Sidney’s Triple Shot [Apache Crossing] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (26 page)

She half expected the three men to still be sitting in the office waiting for her appearance, but it was empty. Irritation, relief, and trepidation all warred in her belly for control of her emotions. She pushed herself down the hallway to the bar, which had now started to fill up for the lunch rush. She was determined to get through her shift without giving them an inch. Who did Xavier think he was in her life that he could demand words of love from her?

Her eyes met the challenging, icy-blue gaze of Xavier, who stood on the other side of the room watching her, and she tossed her hair defiantly before smiling at the customers in front of her bar. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let him know how horny I am, she thought to herself, and she put on a brave front as she threw herself into her work.

Three hours later the crowd had dropped off, and Kara came looking for her. “Hey, Sid, Tyce said to let you know your costume is in the office. We’re all supposed to be in costume by six, so I’m going to run home now and change, and when I get back you can change, okay?”

“Yeah, Kara, that’s fine. Anna will be here any minute, and she can cover if you’re not back. Hey, did he happen to mention what my costume is?” she asked curiously, and Kara grinned.

“Oh yeah, I actually got to see it, but I’m not going to spoil the surprise.” Kara winked at Sidney and left before she could argue further.

She clenched her jaw as she watched Kara’s pretty red hair swirl around her narrow shoulders. What if he picked out something scandalous? It grated her nerves that she wasn’t given a choice in what costume she was going to be wearing, but it was too late to request changes now.

The tinkle of feminine laughter caught her attention, and she turned to see Anna entering the bar. The beautiful Asian woman was dressed in a thigh-high dark-blue dress that had an uncanny resemblance to a Marine Corps officer’s dress blues uniform. It was belted off and button down, but she had left the buttons open over her cleavage, exposing a white satin bra and her perky breasts. Her dark-brown hair was wrapped up in a bun at the base of her head so that a white Marine Corps cap could sit jauntily on top of her head. White stilettos paired with thigh-high white stockings made her look like a sexy stripper preparing for her routine. Sidney started to giggle as Anna headed her way.

“Holy shit, woman!”

Sidney and Anna both turned to see Gage and Lane seated at their regular table and staring at Anna. Lane’s look was one of humor and appreciation for a beautiful woman, but Gage looked like he had been bulldozed. His mouth hung open a little bit, and he still held his beer in the air as though he had stopped middrink to stare.

“Hello, boys,” Anna called out cheekily as she spun on one heel to show them her costume. “Do you like my costume?”

“You’re the best-looking female Marine I have ever seen, doll. If the Marines are changing the women’s uniform, I may have to reenlist!” Lane said playfully, and he smacked Gage’s shoulder like he wanted him to join in the joke. Tension grew as Gage didn’t respond. He just sat there staring at Anna as though he had never seen her before.

“Gage, are you all right?” Anna asked hesitantly. Sidney suddenly felt awkward. Like she was watching a special moment that she shouldn’t be privy to. When Gage still didn’t answer Anna, she huffed loudly and reached for her apron. “I better get to work.”

“You look fucking fantastic, A. But you already know it. That costume is damn near indecent,” Gage finally said quietly, and Sidney’s eyes grew round as Anna’s pretty face flushed with irritation.

“Close only counts in horseshoes, so I guess I’ll take my nearly naked ass over to the other side of the bar and see if they need drinks,” Anna snapped back, and she fled across the bar. Sidney turned back to Gage, only to find his face had dropped in disappointment.

“You’re such a moron, man. That girl wants you, and you keep being an ass,” Lane said with a shake of his head.

“I’m too old for her,” Gage said, and Sidney giggled.

“Hmm…I think you’re scared of her. She’s hot as hell, fiery, and ready to take life on like a bull rider taking the reins. She’s the perfect woman,” Lane said with a shake of his head.

“Well, then, you fuck her.” Gage snapped as he stood up and slammed his beer back. “I’m going home.”

Sidney watched as Gage stormed out of the bar without a second look at Lane or Anna. Lane was left shaking his head at his friend, and Anna looked like she was ready to cry as she watched the tall man push through the front doors.

Seems like everyone is having relationship issues around here, Sidney thought to herself as she set another beer down in front of Lane and headed back to the bar. It wasn’t her place to say anything, but she knew for a fact that Anna didn’t think Gage was too old for her. At thirty-eight he was certainly older than Anna’s twenty-four years, but age was just a number, right?

As Sidney was finishing her round of checking on her customers, Kara came barreling back into the bar, and Sidney couldn’t help but laugh out loud at her friend’s costume.

“Well, what do you think?” Kara asked, tossing her long hair over her shoulder. It had been spray-colored jet black, and she wore a pair of camel-colored suede short shorts with matching thigh-high suede boots and a paisley button-down blouse with a camel-colored suede vest over the top. The vest had long fringe that hung off of the font and the arms. It was the perfect Cher costume, and Sidney told her so. A moment later, Austin came bustling back into the bar, wearing a coordinating Sonny costume.

“Oh my God! You guys look great! Are you two going to be serenading us later this evening, too?” Sidney asked, still laughing at the pair of them. Austin’s costume looked even more ridiculous with his swollen cheekbone and black eye.

“Maybe, you never know,” Kara replied with a wink.

“Wasn’t Sonny shorter than Cher?” Sidney asked Austin as the big man came closer to her.

“Hey, Sid, I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I didn’t mean anything by what I said…” he said, looking ashamed of himself.

“Don’t sweat it, Austin. It’s not the first time I’ve been called a whore. Anyways, I better get to the back to see what my costume is.” She untied her apron, leaving it sitting on the counter and cautiously walked to the back office. Nerves danced in her belly as she approached the closed door.

She wasn’t exactly sure she was ready to face the Dawson brothers after what happened earlier in the day, but the longer they had left her alone, the more she missed them. She found that she had an urge to find one of them and just hold him close. It was a rather unsettling feeling. Taking a deep, cleansing breath, she pushed open the door to the manager’s office.

When she opened the door and saw what was behind it, she started laughing. Not just chuckles, but deep-seated belly laughs that had tears leaking down her cheeks.

“Just what the hell is so funny, love?” Tyce said from his position just inside the door.

Sidney just shook her head as she was unable to get a word out of her mouth. Tyce was absolutely the best-looking Han Solo she had ever seen in her life. Next to him was an equally sexy Noah, in a Luke Skywalker costume. Behind the desk Xavier stood in the dark-black robes of Darth Vader. His helmet and light saber sat on the desk in front of him. She had a pretty good idea of what her costume would be, but she took the opportunity to tease them.

“Who knew you boys were nerds at heart?” she joked lightly, and she could see the sigh of relief that went through all three men. Just like that the anger from earlier was gone. These were her men, and they were right. She had more feelings for them then she was ready to admit to.

“So where is my costume? I assume I will be R2-D2 or C-3P0? No? Chewbacca then?” She was laughing again, and she couldn’t help but sit down on the couch in front of them, holding her sides.

“Oh no, baby, you won’t get to be anything so covered up,” Xavier said, holding her scrap of a costume up in his large hand.

“You guys aren’t serious are you? Princess Leia?” she asked.

“Hell yeah, we’re serious. Do you know what kind of fantasies young men have about Princess Leia? I promise you, honey, if you get that costume on, we will help you get it off, and this time no one walks away unsatisfied,” Noah said. His tone shifted to a gravelly, rough sound that made her shiver, and she smiled wider.

Sidney groaned as she pulled the costume from its packaging. “Really? Not even her white robes and some killer boots? You had to get me the slave costume? So, have you decided which one of you is going to be helping me do my hair?”

“Oh no, we don’t do hair. Tyce picked up a hair thingy for you to make it easier, but I’ll go relieve Kara, and she can come help you out,” Noah said, holding his hands up in front of him defensively. Both Xavier and Tyce nodded in agreement.

“Well, you better catch her before she hits the stage. She’s in full Cher mode tonight and planning on playing it up to the fullest,” Sidney said as she opened the bathroom door. She turned back to see all three men’s eyes were focused on her ass, and she sighed, rolling her eyes. “What happened to you guys being Jack Frost about giving me an orgasm?”

“Just because we aren’t giving you an orgasm doesn’t mean we aren’t having one,” Xavier said, but his words didn’t match up to the heat in his eyes. She had a pretty good feeling that if she crooked her finger she could have all three of them. They walked away with unrelieved hard-ons just as big as her lack of satisfaction.

“Hurry, baby, I can’t wait to see you in that costume,” Xavier said seductively and then winked at her. She flushed with pleasure at the gesture and shut herself into the bathroom to change from her tiny uniform into the even tinier costume.

She examined each piece as she pulled it on. The bra was green and gold and molded to her full breasts perfectly. The skirt—she laughed out loud because it was more of a loin cloth—was made up of a golden pelvic plate and belt, and then it had royal-purple chiffon that was intended to drape between her thighs.

There were gold-colored sandals with four inch heels that had straps crisscrossing up her calves almost to her knees, and they looked sexy as hell on her long, toned legs. She had to admit as she spun in a circle that the outfit complemented her figure. It displayed her breasts to perfection, and the skirt just enhanced the curve of her waistline and the rounded swell of her ass. It left her belly completely naked, and her belly ring winked back at her from its comfy cavern. Feminine satisfaction filled her chest. She looked damn hot.

A knock at the bathroom door startled her, but Kara’s voice called out a hello, so she opened the door.

“Damn, Sid! You look better than Carrie Fisher did in that getup!” Kara said with wide eyes and an approving look.

Sidney couldn’t help the slight flush of pleasure that covered her cheeks. “Can you believe
this
is the costume that they picked for me? What were they thinking? There isn’t an ounce of modesty in this getup!”

Kara snickered. “No kidding! There will be more eyes on you tonight than the band! Come on, let’s figure out what to do with your hair, and then we can put some makeup on you. I think we should outline your eyes and make them smoky for a dramatic effect. Oh, look, they even got you an extension for in your hair so that you can have a Princess Leia braid!”

“Holy shit, it’s even blonde. Sweet Jesus, Tyce thought of everything, didn’t he?” Sidney said with a laugh.

“This is going to be so much fun! Did you see what Anna is wearing? Damn, the three of us are going to make hellacious tips tonight!” Kara said, and with her long, black wig swaying, she got to work turning plain old Sidney Rowe into a princess for the evening.

Xavier was a red-blooded American man who grew up watching Star Wars and dreaming about finding a woman like Princess Leia, but Sidney in that costume blew all of his fantasies out of the water. She was the epitome of grace as she moved around the bar in her four-inch high-heeled shoes, smiling and refilling drinks as if she wasn’t wearing the equivalent of a teenage boy’s walking wet dream.

The moment she left the back office looking tempting enough to eat, Xavier’s alpha male nature sent a red haze of jealous disapproval through his brain. Seeing the admiring looks she was getting from every man in the bar, he wanted nothing more than to lay his claim on her in every physical sense of the world, and he wanted to do it publically. He just didn’t think she was ready for that just yet. She had said as much with the scene earlier today after Tyce and Austin’s fight. There was nothing he could do but back off and let her have the space to spread her wings. When she was ready to admit openly that she was in a relationship with all three of them, he had no doubt she would do so, and knowing Sidney, it would be a moment to remember.

She was more confident in herself every moment that passed, and he loved watching her thrive under their protection. A little twinge of nerves still danced in his belly though, because he had yet to open up to her about his true nature. Yes, he had directed a little bit during their lovemaking, but he craved so much more than just her submission. He wanted to play with her and even explore each other’s kinks. The problem was that he was afraid she would panic and take flight the second he told her he wanted to tie her up and spank her. She was already skittish, and he would rather give up his personal sexual preferences than give her up.