Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 47223 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47223 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
This could get messy—fast.
“Damn…” Josh mutters beside me, visually undressing Kate.
I’ve already done that half a dozen times in the twenty minutes since this gathering started, so I can hardly rebuke him. “Yeah. We should discuss the elephant in the room.”
One thing I like about Josh? He doesn’t play games.
“We should.” He grins wryly. “I’d try the I-saw-her-first thing if keeping her to myself was what I wanted.”
I snort. “I know it’s not. But we had this conversation a few days ago. You know my hard limit.”
We can’t share her…no matter how much I suspect she’d love it and it would blow our minds.
“I heard you,” Josh assures me. “But…what if she’s different?”
“She’s not. She’s still a woman with family, friends, and feelings. Neither of us needs another heartache. Plus, she works here. You know how the grapevine functions.”
“I’m tired of the corporate Casanova routine.”
“An office threesome would be worse.” When Josh looks unconvinced, I plow on. “You want our coworkers to know about our sex life? We only managed to keep Taylor on the down-low because she worked on the other side of the city. Kate’s desk is two floors below ours. If we took her to bed and everything went south…all it would take is one vindictive word. She could fuck our reputations.”
“Or she could fall for us and—”
“Jesus, what fairy-tale world are you living in?”
“The one where we’re happy. Is that really asking so much?”
Josh has a point. I hate to admit it, but neither of us has been truly happy since Taylor. Just like my best friend, it isn’t that I miss her. It’s that I miss the closeness, the feeling of rightness that gripped me when we took her together. I haven’t felt anything remotely like it since.
But logic has to prevail. No matter what we feel, we can’t collectively get involved with Kate.
Instead of pointing out my rationale again—he’s not listening—I attack from another angle. “You sound ready to go all in, despite the fact we met this woman a few hours ago. And we’ve exchanged what, twenty words with her?”
“Don’t be an asshole. And don’t tell me you don’t feel it, too. I know you.”
That’s the problem. We’ve been friends for thirty years. Other than my mom, no one knows me better. Hell, when it comes to women, Josh understands me far more. He knows when I’m interested and when my feelings are involved.
“All right, fine. She’s gorgeous. She does it for me. I want to fuck her. I’d love to fuck her with you,” I murmur for him alone. “But use your head up north. Are you willing to risk professional suicide? I’m not. You shouldn’t be, either.”
Josh grits his teeth. He’s pissed, but I’m right. He needs to back off and stop filling my goddamn head with images that will keep me up half the night, trying to masturbate my need away. “This is ridiculous. People care if we make them money, not who we fuck. You’re just scared.”
“I’m practical.”
His scowl tells me he doesn’t agree. “What are you suggesting?”
“We should keep our hands off of her—”
“If she’s willing, do you really think that’s going to happen?”
“But since I’m not sure that’s possible…”
“It’s not,” Josh says unequivocally. “One glance at that woman, and I was on fire.”
Same. In an instant, I went from helping people off an elevator to wanting Kate with a burning fierceness.
“Then whatever develops with her is individual and light. No promises. No commitments. And no goddamn threesomes.”
Josh looks like he wants to argue, but he doesn’t. “If that’s what you want.”
He’s not thrilled. Neither am I, but… “It’s for the best. So we’re agreed?”
“Yes. Don’t push me anymore.”
My best friend has reached his limit, but he’s given me his word.
He glares at me one last time, then fastens his gaze on Kate again. “I’m going to grab another drink.”
And the bar just happens to be five feet from the object of our mutual desire. No coincidence there.
Clearly, he’s plowing ahead and doing whatever it takes to have her. He won’t go slow or keep things light. In fact, he’s probably assuming that, when he jumps off the cliff, I’ll fall with him because I won’t be able to help myself. Another surreptitious glance at Kate, all curves and warmth and obvious brains, tells me he might not be wrong.
Fuck. My better bet is to block him from jumping at all.
As Savannah excuses herself for the bathroom, I rush to Kate’s side before Josh can close in. Up close, she’s younger than I first thought, no more than midtwenties. Another red flag. Unfortunately, when it comes to her, every red flag seems more like a red cape, urging me to charge her like a bull.
Kate starts as I approach, her fuckable lips parting, her blue eyes widening, cheeks pinkening. I imagine she’d be wearing an expression a lot like this if I was buried deep inside her as orgasm consumes her body.