Monroe, Marla - Desire for Two (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (8 page)

“Good girl. Is this all you’re bringing?” he asked.

“Just my suitcase and my hanging clothes,” she said.

“You travel light. That’s good.” He smiled and picked up her luggage.

“I don’t require much. I’m mostly going to be arranging your schedules and setting up your computer for sharing with your office computer.”

“That and working with the contractor on those plans. That’s of prime importance to us, too,” Elliot told her.

“I’ll take care of it. I still think you need to have some input in it, though.”

“We will have some. You’ll see.”

She followed him down her stairs to the outside door. Waiting at the curb was a large Dodge Ram truck. She climbed in the front seat when Elliot indicated she should. He stowed her luggage in the back seat and climbed in beside her. Clay smiled and gave her a kiss.

“You ready, baby?” he asked.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” She just hoped that she really was.

Chapter Ten

The ride over was a testament to her resistance. Between Clay riding with his hand on her thigh drawing lazy circles there and Elliot with his arm around her shoulders massaging her there, Desire wasn’t sure she’d be able to walk when they made it to Sims. Occasionally, Elliot would lean in and kiss her temple or the edge of her lips. He even nuzzled her neck a few times. Nothing she did or said would affect either of them, so she stopped trying and endured—happily.

They drove up into a cute little motel parking lot. A woman of about sixty waddled out to meet them with her arms thrown wide.

“Clay, Elliot. It’s so good to have you home. Your dads will be here in a few minutes. They had errands to run first. You’re here earlier than we expected you,” she said.

“Mom, I’d like you to meet, Desire. Desire, this is our Mom, Elma Middleton,” Elliot said.

Desire held out her hand but was instantly enfolded in a hug by the woman.

“Mercy, it’s good to have you here. These boys don’t come near as often as I’d like them to,” she said. “Thanks for seeing that they do.”

“But I…”

Clay interrupted her. “She’s going to help us design our new home, Mom.”

“That’s wonderful. Lord, I might just cry. You’re going to come home for good?”

“Well, not at first. We’ll commute some back and forth.” Elliot gave her a hug.

“Well, what am I thinking? I’m sure after that drive you want to unpack and rest. Here are the keys.” She held out two old-fashioned keys on key rings with room numbers on them.

Desire hadn’t seen those since she was a child. Sims really was an old community. She couldn’t wait to see what more there was to learn about the little town.

“Come on, Desire. I’ll show you to your room,” Elliot said, grabbing her suitcase out of the back.

“I’ll bring the rest,” Clay said.

Desire followed Elliot to the back of the motel where two doors were off by themselves. Elliot used the key and unlocked one of them, opening the door before standing back and allowing her to go in first. The room didn’t look like any motel or hotel she’d ever been in. It was more like what you would expect a bed and breakfast to be like.

The room held a four-poster, queen-size bed with real bedroom furniture and a TV mounted on the wall across from the bed. Pale green sheets were turned back over the rich green comforter. She looked down and realized there were real hardwood floors and not carpet beneath her feet.

“This doesn’t even look like a motel room. Are all the rooms like this?” she asked.

“No, just these back two. They’re reserved for family and close friends when they visit.” Elliot sat her suitcase on the bench at the foot of the bed and opened it for her. She was mortified when the top item to view was a pair of her lacy black panties. He ran a finger over them and smiled at her.

“Don’t say a word. Not one word.” She walked over and stood in front of the suitcase as if she could hide it from him.

All Elliot or Clay had to do was look over the top of her head to see anything they pleased. They were so much taller than she was without her heels.

He grinned and walked across the room to another door. She expected it to be a closet, but it turned out to be a connecting door to the other bedroom. He opened both doors and grabbed her hand to pull her over to the other room.

She nearly fainted. Inside it was a bed big enough for three or maybe even four people. It was huge. This room was decorated in hues of blue and maroon. The same wooden floors and mounted TV graced this room as well.

“This is where we’ll stay. The other room is for your privacy and sense of decorum, but make no mistake, you will be in our bed each night.” Elliot pulled her into his arms and kissed her before she could protest.

There was a clicking at the door and Clay walked in with her hanging clothes and two suitcases. He looked barely winded. She marveled that the two of them were so fit yet spent so much time at the office. It had to be genetics.

“I see you showed her our room,” Clay said, grinning. “What do you think, Desire?”

“The rooms are beautiful and comfortable-looking.”

“Be sure and tell Mom, she always worries people might not like her special rooms.” Clay walked over to the bench at the foot of the massive bed and put the two suitcases on it. Then he disappeared into the other room, she supposed to hang up her clothes.

“Come on. The dads should be back by now. Plus, it’s past time for lunch so I’m sure you’re hungry. We can run over to the diner and have something to get us through till dinner time.” Elliot wrapped an arm around her waist and led her out the door.

Clay locked the door behind them and followed them back to the office. Sure enough, two burly-looking men stood talking with Elma. Now she could see where the men got their good looks. Both of their fathers were handsome men. Each looked enough like the other that she figured they were also brothers. Everything here was confusing to her. She felt like Alice, in an alternate universe.

“Dads, this is Desire. These are our dads, Frank and Clifton Middleton.” Elliot pushed her forward.

She stuck out her hand to shake and once again was encased in a warm hug then passed to the next man for more of the same.

“Good to meet you, Desire. We’ve heard so much about you.” Frank told her.

“You have?” She frowned at Clay and Elliot.

Why would they have been talking to their parents about her? She was just their administrative assistant. Something wasn’t right here. Sighing, she smiled at the two men and stepped back.

“Mom, Dads, we’re going over to the diner for a quick bite. We missed lunch and need to feed her before she passes out.” Clay wrapped his arm around her this time.

“Goodness, you should be ashamed of yourselves, not feeding her lunch. I taught you better manners than that,” she fussed.

“Yes, ma’am,” they both said in unison, looking adequately contrite.

“Come on, Desire. It’s a short walk to the diner. We’ll show you more of the town on the way. I’m betting you’re going to want to do some shopping while you’re here,” Elliot told her.

“Oh, I expect I’ll be far too busy to shop.”

“Don’t count on it, pet. We won’t keep you that busy unless it’s in the bedroom,” Elliot murmured in her ear.

“You both have got to quit talking like that,” Desire said in a whisper loud enough for Clay to hear as well.

Both men chuckled and grabbed a hand, pulling her along beside them as they crossed the street to a sidewalk lined with quaint old buildings decorated in an amazing variety of colors. Both sides of the street looked elegant and full of businesses. She’d never visited a small town with so many stores that were thriving like these seemed to be. There were plenty of shoppers walking on both sides of the street.

The first store they passed advertised intimate apparel with a mannequin in the window modeling a lacy teddy in pink. The next store sold fragrances and bath supplies. All along the street they passed specialty shops of various types. Elliot was right. She would want to shop while she was here, which wasn’t in her job description. Then, neither was sleeping with the bosses, as far as she knew, anyway.

Clay pulled open a door to what looked like a pretty café but turned out to be a diner once you were inside. The food smelled delicious. Before they could take a seat, a young woman near her own age came running from the kitchen to jump in Clay’s arms.

“I can’t believe you’re really here! I’ve missed you two so much.”

Desire bristled at the way the woman attacked Clay. Then she bit her lower lip and reminded herself that she didn’t own them and they weren’t hers to claim.

“Sandy, we want you to meet, Desire. Desire, our sister, Sandy,” Clay said, pulling the smiling woman off of him.

“Sandy! Are you acting like a teenager again?” A bull of a man walked out of the kitchen followed by two more who looked just like him.

Triplets. Had to be, she thought. Dear, God. Was this tiny woman-girl married to the three of them? They were huge men. Three of them.

“Oh, these are my husbands.” She indicated the three men beside her. “Lou, Larry and Lawrence.”

“Pleased to meet you,” she said and stepped closer to Elliot in case they planned on hugging her. She didn’t think she would survive three hugs from those men.

“What am I thinking? Have a seat, and I’ll fetch you something to eat.” Sandy turned to go, but Clay stopped her.

“We just want a little something to tide us over till dinner, sis.”

“How about apple pie with ice cream?” she asked.

“Does that sound good to you?” Elliot asked her.

“I’d love some.” It was all she could think to say.

Honestly, Desire wasn’t sure she could eat a bite of food. Things were growing more complicated as the day progressed. How many people here lived in multi-partner relationships? Was it the norm? She looked around and found there were several other customers seated at various tables. One table held a woman and two men with a young child in a booster seat. At another table, a man in leather sat with a woman with a choker around her neck and a pair of leather cuffs at each wrist.

Shaking her head, she followed the men to a table near the back and took her seat when Elliot held her chair for her. Both men were real gentlemen in public and wild lovers in private. She wasn’t sure how to take them anymore. They were supposed to be her bosses, but they had yet to introduce her as their admin.

They were barely seated when Sandy approached the table carrying a tray loaded with three massive pieces of apple pie with giant scoops of ice cream on each. She sat one in front of each of them and popped Clay on the head before leaving them to enjoy their snacks.

“You’ll have to excuse Sandy,” Elliot said. “She and Clay have had an ongoing battle for years. They are only a year apart in age.”

“Naturally, I’m the oldest.” Clay grinned and scooped a bite of pie and ice cream into his mouth. “Man, you can’t get homemade pie like the guys can make anywhere else.”

“The men cook?” she asked.

“Yeah, they run the kitchen and Sandy runs the front. Usually they have two waitresses in the busy part of the day, and the three men rotate in the kitchen. They also cater for special occasions,” Elliot told her.

“The pie is good. I could make myself sick on it,” she admitted.

“Well, don’t do that. Wait until you try Mom’s lasagna tonight.”