Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 59236 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59236 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
“I meant to take you out for lunch,” I said with a soft laugh as I brushed my lips against her neck. I felt her arch in response, canting toward me.
“We had lunch. And we could never have kissed this way in a restaurant.”
“We’d be kicked out,” I agreed, nuzzling her soft throat.
“If we had somewhere to go,” she began, a swift intake of breath, an effort to keep her voice light and playful while I was slowly undoing us both. I let go of her hands, untangled our fingers from one another and she hugged me, her arms around my neck and her face buried in my shoulder.
“I really did want to hear more about microloans,” she said, her voice a little shaky. I held her and stroked her hair.
“I’ve talked enough about finance. I wouldn’t say I’ve kissed you nearly enough,” I said.
“That’s fair,” she said. “I’d offer to meet you for dinner, but I have baking to do. One little batch at a time.”
“Could I help you?”
“I don’t know. Do you have hours of extra time to stand around my kitchen waiting for things to bake? Do you know how to mix muffins?”
“I can learn,” I said, “And I’d like to. Let me help you out.”
“Okay. If you still feel like it later, you’re welcome to come over and try your hand at cranberry orange scones.”
“Sounds like a challenge. I’ll be there,” I said.
7
ETHAN
The Tokyo project was coming along, but slowly. I’d had Zoom meetings at odd hours due to the time difference and it was starting to wear on me. It was good to sit down and have a beer with my brothers, watch a game.
“How is your coffee shop project coming along?” I asked them during a commercial.
Noah looked up first and gave a half smile. “Madison had lunch together this week and I helped her make some scones at her apartment that night. She’s having a hard time but she’s not complaining. She acts like we hung the moon or something, just for giving her a hand with the oven thing.”
“Yeah, it really bothers me that she has so few people in her life that treat her kindly. Makes me want to make a special effort to do things for her,” Leo adds.
“Trouble keeping it in your pants, brother?” I asked wryly.
“I’ve kept it in my pants,” he said, irritable. The aggravation in his voice proved he spoke the truth.
I knew they both liked Madison a great deal. What surprised me was how much I liked her and wanted to know her better as well. What could one woman possibly have that appealed to three men at once?
“I thought she’d be an opportunist. Some kind of seductress bent on scoring a free oven from guys who put their common sense aside for a chance to have her. I went to see her and knew from the first couple of minutes that she was too down to earth for that. What shocked me was that I stood around watching her work, seeing how she related to her customers and—”
“You got hard?” Leo said bluntly.
“You were attracted to her,” Noah amended more politely. I nodded to them both.
“I didn’t expect to like her, but here we are,” I said.
“Does that mean you’re finally acknowledging our good taste?” Noah asked.
“I suppose I am,” I admitted.
“I kissed her,” Leo said off-handedly, not guilty, not confessing. Just letting us know. “And it felt like I’d never kissed anyone before in my life. I mean it was like my first time and I couldn’t believe how lucky I was that she was interested in me.”
“I kissed her over lunch in my office,” Noah said. Leo gave a nod.
“I only stopped kissing her because I didn’t want to take advantage of her, and I knew she was lonely. I also knew if I wanted anything with her, I couldn’t rush to hook up. If I wanted her for something real, then a fling was the wrong way to go about it,” Leo said.
“Same,” Noah said. “I wanted her but not just once, not a one-night stand.”
“You need to have a conversation with her about this,” I said. “And while you’re at it, tell her she can use my kitchen. If she needs to bake her orders while hers is out of commission. It’s not like I’m cooking.”
“You say that so casually, like you’re not trying to move in on Madison yourself.”
“I’m just offering to help her. You two are going to be away for the weekend to work on the farmhouse. I’ve got to stay here and do some drafting and about a hundred annoying Zoom calls this weekend. She may as well take advantage of the convection oven in my loft. God knows I don’t use it myself.”
“I’ll give her a call,” Noah said, taking out his phone, “as long as you admit that Leo and I have better taste in women than you do.”