I kind of stood there, not knowing what to do while Miller dished up food, and Spencer pulled out two six packs of drinks—one of flavored soda water and another of what looked like beer. He gave me a nod with an uplift of his chin and gestured to the beer. “I drank Great Northern back home. I found a bottle-o here that stocks them. Do you mind if I have one?”
“Not at all.” I smiled and gestured for him to go for it.
“Would you like one too?” he asked, offering me the bottle he’d freed from the cardboard wrap.
“No, thanks, I’m good.” I opened the refrigerator and asked, “Miller, what can I get you?”
“I’ve got mine here, darlin’.” He held up the lime soda water. “Can I interest y’all in this?”
“Oh, yes please.”
The conversation was awkward, stilted and uncomfortable, like there was an elephant in the room that no one was acknowledging. I still needed to change my wet T-shirt, but I didn’t want to run away from them. I stayed stubbornly still, waiting for Brayden to set down my plate.
“Did Hannah go to sleep easily?” Spencer asked as we sat down.
“Yeah, she’s pretty good if we keep up our routine—supper, playtime, bath, story, and bed. She has this favorite book about a green sheep that I have to read to her every night before she goes down.”
“No! Really?” Spencer asked, his eyes bright. “NotWhere is the Green Sheep?I loved that book when I was a kid. Did you know Mem Fox is an Aussie?”
“Yeah, that’s the one. Cara gave it to me—” I turned to Miller and explained, “Hux’s girlfriend.” I smiled, then rememberedthe cookies. “Hold that thought.” I brought the tin of cookies over to the table and opened it for Spencer. “Carina, Jacques’s wife and Cara’s mom, made them. They’re ANZAC cookies.”
Spencer whimpered, actually whimpered, and the sound was like a lit fuse to my libido. He inhaled slowly and moaned, then reached for the tin but stopped himself short. “May I?”
“You can have all of them,” I breathed, my heart hammering in my chest and my mouth suddenly very dry.
“After dinner,” he said, as if he was forcing himself to obey a command.
Miller cleared his throat and broke the spell between us. I hadn’t realized I’d been staring, drooling over his husband like a dog with a bone.
We stuck to mundane topics after that, the conversation stilted at first, then growing a little more comfortable as time progressed. When we’d finished, Spencer took my plate, rinsed all the dishes, and loaded the dishwasher while Miller folded the placemats and washed the remaining dishes. No matter how much I protested, they didn’t listen, insisting that they look after it for me.
“Go and put your feet up for a minute, darlin’,” Miller ordered. “Or I’ll tie you to the chair.”
I chuckled, then froze when Spencer shot me a look that screamed, “Test me.” I scuttled out of the kitchen and tidied up the toys still on the floor in the living room that Hannah and I had been playing with after dinner.
Their gazes burned into me as I packed the last of the blocks away. I turned, watching them as they watched me from the doorway. My breath caught when Spencer stepped forward.
“We need to talk, Keels,” he said. I swallowed and pressed my lips into a tight smile before jerking my head in somewhat of a nod. He took my hand in his and guided me over to thesofa. Instead of sitting next to me, he sat on the coffee table, his movements as graceful as they were sensual.
“I'm so sorry—” I started.
“Shh, there's no need to be sorry.” He interlaced our fingers and squeezed. “Bray told you that he’d tell me what happened, and he did. The moment he got home. I’m sorry you felt like he was cheating. He wasn’t. We’ve each been with other people since we’ve been together. As long as we’re open and honest about it, we’re both okay with that. If anything, I’m envious, not angry.”
“Oh,” I murmured. I needed to tell them that it couldn’t happen again. That it was a once-off mistake that couldn’t be repeated.
Miller sat on the armrest next to me and ran his fingers through my hair while Spencer continued as if I hadn’t spoken.
“We understand your concerns. You need your job. You have obligations—” He waved his hand around in a circle, and I knew he meant Hannah plus every other obligation that came with being an adult. “—but we can’t keep pretending we don’t want you.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. I wanted them too. But I couldn’t.
“Bray suggested keeping it casual. I’m suggesting keeping things just between us until we can figure out what to do with your work. Maybe it won’t be a big deal.” He held his palms out and pressed his lips together in what might pass for a small smile. “Is there an employee handbook or something you can check?”
“There is. But I already know what it says. There’s a prohibition on management dating other staff members to avoid conflicts of interest. Technically, I’m management. I’m not Miller’s boss, but I control the team’s social media and publicrelations. That’s a conflict of interest, especially if anything negative is posted.”
“Y’all, if we can get around that—and it might be possible, so let’s assume we can—would you want this? Us?” Miller asked.
I opened my mouth to respond, but Spencer held his hands up in a stopping gesture and I waited for him to speak.
