Pulling him back to the present in the Dancing Pony, Ransome said, “It blows me away how easy Grace makes being in a ménage look. It’s been a long time and things have changed. He didn’t seem all that upset that we were listening to them make love. We could talk to Justin…”
Val knew what Ransome was thinking by the way his words trailed off. “Lucy Owen also made it look easy but you saw how territorial Patrick and Beck were at the ROT Rally and you remember what Justin was like way back when we were in high school.” He recalled again the fistfight and the harsh, decisive tone of Justin’s words that day all those years ago. She’s mine. I don’t share.
“I know.”
After taking another sip of his beer, Val said, “I’m not opposed to the idea. I’m just not willing to risk what we have. At least this way we get to see her and Justin, and the kids. I don’t want to fuck that up.”
“But the rally—”
“I know the ROT Rally gave you hope, man. It gave me hope, too. But they have kids and a life. We’ve changed and so has she. It’d be humiliating to find out that she never felt that way about us to begin with.”
Ransome shook his head. “No man. You saw the hurt in her eyes when we came to blows with Justin back in high school but there was something else there. She wasn’t just surprised. And she was really into us being there at the rally last year, watching, while she and Justin went at it. It made her hot.”
“She has a thing for public exhibition but that doesn’t necessarily mean she’d be interested in carrying it further. That may be why Justin wasn’t pissed about us being there this morning. He knew she’d enjoy knowing they’d been overheard. That was about Justin giving her what she needs. Remember what Justin told Beck, after his monumental fuckup over the body painting? Any man there could look at her, but only he gets to touch Charity. He said he’s the one she shares her soul with. That did not sound like an opener for a ménage discussion to me.”
He could shoot Ransome’s suggestion down all day but the truth was that he’d never met another woman like Charity. He didn’t want another woman. He wanted her. He flicked a glance up into the mirror and made eye contact with Charity in the reflection, and his heart sank a little further.
* * * *
Grace leaned toward Charity as the conversation between Lily Cook, Rachel Wolf, and Jayne Carter continued while Lydia Carlisle and Maya Warner made a trip to the ladies’ room. She nudged Charity and said, “They haven’t taken their eyes off of you practically since we got here.”
Charity averted her gaze from the two men she hadn’t even realized she was openly staring at across the night club. “What? Who?”
Grace snorted and rolled her eyes. “Okay, I may be the innocent, oblivious sister but even I noticed the way they were watching you while we danced.”
Charity shrugged, wishing away the heat creeping into her cheeks. “They were just watching over us, same as the rest of the guys do, sis.”
Grace gave her a sad smile and let out a deep breath as she sat back in her chair, absently stroking her palm over the tiny bulge at her middle. She’d blossomed right along with the spring, but Charity knew she was tired. It’d been a stretch for her to come out that evening. Grace peered at her and bit her lip before saying, “I want to remind you of a conversation you and I had a few years ago.”
“You can remember our conversations from that far back?”
“Life-changing ones, yes,” Grace responded with a nod. “Remember the night you met my guys for the first time?”
Charity grinned. “Yes. I was so disappointed that I didn’t have a front-row seat for Owen’s beatdown after he hit you in the face. I also vaguely remember you trying to climb Adam like a tree the first time you kissed him.”
Grace gaped and then laughter burst from her until she hiccupped. “In my defense, he was hot. Still is. Anyway, that’s not what I was trying to remind you of. You asked me how I felt about the three of them.”
Charity nodded. “And you told me that you cared for all three but you could never choose.” Charity remembered vividly because she didn’t want Grace to miss out on the chance the way she had. She’d never regretted her relationship with Justin but she was sometimes a little envious of what Grace had, thanks to the fact her men were able to share.
“I could barely even voice that out loud. But you pushed me to talk about it. Get it out in the open. You said it would be crazy to miss out on a chance to be happy just because what made me happy didn’t fit into a nice neat mold like the world says it should. You told me sometimes you have to take the opportunities life gives you and enjoy the love that finds you even when it’s a little unorthodox.”