Callie turned her wide brown eyes up. There was something disarmingly innocent about Callie Sheppard. “I don’t like to eat alone. I’m afraid I was running late for my lunch date with Jen. Do you mind?”
Jen bounded away, her ponytail bobbing. Did she mind? Hell yeah, she minded. The last thing she wanted to do was sit down and talk to someone so close to Rye Harper. Everywhere she turned, it seemed Rye Harper was there waiting like a forbidden piece of fruit. She could still feel his hands surrounding hers, even after a full night in his brother’s bed. God, what kind of a woman was she?
“Or not,” Callie said with a sad twist of her mouth. “It’s okay. I can survive one meal by myself.”
Rachel slid into the booth. She wasn’t about to be rude. She could survive a thirty minute break. “Not at all. I’d love the company.”
Stella chose that moment to arrive with Rachel’s lunch. It was a very nice turkey sandwich with a bowl of minestrone soup and a glass of iced tea. She greeted Callie with a kiss on the cheek and then left the two alone. Rachel picked up her spoon. “Who wants to eat alone anyway? I’m glad for the company.”
Callie sat back and seemed to get lost in thought for a moment. “Would you change your mind if you knew I was here to plead Rye’s case?”
The spoon clattered to the table, and Rachel found herself taking a deep drink of her tea. She quickly composed herself. “Rye’s case? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m dating Max.”
“Yes, that’s the problem,” Callie replied.
It certainly was. Rachel forced herself to pick up the spoon. She could talk about this, or she could walk away and tell Callie it wasn’t any of her business. She knew she should do the latter, but she was so interested in talking about Max and Rye and how they used to conduct their affairs that she found herself staying put. “It’s not like it’s a grand love affair. Max and I are just having fun.” She had to keep it that way.
Callie huffed a little. “Max doesn’t have fun. He’s serious about you, Rachel. If you aren’t serious, it would be better if you broke it off now.” Her head tilted slightly to the side. “But I think you’re either lying to me or yourself. You’re in love with Max.”
“After knowing him a few weeks? I hardly think so.” Rachel kept her tone nonchalant.
A sad smile crossed Callie’s face. “You don’t believe in love at first sight?”
Callie did. Rachel could see that plainly. She softened a little. From everything she understood about the other woman, she was probably lonely. Bliss was a small town. There probably hadn’t been many prospects. From the stories Rachel had heard, Callie had been the only girl her age. She’d grown up with the Harper twins and Stef as her only real companions. They had been kids and then teens together. With so few suitable males her age, Callie had probably fallen in love with one of her friends. She couldn’t see Callie with the artist, so that left Max and Rye. Rachel’s heart ached a little. Callie wasn’t doing the whole “stay away from my men” business. She was watching out for two men she loved.
“I’m not trying to hurt anyone.” Rachel watched as the other woman looked away.
“I know. I just don’t think you understand them.” Callie took a long drink of her coffee. The salad in front of her went untouched. “I know it seems weird, but two men can be really nice.”
Now Rachel was the one leaning in. “Did you date them?”
Callie’s eyes widened. “God, no. I wasn’t talking about them. Look, I grew up with them. I’ll admit that when I was a kid I had a crush on them, but really, I’m over that. I love them, but I’m not in love with them anymore. Now they’re like my obnoxious brothers. My question is, are you even vaguely attracted to Rye?”
Was she attracted to Rye? Yes, but she shouldn’t be. She thought about the way it had felt to sit next to him in the truck the night before. His very presence had pulled at her. She’d wanted so badly to scoot over and sit next to him, their hips brushing each other as the Bronco bounced down the road. It was different than what she felt with Max. Despite her every instinct telling her to stay as far away from Rye Harper as she could, she couldn’t get the image of him standing over her out of her head. Max, for all his bluster, was sweet and so tender when it came to sex. Rye would be a different story.
“Okay, that answers that question,” Callie said. She had a big grin on her face, and Rachel felt herself flush. She’d given away way more than she thought she had.
“Fine, I find him attractive. That doesn’t mean I’m going to jump his bones.” She wasn’t going to do that. Even if she wanted to, it would hurt Max. She wasn’t going to cheat on Max.
“Are you fundamentally opposed to the whole idea of a threesome?”
Again, Rachel felt every inch of her face flood with blood. She looked around to see if anyone was watching. “How can you talk about this?” Something Callie had said earlier suddenly made sense. “You’re in a threesome, aren’t you?”
Finally, Callie showed some discomfort with the very intimate subject. Her hands twisted together. “No, not on a permanent basis. I mean, wow, that makes it sound like I’m going to an orgy every weekend. I’m not. My life would be way more interesting if that was happening.” She stuttered a little. “I only did it the once, but that was enough.”
“Enough for what?”
“Enough to make me think about it for the rest of my life.” Callie took a deep breath and visibly forced her hands to be still. “It was one weekend with two amazing men. At the end of the weekend, we went our separate ways. I haven’t seen them in years now. They were friends of Stef’s.”
But Callie hadn’t wanted the weekend to end, Rachel knew suddenly. It was written all over her face. Rachel felt a rush of empathy for Rye’s assistant. “What was it like?”
Rachel wasn’t necessarily talking about the sex, and Callie seemed to understand. A dreamy look came over her face. “I’ve never felt safer than I did with them. It was like I was their whole world. When I was with Zane and Nate, I was something more than just me. Maybe it works that way with just couples, but I was surrounded by them. I was the center of the whole world for a little while. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
“But your heart got broken.” And that was what Rachel was terrified of.
Callie shrugged and shook off the fine sheen of moisture that coated her eyes. “You can’t make someone love you. I wouldn’t take back loving them, either. Loving makes us better. And you won’t have the same problem. Max is already in love with you. Rye can’t help but follow. It just works that way for them.”
“Always?”
Callie nodded. She seemed more comfortable getting back to the subject of Max and Rye. “Ever since we were kids. You know that connection thing a lot of twins have? Multiply it by a thousand, and that’s Max and Rye. I swear one can tell what the other one is thinking most of the time. When they started dating, they dated the same girl. At the same time. And then her father came after them with a shotgun, and they ran away together.”
Rachel felt a smile split her face. What must it be like to have someone to share your soul with? How hard would it be to suddenly stop? She frowned. “Max hasn’t broached the subject with me. I don’t think he wants to share me.” And she wasn’t about to suggest a threesome. Even if she wanted to. Which she didn’t.
“I think he’s afraid of scaring you off. They’re both afraid of scaring you off. If you really care about Max, please think about giving Rye a shot. He’s a great guy.”