“Then does that mean I get a raise?” Darla blurted out. Jesus, woman, she chided herself. You do not know when to stop.
Laura laughed again, only this time she sounded more secure. “We’ll talk about that a different time. This time, though, I’d like a chance to talk about—”
“Threesomes. And bein’ in one. And how f**ked up it can be.” Darla felt more comfortable now. Not getting fired. Not getting fired.
“Um, I might put it a bit more diplomatically…”
“Laura.” Darla snorted. “You’ve met me. ‘Diplomatically’ isn’t in my vocabulary.”
“Is Jeddy’s in your vocabulary? Josie says I should take you there for lunch.”
Darla paused, mouth drooling without provocation. “Are you serious? Lunch with the boss at Jeddy’s to talk about being in a threesome relationship with two men? When did I bang my head and go into this dream about work?”
“Not a dream,” Laura said, laughing gently. Darla could feel the relief in her—in both of them. Her brow tightened; this felt like the tip of some iceberg Darla didn’t know was underneath deep ocean waters. “How about next week? Thursday? I have limited babysitting for Jillian, but that day is open. We can do it on one of your work days. It’s on the clock.”
On the clock? Jeddy’s? Talkin’ about threesome life?
Best. Job. Ever.
“Sure. Lunchtime?” Darla asked, assuming.
“How about two o’clock? We can come after the rush crowd and get a quieter place.”
Laura’s words made her pause. This was intriguing. People didn’t invite her out under such mysterious circumstances. Hmmm…
Less full of people to hear, Darla thought, but wisely shoved that fist back in her mouth.
“Two o’clock works for me,” she said evenly.
“Yes. Perfect. I’m putting it in my calendar. Want me to come get you at work, or meet at Jeddy’s?”
“Whatever works for you, Laura.”
“Let’s just meet there, then.”
“Okay.” Darla’s body relaxed in increments. She wasn’t being fired. She wasn’t having her hours reduced. Everything was right in the world. Laura just wanted to get to know her better.
“And Darla?”
“Yep?”
“Thank you.”
Click.
Darla stared at the phone.
Now she had two phone conversations to nominate for weirdest f**king call at work, ever.
Laura
Dylan raced from the Jeep into the little sex cabin Mike had built for the three of them last year. “I think we still have a few beers in the fridge!” he exclaimed from the deck, stripping down to just jeans in seconds.
And then nothing at all. Out here in the woods, in the remote mountain area of the ski resort Mike owned, there was no one but the deer and the occasional bear to see all of Dylan’s delicious parts.
And oh, how delicious they were. While parenthood had made her a bit squishier in all her curvy parts, Dylan and Mike had stayed the same. Even better in some ways, carved and curved in hard, steely ways that complemented her abundant figure.
Over the past six months she’d worked so hard to let go of her self-conscious inhibitions, and was largely there. For the most part.
Almost.
The sex cabin Mike had built really helped. And so did adding a part-time nanny two months ago. Cyndi was a doll. A dream. Mary Poppins without the uptight attitude. She didn’t have to be practically perfect, because she was loving and warm and safe and beyond good enough. The guys wouldn’t settle for anything less than the loving grandmother Cyndi was for Jillian, and as their little baby turned into a walking, jabbering toddler, they’d all done better with a little space.
Twenty hours a week, Laura could just be. Just be all by herself, while Dylan handled his foundation’s charity work, or while Mike managed the ski resort. Just be while she worked with Josie on the threesome dating service she’d created.
Just be with her e-reader and her imagination.
And now—just be with Dylan and Mike in the sex cabin.
The lost libido that seemed hopeless to try to find six months ago had come roaring back with a deafening rush of need when Jillian had turned one year old last month. Certain she was meant to enjoy affection and sex but not desperately want it with that gnawing, alarming need that makes the shared release of sexual touch and connection, Laura had found herself blossoming in new ways.
And “blossom” sounded so demure. Prim, even.
She was turning into a f**king animal—and the operative word was “fucking.” This went beyond the mild exhaustion Dylan and Mike had exhibited as her sexual desire reawakened. This new feeling was like being a nineteen-year-old boy. She hummed with urges and cravings and—oh, my…
Dylan was naked, on the cabin’s deck, chugging a nice cold one down like something out of a really fancy clothing-optional resort commercial.
Not that she’d ever seen one of those commercials, but if they ever made them, they needed to hire Dylan.
Just like this.
“Why are you naked?” Mike shouted as he grabbed a cooler of food to put in the cabin’s fridge. Cyndi was back at the house for five hours today, and they intended to take advantage of every single second. Mike’s idea of “taking advantage” was decidedly different from hers and Dylan’s. After the first round of sex Mike would make tenderloin steaks and grilled vegetables on the giant smoker he treated like a second child, while Dylan and Laura would make fun of him and, maybe, have a little round of lovemaking to themselves.
That was what her mind filled in. But as Mike trundled through the doorway carrying a fifty-pound cooler on his shoulder like it was a pillow, she wondered how he’d look grilling naked.
I need to get a life, she thought.
I have the best f**king life, she corrected herself. Don’t need another one.
“What are you waiting for? Didn’t you get the memo? It’s na**d country life day,” Dylan joked. The sun covered his slightly-less-tan body in a way that was so appealing. Her own skin was so white these days you could use it as a reflector to guide search parties.
Mike was the only one who managed to stay tan year round, and Laura was beginning to suspect he’d given the devil his pinkie toe in exchange for looking that good, even in the dim month of February when the sun didn’t come near New England.
“You want me naked?” she teased.
Both men shouted, “Yes!” It was like having boyfriends in stereo.