"He's fine." Belle had to defend Tate all the time. No, he wasn't smooth, but he meant well.
The laundry hadn't really occurred to her. But the sex had. Sex with all three of these men had been the cornerstone of her fantasies for a year. When she tried to picture the reality, however, she shied away. Could she even keep up with them? What would they say if they knew she was a virgin?
"Do you want this?" Eric's mouth descended to her shoulder, where the straps of her dress met warm flesh. Heat flashed through her when he ran his lips across her skin. "Us?"
Belle wanted them more than her next breath, but she felt pretty sure it was a bad idea. How could an office romance between four people really work? Kinley held such a relationship together, but they didn't sign her paychecks and all of her men were committed. In love. Was Kellan just planning on being around for the bedroom stuff? Would he ever want anything from her beyond a screw and some dictation? Was she about to become their favorite booty call?
On the other hand, did any of that matter when her whole body felt lit from the inside out with anticipation? When they were giving her a golden opportunity to have her first experience with the men she loved? She'd never felt this way, never had pure arousal running through her veins like the sweetest wine. Besides, if she turned them down tonight, would this opportunity ever come again? Or would this unprecedented honesty be smothered if they donned the polite, politically correct business masks they'd been wearing for over a year?
"I want this." Her voice shook.
"Then come up to our suite." Kellan stepped to her side and held out his hand, his blue eyes somehow full of pride and hot promises. "I know that took courage. Let us reward you."
A deep breath rattled through Belle's chest and she dredged up the courage to slide her fingers across the masculine heat of his callused palm. Finally they touched not as colleagues, but as lovers.
Belle squeezed his hand. Kellan wasn't a pampered boy who'd never done a lick of hard work in his life, and his hands proved it. They were big hands that could shelter and protect, hands that could offer such pleasure.
As he led her toward the elevator, Tate and Eric flanking them, peace washed through her. This was right. She was ready.
* * * *
Tate dragged in a long breath and briefly wondered if his cock could saw through his pants. Of course, it wouldn't happen. Physics made that outcome impossible, but his cock throbbed against the cotton of his boxers, insisting it wanted out-and inside Belle.
She'd said yes. He stepped into the small, elegantly decorated elevator and turned to watch her enter behind him. Eric put a hand out, making sure the door didn't close on her. Damn it. He should have done that. Sometimes social niceties eluded him, but he vowed to make a study of them because Belle deserved a gentleman.
In fact, she made him want to be a better man. He'd watched his parents push each other to publish more, to excel in their fields. The almost palpable jealousy between them had pervaded their home as though they'd bred competition into the walls. His mother and father had always been rivals of a sort, even taking small delight in the other's failure. They'd trained him to measure himself against his brothers and only be satisfied when he was on top.
Tate didn't want to compete with Belle. He wanted to make her happy and swore he'd do everything possible to make that happen. Still, doubt niggled. He wanted a future with her so badly. But what if he said the wrong thing? What if she didn't care for him the way she did Eric and Kell? Or what if all she wanted from him was sex? It wouldn't be the first time a female had slotted him in the awkward idiot category and shunned him once they climbed out of bed.
God, he hated feeling so vulnerable.
"Hey." Belle's voice brought him out of his thoughts as the elevator doors closed, cocooning the four of them alone.
Tate swallowed hard, nerves getting the best of him. "I'm not smooth, Belle." He couldn't give her what Eric and Kellan could. He stood a better chance at crafting an argument to win over the Supreme Court than being anything beyond a liability at a simple dinner party. He'd learned that his genius didn't buy him love.
She stared up at him, cupping his face in a way that made him feel adored. "I don't need smooth, babe. Will you kiss me? I'm nervous, but I think I'd be much calmer if you kissed me."
A happy shudder went through his body. She wanted him to put his lips on hers. Still, he hesitated. Should he have the first kiss? He'd shared women with his best friends before but nothing with this much gravity, nothing he'd intended to last. But Belle was the one.