aren’t asking you to choose.” Eric interrupted her in measured tones. “That’s what we wanted to talk to you about.”
Her gaze skittered from one of them to the other, her eyes suddenly narrowing. “What? This united front gives me pause.”
Jack laughed softly, elbows on the table. “Sweetheart, just keep listening.”
“You know,” Eric said in his best boardroom voice, “we’re hardly interested in losing you either. So, if this were the corporate world, we’d just go ahead and consider a merger.”
“A… what ?”
Jack, at the end, was the one who said bluntly, “You have slept with Eric and you’ve slept with me. Is there some reason we can’t just operate as a team?”
“A team?”
“The three of us.” Eric sent his friend a quelling glance that clearly said shut up . “As in, it might be a little unconventional, but we actually have the same concerns you do. We don’t want you to choose, and we don’t want to lose a lifetime friendship either. In fact, we’ve talked about it, and we agree we might each bring something different to the table.”
The incredulous look on her face told him he’d better talk a little faster.
Eric cleared his throat. “Can we at least show you how this might work?”
The man had lost his mind.
Like…lost it.
Nicole was more than startled. She was…maybe a little intrigued but, really, they had to be joking.
“How what might work?”
“Dating both of us,” Eric explained, hoping the tactful choice of word would take away some of the shock value. “There’s no reason you shouldn’t. As it is, the three of us are together pretty often anyway.”
“I can’t—”
“Step outside the box? Sure you can. A committed relationship between a man and a woman, or for that matter between people of the same sex if you are liberal-minded about it, is defined by the people they are and what they expect. I wouldn’t tell you this was okay with me if it wasn’t.”
Jack’s smile was laconic. “Hey, he’d have been dead days ago if I was truly jealous. Someone else, hell yes. I know how Eric will treat you, Nikki, and my career isn’t going to change. I’m telling you the God’s truth, that when I am deployed again, I want to know he’s taking care of you.”
A bird was singing loudly in one of the trees in her backyard. A different song each time…mockingbird, she realized, which seemed appropriate somehow. She sure hoped the bird couldn’t repeat this particular conversation.
The real trouble was…she actually found the proposition tempting despite what she saw as some pretty insurmountable obstacles. First of all, it would be a relief to not have to lie in bed each night wondering what she was going to do. To say she’d been miserable all week wasn’t quite accurate, but distracted, yes. “I’d just love to hear how the two of you plan to explain this to other people.”
“I don’t.” Jack was the one that rose, his voice decisive. He came around the table and pulled her to her feet. His mouth brushed hers once and then settled into a heated kiss. At first Nicole was resistant to the extent she was acutely aware of Eric watching them, and then the persuasive press of his hands and the brush of his tongue against hers took over.
Compounded when she felt the warm pressure of Eric’s mouth on her nape as he swept her hair aside.
Both of them. She’d always thought she was fairly conventional, but on the other hand a shiver of pleasure rippled through her as Eric nuzzled her neck and Jack’s hand came down to cup her ass and bring her closer so their bodies were fully touching.
“People can see us here,” she managed to say. “I have neighbors.”
“Right, let’s take this discussion inside.” Jack’s grin would melt any woman’s heart. Make her knees buckle. Set her pulse on high-octane overdrive.
Eric moved to open the door. “Good idea.”
Chapter Eleven
Jack wasn’t usually into compromise.
Not considering
Her gaze skittered from one of them to the other, her eyes suddenly narrowing. “What? This united front gives me pause.”
Jack laughed softly, elbows on the table. “Sweetheart, just keep listening.”
“You know,” Eric said in his best boardroom voice, “we’re hardly interested in losing you either. So, if this were the corporate world, we’d just go ahead and consider a merger.”
“A… what ?”
Jack, at the end, was the one who said bluntly, “You have slept with Eric and you’ve slept with me. Is there some reason we can’t just operate as a team?”
“A team?”
“The three of us.” Eric sent his friend a quelling glance that clearly said shut up . “As in, it might be a little unconventional, but we actually have the same concerns you do. We don’t want you to choose, and we don’t want to lose a lifetime friendship either. In fact, we’ve talked about it, and we agree we might each bring something different to the table.”
The incredulous look on her face told him he’d better talk a little faster.
Eric cleared his throat. “Can we at least show you how this might work?”
The man had lost his mind.
Like…lost it.
Nicole was more than startled. She was…maybe a little intrigued but, really, they had to be joking.
“How what might work?”
“Dating both of us,” Eric explained, hoping the tactful choice of word would take away some of the shock value. “There’s no reason you shouldn’t. As it is, the three of us are together pretty often anyway.”
“I can’t—”
“Step outside the box? Sure you can. A committed relationship between a man and a woman, or for that matter between people of the same sex if you are liberal-minded about it, is defined by the people they are and what they expect. I wouldn’t tell you this was okay with me if it wasn’t.”
Jack’s smile was laconic. “Hey, he’d have been dead days ago if I was truly jealous. Someone else, hell yes. I know how Eric will treat you, Nikki, and my career isn’t going to change. I’m telling you the God’s truth, that when I am deployed again, I want to know he’s taking care of you.”
A bird was singing loudly in one of the trees in her backyard. A different song each time…mockingbird, she realized, which seemed appropriate somehow. She sure hoped the bird couldn’t repeat this particular conversation.
The real trouble was…she actually found the proposition tempting despite what she saw as some pretty insurmountable obstacles. First of all, it would be a relief to not have to lie in bed each night wondering what she was going to do. To say she’d been miserable all week wasn’t quite accurate, but distracted, yes. “I’d just love to hear how the two of you plan to explain this to other people.”
“I don’t.” Jack was the one that rose, his voice decisive. He came around the table and pulled her to her feet. His mouth brushed hers once and then settled into a heated kiss. At first Nicole was resistant to the extent she was acutely aware of Eric watching them, and then the persuasive press of his hands and the brush of his tongue against hers took over.
Compounded when she felt the warm pressure of Eric’s mouth on her nape as he swept her hair aside.
Both of them. She’d always thought she was fairly conventional, but on the other hand a shiver of pleasure rippled through her as Eric nuzzled her neck and Jack’s hand came down to cup her ass and bring her closer so their bodies were fully touching.
“People can see us here,” she managed to say. “I have neighbors.”
“Right, let’s take this discussion inside.” Jack’s grin would melt any woman’s heart. Make her knees buckle. Set her pulse on high-octane overdrive.
Eric moved to open the door. “Good idea.”
Chapter Eleven
Jack wasn’t usually into compromise.
Not considering
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