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Her daughter had made it clear that age didn’t matter. But how would Gabby feel if she learned two younger men were pursuing her mother? Two younger men who want to share me? Want to spend the rest of their lives with me?
More tears fell. I’m too old for them. I’m too old to have the children I always wanted and they deserve. Clay and Jay would make wonderful fathers. She could imagine how loving they would be with their children.
She wasn’t sure she could even get pregnant, and there were risks for women of her age. Why am I thinking about this? It’s never going to be anyway.
She’d let her guard down with Clay and Jay from the very beginning. I thought I could just have a fling with them, but now my heart is breaking.
* * * *
Waiting for Izzy to emerge from her shower, Jay sat on the side of the bed with Clay. They’d brought in a bottle of wine and three glasses, hoping to help settle her emotions. He wondered if they had held off a little longer to tell her how they felt if things might have gone easier. Probably not. It was obvious to him by her reaction that she felt something for them. Doubt was what was holding her back, not just her age, though that seemed to play a big part of her decision to walk away.
Her ending the hope of a future together before it even got started was something they couldn’t let happen. He and Clay had made it clear to one another that she was the only woman for them. Now they had to make it clear to her. Very clear.
The bathroom door opened and Izzy stepped into the bedroom. She was fully dressed, her hair wet, and no makeup, looking adorable and radiant as always.
But her eyes are red.
Had she gotten soap in her eyes or had she been crying? He guessed the latter, which crushed him. The last thing he wanted to do was make her unhappy. She was torn but it seemed to him that a part of her wanted to pursue things with him and Clay. How can we make her see that we belong together—and together we will be happy?
He poured her a glass of wine and handed it to her, and she sat down in the chair facing the bed and them.
Izzy took a sip and her eyes landed on him and Clay. “I’m sorry, guys. I really am, but this just won’t work.”
He leaned forward. “Izzy, we love—”
“Stop. Please. Just listen to me.” She shook her head. “This can’t be. It’s not that I’m just too old for you. It’s so many things. You two are about to turn thirty. You will be running one of the largest corporations in the world. What would your employees think? Your stockholders? Your customers? Two men with one woman…an older woman by twelve years?”
“We don’t give a damn what anyone else thinks, sweetheart,” Clay said his own thoughts aloud. “This is about us, about our happiness.”
“Besides, our private lives are exactly that,” he said. “Private. And having a beautiful woman like you between us…most will know how lucky Clay and I are.”
“Okay, then what about our friends and family? What about Gabby? She made it clear to me that age doesn’t matter to her after I told her about meeting y
ou.”
Izzy told her daughter about us? Hope swelled inside him. She does have feelings for us.
“But I don’t think Gabby will understand me being with both of you. There are two of you. Not one. That’s not done. No one would understand that. Not even my crazy two best friends.”
He grinned, sensing she was running out of steam. “Have you talked to them about us, too?”
“No, but I’ve been friends with Toni and Cami for so long I know what they would think.” She took another sip. “And by the way, I don’t own a dog. Brownie is Cami’s and her real name is Peanut. So do you really want a woman that’s a liar?”
He and Clay laughed.
“We really didn’t think you had a dog, sweetheart.” Jay could see she was shaking from all the emotions that were bubbling up inside her. All he wanted to do was hold her, but he knew that the best course of action was to let her get it all out.
Clay nodded. “There were no signs of a dog in your house, angel.”
“That doesn’t mean I don’t like dogs or don’t want a dog. I just haven’t had time for a dog.”
“So why did you say you were talking to a dog when I called you, Izzy?” Clay asked.
“Because I was having a sexual dream about you and Jay.” Her cheeks flared red. “See what a liar I am? You deserve someone who tells the truth.”
“A sexual dream?” Jay grinned. “About both of us?”
“Yes, about both of you, if you must know. I am a dirty old woman.” She downed the rest of the wine and held out her glass. “Refill, please.”
