk. I know we have a date on Saturday, but I want to talk to you before then. Can we have dinner tonight?"
"Uh, sure. I'm free."
"Good. Now let's go back to the room and see what other kind of chaos my grandmother is starting with Cade."
They walked back into the room in time to hear her grandmother telling Cade the end of the story about how her grandparents met and married. "My daddy hated ole Doc with a passion, and he swore if he ever showed his face at my daddy's place again, he would fill his ass full of buck-shot. It didn't stop Doc though. He walked right up to the house, told my daddy he was takin' me to the next county, and we were gettin' married."
"Sounds like Doc," Cade replied. He turned around, noticing they returned to the room. "Nat, I'm sorry, but I have to go. My foreman called and one of my horses is havin' some trouble. I need to check it out."
"It's fine, Cade. I'm sure Kale will take me home."
His lips firmed into a straight line, and she could tell he didn't like the thought of her alone with Kale at all. Mmm. Interesting.
"Of course I will," Kale added. "I'd be happy to."
"See? Everything will be fine."
"I hate to leave you like this, darlin'." The look in his eyes said it bothered him. So much for not caring if I date Kale.
"I know you have to go, Cade. I understand. You have business to tend to and you've already spent a lot of time with me." She reached behind his head and brushed her lips over his. The pressure of his mouth felt marvelous, and she hated to stop the kiss, but the audience present made it impossible to do anything more. "Call me tomorrow or something."
"All right." With one last look at Kale, Cade left the room with the soft click of the door closing behind him.
She cleared her throat and turned back toward her grandmother. The mischievous twinkle in her eyes made Natalie nervous. If it's one thing she came to realize s
ince she'd been back in Red Rock, her grandmother wasn't your typical old lady.
"Grandma, butt out," she warned.
"I don't know what you mean, Natalie. I'm not doing anything."
"Well, listen. I need to get going. I have some things to do at my place before our dinner date tonight. Do you want me to take you home?"
"No. It's fine, Kale. I want to visit my grandmother for a bit before I head back to the house."
"I promised Cade I would take you home."
"I'm a big girl. I can call a cab. You go on."
"What time do you want me to pick you up?"
"Five?"
"Sounds perfect." After a quick kiss good-bye, he disappeared too.
"You're having dinner with Kale?"
"Yes, Grandma."
"But you had sex with Cade."
"Yes, I did. But Cade and I aren't exclusive. I've only been back in Red Rock a few days, and I haven't been out of my relationship with Steven very long either."
"Then why did you have sex with him?"
The heavy sigh rushing from her lips sounded hollow, even to her own ears. "Everything would be too difficult and lengthy for me to explain, Gram."
Her grandmother hoisted the head of the bed, settling back against the pillows. "I'm not goin' anywhere. Spill it."
Natalie knew she wouldn't get out of telling her grandmother the entire tale of what happened between her and Cade, but she wasn't about to give her explicit details.
"I'm attracted to Cade. Hell, I'm attracted to Kale too."
"I believe that is rather obvious."
"This whole thing is rather funny, you know? Neither of those two gave me the time of day in high school."
"Go on."
"When Cade helped me out with my car on my way into town, I thought it was only for old time sake. Then he asked me to have dinner with him. I don't know whether Kale asked me for lunch yesterday because Cade asked me on a date first or what. I feel like I'm being torn in two by them. And I don't want to ruin their friendship. I'm afraid this is turning into some kind of competition. Who can get the shy band girl to fall in love with them first?"
"In love?" her grandmother asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm not in love with either of them, so don't get your hopes up. I can't seem to get either of them out of my head. Last night just happened. Cade took me to where he's building his house. It's beautiful up there, Gram. He has it set back in the trees with a huge pasture in front. The framework and stuff is already done. He said he was building it for his family."