Four Play (33 page)

“Me, too,” Rhys admitted.

What the fuck else can go wrong?
Jeremy poured more scotch down his throat. “Make that three.”

“So she must be incredibly confused,” Tucker concluded. “She went from having a friend, a neighbor, and a boss to juggling three potential fiancés in a handful of days.”

“Too much too fast,” Rhys reiterated with a nod.

As much as Jeremy hated it, they were right.

Then again, he’d never feared competition, and he wasn’t about to start now. He could weed Rhys quickly out of Kelsey’s heart. She’d met the fireman last and leaned on him as a handyman; how deep could her attachment really be?

Tucker would be more challenging to eliminate. It seemed possible that she felt guilty because her friend had confessed to deeper feelings that sensitive Kelsey wouldn’t want to eschew. She hated to hurt anyone. In time, Jeremy was certain he could make her see that her feelings for the other man didn’t extend beyond friendship. Mentally, he began a to-do list that would sweep Kelsey off her feet. All he had to do was whisk her away for a romantic trip to Paris, give her lots of attention, and plunge her into life as the sexy, perfect submissive he knew her to be. By then, he’d have her all to himself.

No need to tell the others that.

“I agree,” Jeremy asserted. “I’m in.”

“As demanding and possessive as you are?” Tucker’s jaw dropped. “You’re the last one I would have imagined agreeing to this.”

“Part of being a good negotiator is knowing which battles you can successfully fight, how far you can push them, and when to fall back. As we’ve already stated, she’s hurting, scared, and she’ll leave unless we find a way to help her relax so that she has the proper time and information. I want her to be absolutely certain when she finally chooses, and rushing her is counter to that goal. I don’t love this plan, but I see its wisdom.”

“Exactly.” Rhys spun to face Tucker. “What he said.”

Tucker glared at the fireman. “How will you feel, knowing he’s tying sweet Kelsey up and spanking her for his perverse pleasure?”

Rhys frowned, then shrugged. “Well, bondage isn’t . . .
all
bad. I think her ass would look pretty pink.”

Jeremy couldn’t resist the dig. “It does.”

Tucker shot to his feet and lunged at Jeremy. “Damn you! If I find out that you hit her again—”

“You mean paddled her ass just right so that she came for me? More than once?”

“Lucky bastard,” Rhys murmured.

Jeremy smiled. He had a partner in crime, albeit a temporary one. And Tucker had just given him the means to eliminate Kelsey’s best friend from the running. While he had a hell of a good time doing it.

“I wouldn’t worry about what I do with her, if I were you,” he drawled as he tossed Tucker a challenging gaze. “I’d worry about how you’re going to keep up in the orgasm count.”

“I’ll do just fine,” Tucker assured. “After last Friday night, I have no doubt. And Kelsey will end up mine.”

Game on.

“I have no doubt she’ll be
mine
.” Rhys smiled like he was the most confident bastard on the planet. “May the best man win.”

 

 

Kelsey stared at her suitcase, pondering the two suits she’d laid
out for her meeting with Mr. Garrison tomorrow afternoon. At least if anyone had seen her, that’s what they would have thought.

But the truth was, she couldn’t focus on tomorrow’s job interview because she couldn’t get her mind off her men.

Lifting the glass of wine to her lips, she took a deep swallow. Yes, she’d pay for this in the morning, and her flight would likely be miserable. Being tipsy would solve nothing. The idea, however, that she might never see the guys again—never mind hold or kiss them—made her stomach reel and her head spin. Why not give it a little alcohol-induced kick?

She glanced at the clock. Nearly nine P.M. Sighing, she mentally reviewed the contents of her refrigerator. Eating would be good . . . especially since there was so much wine left in the bottle, and puking it all up before she had a really good buzz going would be a shame.

Turning her back on the suitcase, she made her way to the kitchen and looked everywhere for something edible. Then she saw her sticky note on the freezer: GO TO GROCERY STORE. Which she hadn’t done. Damn!

Laying her forehead against the freezer door, she closed her eyes. Rhys, Tucker, and Jeremy were all there in her thoughts, laughing, passionate, loving. Snatches of their time together flitted through her mind. The best times of her life. Now that they were gone, she realized she’d never felt more protected or more loved for who she was than when she’d been with them. How stupidly she’d taken all that caring acceptance for granted. Giving them all up would kill her.

But it might save their hearts, and that’s what mattered.

Wiping away her tears, she looked around for her phone book to find a pizza joint when she heard someone insert the key in her front door. The lock jangled. The door swept open.

As she rounded the corner, she didn’t just come face-to-face with one of her men, but all three. Wide-shouldered and tall, and determined—a wall of testosterone.

Kelsey’s knees went weak. She was dangerously happy to see them.
One last time, just a few minutes . . .

“Guys . . .”

“We’re going to talk,” Jeremy said in that commanding voice that made her shiver.

“As soon as you’ve eaten,” Rhys said as he shouldered his way into the kitchen and set a plate on the table.

“I’ll take that.” Tucker grabbed the wine bottle and frowned at it. “After this morning’s hangover, you don’t need another. And we’d rather talk to you when you’re sober.”

They were melting her with their gruff caring and good food, because whatever they’d brought smelled damn good. Their kindness was wrenching her heart . . . and weakening her resolve.

“Eat,” Jeremy demanded, hooking an arm around her waist and leading her to a chair at the table.

Tucker poured the rest of the wine down the drain.

“Hey!” she protested.

He shook his head. “Saving you the headache, honey.”

Annoyance wrapped around her nerves, which was actually a bit of a blessing. “You’re my friend, not my daddy.”

Calmly, he filled a glass with ice and water, then snagged a coaster. He set both on the table with a smack, then looked her right in the eye. “I’m your lover.”

Kelsey swallowed. Tucker almost never got angry. But he was riding the edge of his temper right now. Still . . .

She shook her head. “It’s over. It has to be. Don’t you see? I’m doing you a favor—”

“One we didn’t ask you to do,” he pointed out.

“Eat,” Jeremy commanded again. “Don’t make me repeat myself or I’ll paddle your ass red.”

“You’re not touching my ass again.”

Jeremy only raised a dark brow at her. “I wouldn’t take that bet if I were you.”

Rhys took the foil off the plate and put something on the fork. “Open up, baby.”

She’d open up all right, to set Jeremy straight. Instead, Rhys forked the most tender, buttery angel hair into her mouth. She chewed, swallowed . . . and damn near had an orgasm from the flavor. “Where did you get that?”

“Franco’s,” Jeremy advised. “I picked it up fifteen minutes ago. While you eat, we’re going to talk.”

Kelsey hesitated. So that was the plan: talk her out of moving. Why? Certainly, they could see her rationale.

But then again, they were three packages of stubborn masculinity. This conversation required a solid, logical argument. Unfortunately with them so close, logic was the last thing on her mind.

Shaking her head, she grabbed the fork from Rhys’s hand and dove back into the pasta, then nibbled on her crisp salad, deep in thought.

“You’re not leaving.” Jeremy stood over her, hands on hips, as if his word were law.

If the whole situation weren’t so disastrous, she’d be tempted to smile. He was a give-an-inch-take-a-mile sort. He’d make assumptions and demands and act as if she would follow. But he knew it didn’t always work that way.

Tucker gritted his teeth at her boss. “Way to go, steamroller. Why don’t you let Rhys and me talk?”

Jeremy tapped his toe for a long moment, then gave them a sharp nod. Kelsey stopped chewing to process his response. Wow, Jeremy had given quarter. That
never
happened. Whatever they had in mind, he wanted it badly.

Or he just wanted
her
badly.

Shivering, she set her fork down. She shouldn’t do this. Their visit had
train wreck
written all over it, but . . . “I’m listening.”

Rhys and Tucker looked at one another. Her neighbor shrugged. So this wasn’t rehearsed?

“What if . . .” Rhys said finally, “we didn’t make you choose between us?”

Kelsey frowned, trying to puzzle what he meant. “Two of you are voluntarily walking away?”

“No!” they all thundered at once.

She leaned back in her chair at the decibel level. “Okay. Then what?”

“What if we all continued seeing you?” Tucker elaborated. “If we . . . had no expectations of you choosing among us until you’re ready to?”

“I’m not choosing among you.”

“Not until you’re ready,” Rhys vowed.

“You mean be a girlfriend to all of you? At the same time?”

Tucker hesitated, then nodded. “Basically.”

Kelsey burst out laughing. “That’s a joke, right?”

“This proposition is as goddamn serious as my face is right now,” Jeremy spat.

And since his face had all the levity of a grave, she surmised that they really meant it.

“I don’t understand.” She bit her lip. “I’d . . . be with all of you? How?”

“In part, that’s up to you,” Tucker explained. “We want you to feel comfortable. Not rushed. You set the tone, the pace, the schedule until you’re ready to decide.”

Kelsey frowned. The Twilight Zone had nothing on this idea. “So, in theory, I could go to a movie with Rhys on a Saturday afternoon, have dinner with Jeremy that night, then invite you over for dessert?”

“Yeah.”

She sent Tucker a skeptical stare. “And if the movie included a blowjob, dinner was accompanied by hot sweaty sex, and dessert morphed into breakfast the next morning?”

Tucker’s jaw tightened, but he nodded. Rhys rolled his shoulders, then nodded as well. She shot Jeremy a look that suggested he get real.

“We’re checking our jealousy at the door.” He didn’t growl . . . but it came close. “This is about you, not our egos.”

“We want you to feel comfortable, get time to truly know us,” Tucker explained. “And not feel like you have to change the way you behave with any of us because the others won’t like it. You have to experience each of us as potential mates for more than a few days in order to choose. We understand that.”

“In other words, this is my real-life episode of
The Bachelorette
?” Were they serious?

“You can do anything you want in order to choose who will make you happiest. Just don’t move away.” Rhys grabbed her hand and squeezed.

They were dead serious. Oh. My. God. Three boyfriends at once? She took another bite of pasta, chewing slowly. How would she make this work?

Could she?

No. Too far-fetched. How patient could she expect them to be? What if it took her six months or a year to choose one to marry? Tucker would be hurt. Jeremy would never check his jealousy at the door. Rhys’s competitive nature would likely drive her insane.

But she wouldn’t have to give them up right now. She wouldn’t have to leave her house, her job, her parents, her hometown, or the men she loved most in the whole world. The decision could come naturally, in time. It was possible that she’d naturally grow apart from one or more of them over the months, and there’d be no painful breakup.

Kelsey bit the inside of her cheek. And she might be stretching reality, but . . . their offer was
so
tempting.

How sincere was it?

She took another bite of salad, washed it down with water, and studied the guys’ expressions. Tucker looked earnest. He really wanted her to accept. Rhys squeezed her hand and smiled hopefully. Jeremy gave her a hungry stare that made her belly do flops.

“So . . .” she began, thoughts running through her brain at a hundred miles an hour. “What if I did this?”

Kelsey turned to Rhys, grabbed his face, and planted her mouth on his. As soon as their lips met, the others’ shock sucked the air out of the room. She still pressed on.

Rhys caught on quickly, then nudged her lips apart, twining his tongue with her own, the kiss physical, finessed. Like her experience with him on Monday, he made her head spin as quickly as a whole bottle of wine.

But she had to stay focused.

Abruptly, she broke the kiss and stood. Tucker and Jeremy both looked tense, but to their credit, neither said a word.

Raising her chin, she brushed her body against Jeremy’s as she slid around the table and approached Tucker. She slid a hand under his T-shirt, fingers brushing across that incredible six-pack, and then she stood on her tiptoes and slanted her mouth over his.

He threw his arms around her and kissed her with a fervor that made her breathless. Before Friday night, she would have never believed he could be that intense. But now she knew, and she wanted more. With a moan, she plunged deeper into his mouth, and he met her, allowing her everything she wanted. When he pressed against her, she felt his enthusiasm for the embrace—all those mouthwatering inches of it.

Still, she couldn’t afford to be distracted.

She drew away and whirled to stare right at Jeremy. He watched, breathing hard. They all were, in fact. The irregular cadence of their exhalations sharpened the silent tension gripping her nipples and squeezing. Her sex clenched.