“Yes,” Phillip said. “I watched you with Leesa and the word ‘finally’ echoed through my soul. So definitely, ‘so far, so good.’ Heavy emphasis on the second ‘so.’”
“We want you.” Jason’s words thrilled her. His tone, serious, solemn, made something unconnected to her libido shift…and become fortified.
Last time, I rushed headlong into marriage. She’d made a mistake, one that had exacted a heavy cost from that part of her that was female.
Jason’s tone let her know there would be no rushing headlong into anything with them.
“I want you both, too. And for a moment, when Phillip was kissing me, that wanting became pretty desperate.”
“For me, as well,” Phillip said.
She looked from Phillip to Jason, and when she met that man’s gaze, she could have sworn she’d seen the light of inspiration hit.
“We all three have had sex before, right?” Jason asked.
Leesa nodded, even though she’d had the sense Jason wasn’t asking so much as he was confirming.
“But something I bet that none of us has ever really done? None of us has ever built a relationship—a romantic relationship. Not one that mattered. Not one that, at the heart of it, was the desire to learn about another person, to explore what such a relationship can mean.”
“You’re right. And isn’t that kind of sad, for all three of us? I’ve been married, but you know what? As an adult, I’ve never even been on a real date.”
“I’ve been on dates,” Jason said. “And there was nothing wrong with any of the women I dated. Sometimes, those dates included sex. But sitting here with you I can tell you that they weren’t important. I was never fully invested in the moments spent on those dates. The relationships were all…”
“Superficial? Like, you were there but a part of your mind was thinking about, oh, maybe work or something you’d read that was really interesting?”
Leesa knew that when Jason met her gaze, he understood that she’d been guilty of the same inattention during times spent with Bryce, that same thing, in essence, that he was admitting to.
“Yes, that’s a good word for it. Superficial.”
“Wow, we all three of us have a lot in common,” Phillip said. Then he used his index finger to indicate the three of them. “This, right here, matters. We really do want you, Leesa. But we want more than just sex. Does that scare you?”
“Maybe a little.” Leesa sighed. “I swore, after my divorce, that I was going to remain single for the rest of my life.”
“I can understand that, after what you experienced,” Jason said. “But tell me one thing. If you’d never met or married Bryce Jordan, do you think that would have been something you’d have promised yourself when you left the military?”
“No.” She’d never felt negative about getting married, though during the first few years of her enlistment, thoughts of marriage—a husband and kids—had been on the back burner. A “someday in the future” kind of thing.
She’d never been anti-marriage, or anti-men, until Bryce had put her through the wringer and the ink was dry on the divorce papers.
“No,” she repeated. “That response was totally a reaction to my own not-very-happy experiences.”
“My excuse for not having tried before?” Jason held her right hand with both of his.
He used his thumb to stroke the back of her hand. She wondered, looking into his eyes, if he was even aware of that stroking.
“My only excuse was my focus on building the company, trying to be a ‘successful man.’ But I have the feeling that true success, for anyone, has little to do with financial gain.”
“I can tell you both now the reason I never really tried to build a solid relationship is because it never felt right.” Phillip looked at her but then glanced at his cousin, too. “And I also understand now the reason it didn’t feel right was because I really was meant to share my woman—my mate—with you, J. Coop.”
“I guess, then, that we’ll learn as we go,” Jason said. “And, yes, Leesa, we’ll lead in this dance we’re going to learn together. If that’s how you want it, we’ll lead. But…” He used one hand to cup the side of her face. To touch her or to ensure she met his gaze? Didn’t matter. She gave him a slight nod to let him know she was, indeed, paying attention to him.
“But if at any time you begin to feel uncomfortable or something doesn’t seem to fit just right? Baby, you have to let us know. Maybe eventually we’ll get to know you so well that a look or a gesture will tell us what words could, if they were spoken. But right now, you need to promise us. Our leading doesn’t mean we would want to go against your will or your wishes.” He leaned in and gave her a fast kiss. Then he grinned as he added one more word.
“Necessarily.”
Chapter Seven
Wednesday evening closing time, Leesa took her last look around the kitchen of Lusty Appetites. Jason and Phillip were waiting for her in the dining room. She felt a need to be in a hurry and wondered about this newest path her life had taken and the changes she already felt in herself.
Leesa had never minded a busy work schedule. In the army, she’d often had a very long workday. Unlike regular “grunts,” the food services staff could work twelve, and sometimes thirteen, hours a day. So she was used to it being busy, and since cooking and devising menus was what she loved to do, it had always been all good.
But right at the moment, she was itchy to be done, because, in about five minutes, she was going on her first date with those two Benedict cousins.
Her stomach had butterflies, and her hand
