Chapter 49
Cole
I’ve never been the kind of man who enjoys physical touch.
Growing up, when family members expected hugs and kisses on the cheek, I shrank away from the expectation.
The few relationships I’ve had over the years have shriveled when the women felt I didn’t really want them that much.
I never automatically reached for them, the small touches, hair brushing and hand holding they expected.
If Claire was here, she would be surprised to see me like this, engulfed in a hug with Lucy at the center. Consumed by breath and bodies. And, somehow, comfortable with it.
Or maybe she wouldn’t be surprised at all. Maybe my sister would have met Lucy for the first time and known in a way I didn’t. Not at first, not until she sat with me while I fixed the elevator, and I was able to talk to her so easily.
Lucy laughs at the center of our embrace, and it breaks us apart. We unravel and watch her as she shakes her head and wipes the happy tears away, shoulders rocking with the laughter.
“What?” Nico prompts, frowning aggressively. “What’s so funny?”
“I was just thinking—” she stops, shakes her head, looks up, gaze darting between the three of us like she always does. “That first day, after Dane interviewed me…”
Her gaze drifts to him, and I see them remembering together, a memory that’s only for them. And I don’t resent it—that’s part of this thing. That we get to have her together, and also apart from one another. Lucy and I have our own memories together, too.
“What about it?” Dane asks, and though he has his arms crossed, his mouth in a straight line, I can hear the curiosity in his voice. See the levity that nobody else would.
“I was walking out through the lobby.” Lucy backs up, plants her hands on the desk, hops up onto it.
A thrill runs through me when she crosses her legs, and I don’t even have to glance at the other guys to know they like this, too.
The mid-day sunshine streams through the windows, washing her golden, making her eyes sparkle and her hair glint.
“You were walking out through the lobby,” Nico prompts, when Lucy falls silent again, apparently caught up in her memory.
She shakes her head slightly, presses her lips together, “I was leaving, and that HR assistant came to find me. He said I had the job, if I wanted it, and I—I almost said no.”
Dane lets out a noise, “I paged him the second you walked out. Told him to offer it to you on the spot. He was definitely confused.”
The corner of her mouth quirks up, “You could tell?”
Dane mirrors her expression, giving her only a ghost of a smile. “I could tell you’d make a great assistant.”
“I think you were wrong about that,” Nico jokes, spinning himself in Dane’s office chair. “She was always late.”
Lucy makes an indignant noise, “I was late once! No—twice, but that’s—”
“And she was always loitering in the office after hours,” I add, thinking about the night I met her.
“And, now that I think of it,” Dane says, raising his eyebrows. “I’m pretty sure you tampered with a few security systems. The plane, the boat…”
“The office,” I add. Nico glances at me, and Dane’s brows draw together. So, I was right in thinking the cameras didn’t come back online until after Lucy ran out.
“You didn’t tell us about that,” Dane says, shifting his gaze to Lucy, whose mouth is open. She’s shaking her head, pointing at us.
“No—no! If that was anyone, it was you guys! How would I even know how to do that stuff? You—” Lucy cuts herself off when Nico starts to laugh, and it catches for Dane and me, too.
“You’re cute when you’re angry,” Nico says, scooting himself toward her in the office chair.
“Nope,” Dane says, reaching out and pushing the chair away, so he can step in close. Lucy slides away from him, shaking her head.
“Uh, no way,” she laughs, backing toward the door. “Not when you just accused me of—of locking you in! No—”
She laughs, turning and running when we advance on her.
I get to her first, wrapping my arm around her waist and hauling her toward me, laughing when I feel her back shaking against my chest. Stepping forward, I shut the door, press her against it, and lock it, whispering, “Crap. Looks like we’re stuck in here. ”
“Seriously,” she whispers back, staring at me for a moment, before adjusting her gaze to look past me, likely at Dane and Nico. “I did not do that stuff.”
“Relax, Lucy,” Dane murmurs, stepping in close, tucking a strand of hair over her ear. “We know you didn’t.”
“The security systems are too advanced for that,” I say, and when Lucy frowns at me, I add, “No offense.”
“Smooth,” Nico says, and when I turn, I realize he’s still in the chair, rolling his way toward us.
I roll my eyes, but it makes Lucy laugh. Reaching down, she unlocks the door, then glances between the three of us. “Look at that—we managed to get unstuck.”
“Looks like we did,” Dane murmurs, watching as she grabs the hem of her shirt, strips it up off over her head, and drops it on the ground.
“I’m tired of being stuck in weird places,” she hums, her chest bare to us, her blonde hair brushing over the slopes of her breasts.
This makes Nico stand from the chair, and we trail after her, finding her shorts in the kitchen, her bra on a doorknob in the hallway.
“Fucking hell,” Nico mutters, when we reach the bedroom door and find Lucy in bed, an Ember toy already in her hand as she climbs across the duvet.
I go still in the doorway, watching as Dane and Nico join her, Dane sitting behind her and pulling her back against his chest, Nico kneeling between her legs, taking the toy from her. It’s his favorite place to be.
It might be unconventional, the three of us loving her like this. A relationship between four people.
So far, we’ve been able to stave off the media, but there’s always a chance they find out and make our lives hell.
Even if that happens, it will be worth it.
It’s worth it to stand here and watch Lucy feeling good at the hands of my best friends. Dane, kissing her neck, Nico working a dildo I designed inside her. An Ember staple.
We might be in the process of selling the company now, but I’ll never stop being grateful for the experience. For what it gave us.
Lucy Sullivan, woman of our dreams.
“Cole,” Dane says, his voice deep, his gaze never leaving the woman in his arms. “Get over here and help us.”
Usually, I’d fight him if he told me to do something like that. But this is different.
“Yeah, Cole,” Lucy gasps, her hands clutching at Dane’s forearm as Nico eats her out. She turns to look at me, eyes blown out and lustful, and I don’t think I’ll ever stop thinking she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. “Come here.”
Stripping my shirt up over my head, I step into the room and close the door behind me.