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Rose-Marie laughed softly. “I can’t think of a more appropriate word. Indeed … heavenly.”
TWENTY-TWO
“That was one seriously twisted path we traveled today,” Jewel said as she sipped her martini. She sat near the foot of a double chaise-longue chair on Rogen’s patio, which was alight with flames from the fireplace, the lava stone–filled planters, and a star-studded sky. She was situated between both men, her legs tucked under her. They flanked her with their hunky bodies. Exactly what Jewel preferred.
Rogen said, “It sure as hell wasn’t easy seeing my mother that distraught.”
“Not easy knowing I’ve played a huge part in her trauma, either,” Jewel commented.
“It wasn’t personal, Jewel,” Vin reminded her, always the voice of reason. Which she adored. “You can’t help that you shared some similarities to Taylor. Like Rose-Marie said, it w
as never your fault.”
“Still, I feel bad about how life exploded around them. Everyone, really.”
“What your parents did for mine,” Rogen said. “That was something. To let my parents cover up all the emotional horror unfolding in our house by faking a feud … That’s pretty serious stuff.”
With a nod, Jewel said, “I’m still blown away by it. Except that I can see from your parents’ side how hard … how excruciating … it would be to surround themselves with their nearest and dearest friends, who’d not encountered any tragedies. Who had precisely what your parents wanted—a healthy daughter. A family that wasn’t shattered. To not have to send away their only son because of how tumultuous and tenuous the environment had become.”
“I’ll admit,” Rogen said, “though it’s painful to think of it, that I’d rather my parents sent me to Trinity than to have gone to the extreme of committing my mother to a mental health facility.” He shook his head, as though his thought hadn’t quite come out right. “I know she needs help, and I’m relieved she’s getting it. But she’s lived an extremely productive life—has devoted herself to charities and volunteering—because she could come and go, and live in her own home. Not some institution. Do I believe what they did was right by forsaking the relationship with your parents? No. But—”
“She’s your mother, Rogen,” Vin said. “All you want for her is to be healthy and happy.”
“Yes.”
“You can’t justify their actions for them,” Vin added. “And Jewel was right. We can’t change the past. So let’s stop trying. Let’s cut it loose. Because now we have a future.”
Jewel lifted her glass. “Salut.”
They tapped rims.
She polished off her martini and handed over the glass to Rogen, who deposited it, along with his, on the small table next to the lounger. Vin did the same.
Jewel stretched between them, facing Rogen. She said, “I’m sorry I let all the gossip go to my head.”
Rogen’s fingers glided across her collarbone. “It was a bit in-our-face when we came back from Paris, with not much time to prepare for what we’d encounter from the rumors.”
She kissed him. Then craned her neck toward Vin behind her. Kissed him, too. She breathed him in and said, “God, I’ve missed how you both smell. All the heat. The virility.”
Returning her attention to Rogen, she fisted his tee at the waist and pushed it upward and over his arms and head, tossing it aside. Her hands skimmed his muscles and they flexed beneath her touch.
He sighed sexily. “Something tells me we’re not going to have any trouble working out all the logistics of this arrangement.”
“We’re pretty creative people.” She kissed him.
Then Jewel turned to Vin and toyed with the top button of his dress shirt. He gave her a devilish grin.
“I know you’re dying to rip it open,” he said. “Go ahead. I have a closetful of expensive shirts, remember?”
Heat blazed through her. She gripped the opening at his pecs and yanked forcefully, sending buttons flying.
“God, that just feels so good,” she told him.
He kissed her. Wildly. Passionately. The way he always did.
Rogen worked the zipper on her dress and she wiggled out of it with his help while still kissing Vin. Then Rogen’s hands were on her and she had to tear her mouth away and gasp for air as everything inside her ignited.
She unfastened Rogen’s belt and jeans while he toed off his boots. Jewel dragged the denim and his boxer briefs down his legs. Then repeated the process with Vin.
