“I know if the tables were turned, I’d be jealous as hell.”
Both men nodded and seemed to relax a fraction.
“They were our escorts, nothing more. I’d never cheat on either of you. You have to know that,” she whispered and was embarrassed when her lips quivered with the last word. Both men dropped the last bit of anger from their postures and Justin nodded at Charity and pulled her down the aisle, leaving the three of them to finish.
Patrick and Beck both let out deep breaths and then looked at her, nearly eye to eye because of the high heels she wore. The space between her and them seemed an awfully long distance and she couldn’t make herself step across the void. She’d said all she needed to say and it was up to them to make their move.
Luckily for her, their move involved warm eyes, gentle hands, and warm bodies as they closed in on either side of her. She heard whispering around her but she didn’t worry about the opinions of others.
Beck tilted her chin and kissed her with a slow thoroughness that left her breathless. He tasted of breath mints and a slight hint of tequila. She smiled, recalling that Seth had brought a bottle of Patrón with him for once his workday was done. He must’ve poured Beck a shot after he’d arrived.
Once Beck had finished, Patrick tilted her head his way and sealed his lips to hers in a nonverbal apology that was tender and sweet, and then quickly became more as his tongue caressed hers and he stroked her cheekbone in a way that made her feel precious.
After he was done, Patrick’s lips brushed hers as he whispered, “You’re a temptress dressed like this. I can’t stand sharing this vision of you with so many others.”
She whispered back, “Them looking means nothing to me. What matters is how you see me and that you know you and Beck are the only ones who are allowed to touch. No one has laid a hand on me all day. I swear it.”
Patrick let out a long sigh. “I’m sorry that we put you in a position where you have to swear to something like that. We trust you. I wish I’d come with you this morning.”
“Me, too,” Beck added softly.
“You had your own responsibilities to see to, just like I did. Are we okay?”
Beck looked her over again. “Any chance you brought other clothes to change into?”
Lucy scoffed. “No, Beck. What you see is what you get.”
He growled softly. “I don’t like sharing the sight of you dressed like this with other men.”
Gesturing to the skirt that reached mid-thigh and the corset covering her middle, she replied, “I’m more covered in this than I am in a bikini, Beck. And they’re staring right now because of our confrontation.”
Patrick chuckled. “Actually I think they’re staring because you were kissing two men.”
Lucy grinned. “Well, okay. That, too. Are we okay?”
Both men kissed her again for good measure, their hands straying around her hips. She wondered if they weren’t doing that just to make sure that all the other men around knew exactly who laid claim to her. Not that she minded being claimed by such hot, territorial, bossy men. Who would’ve ever thought I’d have not one but two bossy men giving me fits? By the time they were done she wasn’t thinking much of anything. It was then that she realized that all the people surrounding them were clapping as they began to disperse.
“Come on,” she said as she looped her arms through theirs. “I want to tell you about the coolest couple’s tattoo I saw today.”
With that confrontation behind them, she felt certain everything was going to be all right. She’d finish out the evening at the ROT Rally and then she’d ride home with Beck. They’d take her home and she’d ask them to both make love to her and then tell them that she loved them in private. It was turning out to be a perfect evening after all.
* * * *
Lucy knew without a doubt that she’d wind up on Austin’s nightly news. She was going to kill Beck.
Their group was standing by one of the exits in the exhibition hall, near Seth’s tables. Rachel and Eli Wolf had arrived a few minutes earlier and Charity had just announced her decision to get some body paint done. Making it clear what she meant, she’d reached for the ties on her leather halter. Lucy bit her lip to keep from giggling when several men, both strangers and friends, including Val and Ransome, watched with interest. Justin pulled her to him and assisted her in removing the halter and she giggled as she kissed him.
Rachel asked Eli if he was okay with her doing the same and he nodded his head, the heat in his eyes for her unmistakable. Lucy felt slightly envious at his obvious approval. The gentle giant whispered to her and Rachel nodded and kissed him. She turned her back and lifted her long black hair. He tugged on the strings at the back of her leather corset, freeing her from it.