Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
B ecause we met you.
Finn watched me without judgment—he had laid his cards on the table and seemed comfortable to leave it up to me to decide where they fell.
“I—” I bit off a response, unable to process his statement.
He grinned. “Looks like the games are over. Let me help Aiden while you think about what I said.”
He leaned in and brushed a kiss to my forehead. I closed my eyes, savoring the feel of his lips against my skin.
“No pressure, Riley. Everything is in your hands.”
He left me sitting at the bar as the cocktail mixer broke up. Groups of people moved around the room, some leaving with their friends, some leaving as a couple or more. A few came to the bar but those were few and easily handled by Aiden and Finn, leaving me to sit and stew in my thoughts.
I wanted a family and home. I wanted a body—or bodies—pressed against me on cold nights. I wanted laughter and experiences, a life filled with joy.
If Finn were to be believed, I could have everything I’d ever wanted and more.
And I wanted, God, how I wanted.
I slid from the bar, needing some fresh air. Outside, I leaned against the old stone building, watching from the shadows as men I’d grown up with—attractive, charismatic men who treated me with respect but indifference—made fools of themselves in an attempt to attract a potential life partner.
But I didn’t know where Aiden sat with this proposal.
“So ask him,” I muttered, kicking a stone with my shoe. “Don’t be a coward, Riley.”
“Riley?”
I glanced up, surprised to see Del Bellinger standing in the shadows of the pub. The borderline recluse mountain man lived and worked with Warrick and made a decent living guiding determined hikers and climbers around some of the island’s most treacherous and challenging trails.
Tall, broad, with a shock of dark brown hair and an unruly beard, he often reminded me of Bigfoot or a yeti, rather than the cute, shy boy I’d grown up with.
“Del, hey. How are you?” I jerked a finger back toward the door. “Did you go to the mixer?”
He stepped out of the shadows and into the light, pulling the knit cap from his shaggy hair. “Mixer?”
I chuckled. “Sorry, I forgot. Warrick said you were finishing with a tour group. ”
“Aye,” he murmured, watching wide-eyed as women streamed from the door of the pub, tumbling out in a colorful parade as they laughingly headed down toward the hotel. “I came for a drink but it appears I’m not the only one to want one. Did I miss an invasion?”
“No, just the mayor’s singles weekend.”
He nodded once, tugging at his unruly beard. “I see. Did you participate?”
I spluttered. “What? No.”
“Why not?”
Heat flushed my cheeks. “We both know the answer to that.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Ah, so you’re finally with Aiden and Finn?”
If he had told me he’d married a duck I couldn’t have been more surprised.
“What! No! I mean, what?”
He began to chuckle then abruptly cut off, his mouth dropping open as his eyes widened. “Who is that?”
I glanced behind me to see Colleen navigating her way slowly down the sidewalk.
“Oh, that’s Colleen.” I turned back to him. “You should ask Warrick to introduce you since he was sniffing around her earlier today.”
“Excuse me.” Del brushed past, hurrying after the woman.
I stayed where I was, leaning back against the stone building as I tried to process the barrage of information that had been tossed my way over the last twenty-four hours and which had fundamentally shaken my world to its core.
You’re finally with Aiden and Finn.
If Del, who had zero concept of town gossip, knew about Finn and Aiden’s interest then….
“It has to be true.”
And that could mean only one thing.
Spinning on the loose gravel, I hurried back to my cottage, my mind whirling.
It was time to claim my men.
I tore through my house, searching drawers and spilling underwear and clothing out across my bed and floor.
I owned precisely two dresses—one I wore to weddings and the other funerals. And neither were fit for the purpose I had in mind.
“Damn.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose, hating that on the night I most wanted to be sexy I had zero outfits to wear.
“This is pathetic.” I threw some old jeans at the wall and plopped on the end of my bed, groaning as I ran my hands through my hair repeatedly. “They want me as I am. Which means they should be happy to take me as I am every day.”
I lifted my head to see my old coveralls hanging off the back of my wardrobe door. They were more than a decade old, and I rarely wore them as they were far too tight to allow me to maneuver freely in the workshop.
They zipped at the front, and I felt confident wearing them—and when I wore a particular set of underwear underneath, surprisingly sexy.
“Fuck it,” I muttered, pushing off the bed and reaching for the coveralls. “I can only be me.”
Dressed from top to toe in an outfit that made me feel powerful, sexy and confident, I locked up my house and returned to the pub. Pushing through the door, I stood in the middle of the nearly empty room and immediately located the two men I most wanted in the world. They stood conversing behind the bar, cleaning up. Upon seeing me, they both stopped what they were doing and straightened.
Ignoring the few remaining stragglers, I strode across to the bar and slid up on my favorite bar stool, watching as they made their way over to me.
My heart pounded in my chest, my belly a riot of nerves.
“You okay, Ry?” Aiden asked, his gaze sweeping over me. “You disappeared.”
“I went home to change,” I said, ignoring my breathy tone.
Breathe, Riley. You have this.
“Ah.” He flicked his dishcloth over his shoulder and leaned into the bar. “Any particular reason why?”
Summoning all my courage, I leaned in, waiting to speak until Finn moved closer to hear my response.
“To fulfill a fantasy.”
Their jaws locked tight, their eyes blazing with heat and promise.
Finn’s hands clenched and unclenched where they rested on the bar top, like he’s trying to restrain himself. Aiden physically rocked back, crossing his arms over his chest, his tattoos flexing as his biceps pulsed.
I hid a smile at, relaxing slightly at their reaction.
“And that might be?” Finn prompted.
“Watching both of you strip me naked.”
They were both silent for a long beat—so long I began to doubt myself. Then Aiden reached under the bar and pulled out the giant bell.
Ringing it twice, he turned to the room at large.
“Everyone out!” he shouted. “We’re closed!”
Relief hit me hard, and I became grateful for the bar stool under my butt as my legs turned to jelly.
The remaining patrons lifted their heads, grumbling. Hands moved to wallets, and the stragglers began moving to the bar to close their tabs.
“On the house!” Finn hollered. “Just get the fuck out!”
Cheering, the customers left quickly as Aiden and Finn ushered them like two-legged sheep dogs toward the door.
Heat pooled in my abdomen while a pleasurable throbbing beat set my blood alight.
They want me.
I felt almost giddy as the last patron exited the bar.
Finn slammed the heavy lock home while Aiden closed all the curtains and hit the lights, sealing us into our own little world.
I took a deep breath as they slowly stalked toward me, their wordless approach sending shivers of anticipatory desire shimmering down my spine.
“Stay there,” Finn ordered as I made a move to slip off my stool. “Aiden, get her boots.”
“Yes, sir,” Aiden said cheekily, dropping to his knees before me. “Hello, gorgeous,” he murmured, glancing up at me as he wrapped one hand around my calf. “Let’s get Cinderella out of her slippers.”
Finn crowded in behind me, shifting until he left only a breath of space between our bodies. My eyelids drifted to half-mast, finding the heat radiating from him—from both of them—intoxicating.
Finn’s hands found the zipper of my coveralls while Aiden worked the laces of my boots, slowly peeling them one by one.
“You have no idea,” Finn said, his voice rough with desire, “how many fucking times we’ve talked about stripping these fucking suits from your body.”
With my boots off, Aiden tugged the socks from my feet, then wrapped his strong fingers around my arch, massaging the ball of my foot.
I moaned in pleasure, my head falling back as the glorious sensations his talented fingers coupled with Finn’s filthy words to evoke a delicious sensory delight.