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He trails a lone finger down my neck, sending a jolt of warmth down my spine.
“You are devastatingly beautiful tonight. Something about this place puts a light in your eyes that I haven’t seen before.”
His words catch me off guard, and my face heats. “It’s home,” I whisper.
He picks up my hand and holds it to his chest. “It’s OK to touch me, you know.”
It surprises me that there is no instinct to pull my hand away. Instead, I curl my fingers against his shirt. His heart beats beneath my palm reminding me that he’s a living, breathing, human. For the past decade, he’s been more of an idea than a reality.
“It’s hard,” I admit.
“What is?”
“Getting close to you. I’m torn. I want our marriage to be a happy one. But none of that changes how I feel about Owen. You’ve both been so important in different ways, and as terrifying as the past few days have been, it’s been oddly comforting to have both of you in my life again. It’s going to break my heart when this is resolved, and we have to go back to London. I can’t imagine anywhere feeling like home the way this place does.”
I lift my hand from his chest to his face, and his eyes drift closed as I caress his cheek. He clears his throat and pulls my hand to his lips, brushing it with a chaste kiss. “Perhaps touching me isn’t such a great idea, vixen. You’ve made it clear you’re not ready to go farther with me, and if you keep touching me, I’m going to have to leave.”
I lift an eyebrow. “Why would you have to leave?”
He chuckles. “Because I would never force myself on a woman, but I have no desire to sit here with a hard dick when I can’t have you. At least at the hotel I can do something about the… situation.”
Now it’s my turn to laugh. “Such a gentleman. I’m sure there are a number of people who would appreciate you taking care of yourself right here, though.”Myself included.That thought pops into my head unbidden, and I scoot away from him, trying to divert my brain from the lust-filled path it is currently trying to take.
“In your dreams, little vixen. Only the most well-behaved girls get to see that show.”
Fuck. I need to get out of this conversation now.
He stands and reaches down to cup my cheek. “I’m going to check my phone again and give you a chance to escape.”
I watch him walk away and then scan the room for Owen. The way they both occupy my mind lately is disconcerting. And now I’ve got Tyson’s voice in my ear asking why I can’t have both.
Later that night, I’m in the office walking Grace through the spreadsheet system one more time, and I can’t get my mind off what Tyson had to say or the way Tobias and I connected on the couch.
When Grace leaves for the night, I still have work to do, so I put on my headphones and get started. Curiosity gets the better of me, and I find myself with an Internet browser open and I Google polyamory. The vast array of results astounds me. I knew it was a thing. Tyson and Sabrina aren’t the only polyamorous people in the club. But I certainly didn’t expect to find a literal buffet of resources. I read the descriptions of the most popular book results and choose an audio book titled “The Smart Girl’s Guide To Polyamory.” The title alone was enough to make me want to buy, and the description seems like it might answer some questions I have.
My finger hovers over the play button before I shove the phone away. It’s a childish idea to think I could somehow fulfill my duty to my family and still have Owen in my life. In one way or another, I’m minimizing one of the men. And despite my frustration with Tobias, I care enough about them both that I don’t want to do that.
I glance up to find Owen in my doorway smiling at me, and I take my headphones off.
“You look right behind that desk, love.”
I give him a sad smile. “It was good to be back, Sir.”
His eyes narrow, and he crosses the desk to me. “Why call me that?”
“It comes naturally. Especially here. I’ll work on it.”
He waves a hand. “It’s fine. If Tobias has his way, you won’t be here much longer anyway.”
“That’s depressing. I don’t want to talk about it,”
He sits across from me and props an ankle on the opposite knee. “What do you want to talk about?
It’s always been so natural to tell him what’s on my mind. But tonight, I hesitate. Not for long, though. He fixes me with a look that says I’ll give him an answer if I know what’s good for me.
I relent and toss him my phone with the audio book still pulled up.
He stares at it for a moment then slides it back to me.
