Theirs to Keep

“Gotcha.”

Slipping back down the hall was easy enough, and I managed to avoid encountering anyone else. Not that I did anything wrong, really. The others had shared me without Roderick even being there, so it seemed almost fair that he got a crack as well. Whether they knew it or not, the guys were even-steven now. All tied up.

You’re an asshole, Karissa.

Maybe. But I’d always been an asshole, if we were keeping score. And now I was a very well-laid asshole. That, to me, made the whole thing worth it.

Unless you lose your job from this.

Nah, I just couldn’t see that happening. I was kicking too much ass here, and the guys were too overwhelmed with their own stuff to hire and train someone new. Even so, you never knew how people took things. Some guys could be jealous. Some guys could be—

“Well look who’s getting the worm today.”

I bumped into Bryce in the hallway, after having stripped my cold, wet bed. I still had the sheets and blankets gathered in my arms.

“A little early for laundry, isn’t it?”

“You gonna shower?”

He blinked down at me a few times, then added a yawn. “I was.”

“Make it a fast one then. I’m next.”

He was in a pair of old sweats, and a T-shirt so worn through I could see the color of his well-tanned skin. He glanced down at me and grinned.

“Shower with me, problem solved.” He added a wink. “We’ll save water too.”

I laughed and shook my head. “You save water. I’ve got too much stuff to do.”

My gorgeous construction worker turned lover gave me a slight shrug, then smiled like he knew something I didn’t. Throwing a towel over one big slab of a shoulder, he whistled as he walked away.

“See you tonight, then.”

Tonight…

My body froze, then tingled, then grew warm again. Holy shit. I’d almost forgotten.

How the hell could you forget something like that?

Midnight. Tonight. My bedroom.

Both of them.

I swallowed dryly. There was a whole big list of things I needed to do today, before I could call the day done. Then I could grab dinner. Relax a little. Maybe even take a bath in the big claw-footed tub — something I’d wanted to do ever since the guys invited me to stay here.

And then… at midnight…

I dropped off my linens and returned to the hallway, just as the shower kicked on behind me. I could imagine Bryce in there, totally naked. The hot water running down his cut, sculpted body. The steam, swirling through the shower enclosure as he soaped up and scrubbed every last glorious bit of that almost mocha-colored skin.

Relax, you dirty sex-addict, the voice in my head admonished me. One thing at a time.

Slowly I shook my head in disbelief. Considering my recent activities, the phrase no longer held much in the way of meaning.

“HVAC,” I said out loud, breaking my rogue train of thought. “Electrician at eleven. Stonemasons after lunch. And then—”

I stopped. Something caught my eye and cocked my head.

My key was there, right where I’d dropped it and kicked it to one side of the hallway. Only it looked different now. Somehow… smaller.