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I strutted over to the mantle, then used Maverick’s phone to change the song again. Something soft and melodic began playing — one of my favorites from Natalie Imbruglia. So far I’d been in charge of the music all night, and the guys hadn’t seemed to mind.
“Not much of a story,” I said, finally turning to face them again. “I turned twenty-nine a few months back. Went through a little bit of a mid-life crisis.”
“You Jules?” Gage asked. “Seriously?”
I shook off his playful use of my nickname. “Why, does that surprise you?”
The blond SEAL sent up a shrug of his massive shoulders. “The way you carry yourself, I guess I just can’t see you giving in to a crisis.”
I smiled at him for a few moments, letting my body sway slowly to the rhythm of the song. It was a damned good song. One of my favorites.
“Who said I gave in to it?” I replied finally. I tapped the Valkyrie. “This felt more like… embracing it.”
“Is that your only tattoo?” asked Maverick.
My eyes shifted his way, enjoying their view of the ripped, beautiful body so casually sprawled out over the couch. Without even thinking, I winked at him.
“Maybe.”
The storm had come and raged and gone, but the memories of it still lingered in my mind. The whole thing had been violent. Almost vengeful. Yet with the room warmed by the fireplace and the music playing in the background, I’d been very comfortable.
More than comfortable actually, surrounded by these two hunky, flirty saviors who kept plying me with wine.
In all honesty I’d been drinking them in every bit as much as they had me; the guys were beyond gorgeous, and they both turned out to be great company. The flirting and innuendo was something I’d urged on throughout the evening, even initiating it at times.
I kept reminding myself I should’ve felt bad for still being here, or somehow even guilty. Fortunately I felt neither of those things.
In fact, maybe even just the opposite.
“Truth,” Gage said abruptly.
I turned to face him. “Go on.”
It was a little game we’d started before the storm even hit; sort of like truth or dare, only there were no dares. At least not yet, anyway. We’d used the game to break the ice. To learn about each other in a no-bullshit, can’t-lie environment.
“Did your little mid-life crisis have anything to do with you wanting a baby?”
I paused, taking an emboldening sip of my wine. Answers sprung quickly to mind, and half of them were already lies. All of them were defensive.
“Yes,” I said finally, surprising myself with the stark truth of my answer. “It did.”
The song changed to another on the same album. Still dancing with my shoes off, I glided a little closer to the fire.
“That’s understandable,” Maverick allowed.
“You boys really think so?” I challenged. “You don’t think it’s silly, or even foolish, to bring a life into this crazy world? At least not without the benefit of two solid parents, or without—”
“No,” Gage said abruptly, standing up. “Actually, we don’t.”
He looked at me with those big blue eyes, and his expression softened. There was empathy there. Empathy and understanding.
“You need to realize we’ve been out of the loop for the past decade,” he said gently. “None of us have had time to give proper attention to our existing families, much less think about starting our own.”
“But you have?” I asked, actually surprised.
The two men glanced at each other — something they did a lot — and shrugged in unison.
“Recently, sure,” said Maverick simply. “It’s not like the thought hasn’t crossed our mind.”
