I’m not your Mr. Loyal Dog of the Year right over there....
The thought of her speaking those words made her furious at herself, furious at these people.
“Hey, I’m just passing it on. I don’t know the guy,” Louisa said defensively.
Toni had a staggering urge to punch these people. No wonder Heath was always on the defensive. Did anyone want him close? He was obviously intimidating to men, and maybe a little too much man for some women. But if only one would take a good look up close and open her heart to him, she was sure Heath Solis was a man to love a woman forever.
He would love so surely and determinedly, steadfastly . . .
Why couldn’t it be her?
Frowning at the despairing turn her thoughts had taken, she asked, “Louisa, does Grey know that’s what these people call Heath?”
“Of course not, no!” Diving across the table, Louisa clenched Toni’s hand between hers. “You aren’t going to tell him, are you?”
Worry shone bright in her friend’s eyes, and without hesitation Toni turned her hand and squeezed in reassurance. “I won’t. But I don’t think he’d appreciate it. Much less Heath.”
“So how do you know him?” Not entirely concealing her curiosity, Louisa went back to the rolls, spreading butter on a piece.
Memories threatened to surface, and Toni fought to keep them inside, to push Heath away. But it felt like he was knocking from inside her, living in her, breathing in her. “I just told you he said my hat is ridiculous,” she said, as if that explained it all. Why she couldn’t sleep.Why she and Grey did not speak of him.Why he had become their ghost.
“But he’s never in
the city, as far as I know. Except that once when he stopped by the office a few weeks ago. Some of the workers didn’t even know what he looked like!”
“I met him a few weeks ago, too,” Toni admitted, and gathered her breath. “He was with us the whole weekend in Cabo, actually. Remember arranging his schedule?”
“Vaguely, yes.”
“Well, he’s not a dog,” she defended, still smarting over it. “He’s . . . Heath is . . .” How to explain Heath to someone? To anyone. He was a mystery, a beautiful, damaged box with all kinds of novelties and goodies inside.“He’s just as wonderful as Grey is,” she admitted. “Different, but wonderful. Rough on the edges. A little bad.” And fun and rebellious and enchanting.
Alarm skated through Louisa’s eyes. “Toni . . . don’t tell me—”
“We had sex, all right! We had a threesome.”
If a waitress had come by and dropped a tray fully loaded with icy beverages, she doubted Louisa would have been more paralyzed. The shock and horror on her friend’s face made Toni sigh in despair. She shouldn’t have spoken about this to her.Threesomes were not discussed with regular people, period. “I’m sorry to dump it on you like this. I needed to talk to someone.”
“What do—exactly what did you do? What do you mean, a threesome?” Louisa’s color had risen, and her voice was an octave shy of a shriek.
“The three of us had sex.” She said it simply, matter-of-f actly, as she figured one should deal with these situations once they were done.As if they happened every day.Yes, yes, yes. That was her problem. She should just say it, deal with it, and let it go. “There!” She impulsively slammed a hand down in mock celebration. “I’ve said it, I feel great, and I really needed to get that off my chest.”
“And whose idea was it? I can’t imagine Grey would be so kinky. He’s so . . . he’s so . . . reserved.”
“On the outside. And it was our idea.”Toni refused to look directly into Louisa’s stunned blue gaze as she dismally added,“Sometimes I wish we could do it again and again, forever and ever.”
“What does that mean? Are you dumping Grey?”
“Never! No! I love Grey.” Her hands trembled, and she plucked at her straw, frowning into the depths of her iced tea as she twirled it. “I sometimes feel Heath belongs with us, that’s all.”
“As in, you three?”
Toni spread her arms aside.“It’s just that I’ve lately wondered . . . well, we have two legs, right?” She smiled wanly, lifted her shoulders. “Two eyes.Two hands.Why can’t we have two lovers?”
Two lovers who also went at each other, two male lovers who also understood, cared about, admired, and complemented each other. . . .
“Okay. This conversation has turned from normal to creepiest ever. I don’t know what to say! The extent of my sexual experience ranges from missionary to woman on top, and that was weeks ago. Now you tell me you have not one hunk in your bed, but two?”
“Oh, god, and I want them both!” she groaned in a strange combo of mirth and misery. “What does that make me?”