Issy was on his knees in front of her, his eyes filled with worry as he watched her carefully.
“Baby doll, what was that?” he asked carefully. “Why did you panic?”
“I didn’t know how to answer!” she wailed.
He frowned. “Just answer with the truth.”
She sobbed out a breath. “T-the truth? But what if I say the wrong thing?”
His face cleared as understanding filled it. “The wrong thing? There is no wrong answer. No matter what you tell me I’m not going to be mad. If you say you don’t feel anything towards Archer, that’s fine. If you say you have feelings for him, then that’s fine as well.”
“It is?” She looked at him in bewilderment. “But with Evelyn—”
“That was completely different,” he told her. “Evelyn isn’t you. Evelyn used me to get to Archer. I know that’s not the case with you. If I said I didn’t want this, that I didn’t want to share with Archer, what would you say?”
“I’d never do anything to hurt you, Issy.”
“I know, baby. I think I always knew he had feelings for you. I guess I needed time to work it through. I’ve also spoken to some other people in ménage relationships.”
“You’ve spoken to people about this?” She wasn’t sure if she was dreaming right now.
“I wasn’t trying to go behind your back. I just needed to get my head on right before talking to you about this. And I needed to know how it could work, if it could work because the stakes are high. You and Archer are so fucking important to me. I didn’t want to fuck this up. Well, more than I have.”
“What do you mean?”
“When he told me in the hospital how he felt about you. That he wanted to share you, I got angry. I told him to leave and not contact me for a while. But after I had time to think, well, back in the cabin, when it was the three of us, it felt right. He was there to balance things out. He’d be there when I couldn’t be. But he’s not just a back-up plan. He’s the steady influence. He’s the one who would kick our butts if we got too far into our own heads.”
“He’d make us talk,” she said quietly.
“He’d also fucking take your side in far too many things,” he grumbled.
“I don’t know, I think he’d side with you plenty.”
He grinned. “All his life, he’s done the right thing. Including walking away from you. But it doesn’t feel like the right thing to me. Does it to you?”
“No,” she whispered.
“I know it won’t be all smooth sailing. But we’ll figure out some ground rules. You need him. I need him. You call for him in your sleep, you know.”
“Oh God.” She did?
“You call for me too. You need both of us and truth is, it might take both of us to look after you.”
She huffed out a breath at that. “I’m scared.”
“What scares you most?”
“Losing you.”
He placed his hands on her hips. “Not happening. Understand me? Never happening. I’m on you like glue. You couldn’t pry me off you with a crowbar.”
“Well, I’m probably going to need some space now and then,” she joked.
“Why?” he said seriously.
She rolled her eyes. “We both have jobs.”
“Yep. Good thing is, my job doesn’t take me away from the ranch that much. But when it does, if we go ahead with this, Archer would be here to take care of you.”