Steven chuckled then took a deep breath.
“She was, you’re right. It just hurt so badly because I just finished that tour from hell and lost Brooks and Dupree. They were good men. I was down and fragile, I guess.”
“She knew that. It doesn’t matter now. You’ve got a great life in Delite, and you’re doing wonderful work with the soldiers at the military hospital.”
“Plus, Jess wasn’t right for both of us. We had promised to share a woman, so we could provide her with everything. Jess wasn’t the one.”
“I know that, but I was willing to forget our conversation and let you live your life.”
“I know, Mason. That’s why it’s important that we share our feelings now and we stop pushing Sally away. I think she’s the one for us. I mean, obviously, we’re both attracted to her and she is to us. We fucked up by not pursuing her sooner. Those fuckers could have—”
“Let’s not think about it. I came really close to taking Garret and Keiffer out. Real fucking close,” Mason admitted.
Steven glanced around him.
“Where’s Toby?” he asked, and Mason looked around the room. The other dogs were gone, too.
“Oh crap. Go check on them. They’re probably camped out in front of the bedroom door waiting on Sally. She’ll freak out.”
“Damn. She really is afraid of dogs.”
“She’ll get over it now with our crew around.”
Steven chuckled then hurried upstairs.
He saw that the bedroom door was ajar and also the bathroom door.
“Sally?” he called to her.
“In here. Please hurry up,” she stated.
He pushed the bathroom door open the rest of the way and was shocked.
All five dogs were lying on the bathroom floor surrounding the tub. Sally sat there with her knees drawn up to her chest, shivering.
“Voraus!” he told the dogs and they immediately got up and exited the room. Toby remained.
“Toby, go.” The dog looked at him then Sally.
“Toby!” Mason’s voice echoed through the bedroom.
Toby retreated.
“Oh God, I was afraid to get out of the tub. They opened the door. How the hell could they do that?” she asked, not even concerned that there were no bubbles left in the tub and he could see how well-endowed she was. Her long, sexy legs couldn’t cover her curves. Her breasts were full and nipples pebbled hard. He took a deep breath and couldn’t tear his eyes away from her.
She tried unsuccessfully to cover her breasts, but her arm was too narrow.
He grabbed a towel.
“Here.” He held it out as he turned his head, and Mason did the same.
She stepped out of the tub and into the towel. He wrapped it around her and could feel how cold her skin was.
“Why didn’t you call one of us?” Steven asked as he rubbed her skin and she shivered.
“I thought they would attack if I yelled.”
Mason stared at her as she turned toward both of them.