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“Yeah, because you’re busy in other ways at night now.” Colt tugged back the shower door and closed her inside with the loofah and ocean-scented shower gel and shampoo she’d found waiting for her on the counter last week. “Wash, woman. We’re going to make breakfast,” he called.
She couldn’t help smiling as she turned on the hot spray. They really were keepers. They might boss her around a bit, in bed and out, but she always had the option to put her foot down and to know they’d listen. Truth be told, she liked their bossing. Liked hearing Colt sing in a froggy voice after he brushed his teeth in the morning and always enjoyed whatever random factoid Drake snatched out of the morning paper to discuss. They were spending a lot of time together and it wasn’t weird. It was just good. Natural and fun and right.
Tipping her head up, she let the water hit her in all of her sorest places. There were a few, not the least of which was her ass. She kind of loved being spanked. Who’d’ve thunk it? Not her. She’d discovered a lot about herself these past couple of weeks.
Why did it feel as though she’d been with them so much longer? Sure, they’d been friends for a while, but this was so much different. It shouldn’t have been this easy. She shouldn’t have felt completely comfortable packing an overnight bag and sleeping over and leaving right from their place for work as if she was their girlfriend.
She sputtered on water. Damn, maybe she was their girlfriend. She didn’t need the label per se, except to know for herself where she stood. Could this really work for more than just the short-term?
She ducked her head under the water again and shampooed her hair vigorously with the bottle of her preferred stuff they’d picked up, though she’d insisted she could bring over her own. But they’d wanted to do it. Taking care of her seemed to come naturally to them, as odd as that seemed. Charli would be so surprised to find out that—
Charli.
She blinked away water and tipped her forehead against the wet tile wall. She’d been darting around that issue, pretending it didn’t exist. Hoping her best friend would eventually be okay with it. But there was no denying they hadn’t spoken much the last few days. It wasn’t as if they were feuding or anything. They still laughed over strange orders and bitched about demanding customers, and there hadn’t been any awkward silences or anything. There just hadn’t been any of the normal gabfests either. Theoretically, there was a lot to gab about. Charli was newly married, which meant lots of girl talk. Or that’s what it would’ve meant, if things hadn’t changed.
Paige sighed. She had a lot to gab about too. It had been such a long time since she’d been so into a man. And well, obviously she’d never been into two men in quite this way before.
At least Sadie understood. Maybe being part of a threesome wasn’t the usual way of things—and especially in small-town Quinn—but that didn’t mean it was wrong. The only semi-wrong thing was who was part of that ménage.
No matter how Charli tried, it had to be weird for her to hear Paige describe sex with her ex. Not that she had, or would. Still…icky. But there had to be a way to resolve the situation without anyone getting hurt.
Thank God Charli was happily remarried. And Paige was happy too. She almost couldn’t believe how much.
Paige turned off the water. They had to talk again. End of story. Spill their guts and maybe cry and drink their way to some kind of understanding. There was no way around it. She couldn’t just let things…hang between them, not if she intended to continue on with Colt and Drake. Which she did.
Feeling better already, she wrapped one of Drake’s thick towels around her and stepped out. She dried off quickly and fingercombed her wild curls before dressing in the long denim skirt and cowl-neck top she’d brought to wear. Hmm. Not the best for a horse ride. At least her boots would work.
She took off her cashmere top and swapped it for one of Drake’s button-down shirts. He didn’t have many. That was more Colt’s department, but his closet was down the hall. They had a good arrangement. They lived and worked in the same place, but had separate areas for everything. If they didn’t want to spend time together, they didn’t have to. Lord knows the house and grounds were big enough. She hadn’t even gotten a sense of the scope of the entire place yet. Why, they could easily fit in another person—
Whoa, whoa, stop the train.
Her fingers faltered on the buttons. She wasn’t going there, was she?
She shut her eyes. Yeah, she was. She was falling for them. Both of them.
After last night, when they’d helped her confront her body issues—or at least start to confront them, because that would be no easy fix—she’d fallen a little in love right then and there. She’d never been worshipped like that before. It wasn’t hard to imagine becoming addicted to it.
They were good men too. Both loved animals and she’d come by a couple times in the past week in time to watch them lead kids around on the horses during lessons. Colt made the kids laugh with his funny faces and natural way with the horses, and Drake was gentle and firm. They just fit together, in business and, after last night, maybe in a special personal sense beyond even friendship. And just maybe she fit with them too.
“Hey, did you fall in—” Colt broke off and stopped in the doorway. “Hot damn. Look at you.” He hauled her in for a kiss, tangling his fingers in her wet hair. “Mmm. You smell like the beach.”
She laughed and nipped his throat. “I was sure you were going to say you smelled…other things. Because you’re naughty like that.”
“I sure am.” He drew back and sniffed. “Nope. Nothing. You have panties on, don’t you?”
She flushed. Leave it to Colt to manage to make her tingly all over. “Yeah, I figured it was a good idea with the horse and all.”
“You figured right. This was a good idea too.” He fingered the sleeve of Drake’s shirt. “You have to wear our clothes more often. Please.”
She reached down to cup him and found him hard and straining. “Huh. Guess I do.”
“That boner was just from thinking about you in the shower. Still working on the full effect of the Drake-shirt boner.” He laughed and she tucked her hand in his. “Ready for breakfast?”
“I sure am.” They walked down the hall and at the top of the stairs, she stopped and took a deep breath. “Ahh, the scent of bacon. I may love you.”
She bit her lip and started to take it back. It was just a joke, but sometimes men got weird about that kind of thing.
He only grinned and swatted her behind. “We’ll see if you still do when we get you on that horse.” He leaned in and nibbled her ear. “Two words: thigh action.”
