Forbidden Attraction [The Callens 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (13 page)

That was disappointing. “Oh.”

“Do me a favor and see that Tara doesn’t rush around too much. I’m worried about her.” She’d told him about Tara’s do-nothing husband and the need for her to take on another job.

“I’ll watch out for her.”

“I miss you.”

Since her dad was watching her, she tried to stay non-committal. “Me, too. Bye.”

* * * *

Without Jackson around, Jenny’s Monday night shift dragged, but Tara looked even worse.

When there was a break, she went over to her friend. “Did you find another job?”

“If you can call it that.”

“What did you get?”

“I’m answering the phones on Saturday for a call center. I’m not sure I’ll be able to do that and keep my sanity.”

She wished there was some way to help. Even if Tara left her husband, she wouldn’t be any better off. Tara would need someone to watch her son at night, and that would cost even more money. “Your husband didn’t offer to look harder for a job?”

She shrugged. “He goes out every morning looking for something, but most of the jobs require a bit more education.”

“I’m so sorry.”

She swiped a finger under her eye. “I bet something will come up.”

“I’m sure it will.”

A group of college students poured in, and she nodded for Tara take their orders. While the kids weren’t the best tippers, they liked Tara. Since the bar was slow tonight, she bet her friend would appreciate the opportunity for more money.

Jenny stopped by her tables to see if they needed anything. Every time she looked over at the bar and saw the other bartender, a bit of depression settled in her.
Damn
. Why couldn’t she get Jackson, or Taylor for that matter, out of her thoughts?

As soon as the last customer left, she hightailed it out of there. She hoped Jackson wouldn’t have to bail on Wednesday. She needed her man fix.

Even though she didn’t work on Tuesday, it was even worse than Monday because she had to spend three hours taking the fake MCAT. She was confident about a lot of the questions, but some topics came out of nowhere. When all five of her study-mates had finished, they met at the Eatery to compare notes. Because the test was computerized, they all got their results right away. She’d passed, but squeaking by wasn’t her style.

“We’ll do better next time,” she said. At least she hoped. If she didn’t get her head back in the game, she might jeopardize her future.

“What are you talking about? You did the best.” This came from the weakest of the group.

“I know, but it’s a pride thing.” Saying much more might be considered bragging.

When Wednesday night finally arrived, and she knew she’d get to see Jackson, her energy improved. She decided to go in a bit early so that they could finally talk about what happened after the whirlpool. She wanted to be positive that he had no hard feelings she’d slept with his roommate. Sam might claim men who shared wouldn’t get jealous, but she wanted to be sure Jackson didn’t change his mind.

Yes, he had called earlier in the day, and they’d talked about the wonderful sex they’d had, but when he didn’t bring up her sleeping with Taylor, she decided to wait until she saw him face-to-face.

Jackson’s car was in the lot when she pulled up. Her pulse raced and her pussy jumped for joy. “Calm down.”

They wouldn’t be able to have sex tonight since going home with him after the bar closed was out of the question. Her parents finally asked last night why she’d arrived so late last Saturday, and she’d told the truth, but next time she might have to lie.

Inhaling, she went inside.
There he is.
Jackson was such a handsome man who always seemed in such control. When he looked up and smiled, her heart soared then dropped. She prayed he and Taylor were as close as he claimed. She slid onto the stool in front of him. “Hey.”

“So how was it?”

Her heart stopped for a second. Was he speaking of the MCAT sample test or the sex she’d had with Taylor. “How was what?” She wanted him to be the one to ask.

He leaned forward and smiled. “The observatory.”

Did that comment imply he knew about them? “The stars were amazing. Taylor is quite the expert.”

“He certainly has a good feel of the celestial
bodies
.”

She’d had enough of the dancing around. “Yes, the sex was amazing. Is that what you’re asking?”

He burst out laughing. “You should have seen your face. You couldn’t decide if I knew. From here on out assume Taylor and I share everything.”

“So if I want just you, it won’t work?” She held up her hand. “Strictly hypothetically speaking you understand.”

“Trust me when I say that when you experience both of us together, you’ll wonder why you waited so long.”

Someone came out of the back room and placed fresh glasses on the shelves. Knowing Jackson had things to do before opening, she got up, picked up her cloth, and wiped down the tables.

Once they opened the doors, she and Tara stayed quite busy. Even if she had a free moment, there were always patrons at the bar needing Jackson’s attention.

Around 11:15 p.m. there was break at the bar, and she slid onto a seat to rest her legs and to chat with the man she was falling in love with.

He swiped a cloth across the bar as he made his way over to her. “Hey. I forgot to ask if you’d be willing to go to dinner with me and Taylor Friday night?”

Her stomach lurched. She could read between the lines. He was asking if she’d be willing to have sex with the both of them at the same time. If she agreed to go out to dinner, she’d be agreeing to experimenting with a completely different lifestyle. She inhaled. “I’d love to.”

“Great. Do you like Italian?”

“Sure. Maybe I should drive to your house.” If Jackson and Taylor picked her up, she’d have to go through the meeting of the parents. If they questioned Taylor too much, that might not be good.

“No problem.”
Phew
. He must have been able to see the concern on her face.

More people came in, and she swung around to take care of them. “Later.”

The rest of the night went quickly. She had hoped to be able to steal a kiss, but even after the bar closed, there was some problem with the ordering, and Jackson had to sort things out with the manager. Since Jackson had looked a bit tired by nights’ end, she slipped out and headed home.

It was always hard to fall asleep right away given her hours were so skewed. She stood in the shower with the water sluicing down her body wondering if she’d made the right decision in making love with Taylor. Sleeping with two men wasn’t something she could take lightly. She was more of the permanent type and feared they’d have a one-month fling then toss her aside. It didn’t matter that sex with two men would be wonderful, if her sister could be believed.

Being with Jackson was a no-brainer. He possessed a good business sense. How many thirty-year-olds owned their own businesses? She didn’t know how big the mortgage was on the place or if he really was making a lot of money, but given the house he and Taylor shared, they were doing well. She also doubted that her parents would have any issue with her being with him on a permanent basis. Since her dad was a devoted University of Wyoming man, those two should get along despite the bar business being dependent on the whim of the college clientele.

Her real issue was with Taylor. Yes, he was bright. Actually, he was a kind of a genius, but what if the monster truck craze died out? Without an engineering degree, who would hire him? What could he do besides soup up cars?
A lot of things.
So what if he could make a good living, would it end up bothering her that he wasn’t as well educated as she was? Did he have the motivation to keep going should his industry die?

At least she knew that people would always be in need of a doctor, but what if a new bar opened up in Intrigue, and the students decided it was a more hip place to go? What would Jackson do if he lost his bar? He couldn’t rely on pop bands for his entire income.

Hell.
She probably could say that of any entrepreneur. Why was she hesitating? These two men excited her like no others. They challenged her beliefs and taught her things. How many women could say their men designed monster trucks or guitars that caught on fire?

Decision made. This was the right thing to do. The next few days were going to be tense, knowing what lay ahead.

* * * *

Jenny hadn’t expected them to drive her all the way to Cheyenne for dinner. “What’s the occasion?”

Taylor opened her car door as they parked in front of the restaurant. “We wanted to take you someplace authentic.”

She wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but the red and green awnings gave this Italian restaurant authenticity. Once inside, the maître d’ rushed over and hugged Taylor. She had no idea what that was about until they started to speak Italian with each other. She probably should have recognized the possibility that he spoke another language given his family home was so baroque, but she couldn’t erase the monster truck image from her mind.

His friend seated them at a booth in the corner. Lighted candles sat on the white tablecloth, which provided a highly romantic atmosphere. A bit nervous, she slid next to Jackson. Would the dinner conversation be centered around her role in their lives and how they planned to share her?

A waiter came by and Taylor ordered a bottle of her favorite wine. The fact that he ordered in French really threw her. “Do you come here often?”

“As often as I can. My uncle owns this place.”

Ah.
That put some perspective on things. “How many languages to you speak?”

“Three, including English. My mother is from Italy, so she taught me Italian. I learned French in school, but it comes easily since the roots are so similar.”

“Not Spanish?”

“I can understand it, but that’s about all.”

She’d underestimated so many of his talents. She’d taken Spanish in school, but after three years stopped pursuing it. She turned to Jackson. “Are you also a polyglot?”

He said something to her in what she thought was Italian. Now that blew her away. “How did you learn that?”

“Taylor and I have known each other for a long time. As kids we thought it would be cool if we had our own special way of communicating. He spoke to me in Italian. Eventually, I picked enough of it up. It’s something like pig Latin to little kids.”

She had no idea the depths of their friendship. The waiter came back with their wine and asked if they were ready to order.

She held up a finger for him to give her a minute as she hadn’t even looked at the menu.

Taylor leaned over and tapped the menu. “Both the spaghetti Bolognaise and the ravioli verde are excellent. If you want fish, the stuffed pompano is awesome.”

From the label on the wine, he was quite the connoisseur. “I’ll have the ravioli verde.”

The men asked about how her medical studying was going, and she plied them with more questions about their design work. Both seemed to love electronics, though she understood why Jackson wanted to own a bar. He loved listening to people.

Halfway through dinner, three men dressed in authentic Italian garb came to their table with violins and serenaded them with song. She couldn’t keep the smile off her face. No one had ever done that before. With each passing moment she became more and more enthralled with both men. Their ability to surprise her seemed endless.

By the time dinner ended, they’d laughed a lot, but they’d also briefly touched on the tenets of quantum physics and the European debt crisis and its inevitable effect on the United States. She doubted the plastic surgeon, the dermatologist, or the accountant her mom wanted to fix her up with would have been so entertaining.

So far the evening couldn’t have gone better. It was the rest of the evening that had her on edge. By the time they arrived back at their house, it was close to eleven. Once more Taylor jumped out of the back and opened her door. He held out his hand. As soon as she stood, he pulled her to his chest and kissed her like a man starved for affection. She could taste the wine and chocolate dessert. Her body molded to his chest as his hands slid down her back onto her ass. Tingles of excitement skittered up her spine.

Jackson pretended to have to struggle to pry them apart. “My turn to say good night.”

His comment finally registered. They were kissing her good night? Hadn’t they taken her to this divine restaurant so that they’d have sex with her together?

Jackson appeared in front of her and placed kisses on her neck before devouring her mouth. When he came up for air, he leaned back. “I know you have your study group early tomorrow morning, so we’ll let you go tonight.”

The air whooshed out of her lungs. “I can stay a bit.” She had agreed to switch their meeting day from Sunday to Saturday to accommodate one of the member’s change of plans. “We aren’t meeting until nine.”

He ran a finger down her cheek then across her lips. She nipped his finger before he could react. Her pussy got wet just from the two kisses.