ROMANCE: THREESOME : Billionaire Brothers' Party (MFM Menage Romance) (New Adult Contemporary Threesome Short Stories) (32 page)

“Emma,” the feminine voice called out and stopped her in her tracks.

It can’t be,
she thought while she turned in her tracks and smiled at the last person she wanted to see considering what she and Benjamin were going to do that weekend. It was Thursday, and the woman jogging toward her from the grocery store entrance had an old saying that went a little like,
company was like fish, they lasted three days before they went bad.

That meant her mother would want to stick around for at least four, which would mean that the weekend was shot. Benjamin didn’t dare raise his eyebrows at Emma when Hannah Press was in town. The woman was like a puritan when it came to sex and she’d never let her daughter live it down if she caught her going out to a hotel room to have sex with two strangers and her husband.

“Mother,” Emma plopped her grocery bag into the trunk of her sedan and turned around to open her arms wide. They kissed cheeks and hugged tightly before her mother finally allowed Emma to breathe. “What a surprise! Where’s Dad?” Emma had to know if he was in town too, as the thought of him discovering her alternative lifestyle made her even more nervous.

“He’s back in the city where I left him,” her mother picked invisible lint off her shoulder and looked elsewhere. “The party pooper had a meeting with some big shots about investment capital and I decided I’d rent myself a car and come down to see my old stomping grounds and my daughter. I was just picking up some party favors when I spotted you.”

Emma knew exactly what the party favors were. Her mother loved to have a glass of wine with dinner, and a glass afterwards, too. The woman refused to drink at home, but when she was out of town, she’d indulge in a drink here and there. Somehow, she always ended up bringing red wine to dinner and spilling a few drops on Emma’s white linen.

Well, I won’t use the white linen since it’s not a holiday,
Emma thought brazenly. “That’s sweet, Mom. Benjamin’s going to be working late, but I’ll be around, of course.”
Way to sound suspicious,
Emma thought.

“Well, where else would you be?” Her mother smiled at her warmly and she almost answered before she realized the question was a joke. Emma chuckled nervously as she waved her hand in the air and proceeded to root around her purse for her keys.

“I don’t know, Disneyland maybe,” she shrugged a shoulder and kept talking. “So do you want to swing by at, say, six thirty? Benjamin should be home by then.” He’d be dog tired from work, too and not in any mood to deal with her mother, but Emma knew he’d make a valiant effort.

“Good, I’ll swing by around six thirty and be out of your hair by noon tomorrow. I left your father a note and reminded him of your phone number. The man is only in his fifties and he acts like he has Alzheimer’s already.” They had hugged briefly before her mother retreated into the liquor store across the street from the grocery store and Emma slid in behind the wheel of her car.

Her heart was pounding in her chest as she thought about how lucky she was her mother only decided to show up for the day rather than three or four, like usual. She could only pray her mother wouldn’t change her mind and decide to stay longer. The drive home was filled with dread and doubt as she pulled into the driveway. It would be such a shame she had to cancel the meeting with Samantha and Rogan.

*****

The timer on the stove’s display informed her it was time to take the rolls out of the oven. Emma pulled them out with oven mitts and slammed the baking sheet on the stovetop while she looked around for a clean spatula to use to scrape them off. Her husband had called to tell her he was going to be half an hour late and she had told him her mother was coming over for dinner. Emma was trying to forget the silence on the other end of the line as she imagined her husband getting up to close his office door.

“What do you mean, your mother?” he’d asked lightly. Emma knew that when he sounded calm, he was really more stressed out than a pheasant facing down the firing squad.

“I ran into my mother today and she wanted to come over for dinner. Dad’s staying in the city because he had a meeting, but she said she got bored and now we’re hosting a dinner party for three,” Emma had tried to explain in an equally calm manner. Then she’d added what she’d been thinking for the past hour and a half while she waited for him to get home. “At least, I hope she’s only staying until noon tomorrow.”

Emma had wanted to have an exciting weekend, but entertaining her mother had been the furthest thing from her mind. How were they going to get rid of her in time to meet up with Samantha and Rogan?

“I guess we’re going to have to cancel our plans for the weekend” Benjamin sighed into the phone and Emma felt his exasperation. If it had been any other weekend, then they would have been a little more receptive toward her mother. Yet Hannah always had a way of showing up when it was the most inconvenient.

“I guess we do. Do you want to call or me?” Emma hoped her husband would do the dirty work. He’d agreed, and she’d gotten to work on dinner solemnly.

After talking to her mother, she’d driven to another, smaller grocery store and picked up the ingredients for lasagna. For some reason, the meal always pleased her mother. It wasn’t that she didn’t love the woman dearly, but Hannah Press could not have chosen a more inopportune time.

He didn’t want to be the bad guy, but it was better to break the news to their partners for the weekend sooner rather than later. Benjamin made sure his office door was locked and sat down at his desk as he flipped through his phone’s contacts. Samantha and Rogan were listed under work contacts to be safe as he didn’t want someone to get ahold of his phone and ask who they were. He knew he’d never have a better excuse than work contacts.

Benjamin tapped the call button and held his breath, but he needn’t have worried. Samantha’s voicemail came on and he hung up. He knew the two had a kid and he didn’t want their child to figure out what they were doing on the weekends. “Shit,” he mumbled as he leaned back in his chair. He’d have to try later, tomorrow, when Hannah was back out of town.

If
she was out of town.

*****

“It’s such a shame that Benjamin has to work late tonight, don’t you think? Oh well, that gives us more girl time,” Hannah stated as she sat down at the kitchen table with a glass of wine in her hand and a smile on her face. Emma plastered one on her face as she pulled the lasagna from the oven and set it on the stovetop to cool. She’d just gotten off the phone with her husband when her mother had rung the doorbell not five minutes later.

“Sure, do you want me to get you a glass of water, too?” Emma knew her mother would have a headache the next morning if she didn’t rehydrate, but Hannah was not in the mood to water down the wine in her stomach. She was bound and determined to have a good time.

“No, darling, I’d rather just sip on this.” She emphasized her point by taking another sip of the wine. Emma tried to counterbalance the alcohol by placing a glass of water in front of her mother anyway, and then put a roll on a plate and proceeded to dish out the salad. “So tell me, what have Ben and you been up to?”

She’s getting tipsy already,
Emma thought as she shook her head with a small smile. Her weekend plans were most likely ruined, but she’d still have a good time.

“The usual, Mom, we’re working. Life’s been kind of boring lately.” Emma wanted to keep her mother off the scent of anything suspicious right away. She knew Benjamin would not be able to keep a straight face or meet her mother’s gaze because he was more adverse to little white lies, but Emma saw their sex life as their personal business. Her mother did not need to know a thing about what happened between Benjamin and Emma, and others.

“Your sex life is going well? I want grandchildren before I’m seventy, sweetheart.” Hannah picked up her glass as she spoke.

At the mention of her sex life, Emma rolled her eyes out of her mother’s sight and sliced the lasagna. The cheese was still hot and stuck to the knife and she secretly hoped she wouldn’t hear her mother cluck her tongue. The woman was always hard to please when it came to behavior in the kitchen.

“I don’t think that’s a very good dinner subject. Benjamin and I are doing such fine, thank you very much.” Emma had everything dished out when she heard the door open and close. She wanted to breathe a sigh of relief that her husband was home, but Hannah seemed determined to put in her two cents about married couples keeping things in the bedroom fresh.

“It’s a perfectly fine subject between a mother and her daughter. Don’t be such a prude! Now, if he’s having problems in the bedroom, you could try massage. It’s very relaxing and an all-natural way of helping a man get his motor running,” Hannah said as she smirked at her daughter’s rosy cheeks. She’d always enjoyed getting the girl riled when it came to personal matters because it brought excitement into both their lives. Besides, she really was concerned about being a grandmother at the appropriate age. She didn’t want to be too old.

“Hannah, it’s good to see you,” Benjamin had hung up his coat on the rack in the hall and left his shoes on. Thankfully, it wasn’t a rainy or snowy day and his shoes were clean. Otherwise, Emma would have chastised him.

“It’s good to see you, too. Come, sit and have a glass of wine with me while Emma finishes setting up.” Hannah beckoned for him to sit down at the table and he obliged willingly. Emma poured him a glass of wine because she knew he’d need it after a hard day at work and having to deal with her intrusive mother.

“So tell me, when am I getting grandchildren?” Hannah reiterated her earlier concern to her son in law and Benjamin’s lips curved up into a smile. Emma thought she’d underestimated him as she finally sat down to eat dinner with her family.

After dinner, they cleaned up together and Hannah retreated to the guest room like usual. Emma finished putting the clean dishes away and turned around to see Benjamin checking his cellphone. “Trouble?” she asked hesitantly.

“Samantha didn’t get back to me and I don’t want to call this late. I didn’t want to leave a message because I didn’t want their kid to find it later, or anyone else for that matter.” Benjamin put his phone into his pocket with a sigh and crossed his arms over his chest. “Maybe we should just go through with it and hope your Mom is gone by Saturday?” he asked his wife.

Emma didn’t want to miss the opportunity, and she was hopeful her mother had enough water to keep her from experiencing a terrible hangover. Hopefully, she’d be gone by noon the next day.

“Well, it was good seeing you two and you’d better be at Thanksgiving this year.” Hannah looked both of them in the eye and they smiled serenely before she hugged them each in turn. “Be safe,” she commanded before she made her way down the stairs.

“I love you,” Emma called out as her mother slid behind the wheel of her rental and drove away.

She turned to her husband and the two of them smiled knowingly at the other. He had kissed his wife on the cheek before he headed back into the house. Benjamin had taken the day off in order to use up some of the time he’d spent working after hours because he was only scheduled to work a certain amount. It was one good thing that had come out of his late nights.

They were fixing their coffee and bagels when Benjamin’s cellphone sounded off like a bird and Emma almost jumped. She kept her cellphone on silent because she couldn’t stand any of the preprogrammed ringtones. “It’s Samantha,” Benjamin said as he slid the answer bar. “Hello?”

He sat down at the kitchen table and Emma sat close, but she couldn’t hear what the woman on the other end of the phone was saying. “We thought we were going to have a complication this weekend, but everything seems to be alright,” he stated as he looked Emma in the eyes. She nodded to confirm her agreement and took a bite of her crunchy, buttery bagel.

There were a few more pleasantries exchanged before Benjamin hung up his cell phone and set it on the table. “Well, it looks like everything is in order. Room three oh nine at nine o’clock.”

“Good, I’m so excited,” Emma told him truthfully. The smile and twinkle in his eye he gave her return told her all she needed to know about how excited he was.

*****

It was Saturday and the two of them had decided to make a date night out of the event. Benjamin had dressed in dress pants and a button down shirt while Emma had put on a classy, black dress that scooped low in the back. Her heels clicked on the sidewalk when they made their way to the room Samantha and Rogan had mentioned the previous day. Emma’s stomach was in knots and her heart fluttered with exhilaration, but she wasn’t going to back down from this experience.

“Are you okay?” Benjamin asked her as he put his hand on the small of her bare back and turned her to face him. Her cheeks were flushed prettily with the night’s chilly air and the tip of her nose was red.

“I’m fine, are you?” She’d joked at the restaurant that he was the one who was going to have to be nice with another man in the room, and he’d looked unsure. Emma hadn’t meant to sour the mood, but, apparently, her husband had reservations about what they were going to do. “I don’t want you to go through with this just because you think it’ll make me happy. I’m already happy,” she told him gently as she stepped in for an embrace.

Benjamin obliged and kissed the top of her head. “It’s not me I’m worried about, Em,” he hadn’t called her by her pet name for ages. “I’m worried you’ll be upset when you see me with Samantha,” he said so low she could barely hear his words.

“You think I’ll be jealous after what we did last time?” Emma couldn’t help the amusement in her voice.

“We were in separate rooms, then.”

“But I knew exactly what you were doing with her and you know what I was doing with Rogan. I
told
you what we did. I was okay with that and I’m okay with this.”

The door opened and they didn’t have any more time to talk about how the other might feel. Samantha’s glowing face met them and beckoned them inside. “There you two are! Come in here before the cold air turns you into ice statues,” she chuckled at her joke and Emma and Benjamin followed her inside.

Rogan was lying on the bed leisurely with one leg crossed over the other and his hand holding the television remote. He was channel surfing and it was obvious he wasn’t finding anything he liked by the bored look on his face. “They’re here,” Samantha chimed as she closed the door behind their guests.

“I can see that, Sam,” Rogan mumbled as he lie back on the bed. “Not one show on and there’s over a hundred channels,” he exclaimed to the ceiling. Then he sat up and caught sight of Emma standing with her hands clutching her purse and her eyes on the television. Rogan cleared his throat and sat up on the edge of the bed. “Well, look at what we have here.” His voice had dipped low and Samantha settled beside him.

There were two beds in the room, so Benjamin took the one opposite their swinging partners and Emma sat beside him. “You look gorgeous in that dress, Emma,” Samantha complimented genuinely.

“You look gorgeous no matter what you’re wearing,” Emma smile ruefully while she looked Samantha over and noticed she’d worn a pair of skintight jeans and a low, scoop neck top again. She had to be twice the size of Emma in the breast department, and although she had thought she would want both men to pay attention to her, Emma was starting to think it might be fun for her and Samantha to start.

“Why don’t you let that pretty dress take a break on the hanger over there and I’ll show you what it’s like to be licked by a woman,” Samantha said brazenly as she let half her top slide off her right shoulder. Emma swallowed and stood up to let her dress slide lazily from her milky white body. She hadn’t worn underwear because she had been afraid it would show through the thin material, so as it hit the ground, she was naked except for her high heels.

When she bent down to take them off, Samantha clucked her tongue and shook her head. “Leave those on,” she purred.