Some days I thought it might be Cole with his smoldering dark eyes and that slightly too-long hair that had a tendency to fall into his eyes. Something told me he would be a touch wild and a whole lot dominant in the bedroom. When I fantasized about him I saw blindfolds and handcuffs. Not typically my sort of thing, but something about Cole made me think I might just like it rough and dirty, as long as he was in charge.
Declan, on the other hand, I fantasized about when I was in the mood for slow, sweet, and seductive. He had an old-fashioned chivalry about him and I was absolutely certain that he knew how to please a woman.
Each of them, I was absolutely positive, would put a woman’s pleasure before his own every single time.
There I went again, fantasizing about two men who I’d never see once I moved on from Bridgewater. I wasn’t always so obsessed with sex. Never thought about having it with two different men. Clearly, it had been way too long since I’d had an orgasm—much as Brad liked to have control, he couldn’t make me come to save his life. He used to, in the beginning, but my pussy seemed to have a better asshole detector than my brain because it stopped buying his lies. For a long time, I’d been telling myself it was me—my sex drive was low or maybe I’d gone frigid. That was a thing, right?
But after a little time away from Brad, I knew the truth. I was horny as hell, just not for his sorry ass.
I studied my reflection one last time, keeping in mind that my two favorite customers would most likely be sitting at one of my tables. Shaking my head, I had to remember playful flirtation was all it was going to be. Why would they be interested in me? The lip balm didn’t make my lips look fuller. The swipe of mascara did nothing to highlight my eyes. And the mint green color of the uniform clashed with my pale skin. I wasn’t about to win any beauty contests, but it was fitted enough to show off my small waist and short to show some leg. But I wore my running shoes with it to spare my feet the torture of standing all day. What a look!
I gave one last glance in the mirror, assuring myself that this was as good as it was going to get. Vanity didn’t matter since my two crushes were just fantasy material and were going to stay that way. I grabbed my small purse and headed toward the door. My pace quickened at the thought of seeing my two favorite customers again. I was fully aware of how ridiculous it was, of how I was acting. With everything going on my life, a silly crush and a temporary time out from my stressful job had me feeling almost human again. I couldn’t run forever but as I walked into the diner, I couldn’t help but think that there were worse things than starting over, even if it was for all the wrong reasons.
CHAPTER TWO
DECLAN
Cole shifted in the booth across from me and checked the time for the millionth time. “Maybe she’s not working today.”
I fought back a sigh. “Jessie said she was working the lunch shift, didn’t she? If anyone would know her schedule, it’s Jessie. She’ll be here, just relax.”
Truth was, I was probably just as on edge as Cole, but I was better at hiding it. I wasn’t worried that Hannah wouldn’t show—the new waitress had never been late for her shift in the past five days we’d been coming here to see her—but I still had my reservations. Hannah Lauren was the first woman we’d set our sights on, and the fact that she was a relative stranger who we knew nothing about? Yeah, that definitely put me on edge.
It didn’t change the fact that I wanted her—that we wanted her—but my gut told me something was up with her. As a cop, that gut feeling was what had kept me alive before. I listened to it.
In Bridgewater, men knew when they’d found the one. It was custom that a woman shared two husbands, sometimes three. We were raised to listen to our hearts and go after our woman with everything we had. I was born into a family that believed in this, lived this. I had two dads, saw the dynamic between them and my mom. Knew love when I saw it. Knew they took care of her every need. Put her first. Made her the center of their world. I believed in it, and wanted that myself. Cole and I decided years ago we’d share a woman. We just hadn’t found her. Until now.
But that voice in the back of my head—the one that made me a hell of a good cop—it was damn hard to silence, even if I did believe that Hannah would be ours.
She was beautiful, there was no doubt about that, and sparks flew whenever she was near. Shit, I got a hard on every time I saw her and I knew it was the same for Cole.
There was no doubt in my mind the attraction was mutual. I didn’t need to be a cop to pick up on that. Her bright green eyes seemed to darken when we were talking with her and she blushed whenever we flirted or made a suggestive comment. I’d bet good money that she spent just as much time picturing how we’d be in bed as we did thinking about all the ways we’d fuck her senseless once we made her ours.
So what was the problem? We liked her, she liked us…we should be celebrating the fact that we finally found her, not sitting here staring at each other like two caged animals. Waiting. I knew what Cole’s issue was—he had a shit ton of baggage to get over before he could trust a woman after the crap his stepmom put him and his dad through. I’d known that all along and was fine with it. Like my fathers and grandfathers, I knew that once the right woman came along, she’d help Cole get over his past.
I just never thought that I’d be the one with a hang-up when we met her, and my issue was more difficult to figure out. From the moment we spotted Hannah five days ago, I’d known she was it for us. But the more we got to know her—or rather, the more we didn’t get to know her despite all our conversations—the more that cop voice told me to slow down and get some answers.
Jessie headed toward our table with a carafe of coffee. She was the only one in this town who knew anything about Hannah who’d appeared out of nowhere two weeks ago. From what I could gather, she didn’t know much at all, or wasn’t saying. She kept confidences like a damn vault
. While I appreciated that, in this instance, wanted to take her down to the station and interrogate her until she talked.
“She is working today, right, Jessie?” Cole asked.
Who she was went without saying. Cole and I hadn’t exactly been subtle in our interest.
“She’ll be here any minute.” Jessie topped off Cole’s mug and then mine, a little smile forming on her lips.
She’d run the restaurant with her two husbands longer than I’d been alive. To say that she was pleased we’d found interest in her new waitress was an understatement. She was a blatant matchmaker and we’d avoided her efforts before. But now, now we were seeking her help and she was enjoying watching us squirm.
“Have you learned anything more about where she came from?” I asked. “Or what she’s doing here? Is she just passing through or—”
She put a hand on her hip.
“Declan MacDonald, I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again. I don’t know anything more than what I’ve already told you. If you want to know about the girl, I suggest you ask her yourself.”
Cole smirked at me over the rim of his mug. Like a grade schooler, my best friend still thought it was funny to watch me get scolded. I knew he shared my reservations about Hannah, but he seemed to think all the mystery around this woman would be cleared up once we got her out of this diner and into our bed.
“Just curious,” I mumbled, trying to avoid Jessie’s scowl. Jessie had taken to this new waitress and was as protective of her as if she were her own daughter.