“I was giving you space. You’re a touchy kind of guy. I can tell.”
Freddy wondered, “So what do you think of all this?”
“I’m new to being with two people in bed, if that’s what you’re asking. But I’m not averse to trying it again.” Dylan’s smile showed even, white teeth.
“Averse.” Harper snorted. “Isn’t he cute? What do you say, Freddy? Should we show him how things are done at the club?”
“I’m shocked. I thought you were a one-man guy. Now I find out you not only like girls too, but you’re in to more than one partner. Golly, Harper. I don’t know what to say.”
“Smart ass.” He tried to reach for her, but Dylan cuddled her closer.
“Now now. Be as macho as you want, but you can’t hurt this tender morsel.”
Even Freddy had to turn to stare at him, sharing Harper’s incredulity. “Tender morsel?”
“Too much?” Dylan blinked, then burst out laughing. “If you could see your faces. Man, I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.”
“Try forever,” Harper added. “At least for me. This is what I’ve been missing,” he said in a softer voice.
Startled, Freddy turned to face him and saw the affection he couldn’t hide. For her? For Dylan? She didn’t know, but suddenly she didn’t care, because he scooted down to plant a kiss on her belly and inched his large hand south.
“Harper?”
“Hmm. Good idea. Maybe we could take turns.” Dylan moved down the bed with him.
“Oh man. I was kidding before about a round three,” she ended on a moan.
Chapter Six
Dylan walked through the crowded craft show, still not sure how they’d talked him in to attending. Freddy seemed to touch everything in the small booths set up from one end of the convention center to the other. With over a hundred vendors selling homemade wares and holiday crafts, it was like a Martha Stewart nightmare.
“You seem to be having fun.” He frowned at Harper, who was currently stuffing his face full of candied almonds.
“Man, I love these things.” He held one out to Dylan.
Dylan sighed and took the thing, not wanting to admit it did taste good. “Though I hate to assign gender roles, a craft show isn’t something I would have imagined you’d enjoy.”
Harper grinned. “I love when you get all shrinky.”
“I know you’re saying that to annoy me.”
“Yup.”
Dylan punched him in the arm.
“Ow.”
“So why are we here again?” He saw Freddy squeal over a long knit scarf and groaned. The woman had eclectic tastes, but that aquamarine would bring out the blue in her eyes.
“Because we want to spend more time with Freddy, and we both need to get some Christmas shopping done before everything in this friggin’ town is gone.” Harper looked to Freddy’s right. “Oh hey. My mom would like that.”
He left to fiddle with a Pashmina that Dylan conceded would look very nice on his own mother’s shoulders. With a groan over the fact that he’d been roped into shopping at a piddling craft show by Freddy and Harper, he reluctantly purchased the thing’s twin. Then he bought some earrings for Hailey and Sydney, a hand-carved wooden game for Gage, and a Green Bay Packers ornament for Derrick.
An hour and a half later, they sat at one of the tables eating panini and drinking eggnog. An odd combination, but he’d fallen into the holiday spirit against his will. He stared at Harper’s and Freddy’s grinning faces, knowing he had it coming. “What?”
Freddy blinked innocently. “I’m just happy to see a bigger sucker than me at these things. I can’t believe you bought more than me.”
“Me too,” Harper had to add. “I mean, I know you’ve got two brothers and your mom, but that’s a lot of presents, Dylan.”
“So what? You wanted me to get into the spirit. Well, I’m here.”
Freddy gripped his hand under the table. “Don’t worry, Doc. I think you’re too adorable for words.”
He glared at Harper. “Great, now you’ve got her calling me ‘Doc’ too.” He squeezed her hand, missing it when she let go.
Harper shrugged and finished his sandwich. “You going to eat that?”
The guy consumed enough for three people. Then again, with all the energy they’d expended the night before, he’d earned it.
“What’s that smirk for?” Harper asked, suspicious.
“Nothing. Here, have it. You earned it.”
“Boy, did he.” Freddy fanned herself, and her blond bangs waved over her face. She hadn’t spiked her hair after the shower they’d all shared that morning, and the flutter of that silky bob softened her face.
He and she smiled at Harper, who colored.
“Did you see that, Doc?” She smirked. “Studly blushed.”
“Keep it up and I’ll start calling you ‘Smurfette’. You got that?” Harper growled.
Dylan laughed, unable to keep his joy to himself. God, he’d had the best time today. Most likely still riding an endorphin rush from last night and earlier that morning. A holdover from the incredible pleasure he’d experienced. But he didn’t want to let it go, and he was loath to verbally label this new dynamic. So he smiled and asked what he’d been thinking since they’d left the club earlier that morning. “What’s next?”
More shopping, some decorations they had to deliver to Freddy’s brother’s house while he was out of town, and an evening of wine and dinner at Dylan’s place. He felt pride in showing off his condo, as well as a need to see his new lovers in his home. To his satisfaction, Harper and Freddy looked good sitting on his furniture, at his table, in his kitchen.
Harper could barely boil water, but Freddy was an accomplished cook. So while she and Dylan worked together on dinner, Harper set the table and cleaned up after they ate.
Their unusual unit worked perfectly. Until they had to leave.
Monday had come knocking on Sunday’s door, and they all had work the next day. Freddy apparently did more than bartend. She was part owner in the club and did a lot of behind-the-scenes administration that demanded her constant presence there. Harper had more projects—as well as Natalie—to satisfy, and Dylan had patients to see starting at eight in the morning.
“Hey, Doc, so what’s next?” Harper asked as they all stood by the door. “For the record, we’re now an item.”
Freddy blinked up at him. “That’s nice.”
She didn’t seem pleased, though. Before Dylan could say anything, Harper took her chin in his huge hand. “By we, Smurfette, I mean the three of us. No sex outside of our little threesome.”
Her breathy “oh” explained a lot. As did her joyous grin. “Sounds good to me.”
“Doc?” Harper asked.
The pair looked at him, and he could no more deny them than he could deny breathing. “Yeah yeah. Okay. No sex except with you two,” he grumbled but couldn’t help smiling.
Harper’s eyes narrowed, but he nodded. The big lug had caught what Dylan couldn’t bring himself to say. A threesome in theory was a lovely thing. In bed, in practice, it was a dream come true. But a public life of polyamory was not only unaccepted in most social circumstances, but difficult, not to mention it was illegal to marry more than one person at a time. Though why Dylan would leap so far ahead of himself he didn’t know.
Or did he? As he said goodbye to his new lovers with kisses and hugs, and shut the door behind them, he conceded that today had been better than any date he’d ever had. He’d had fun. Real enjoyment doing something he normally would never have done. He’d attended a craft show, for God’s sake. And he’d bought handmade presents.
He didn’t try to stifle a sigh as he locked up then made his way into his bedroom. After plugging his phone into its charger, he undressed and put on his pajamas, a striped designer silk that usually relaxed him. Except, as he shifted in the soft clothing, he remembered hands and lips over his body, and he grew aroused. A quick trip to the bathroom and cold water to his face didn’t help any.