“I’m sure you told them that at yesterday’s meeting,” I said.
“I did.”
I looked back at him skeptically. “So what do you need from me?”
“Well, I was hoping you could…”
“Sway them?” I finished for him. “In the direction you want me to?”
Jay set down his coffee and leaned back into his chair, his smile growing even wider. He put his hands together.
Correction. Fifty-percent too many teeth.
“That’s a very astute observation, Ms. Decker,” he said. “And yes, that’s exactly what I was hoping for.”
Annnnd… somehow he knows your last name too.
The guy was really creeping me out now. Because of who he was, I shrugged and sipped my latte again.
“I really don’t talk to the guys about their books much,” I said, doing my best to remain casual. “I doubt I’d have much influence over anything to do with their writing. Much less the characters’ love interests.”
“Love interest.”
I took a second for his correction to register. When it did, I felt something twist in the pit of my stomach.
“Excuse me?”
“The protagonists in the trilogy don’t have girlfriends,” the publisher explained. “They have a singular love interest. One woman, for all three main characters.”
My stomach dropped. The way he was looking at me now, I could tell that he didn’t just suspect… somehow he knew.
“One lover they’re sharing between them.”
Thirty-Three
KAYLEEN
The next few weeks were magical, to say the least. Filled with long stretches of carefree fun, laughter, and hard work… and even harder play.
The guys stuck to the rigid schedule of not having a schedule, and the benefits were shared by all. Everyone seemed happier, much more laid back. The guys were hanging out with each other a lot more, too. Now that there wasn’t a stigma of guilt associated with taking ‘time off’, they fell back into their old group ways.
And yes, many of those group ways included me.
I was having more sex than ever — something that should’ve gone without saying. One-on-one sex. Double-dates. Triple dates, during which we’d always do something naughty or daring that would turn a few heads in our direction. I quickly learned the guys liked showing me off, and especially, showing anyone who was curious that I was with all of them.
They kissed in me restaurants, all three of them. Ditto for bars. We held hands wherever we went, and there was that one time in an elevator where Chase and Nathan had been caught feeling me up at the same time.
We took day trips, and spent nights out. Had lots of great times together. When you looked at it as a whole, it was like any new relationship, really. All puppy dogs and rainbows and ice cream. Except for me, this was all of that times three. I had three times the excitement, the affection, the love and attention.
And three times the responsibility, of course.
Despite having cut some of my clientele, I was working more than ever. I’d raised my rates, and for some reason that seemed to make me even more in demand. The clients I’d streamlined had been using me more. I had more parties to cater. More in-house dinners to serve. The best part was I was saving money hand over fist. Between not paying rent and the guys taking care of everything everywhere we went… I was actually looking back into starting dates for culinary school.
As for the guys, they were hard at work kicking ass. Being relieved of a rigid schedule seemed to make them even more productive, and the stuff they were putting out was sharper than ever. Their story had taken on all new life. Especially with Juliana, their bright new character. The fourth shining star of their three-man trilogy.
Juliana, the protagonists’ shared girlfriend.
At first I pretended not to notice. There was so much going on in the overarching story it was easy to focus more on the plot itself. But then Chase asked me what I thought of the romantic addition. And Nathan had dropped a few hints that I’d helped enhance and influence their work in ‘more ways than I knew’.