A warm thrill ran through her at his words. Our girl.
She knew better than to read anything into it, but it still made her feel good.
The men sat on either side and watched while she opened her present. Inside lay a beautiful turquoise pendant on a sterling silver chain. They’d remembered. Turquoise was her favorite, even though ruby was her birthstone. She’d seen something similar to this on a magazine cover months earlier and had mentioned it in passing.
Tears finally won. Both men leaned in, concerned. She kissed Tyler, then Thomas. “Thanks, guys. This is beautiful. Thank you so much.”
Tyler took the necklace and carefully draped it around her neck while Thomas gently held her auburn ponytail out of the way. “See, Thomas? I told you it was the perfect length,” Tyler said.
Thomas smiled. “All right. One of these days I’ll quit questioning you.” He looked at Nevvie. “I told him I thought it was too long.”
She touched it. “It’s perfect, thank you both.”
They kissed her cheeks and sat down. “Let’s eat,” Tyler said. “This is your birthday breakfast.”
When she tried to do the dishes the boys shooed her out of the kitchen.
Thomas shook his head. “Even I’m not stupid enough to make a girl wash her own birthday dishes, sweetie. Don’t wear yourself out because we’ve got a little something for you later.”
A thrill of anticipation ran through her stomach and settled between her legs.
Idiot. They don’t mean anything by that.
Boy, she wished they did.
She started on the living room, which only needed dusting and tidying. She always saved the floors for last, doing all the tile at once. Only the bedrooms were carpeted. Her boys weren’t messy, and more than once she wondered why they even bothered paying her. Not that she’d complain. Hell, she’d clean their house for free just to spend time with them.
She went to the backyard before it got too hot. Somehow, little bits of paper always managed to blow into the fenced yard. Even though it wasn’t part of what they paid her to do she policed the area when she swept the lanai and patio because the scraps of paper bugged her.
Of course—little bits scattered through the back flowerbed. She sighed and grabbed a bucket from the gardening shed and bent over to pick up the first piece.
“Oh, Jesus!” Thomas jammed his knuckle in his mouth and grabbed Tyler’s shoulder. “Did I ever tell you you’re a goddamned evil genius?” The front of his shorts were once again tented at the sight of Nevvie’s backside facing them. Bent over in the garden with her back to them, picking up the little bits of paper Tyler salted out there the evening before.
Tyler leaned against the cook top island and smiled, crossed his arms, watching her. “She’s gorgeous, isn’t she?” He held up his hands and traced the contours of her hips and thighs in the air. “Perfection, my dear Thomas. Absolute perfection. Rubenesque in the best possible sense of the term.”
“I’d love to put my hands on that sweet ass and fuck her till she screams my name.”
Tyler raised an eyebrow at him. “What’s wrong with my arse?”
“Nothing. Your ass is fine. But it’s not…” Thomas turned back to the window. “You’re lucky I met you before I met her.”
“That makes two of us.” He stared as Nevvie picked up another piece of paper. “What did I ever see in One and Two?” Those were the nicest post-divorce pet names he had for his ex-wives. “Skinny little toothpicks with nothing to them, including their personalities. Her boyfriend’s an unholy arse, doesn’t know how blessed he is.”
“She’s not happy with him, is she?”
Tyler shook his head. “Watch. Around three o’clock she’ll start on a project that will undoubtedly make her late. Or, barring that, right before she’s supposed to leave, she’ll remember some trifle she ‘forgot’ that will make her at least thirty minutes late.”
Thomas stared at him, his jaw agape. “Shoot! You’re right. Every time. I teased her about it a few weeks ago.”
Tyler nodded and turned back to the window. “She doesn’t want to leave.”
“Hell, I don’t want her to leave.” He put his arm around Tyler’s shoulders as they watched her. She was almost halfway through the flowerbed. Thomas sensed the wheels turning in Tyler’s head and left the silence unbroken until his lover spoke five minutes later.
“Maybe she doesn’t have to leave,” Tyler said.
“What,” he snorted, “hold her hostage?”
Tyler rolled his eyes. “No, dumb fuck, of course not. We seduce her into wanting to stay.”
“Isn’t that what we’ve been doing the past six months?”
“Not with purpose. Just in fun and wishful thinking.”
They loved women, but they loved each other more. Without trying, this woman had worked her way into their hearts. It delighted them to see her take such obvious pleasure in their small acts of kindness. They wanted to make her happy like that all the time and imagined her life outside of Thursdays must be fairly bleak if they were the highlight of her week. Tyler leaned forward and watched her, his arms on the counter. He smiled as Thomas moved behind him, grinding his hips and rock hard bulge against his backside.
“You’ve given me an idea, Thomas.”
Chapter 2
“What kind of idea?” Thomas asked.
Tyler turned and wrapped his arms around Thomas. His Georgia boy stood over him at six-foot. “What if we seduce her into wanting to stay with us?”
“Our full-time housekeeper?” He glanced over Tyler’s shoulder. Nevvie finished with the paper and set to work sweeping. “She wouldn’t buy it. We’re not that messy. Plus she’s got a boyfriend.”
“I was thinking more of grooming her.”
“Doing her hair?”
Disgusted, Tyler released Thomas and turned to the window. “No wonder the South lost. My darling, I mean get her to move in with us. Turn her into our own personal love slave.”
Thomas’ eyes darkened. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“I don’t mean abuse her, duh. Study her personality—she’s submissive. She’s been mistreated in her life, that much is obvious. She flinches at loud noises, sudden movements. If we earn her trust and break down her resistance we could easily win her heart. She already drools over us.”
Thomas puffed up. “She does?”
“Us, love. Not just you.” Tyler watched Nevvie through the window while he idly twisted the band on his left hand, a match to the one Thomas wore. “I’ve seen how she looks at you. You’ve seen how she looks at me. I’d be willing to bet if we got a hand down her pants we’d find one deliciously wet, tight pussy waiting for us.”
Thomas groaned. “Do you have to do that? I’m fricking hard enough as it is.”
“Sorry. As I was saying it wouldn’t be a stretch, once we got her to agree to move in, to break down her reserves to let us do whatever we want.”
They watched Nevvie sweep the patio. “She’s a sweetheart,” Thomas said.
“Yes, she is.”
“She’s a cutie.”
“There’s that,” Tyler agreed.
Thomas watched her. “She’s got a great sense of humor.”
“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?”
“I’m sold. Are you?”
“Since you and I are apparently on the same wavelength about her bountiful natural assets, I don’t see a problem. We could have the best of both worlds, Thomas. Have our cake and eat her, too.”
“Geez I hate writers. Remind me why I hooked up with you?”