She wasn’t going to get warm standing there and although she looked at the tub with longing, she knew if she chanced it, she might be found sleeping and that would not be good. She started the shower to warm and began stripping her wet clothes off, folding them neatly and setting them on the edge of the vanity closest to the door. She was standing there in her bra and panties, which were also soaked and pretty much see through now, when the door opened a crack and Hal stuck his head in. “Oh, sorry,” he said, quickly pulling his head back and sticking in one arm, a soft white terry cloth robe clutched in his hand.
Lena grabbed it and held it to her. “Thank you,” she said softly, backing into a corner, holding the robe tightly to keep it from disappearing. The door closed and Lena crept up to it, looking to see if she could lock it. She locked the door then looked around for a towel. Crap, she thought, remembering Hal said he would put them on the warmer.
She unlocked the door, with reservations, but really wasn’t worried about Hal or R.J. coming in except to bring towels. She hung the robe on the hook outside the glass shower door, hoping it would hide her from prying eyes if the door came open again.
Lena was standing under the warm spray of water when she thought she heard the door open again and let out a small scream. Then she heard Hal’s voice saying, “To operate the shower there’s a panel on your left. The top button…” He went on to explain all the different features. “I left warm towels on the vanity. Do you need anything else?” he asked.
Lena hunched over, trying to hide her body and make it as small as possible, and answered, “No, I’m good, thanks.” Adding a mental Now stay out, please.
Hal closed the door and walked out to the living room where R.J. was sitting on the couch, sipping a drink. Both men had changed and were lounging on the couch waiting for their prey.
“So how is our little mouse
doing?” R.J. asked, leaning back comfortably. What they hadn’t explained to Lena yet was that three of them, R.J., Hal, and Mel, shared not only the penthouse of the thirty story building, but women as well. They were very interested in sharing Lena, the little mouse that had crept into their office and hearts. Mel had seen it first when he investigated her after she applied for the receptionist position.
R.J. and Hal had been following and watching her for a week after they all read the reports Lance Lewis and his brothers, one team of field operatives, had given them. They had been assigned to look deeper into Lena and find out why the girl had been unable to find a job. Franklin Franks, Lena’s ex-boyfriend, had let her take the fall for his blunders. He was the son of the manager of the bank and all the loans he was in charge of were not what they appeared to be. When he had been caught, he had sold Lena out to cover his own ass. She was in deeper trouble than she realized.
Frank had not only sold her out to her employer, but also to some of his seedier associates and several unsavory contacts were out to extract payment from Lena for the funds Franklin owed them. Lena was unaware of any of it as far as they could tell. She had no idea who was after her and what kind of danger she was in.
Mel, Hal, and R.J. had had several meetings and decided the best way to keep her safe was to get as close to her as they could. They could have simply just told her what was going on, but they were afraid she wouldn’t believe them and she would run. They couldn’t have her out there somewhere alone and scared. She needed their protection. After watching her for several days, they were all eager to get closer to her and find out more about her.
Chapter Three
Lena finished her shower and felt much warmer. Grabbing the fluffy robe, she pulled it on. It was made for someone much larger than she was. She had to roll the sleeves up past her wrists to see her hands. She lifted the hem to keep from falling over it and opened the door and stepped out into the bedroom. She could hear the men’s voices outside the room but decided to explore a little first. She turned to her left and walked down the short hallway to the first open door. This was definitely a man’s room. She could tell by the darker, more muted colors and the sturdy heavy furniture. No signs of femininity in here. There were four more doors, all open, and she continued her explorations. The next room was also masculine, but in a different way—the colors were different, the furniture a different style, but still sturdy and heavy. The third room was the same. She thought she heard footsteps and darted back to the room at the end of the hall. It was the largest, with a huge bed, and several dressers lined up against one wall. The bed was the biggest she had ever seen and she could easily imagine several people sleeping in it.
She was just getting ready to step farther into the room to explore further when she felt a large warm masculine body come up behind her. “Oh!” she exclaimed, startled, giving a little jump. She felt the warm band of a male arm catch her under her breasts and save her from falling backward. She let herself lean into the warmth and strength for a brief minute before she straightened and turned her head to see who was behind her. “Hal, hi… I was just coming to find you,” she said, her voice a little breathless at being caught.
Right. You went exploring, Hal thought to himself. “This is the largest bedroom,” he told her before taking the arm he still had around her waist and turning her. Leading her to the first room, he stopped for a second in the doorway. “This is my room.” He then turned to the two rooms, showing her which was Mel’s and which was R.J.’s. “The three of us share this place. None of us are married or in committed relationships. We have a maid service that comes in twice a week and every now and then Mel’s sister takes pity on us and cooks for us. Other than that we are just three old crabby bachelors.”
“Speak for yourself. I refuse to be old, and crabby is a mean word. I prefer moody,” R.J. said, walking up to them. “And don’t fucking tell me moody is for women. I’ve seen your crabby ass be moody, too.” He grabbed Lena’s hand. “Come on, I’ll show you the kitchen and balcony. We have a great view. You can see for miles.”
Lena let him lead her through the chef’s dream of a kitchen, admiring the stainless-steel appliances and granite countertops. What she wouldn’t give to spend a few hours making a meal for them all there. She hadn’t even met Melvin Ashcroft yet and could already imagine herself hanging out and spending time with all three of these men. Stop it, she told herself. She needed to get her head on straight. This was just a job and she needed it.
R.J. led her to the large balcony that overlooked the city and onto the plains. There was a huge hot tub, a table and chairs for lounging, and around the corner, a heated pool.
“This is perfect,” Lena said, looking around in amazement. It was hard to tell she was thirty plus stories off the ground. The balcony looked like an outdoor oasis.
“We like to come out here and relax after being cooped up in the office all day,” Hal said, walking up on the other side of her as she leaned against the rail around the balcony.
They were all three standing shoulder to shoulder against the rail looking out over the city. Lena took a deep breath. “I love the smell of the air after the rain,” she said, leaning forward and looking at the small shapes on the street below. It was hard to tell now that it had been storming just a few minutes ago.
Hal grabbed her hand and pulled her back to the couch. “I think we promised you a drink,” he said, pouring a shot of Jameson’s in each glass.
Lena took hers and took a healthy swallow. Warmth and Dutch courage in one gulp. She relaxed back against the couch and crossed one leg over the other, showing a fair amount of skin as she did. She reached for the edge of the robe to cover herself and Hal grabbed her hand. “Leave it, I like the view.”
Lena wasn’t quite sure what to say so she took another swallow of her drink. Hal had been standing across the room and came to sit on the other side of her.
“So tell us more about yourself,” he said, grabbing his drink and resting one arm along the back of the couch behind her.
“I sent your clothes down to be cleaned. They should be back shortly. Until then we can talk and relax here. When they get back we’d like to take you to dinner if you don’t have any other plans,” R.J. said from her other side.
“I need to make some calls. I had interviews scheduled for this afternoon, but I guess I don’t need them now,” Lena said with a sigh.
“No, honey, you have the job with us if you want it. We haven’t discussed everything yet, but I think you’ll like it,” Hal said, letting his hand drift to her shoulder the same way it had in the back of the car.
R.J. stood and led her back to the big bedroom. “Here, honey, you can make your calls in here and come back to the living room with us when you are done. Are you hungry? We could order some snacks or sandwiches or something.”
Lena nodded. She needed to eat. She hadn’t had anything but a smoothie in the morning and was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol she had. There was no place to sit in the room except on the bed, so Lena sat on the side of the bed to make her calls.