Authors: Elizabeth Raines
Tags: #Romance
Since she was in control, she exercised it. “You can come now, Jude.”
On command, he pushed his hips up twice before he came with a loud moan.
Mike drank all of his cum in, licking Jude’s cock like a sweet treat.
“Your turn, Mike. I’m going to thrust into you four more times. Then I want you to come for me.” She spanked him again for good measure.
He made it only three strokes before his semen spurted out onto Jude’s thighs in stringy ribbons of white fluid.
About to slap him for disobeying, she lost the thought when Jude kicked the vibrator to the highest setting, making her slam into Mike one more time. She came so hard lights dotted her vision and her heartbeat roared in her ear. She barely had enough sense to pull out of Mike before she collapsed face-first on the mattress.
That was a bad move, driving the strap-on harder into her pelvis. Rolling to her back, she savored the lethargic and sated feeling. A smile crossed her lips.
Having a dick isn’t as easy as I thought it would be.
* * * *
By the time she made it to the table, Mike was setting out her blueberry pancakes.
Paige sniffed and sighed. “Smells wonderful. Thank you.”
“Anything for my mistress,” he replied with a wink.
Her whole face flushed hot. What had gotten into her anyway?
The embarrassment quickly fled. Both men had enjoyed her attentions, and they were all adults. If they wanted to play with sex toys, fine.
Mike’s cell phone rang. He picked it up and hit the screen. “Hey, Stan. I— Yeah. Uh-huh.” He paced down the hall into the bedroom and slammed the door.
“Stan?” she asked Jude.
He grabbed a couple of pancakes from the pile without fruit. “That’s his district manager.”
“Oh, yeah. He doesn’t come around our restaurant much.”
“That’s because Mike does a good job and doesn’t need a babysitter like some of the managers.”
“Didn’t Mike think that guy was getting a promotion to corporate soon?”
Jude nodded. “Stan all but told Mike he’d be the next district manager when he goes.”
That would mean a big pay increase, but it could also mean that Mike and Jude would move.
Her sumptuous blueberry pancakes suddenly tasted like ash.
Mike came stomping down the hall. “I’ve gotta go to the restaurant.”
“But it’s your day off,” Paige said.
“Stan is major pissed, but he won’t tell me the particulars. I’m gonna take a shower, and then I need to go.”
“They can’t fire him.” Paige paced the length of Rachel’s great room and back again. At this rate, she’d wear a path in the carpet that would surely cost Rachel her security deposit. “He was supposed to be moving up in the company. He’s such a good manager. They can’t fire him!”
“I can’t change what I heard,” Rachel said. She poured herself another glass of iced tea and refilled Paige’s glass as well. “I distinctly heard what Stan said to Mike. He told him it was
you
or
him
. He also said it should be an easy choice, that a good general manager was worth his weight in gold. But a slutty bartender? They’re a dime a dozen.”
While she wanted to slap Stan for the disparaging comment, Paige stayed focused on the worst part of what had happened. “Mike shouldn’t have to choose. It’s not fair. We were just dancing!”
“Yeah, well…what can I say? You shouldn’t have been out hanging all over the two of them at Distraction.”
“Gee, thanks for the support, Rachel. I thought you
wanted
me to make a move on them.”
Rachel shrugged. “I guess I thought you’d make the move in
private
, not at one of the biggest clubs for picking up people in Minneapolis.”
“How could I know Jillian would be there?” Although now that she knew Jillian had been the one to rat her and Mike out to Stan, she wasn’t at all surprised. Jillian wanted Paige’s job, but Mike said she’d just have to keep waitressing until there was an opening for a bartender. Behind the bar meant longer hours and a steadier income, which Jillian bitched about every damn shift. That, and she kept throwing herself at Mike, finding reasons to brush up against him.
Rachel snorted a laugh. “Puhleeze. She has a new guy every night. She talks about Distraction being prime hunting ground all the time.”
“Not to me she doesn’t.”
“That’s cuz she hates your guts. She’s had her eye on your job and on Mike since she started working there.”
“Mike’s gay.”
“That’s not what you told me.” After a chuckle and a long sip of tea, Rachel shook her head. “I still can’t believe you did
both
of them. At the same time. Wow.” She raised her glass in salute. “Proud of you, Paige! Damned proud of you!”
“Yeah, well, I still can’t believe it, either. Are you sure Mike didn’t give Stan an answer yet?”
“He said he’d talk to him tomorrow, that he had a lot of thinking to do.”
“There’s nothing to think about. I’ll send in my resignation now.”
“Then what will you do? It’s not like you have much of a nest egg. I suppose the guys will let you stay in the apartment rent-free now that you’re all…
involved
.”
“I’m not taking their charity.”
And I’m not a whore
.
But Rachel was right. Paige didn’t have anything to fall back on that would last more than a couple of months. Most of the furniture belonged to the guys. All she had was a raggedy bedroom set, a bent futon, and some expensive beauty products.
She’d already hesitated too long. If she’d had any guts, she would have walked away after that first night she spent with them. Her fantasy had been fulfilled, and she wasn’t about to wait around until they awkwardly asked her to move out.
No, she was leaving. Today. This evening while both guys were at work.
Where could she go on such short notice?
Without another word, Paige grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder. “I’ve gotta go. I’ve gotta go
now
.”
“Go? You mean back home? I can drive you—”
“No, Rachel. I meant really go. I’ve gotta get away from Minneapolis.”
“But you just got those hunks right where you want them.”
“And I almost cost Mike his career. I’m packing my stuff and getting out. Now.”
Rachel held on to Paige’s purse strap. “And exactly where do you think you’re going?”
Paige shrugged. “Indianapolis?” She’d filled out a resume, and the e-mail with the application was already waiting as a draft in her e-mail. If only she could find the courage to send it. “I’m applying for a job there. Full-time writing assignment.”
“Applying? You mean you don’t even know if you’d have a job there? What about a place to stay?”
“I’m sure there are extended stay hotels, and—”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake! You want to go
that
badly? What did those guys say to you? Did they reject you?”
“No, but—”
“Do you think they were just after a good fuck or two and then
sayonara?
”
“They’re not like that.”
Rachel tugged on the purse. “Then you’re not going.” Her eyes widened. “You weren’t even going to tell them, were you?”
Paige shook her head and tried to pull her purse out of Rachel’s tenacious hand.
“Chickenshit.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re a coward, Paige. Those guys like you.”
“How the hell would you know?”
“I listened to Mike. He wasn’t a guy trying to save his job. He was a guy torn with a really tough decision.”
Paige had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. “He
loves
that job. He told me he’d be there his whole career. Trust me, it won’t be a tough decision.”
“Cuz you’ll make it easy for him, right?” Rachel dragged the purse from Paige’s shoulder.
Paige reluctantly released it.
“Do you love them?”
The one question she never wanted to answer aloud.
But she did. “Yes. I love them.”
“Both?”
“Both.” Striding over to the couch, she plopped down, put her elbows on her knees, and rested her head in her hands. “What am I gonna do?”
“Live happily ever after?”
With a shake of her head, Paige fought back tears. “For three? Not likely.”
Panic bubbled up inside her. Her guys were gentlemen, and if they wanted her to go, they’d be diplomatic and kind. For some reason, that only made her feel worse.
No, she was taking back control, exactly like she did with their lovemaking. “I’m going to Indianapolis.”
“I have a better idea. Why don’t you wait ’til the end of this little play?”
“What are you talking about?”
“My parents have a really nice vacation house. Go there. Stay there. Write that damn book you’re always talking about. Let Mike and Jude realize what they’ll lose if you go. Let Mike decide what he wants to do about his job.”
But what if they break my heart?
* * * *
The apartment was empty. Not that Paige expected the guys would be there. Jude was at the hospital for one of his long nights, and Mike was at the restaurant, doing his job.
Which meant he would be waiting for her to come in at eight for her shift behind the bar. Guilt washed over her at leaving him shorthanded, but Jillian was waitressing tonight. This could be her dress rehearsal for taking the bartender job because Paige wasn’t about to make Mike quit. Not for her.
Rachel dropped her car keys on the table. “Let’s pack up enough stuff to last you for a week. I’m betting they’ll find you by then.”
“I’m taking it all. I don’t want to come back unless I have to.”
“What about the furniture?”
“Fuck it. It’s all shitty anyway.” Then Rachel’s words hit home. “The only way they’ll find me at your parents’ place is if you blab, and you swore you wouldn’t. Remember?” With all Rachel was doing for her, Paige didn’t like the bite in her own voice. But Rachel had a habit of meddling in things if she thought she was helping people. Her heart was always in the right place, and the woman clearly thought the trio deserved to be together. This was one instance where she shouldn’t meddle. Ever. “Remember, Rachel? You promised.”
There was no reply as Rachel disappeared down the hallway.
With a sigh, Paige gathered up the bills she would now have trouble paying and scooped up her mail. She stuffed them in her enormous purse. Then she picked up one of the storage boxes she’d bought at Home Depot, opened it, and tried to figure out how to make the flat piece of cardboard fold itself into a box and lid.
Rachel came back to the living room with a stack of Paige’s clothes. “Are you leaving a note?”
“I…I don’t know. What am I supposed to say?”
“How about ‘I love you, but I don’t want Mike to lose his job.’ That about says it all. They’ll be sure to hunt you down after they read it.”
“I’m not telling them I love them. I’d feel like an idiot! I have no idea how much they truly care for me. Not a clue.”
“Hello? Didn’t they make love to you?”
“Guys can make love to blow-up dolls. Doesn’t mean they love them.”
With a shake of her head, Rachel headed back down the hall. “I’m getting your shampoo and stuff. You go finish cleaning out your clothes.”
Instead of obeying, Paige sat down and took a sheet of paper and a pen. She was a writer, damn it. She could think of the right thing to say.
The words wouldn’t come.
Tossing the pen aside in disgust, she folded up the second box. Then she went to help Rachel pack.
After they finished loading the car, Paige stopped and picked up the piece of paper again. The words still eluded her, so she finally scribbled down the only words she could think of and dropped the note on the table. Wiping away the tears spilling over her lashes, she shut and locked the door.
It was done.
* * * *
Mike was spitting mad. He slammed the apartment door behind him and threw his keys at the table.
After all the ridiculous shit Stan had tossed his way, his head was spinning on how to fix things. Then Paige had done something totally out of character—she’d missed a shift. He’d called her cell phone and left message after message, but she never returned his calls. Then he’d phoned Jude to have him check admissions to make sure she hadn’t been in an accident.
One of the waitresses said Rachel had texted that Paige was with her, so he’d stopped worrying and gotten good and pissed.
Although he saw the note, he wanted to talk to her. What had she been thinking? He’d had to put Jillian behind the bar. The woman was a disaster. She broke half a dozen glasses and honked off most of the female customers, which had only made him appreciate Paige’s talent not only for mixing drinks but talking to people. He’d needed her, and she’d let him down.