Rock You Like a Hurricane: Stormy Weather, Book 1 (2 page)

Over her head Greg met Jack’s gaze. The other man’s expression darkened and a shadow of annoyance crossed his face. Jack did not look happy to see Olivia in Greg’s arms. In fact, he looked murderous.

Olivia, seemingly oblivious to the tension around her, pulled back and smiled up at Greg. “With you here the boards will go up twice as fast.”

“Still need nails though,” Jack reminded her.

Olivia moved away from Greg and turned her sunny smile onto Jack. “Give me one minute to find them.”

“I’ll help you,” Greg offered, before Jack could. Then to seal the deal he took her hand in his, giving her little way out and Jack little way in. But still, he had to pretend to be polite. “If you want me to that is?”

“Of…course.” Olivia looked down at their interlocked fingers for a second before glancing over at Jack. “We’ll be right back, I guess.”

“And I’ll be here.”

Greg had a feeling the other man’s words were more for Greg’s benefit than Olivia’s, but he held his tongue and Olivia’s hand as they walked toward the back of the house together. Greg glanced over his shoulder to see Jack tighten his grip around the hammer as he watched them retreat. The other man may have made Greg jealous, but the feeling was more than mutual.

As soon as she and Greg entered the kitchen, Olivia moved away from him and clear across the room to the sink. She gripped the cool tile in her hands and held on with all her might to steady her legs. And her nerves.

Having both Jack and Greg there was both her most kinky fantasy and her worst nightmare come to life. It touched her heart they knew her so well and cared enough to show up because of the storm. The fact they did so in the course of just twenty minutes of each other freaked her the hell out. Not to mention the dick-waving contest that had started the moment Jack entered the foyer. There had come a point where Olivia had begun to think the knuckles were going to drop and drag on the floor as they started their caveman routine.

The overload of testosterone had been overwhelming, a little amusing, yet strangely arousing all the same. The tension in the house was as turbulent as the storm raging outside and destined only to get worse unless she got everything under control, and fast.

“Is everything all right, Olivia?”

Now that was the question of the hour. Smiling at the insanity that was her love life, Olivia turned back around and faced her enigmatic lover. The first man she’d fallen in love with and the one who’d introduced chaos into her once well-oiled life. “Other than the storm, I’m fine.”

Greg took his overcoat off and carelessly tossed it on the center island. “So is it just the weather that has you out of sorts, or something else?”

“It’s the weather. For the most part,” she admitted after a pause. Not wanting to get into it too much, she ignored his pointed look and ran her gaze over the black suit he wore. It fit his lean frame like a glove and made the already dashing man look downright sexy. “You’re looking very…nice tonight.”

Talk about understatement of the year. Greg rocked the whole “naughty professor” like no one else could. The dark suit only added to his panty-wetting appeal.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Storm aside, is everything all right with you?”

“Of course.” His mouth said one thing, but his guarded, icy-blue gaze said another. Out of her two lovers, Greg was the one she had the hardest time reading but she loved him deeply just the same.

Olive couldn’t have picked two more different men if she tried. Not that she
had
tried. A
femme fatale
she was not. In all honesty she could count the number of men she’d previously dated in her lifetime on two hands, and the number she slept with on one, and that was if she included Greg and Jack.

In the past she had never even dated two men at once, let alone slept with two men at the same time. Well, not exactly at the same time. But Greg said the only relationship he was even remotely interested in would be one where there were no commitments other than honesty. They were free to date others, even to sleep with them, as long as they used protection. It wasn’t a proposal a girl of her sort would have normally even considered. But Olivia got honest with herself. She wasn’t getting any younger, there wasn’t a line a mile wide filled with men dying to get in her front door, so why not for once just say yes to something she really wanted. Greg.

And to her surprise it had worked out. She was happy to be with him when he had a moment or when she did. He did his work functions with women who didn’t turn green at the mere thought of thousand dollar a plate dinners and she had Jack, her dirty boy next door, who would watch a baseball game with her, tell her a bawdy joke just to make her laugh, and could and had spent hours with his head buried between her legs.

Even though he was as different from Greg as night and day, he too, when they first met six months ago, had stated effusively he wasn’t looking for anything serious. He too, had wanted an open relationship where he would be free to see other women if the opportunity came up, and once again she agreed. It had been working out so well with Greg, she didn’t see why it wouldn’t work the same way with Jack.

Both men were her lovers, her friends, but they weren’t solely hers and she wasn’t solely theirs. It seemed so simple, but with both of them in the house, it felt anything but.

Speaking of which… “So, what happened to your date?” Olivia was pretty sure her voice sounded completely normal and not quaking at all, even though she was shaking in her shoes.

“She’s still at the dean’s house,” he said as he approached her side. “Probably getting drunk on merlot even as we speak.”

“Oh. How charming,” she replied dryly as he sidled up next to her with his back to the sink, matching her pose for pose. “She sounds like a lovely lady.”

“She’s no Olivia.” His lips quirked slightly at the comment. “But as a fellow colleague, she serves her purpose for functions such as these.”

“I’m sure she does.” Whoever the hell she was. Olivia never asked and Greg never offered. Their agreement was simple. Openness, honesty and safety. Names weren’t part of the deal. Well, not her side of it anyway. Greg had been more than willing to be upfront with whom he was seeing. It was Olivia who preferred not knowing the details. As long as he was playing safe, she was content. Or so she told him. It was the only lie she fibbed to him about, but a necessary one in her eyes.

Greg, on the other hand, wanted to know about Jack and vice versa, for reasons Olivia would never fathom. The less she knew about the other women in their lives, the better she stuck to her diet. Cheesecake was jealousy’s best friend, and Olivia’s ass was big enough.

“What time do you have to go back to pick her up?”

“I don’t. I’d planned to be here through the storm.” Greg crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the counter. “Unless you’d prefer I didn’t because of your company.”

Olivia smiled and placed her hand on his arm. “No, of course I want you to stay. I just don’t want you to…fight. I know this is extremely uncomfortable.”

“Do I look,” Greg arched a brow, “uncomfortable to you?”

Olivia didn’t know how to answer. He didn’t seem out of sorts. Far from it, but even if he was, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to tell. Whether it was a British thing, or a studious thing, Greg didn’t ruffle. Far from it. And he didn’t appear to be deviating from the script just yet.

“Okay, let me rephrase. I know this is extremely uncomfortable for me.” She paused for a second as she thought about the other individual in the equation. “And possibly Jack.”

Greg smiled, clearly amused by her statement. “I think your suitor can handle himself, love.”

“I’m sure
both
of my suitors can handle themselves.” Greg might not be as muscular as Jack but she didn’t think for a second his ass would be an easy one to beat. “I’m just not sure I can handle the two of you.”

The easy grin that had graced his lips just seconds earlier slid away. “Do you want me to leave?”

“No.” She turned so she was facing him head on. She wanted him not only to hear the truth of her words, but see it on her face as well. “That’s the last thing I want. I can’t express how happy just seeing you has made me. To know you were willing to cut your evening short to be with me is humbling.”

“If I thought for a second you would have gone to the dinner with me tonight, I would have invited you as my date instead.”

Olivia had to stop herself from recoiling in shock at his announcement. She’d never attended anything work-related with him in the past. They’d done dinner with a few of his close friends, but other than that, they mostly spent time alone. The majority of it naked.

“Why so shocked?”

“I know. You’ve never said anything like this before.”

“That’s because I know you’re not big on crowds, plus these things are dreadfully boring. If we’re going to go out somewhere, I’d rather it be some place I know you’re going to have a good time.”

His words took a second for her to process. All this time, she’d thought the reason he’d never invited her to his work functions was because she didn’t fit in. Now she realized he didn’t because he was thinking about her. And what she would have liked. Just when she thought she knew everything there was to know about him, Greg peeled back another layer of his shield and let her in a bit more. How could she or any other woman not love him? “I’m not a fan of crowds. But I am a fan of you. And I would have gone, no matter how
dreadfully
boring it was. For you.”

“Then consider yourself invited next time.”

“I’d like that.” A loud crack of thunder caused her to jump and bring her thoughts back to her immediate issue. The storm would be there quicker than she would be ready for it, and without the windows boarded up she would soon be locking herself in the bathroom, rocking back and forth in the tub. “I need to find those nails.” She could hash out her very complicated beaus later. Right now she had to protect her home.

Olivia turned back around and began to open every drawer in sight in search of the boxes in question. She knew they were in the kitchen, because she used them not long ago for hanging pictures, but where she put them in the kitchen afterwards was really anyone’s guess. One of these days she’d organize all this kind of stuff so she wasn’t caught hunting like this in the next emergency.

After a few minutes of fruitless searching, Greg called out from behind her. “This what you’re looking for?”

Olivia turned to see Greg holding three boxes of nails in his hand. “You are a Godsend.” And she wasn’t just referring to the nails. Having Greg there, although it was what even the most positive person might call an awkward situation, comforted her. Knowing both her men were with her made her happy.

Jack opened the back door and entered with a blast of wind and whipping rain. While they’d been busy talking and looking for nails, he’d been busy outside. He’d even found time to add a few extra layers to protect against the storm. “Hey, Liv, it’s getting worse. I think Greg and I can handle this. Why don’t you make the coffee and keep it coming. It’s cold as hell out there.”

He didn’t need to tell her twice. Just the idea of going out in the storm gave her the shakes. She was more than happy to sit in the nice warm kitchen and keep the home fires burning. “If you’re sure.” She didn’t want to give them a chance to change their minds, but she wanted to at least pretend to protest.

“Of course we can take care of this.” Greg pulled her close and gave her a hard, fast kiss that left her heart racing and her legs wobbly. He smiled in satisfaction and nodded at her bemused look. “We’ll be back in a bit.”

After picking up his coat and slipping it in on, Greg walked to the door and waited for Jack. To her surprise though, instead of following him, Jack headed toward Olivia and pulled her into his arms. Instead of the brief kiss she’d just received from Greg, Jack kissed her thoroughly, exploring her mouth with his and her backside with his hands. His coat was wet from the rain, but heat radiated from the kiss he gave her, chasing the chills away and warming her from the inside out. When he finally released her, Olivia reached out behind her and grabbed hold of the sink again to steady her once more.

Good lord, these men were hell on her equilibrium and her libido.

“Yeah, Liv, we’ll be right back.” Jack mimicked Greg’s words, a hint of laughter hidden there. Before she could say anything, Jack hustled Greg from the kitchen and out into the storm.

Olivia let out a shaky sigh and made her way over to the table. She sank like lead into the chair, and then dropped her head into her hands. “Oh. My. Lord,” she muttered to herself.

This was ridiculous. This was crazy. This was unbelievable. This was…hot as hell. She had never even seen the two men on the same night, let alone kissed them just seconds from each other. Damned if she didn’t like it. A lot.

Two hours later, Jack stomped into the kitchen, cold and thoroughly soaked. In any other circumstance he might be in a bad mood, but he was feeling just the opposite. Despite the weather being shit, the work rough and tedious thanks to the rain and wind, Jack’s spirit was high. No matter how fucked up of a time Jack had, for Greg it had been ten times worse.

It was juvenile, mean-spirited even, but watching the other man curse in that pansy accent of his while he tried to hammer a nail in the board was better than any cat playing piano on YouTube any day of the week. A fix-it guy Greg obviously wasn’t, but even Jack had to admit the professor had been a good sport.