Triplets Make Five

Technically there was no reason to rush. Morgan was Aaron Richie’s daughter, and Aaron lived just a few floors down. Which meant the party was just an elevator ride away. But it was not the party I was worried about. It was the ‘non-date’ I arranged with Daisy afterwards.

I rode down to Aaron’s floor in the elevator with Emmy. I was worried she’d be sad to see me go, but as soon as the elevator doors opened she dropped my hand and ran inside to meet her friends.

“She’ll be fine,” Aaron assured me, catching the anxious look on my face.

“Call me if you need anything,” I said, handing over Emmy’s pink backpack and turning to wave goodbye to Emmy. She was so busy giggling with her friends that she didn’t even notice me leaving.

“She’s in the zone now,” Aaron slapped my back. “Once kids get in the zone, they don’t have time for you, unless you’re a pizza or a Disney Princess.”

“It’s a good thing,” I said finally. “I’m just glad to see her adjusting so well to everything.”

12

CALEB

“The Preston Hotel?” Daisy asked as she stepped out of the car and onto the curb.

“You asked me if we should be supporting the competition last time,” I smiled, offering my arm. “So I figured we’d give the Preston our business tonight.”

“Mixing business and pleasure,” Daisy smiled up at me.

“Always,” I smiled back.

We were different together, now. The dynamic had changed. Daisy wasn’t pretending that she could resist me, and I was not pretending that she could resist me if she wanted to.

I steered us through the hotel, marble, tall, overwhelming, busy, and bypassed the hotel’s restaurant.

“No dinner tonight?”

“Not yet,” I said. “We have other appetites to satisfy, first.”

I scooped her into the elevator as her face turned bright red. She bit her bottom lip, confirming that she knew exactly what appetite I was referring to. And confirming that it does indeed need to be satisfied.

It was imperative that I learned the language of Daisy’s body. That I could decode what she wanted, what she needed.

I absently pressed the elevator button, then I turned my full attention back to Daisy. Tonight she was wearing a sheer black blouse tucked into a short leather skirt. I could see the outline of her lace bra through the shirt, and when I pulled her into my chest, I could feel the prick of her hardened nipples pressed against me.

Her long legs were wrapped in a fresh pair of black nylons - I bet she pictured me ripping them off of her when she s

lid them over her silky smooth legs. Her hair was twisted off her neck, revealing the long stretch of glistening skin. I couldn’t resist brushing my lips over her neck, tasting her as the elevator ascended.

She was braver tonight. She leaned into my embrace, and I felt a curious hand explore my chest.

We arrived at the hotel's top floor, where the pool and spa were located. When the doors parted and Daisy smelled the mixture of essential oils and chlorine that fill the air, she glanced up at me, confused.

“I closed the spa down for us tonight,” I explained. “It’s all ours.”

“How?”

“I know a guy,” I winked.

The Preston Hotel’s pool overlooked the glittering Manhattan skyline with giant floor-to-ceiling glass windows. As the sun set over the river in the distance, the pool was flooded with an orangey-pink glow pouring in through the glass and tinting the rippling water of the pool.

“What do you think?”

“I think this sure as hell beats the YMCA in Greenpoint,” she marveled, glancing around. Then she frowned, “But I didn’t bring a swimsuit…”

“Me neither,” I whispered. I strode across the tile pool deck towards a lounging chair, and I started to strip off my black suit. Daisy watched apprehensively, then she took a deep breath and sauntered towards me, her fingers working down the buttons of her blouse.