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“Come here,” Ford growls.

I crawl across the couch toward him, and he takes my chin in his large hands, kissing me with controlled passion. It’s even deeper and more possessive than the kiss Hayden gave me moments ago.

When I pull back, Gabriel is already there waiting, so I just have to turn my head to kiss him too. The anticipation in the air is thick enough to cut, making it feel hard to breathe in the best way possible.

When I pull back from Gabriel, he stares down at me. The room is completely quiet, as if the sound has been turned off, and I can feel myself waiting for the tension to snap, for someone to make the next move⁠—

Sudden noises in the hallway break through the stillness, and I lurch back against the couch just as Lydia bounces into the room.

“I thought you went to bed already,” Ford says, clearing his throat.

Hayden scowls in the direction of the Christmas tree, and I have to cover my mouth to smother a laugh at how thoroughly annoyed he looks.

“Unlike Mom and Dad, I’m not the type who’s ready for bed before nine p.m.,” Lydia snorts, oblivious to what she just interrupted. She plops herself down on the couch between Ford and me with a bright grin. “Unless you’re all too cool to hang out with your baby sister now?”

“I think it should be the other way around,” Ford teases, although I can see him working to get his breathing under control. “I should worry that you’re too cool to hang out with me. I don’t know any of the current slang.”

“You didn’t know the slang when you were a teenager either,” Hayden points out, making Gabriel snort with laughter.

“Oh really?” I ask, grinning despite my disappointment at the interruption. “You’re telling me teenage Ford wasn’t the epitome of cool?”

I might be disappointed that our moment was interrupted and that Lydia just inserted herself into the middle of our private time, but I do genuinely like Lydia. And I’m discovering that I enjoy spending time with these men outside of sex just as much. Now that I’m not just their assistant, I’m seeing them not only as demanding bosses, but as complete people. I’ve always caught glimpses of their other sides, but now it feels like I’m being actively invited to see every part of them.

It’s a privilege, one I’m fully aware not everyone gets. And I really like the men I’m discovering they are beneath their professional facades. I won’t take any of this for granted. We can always have sex later, after all. This—getting to talk with them and be part of their group, feeling like maybe even for a moment I belong to their family—is just as important to me.

Honestly, in some ways, it might be even more important.

Lydia is outraged to hear that we had expensive whiskey without her, so Gabriel insists we get some wine and include her this time.

The moment Lydia gets up to help Gabriel select glasses, Ford smoothly tugs me along the couch so I’m curled against his side with his strong arm around my shoulders. That way when Lydia returns, she sits on my other side instead of between us again.

It could just be for Lydia’s benefit, maintaining our fake engagement charade. But Lydia doesn’t comment or tease us about it, and she didn’t seem bothered sitting between us before. I let myself relax into Ford’s side, and as we sip the wine while Gabriel educates us on proper wine appreciation and Hayden and Ford mercilessly tease him, I can’t help feeling like this is… more than just sex.

Ford absently takes a lock of my hair and twirls it around his finger, seemingly enjoying the silky texture. He doesn’t even appear to realize he’s doing it, which makes the gesture feel even more intimate.

If I close my eyes and let myself relax into his touch while conversation flows around me, I can almost imagine this is more than a temporary arrangement. That all of this is… real.

40

MAEVE

When I wake up the next morning, the other side of the bed is warm but empty. Ford is already up and gone.

That doesn’t surprise me too much, considering he and the others are still working on the merger. If the past few days have proven anything, it’s that these men’s dedication to their business really is absolute—even when they’re supposed to be relaxing.

I stretch lazily, my body humming as I remember those incredible kisses from last night. Nothing more than that happened, unfortunately. By the time Lydia was ready for bed, exhaustion had caught up with me too, and we all agreed we needed sleep to be ready for whatever Elaine had planned today.

But god, those kisses were still fantastic. I bite my lip as I replay every heated encounter I’ve had with these men so far. Now that we’ve addressed the jealousy issue and established what they want from this arrangement… the thought of all three of them touching me at the same time, whispering filthy things in my ear, sends heat flooding through my entire body.

They’re all so devastatingly attractive and skilled at reading my body. They know exactly how to make it sing in ways I never thought possible. Even if I had imagined such pleasure existed, I never would have believed men like these three would ever be interested in someone like me.

Turns out they are, and it’s opened up a whole new world of possibilities.

Even though we didn’t do more than kiss last night, that conversation was important. We needed to make sure we’re all on the same page about expectations. And I genuinely enjoyed just spending time with them—talking and laughing, bonding, learning more about who they are beneath their powerful exteriors.

I could get used to that kind of intimacy, I realize, and my heart stutters dangerously in my chest.

As much as last night felt like something deeper, something real and lasting, I have to be ruthlessly honest with myself. That’s not what’s happening here. This arrangement has a clear expiration date, and we all know it.