Chapter One
It being only eleven in the morning, Ashley Vaughn walked up to Blue’s Diner’s entrance expecting to see an empty restaurant. Too early for the lunch crowd. Too late for the breakfast bunch. But instead, when she opened the door her eyes fixed on the two handsome men sitting by the jukebox—men from Chicago she’d dated off and on for over a year.
Nicolas Walker and Sylas Hayes, attorneys for Braxton Meat Packing.
What are they doing here?
She’d broken it off with each of them. Juggling two men was difficult. Long-distance relationships were impossible to maintain. But those weren’t the real reasons she ended things. “Sharing” wasn’t even in Nic and Sylas’s vocabularies, especially when it came to her. She’d believed that eventually they would come around to the Destiny way of thinking. But they hadn’t. They never would. But they are here now. Why?
It had been wonderful and difficult dating them. The dates with Nic were fun filled. He had an amazing sense of humor and kept her laughing. Sylas was an extreme romantic, wining and dining her, making her always feel so special. When she’d finally found the courage to share what she really desired—that she would never choose between them, that she actually wanted both of them—they had reacted shocked.
Ashley told Nic and Sylas about Destiny and how all types of families were welcomed, accepted. “All that matters is love, whatever way it presents itself. Two men with one woman is not uncommon.”
“You can’t be serious.” Nic continued doing all the talking, while Sylas remained silent, with his eyes fixed on her.
“I’m very serious. You’ve met my boss.”
“Phoebe? Yes.”
She took a deep breath and then blurted out, “Phoebe is married to three men.”
“That’s crazy.” Nic frowned.
Sylas broke his silence. “Not to mention illegal.”
“Marriage doesn’t have to be on paper. It’s written in the hearts of people who love each other. Who cares what the law says?”
“I care,” Sylas said in his deep tone. “I’m a lawyer. The law matters, Ash.”
“What about how we feel about each other? Doesn’t that matter to you, too? I know this may sound crazy, but you both have asked me many times what I really want. Well, this is it. I want you both.”
“You what?” Nic’s face filled with confusion and jealousy. “What do you want me to do when Sylas is banging you? Go get a sandwich or take a walk? When I get back will it be his turn to hit the road so that I can have my way with you?”
“Nic, you’ve never said anything so hurtful to me before.” Tears streamed down her cheeks.
“And you’ve never said anything so crazy to me before either.”
Sylas stated flatly, “Ashley, you know this is not possible.”
“In Destiny it is very possible,” she snapped back and left.
That night her heart had been shredded by their words, by their rejection of what she needed. She’d been a fool to think Nic and Sylas might act differently. Whatever she’d had with them was over. She hadn’t seen either of them since that horrible evening, until now.
There had been voice mails, text messages, and e-mails, but even those had finally come to an end since she never responded to them. She had meant to never look back, to give her heart a chance to heal. But now Nic and Sylas were in Destiny, and the pain she’d been trying to run from was right in front of her eyes.
Were they here to try to change her mind? To start dating again? To force her into choosing one of them? Not happening. She’d made her decision to keep her heart from shattering into a million pieces. No matter what they had come to Destiny to say to her, she wasn’t changing her mind. She couldn’t. It was the only way she had a chance of surviving.
“Hi, Ash.” Desirae, the assistant manager of the restaurant, was clearly mesmerized by Nic and Sylas, as she couldn’t keep her eyes off of them. No surprise.
They were off-the-charts good looking. They both had dark hair, though Sylas kept his a little longer than Nic. Sylas’s eyes were a deep, piercing blue, Nic’s a bright green. Their muscled bodies would make any woman weak in the knees, and Desirae was no exception. Neither am I, God help me.
“The view in here has improved,” Desirae said quietly with a grin.
“It sure has.” Anna Banks, a woman who worked at TBK, walked up beside them. “Any idea who those hunks are?”
Desirae shook her head. “Not a clue. How about you, Ash?”
Before she could answer, Nic and Sylas stood. “Hi, Ashley,” they said in unison, and then glared at each other.
Their rivalry about her obviously hadn’t faded.
“Lucky girl.” Anna sighed. “You clearly know them.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Won’t you join us, sweetheart?” Sylas asked.
“One second, please.” Her insides were quaking. She turned to Desirae, trying to gain her composure.
“‘Sweetheart?’” Desirae’s eyes widened. “You know them very well, don’t you, Ash?”
She shrugged. She’d been trying to get over Nic and Sylas but failing miserably. The only thing that kept her from thinking about them was staying busy at work. Nights were the worst. She cried herself to sleep too many times. And the dreams, which were perfect, vanished when she left her lonely bed. They reminded her that the real world wasn’t what she wanted it to be. Nic and Sylas. Together. Not apart. Not fighting over her.
“My God, they are gorgeous,” Anna said. “Don’t forget about us if you need any help taming them.”
Anna and Desirae laughed.
But Ashley only smiled because she wasn’t in a laughing mood. “Desirae, could I have two Blue Plate specials to go, please?”
“Sure thing.”
“And could you add an extra order of mashed potatoes and gravy for Phoebe, plus a slice of chocolate pie?”
Desirae wrote on her ticket pad. “Your boss is making a habit of eating dessert lately.”
“If Phoebe keeps that up she will lose that cute figure she has,” Anna stated flatly.
Ashley was irritated by Anna’s comment. “As hard as Phoebe works, I doubt that. She’s the county’s busiest attorney and pulls sixteen to seventeen hour days regularly.”
“Sorry, Ashley. I was just stating facts.” Anna was a bit of a know-it-all, always ready to share her opinion whether anyone asked for it or not. Likely, it helped her in her job at TBK, being one of their top computer coders, but elsewhere it was off-putting. “Any of us would slap on the pounds if we ate dessert every day.”