10. Lorenzo
“She’s not going anywhere, Sin. You don’t have to stare at her to make sure,” I whispered against the shell of my husband’s ear. I stood beside him at the island and followed his gaze to the living room where Goldyn was reading, oblivious to anything but words on the page.
Turning to face Sincere, I cupped his nape and kissed his temple. “Stop worrying,” I urged before going back to the stove to check on dinner. I’d already been cooking when he called me on his way home to tell me he was bringing company.
How he’d gone out for a drive to clear his mind and returned with Goldyn was still a mystery. But when they filed into the house, whispering and laughing together, the how was forgotten while I watched them interact. I was just happy she’d agreed to come because I hadn’t seen Sincere this taken with another person in forever.
It took me standing at the entry of the foyer for five minutes before he noticed I was there. And when he did, he turned to me with a sheepish smile. That made my heart melt on its own, but then I glimpsed the joy shining in his eyes and knew everything hinged on this impromptu dinner.
An hour later, we were putting the finishing touches on the steaks, vegetables, and a last-minute dessert when the back door connected to the kitchen opened to reveal a frowning Romeo.
He barely spared us a glance before he walked to the edge of the room, sought out Goldyn like he knew exactly where she’d be and then turned around to face us.
“What is she doing here?”
“We invited her for dinner,” Sincere said, shoving his hand in an oven mitt. He pulled a tray of brown butter blueberry cookies out of the top part of the double oven and set them on the island.
“And what else?” Romeo deadpanned, knowing there was more. There was always more with us.
He kept cutting his eyes to the living room like Goldyn would spawn a new head and if I wasn’t already so amused by the way Sincere was fussing over dessert, I would have had time to pick apart Romeo’s reaction to our houseguest.
Romeo didn’t get flustered. Ever. But apparently Goldyn possessed the ability to get under his skin just by existing.
“Go speak to her, maybe she could tell you.”
He cut his dark eyes at Sincere’s suggestion before he said under his breath, “Yea, aight.”
Then he walked out of the kitchen and down the hall toward the gym instead of going upstairs to his room. When he reappeared less than a minute later with two bottles in his hand, my jaw unhinged.
“Did you just steal the body wash out of her bathroom?” I asked in a loud whisper, making sure Goldyn didn’t hear any part of our conversation. Romeo didn’t take the same precaution. And even if he had, the way he spoke in an almost constant roar didn’t help shit.
His eyes narrowed on us. “You just called it her room. Is she moving in here?”
“I hope so.”
“We don’t know yet.”
Sin and I spoke at the same time, and Rome threw his head back and gave a soundless laugh. “I knew it.”
“If you knew it, why are you stealing the body wash out of her bathroom?” Sin wanted to know.
“Because it’s mine. I don’t want her walking around smelling like me. I’ll replace it.” That was the last thing he said before he disappeared up the stairs.
I shared a long look with Sin.
Worry dimmed some of the earlier excitement in his eyes and I fixed a reassuring smile on my face. We’d just started getting the plates out for dinner when Rome reappeared, dressed down in sweats, and started setting the table.
“See?” I said, facing Sin. “Nothing to worry about. Everything is going to be fine.”
I could see why Sincere was so enamored with this woman. Goldyn was sweet, funny, and could carry on a conversation about almost anything. We’d been hopping from topic to topic since we sat down to eat and she hadn’t missed a beat yet. I didn’t miss the way she pulled Rome into the conversations when he was quiet for too long. And I didn’t miss the way he gradually softened every time she did it.
Before coming to the dinner table, Goldyn changed out of her slacks and blouse and came back with black cut off shorts and another crop top like the one she’d been wearing the first night we met.
My eyes had been glued to her stomach when I noticed the belly ring I missed the first night. Tattoos covered her toned legs and Sin hadn’t stopped shifting in his seat the whole dinner.
Fighting a smirk, I dropped my hand under the table and placed it on his leg.
“You good?” I asked, low enough for only us to hear.
He nodded, but kept his eyes steady on Goldyn while she went on a tangent about the book she was reading.
The excitement in her voice had his rapt attention and I used that to my advantage, letting my hand inch closer and closer to his zipper.
When my fingers brushed over the bulge pressed against his thigh, I paused there, enjoying the feel against my palm and the way Sincere’s breath hitched in the middle of his sentence.
“You okay?” I asked, innocent enough for everyone else at the table to remain oblivious. But Sin refused to back down and nodded. Then he relaxed in his chair, spreading his legs wider, and giving me more room to do what I wanted under the table.
Eyes pinned on Goldyn, he placed his hand over mine while I teased him and held me in place, letting me feel how much harder he got with each passing second.
Shit, now I was hard.
I hadn’t thought this stunt through. I was supposed to be teasing him about how much Goldyn turned him on, but now I was getting turned on from how much she turned him on.
Sincere’s dick twitched again and I yanked my hand away. I was smart enough to know when I was playing with fire. I had a problem when it came to Sin. I couldn’t know he was hard and do nothing about it. Another minute of that and I would have blown our cover.
“We should talk about why you’re here,” he said a minute later, his raspy voice coming out strong and clear.
“Right.” Goldyn cleared her throat, her eyes ping-ponging between the two of us from her spot directly across the table.
Sincere hadn’t tapped me in, but I used that opening as my cue to speak up. “I don’t know how much Sincere told you, but if you came back with him then I’m assuming you at least know a part of it. We want you to be ours. And being ours means we want to take care of you. Spoil you. Give you whatever you want.”
An imaginary wheel spun above Goldyn’s head as she tried to process what I said. A flicker of doubt entered her warm eyes. “And what do you get out of this?”
“You,” Sincere answered right away.
Goldyn gulped, her gaze stuck on Sin. “For how long?”
As long as it works was on the tip of my tongue, but my husband beat me to the punch.
“Three months.” Three months? I thought we agreed not to start out with an expiration date in mind.
“Oh.” One word and the change in octave was noticeable enough to make my stomach flip.
Giving Sin a sidelong glance, I waited for him to elaborate because we were already off-script and I didn’t know what he was thinking, which I wasn’t used to.
Rome picked up his wine glass, taking half of its contents in a single pull. “I should give y’all some privacy.”
Goldyn’s eyes widened when he cleared the plates from the table and walked into the kitchen without another word.
Then she turned her attention back on us. “So, you only want to date me for three months?”
Sincere nodded. “Give us the summer and we’ll give you everything.”
“And after? I just leave and never talk to you again?”
“We could stay friends. Right, Sin?” I tossed him a look and he nodded almost robotically. I could tell from the way he was chewing the inside of his cheek that he was rethinking his approach to this.
“Does that really work? Are you friends with the other women you’ve dated together?”
No. But I also knew letting her go cold turkey wouldn’t be an option. Not with the way Sincere was already attached and not with the way I loved having her around. “We haven’t done this in a while. But every situation is unique. We wouldn’t just kick you out of our lives, Goldyn.”
“Good to know,” she replied dryly.
Silence dominated the room and she took the time to tie her hair up with the scrunchie on her wrist.
Still staring at both of us warily, she crossed and uncrossed her arms in silent contemplation.
When she finally spoke again, I released a breath I’d been holding too long.
“So…” She let out a heavy sigh. “The summer. And then we go our separate ways.”
She sounded like she was warming up to the idea, little by little, and I wanted to do whatever I could to keep things moving in that direction. Especially since my husband was mimicking a statue beside me.
“Just think about it. And give us your answer when you’re ready. No pressure.”
“Does that mean you want me to leave tonight?”
“No!”
Oh, now he found his voice?
“We don’t want you to go anywhere. And if you agree to this, I’d feel better if you lived with us.”
Before any of us could say anything, a loud bang sounded from the kitchen before we heard Romeo clearing his throat. “My bad!”
Goldyn’s lips twitched and I silently thanked Rome’s eavesdropping ass for breaking the tension.
“Okay, then I’ll sleep on it.” She shot a brief look toward the kitchen. “And Romeo? How does he fit into all of this?”
“He doesn’t. Not anymore than he already has anyway. He’s not interested in the women we date.” I picked up my wine glass. “At least he hasn’t been up until this point,” I quickly amended because with the way he’d been acting toward Goldyn, I wouldn’t call it disinterest . “But if anything were to happen between you two, it’s up to y’all how you wanna?—”
“Oh, that’s not why I asked,” she rushed to say, her cheeks turning pink. “I was just making sure I understood everything.”
“Of course,” I said with a slight nod, a smile forming on my lips. “Ask us any other questions that pop up.”
Goldyn nodded and Sincere relaxed in his seat beside me, and all I could wonder was what the fuck we’d just gotten ourselves into.
Whether she said yes or no, I knew the outcome would turn our world on its head. And while that excited a part of me, another part of me was terrified.
Women like Goldyn Ambrose didn’t move through this world without leaving a mark on people. And something told me the mark she left on us would be hard to forget. It already was.