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“Trust me, it’s not you, Veronica. It’s something wrong with them and they see an easy target in you.”
“Like I said, I’m sure BookAddictedWhore will eventually lose interest in me since I won’t engage with her when she does that. Until then, I just focus on the nice readers.”
“Yeah, when they can get a word in edgewise.”
Veronica shrugged nonchalantly and changed the subject. “That’s life online. I should finish writing sometime soon.”
“Good! Then you and I can get some shopping done. I’ve never had such a hard time getting another woman to go shopping with me.”
“I’m sorry, I just—”
Grace put up a hand. “Don’t apologize. I know exactly how it is when you’re writing. My guys know to clear the decks and get whatever needs done, done. I don’t know if I could do it without them.”
Veronica noted the dreamy quality in Grace’s expression and wondered what that was like. In her writing world, she sometimes went without eating, and regularly without sleeping, when she was in the zone. Hank and Travis hadn’t judged the fact that she’d told them she needed to work, not sleep, after they’d left Saturday night, which she’d appreciated. Brent had always snored his way through the night hours leaving her to work in peace with her headphones on.
She thought back to Hank and Travis’s one simple instruction to text them when she went to sleep and when she woke up. It was a simple thing, yet she’d somehow felt anchored by the request. They didn’t try to control when she worked, they only wanted to know when she was resting. And the texts had definitely kept them on her mind.
“You’re thinking about them, aren’t you?”
Veronica looked up to find Grace watching her with a knowing smile on her face.
“Maybe, a little.”
She could fantasize about what it would be like with Hank and Travis but she always came back to the same roadblock. Hank held a public office, Travis might be leaving, and she had a lease in Montana and a recalcitrant ex-boyfriend to deal with, if the growing string of text messages and e-mails she’d been receiving on a daily basis were any indicator.
The doorbell rang and Grace smiled up at her. “Why don’t you go see who that is?”
A heat wave swamped her body as anticipation made her nerves jump. Her hands were even shaking as she answered the door. On the doorstep stood Travis and Hank, looking like sin in denim and cowboy boots. This time, Hank was hatless, revealing his sexy silver sideburns and temples while Travis wore a wheat-colored straw cowboy hat.
She stood back and gasped as they both crowded in around her, pinning her to the door. Travis took off his hat and said, “Hello, Nika.” He kissed her brow and then lowered his lips to hers. “Been thinking about you all day.”
“Same here,” Hank added as Travis moved aside enough for Hank to get his kiss. The heat in his gaze was enough by itself to get her wet, imagining the way he’d taken care of her earlier.
Grace came out and greeted both men. Hank’s phone rang while they were chatting and he excused himself to answer it. When he returned, Travis asked, “Who was that?”
“Manager of my last election campaign. He wanted to talk strategy for the next election. He likes to get started early.”
Veronica nodded and smiled. Divine seemed like a well-run town and she had a feeling Hank had a lot to do with that. She wondered how he coped with the public pressure to get the job done. Hank was a good man and it was obvious he had his campaign manager’s confidence for another term in office. A chilling thought occurred to her. If word got out that Hank was a Dom who was interested in a ménage, regardless of its duration, would he still get reelected?
Hank called out to her as he and Travis followed Grace into the kitchen and got beers. She filed the thought, knowing she needed to be careful. The last thing she wanted to do was cost him an election.
Shortly after, Seth brought Kate home and wished them all good-night, and Grace’s men came in from the horse barns with Rose Marie perched on Adam’s shoulders.
When Veronica took her seat, she was surprised to find Hank and Travis immediately situated on either side of her, a fact that both excited her and made her nervous. Grandma Kate looked pleased with the seating arrangement and seemed to take every opportunity to ask Hank and Travis about themselves. The conversation flowed around the table during dinner and Veronica felt a little like she was in a dream world. Every time either man spoke to her or looked at her, she could feel the heat and need growing inside her.
