“No. And I no longer feel like all we’ve had was this weekend. It merely capped off the last several months of slowly falling in love with you.”
Josh stroked a lock of her hair back behind her ear. “Was it because you’re concerned about public opinion?”
“No. I like the way Grace does it. She’s not completely undercover in her ménage, but she doesn’t make a point of being overt about it either. She lets people draw their own conclusions. I can handle that.”
Lucas remembered her history. “It was because you’d been hurt by that other ménage?”
“Yes, although I know you’re as different from Bodie and Victor as night is from day. Oh, the look on poor Delilah’s face when she realized she’d spoiled such a huge surprise. I thought she was going to pass out, and then everyone started yelling all at once, and I couldn’t make heads or tails out of what any of them were saying, and then I heard Lizzy talking to you, and…oh boy. What a day.”
Josh said, “I wanted to wait until we had your ring in hand and not just a picture for you to see,” he said, nodding at Lucas to show her the ring.
Lucas chuckled as she squealed in happiness when she saw the picture of the ring design on his phone. “I’m not unhappy the secret is out. I couldn’t wait to ask you. Sorry the fantasy weekend ended so soon.”
A slow, sweet smile spread across her lips, and her cheeks flushed pink. “I have you, and you have me. Who says it’s ended or that it ever has to end? Maybe some fantasies can exist in the real world after all.”
Epilogue
August…
“Baby girl, we’ll be back with the last pieces of furniture in a little while. You okay here?” Josh asked as he entered, giving her a quick kiss. “Not overdoing, I hope? We have something special planned for your first night in your new home.”
“I’m fine, and I can handle whatever you can dish out.”
Lucas nibbled on her shoulder where it was exposed by her tank top. “We’ll see about that. Josh pulled out his rope stash.”
“Is that so?” she quipped, feeling breathless.
Josh’s only response was a wink as he gestured for the two of them to go with a tilt of his head at Lucas. Tease.
Tingling with a hint of arousal, Violet sighed as she hung the last of her clothing on one of the bars in her closet. Her men had seen the way she’d set up her living spaces in her much smaller home and had appreciated that she’d portioned it sensibly, using the smaller second bedroom as a combination closet and sitting room. When asked about it, she’d explained she already had an office at the Emporium and didn’t need another one at home, so she’d appropriated the extra room for a closet instead. Rolling racks had served for hanging bars, and she’d enjoyed more closet space than the tiny nook in her bedroom allowed for.
They’d especially liked the fancy bench she’d placed in the center of the closet. Heavy and ornate, it served beautifully as a place to sit while putting on hosiery or footwear, but her kinky men had immediately complimented its potential as a “pervertable.” They’d explained that the heavy leather padding, and the size and structure of the bench, had other, sexier uses. Ever since, her mind had been flickering with all kinds of kinky images.
She lost herself in the organization process, letting her inner neat freak have free rein. A pleased sigh left her lips as she finally stopped to survey the results. Josh and Lucas had volunteered the spare bedroom off of the master bedroom for her use, and they’d recently cut out and finished a new doorway for her so she could access her closet without leaving the bedroom.
Men’s voices echoed from the front yard, and she smiled when Josh and Lucas walked in with the bench between them. They picked up the boxes and bags she’d emptied, and Josh gave her a sideways grin.
“That was the last of it. How would you like a soak in our tub?”
She giggle-snorted and said, “Twist my arm, why don’t you?”
Sipping a big glass of iced tea while luxuriating in a tepid bath did a lot to help her recover from the August heat. She floated in their big tub while listening as they rearranged their house, making room for her few pieces of furniture and her household goods, smirking when she heard Lucas say, “Don’t worry about it because she’s probably gonna have us move it all around anyway.”
Yup, they knew her well, and she was getting to know more about them, too, Important things, like that Josh was a morning-sex kind of guy while Lucas liked to cuddle with her in his lap in the evening. They’d declared her possibly un-American when she’d told them she hated football but loved rugby. Then they’d discovered why. Damned Delilah.