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“No, not at all. My colleagues are great people, they could definitely fill in for me,” I consider out loud.
Jason smiles and comes closer. Every time the space between us shrinks, I can feel my heart beating faster, wanting to jump out of my chest, if only to be closer to his. To theirs, for that matter. Damn, what the hell am I doing? I should be telling them no, thanks but I can manage. I can, but the better question to ask myself is…. Do I really want to keep doing everything the hard way? Am I not tired of always taking the long road and busting my ass for the smallest respite?
“Then why not take this opportunity?” he asks.
“I’m offering. We’re pretty fun guys once you get to know us,” Matthew adds.
“Oh, I have not a single doubt about that,” I reply, almost laughing. “You’re my favorite clients, truth be told. And you’re all so kind…” Oh no, I think I’m going to start crying again.
Sully gently squeezing my shoulder isn’t helping, either. “We won’t bite unless you want us to.”
“Good grief, man,” Matthew chuckles.
I can’t help but release a good, genuine belly laugh, the tears blinked away and my soul just a little bit lighter as I look up at them and say the craziest thing I’ve ever said in this lifetime. “You know what? I think I’ll do it. I think you’re right. A couple of months away, tucked into the wilderness somewhere nice could be just the fix for me.”
Matthew’s sexy mouth curls into a big smile. “Great. We leave the day after tomorrow.” His expression shifts into a different kind of softness, though. “But you’re not spending another night here, in the store, Selina.”
“It’s not like I mind.”
“That’s not the point. We’re taking you to a hotel for the next two nights, my treat,” Matthew replies.
“No, I can’t accept that, you’re already doing so much!” My ego can’t allow it.
But Jason and Sully flank me, a recurring pattern at this point, making it harder for me to resist. How can I, when I’m suddenly on the receiving end of such care and attention?
“Selina, we’re taking you to a hotel tonight,” Sully states, his tone low and firm.
I glance up at him and finally understand. They’re not the kind of men who take no for an answer. And judging by the heat spreading between my legs, I’m not really into telling them no, either.
3
Selina
Iwas expecting a smaller, maybe a three-star kind of hotel. But Matthew clearly doesn’t do half-measures. Despite my feeble protests, the guys would rather “chew their own feet off than let me stay at some dingy hotel for even one night,” so I am getting checked in at the Raylan Reserve, one of the five-star gemstones in Providence. It’s not a huge, corporate kind of accommodation, though. It’s one of those luxury boutique hotels with interiors designed by a famous Dutch designer where the lobby chandelier costs more than I’d make in ten years.
“My God, this is too much,” I mumble mostly to myself while Matthew checks me in with the receptionist.
Jazz music plays in the background, a melody I’ve heard before, perhaps at a bar or on the radio. I like it. It reminds me of my childhood, before my parents split up and everything went to hell. Before Maddie died. My sister would’ve loved this place, she had a penchant for nice and expensive things. Our parents were drilling her about med school, but I’m still willing to wager she would’ve ended up going into design, like I did. We could’ve gone to school together, if I hadn’t…
Selina, stop. I tell myself to stop whenever my thoughts pull me back to her. That’s not a good place to go back to, not when I’m so emotionally fragile. Not when I’ve already had one meltdown in front of these incredible men.
“So, what about your parents?” Jason asks, casually leaning against the counter while Matthew goes through the check-in process. Sully scans the entire lobby area, his dark eyes analyzing every single movement—he always does that, even when he’s in the store. I think it’s part of his military training, something he hasn’t been able to let go of. “Would you be able to go back home, if push came to shove?”
“No, that was never an option,” I tell him. “My parents split up when I was still in high school. Dad’s pretty much AWOL and Mom… well, let’s just say we don’t speak anymore.”
“You’re treading into deeply sensitive territory,” Sully says to Jason. “I think we all need a few drinks in us before we start talking about our pasts and whatnot.”
“I’m sorry about that,” Jason gives me an apologetic frown.
I touch his arm as a means to comfort him, but the sensation it brings causes a chain reaction within me. My body instantly responds to his touch in ways I didn’t think were possible. It’s as if the universe has finally stepped in to nudge me right into their arms. And after everything I’ve been through, why shouldn’t I give myself this moment of goodness, of sizzling sexiness and playful banter?
“It’s okay,” I say. “Don’t worry about it. Really.”
“All set,” Matthew cuts in, holding up the keycard for my room. “Let’s get you upstairs.”
“You’re doing too much,” I insist, albeit futilely.
He laughs as Sully gets my suitcase over to the concierge, and Jason rests a hand on the small of my back as the gentlemen escort me to the elevator. The four of us get in, while the concierge takes the other elevator available. Suddenly, I’m on my own between Matthew, Jason, and Sully. There’s barely any room for me to breathe, let alone move. My pulse is racing, my mind drawing up the naughtiest scenarios while my conscience screams at me to cut it out. It’s kind of hard, though, considering the way in which all three keep stealing glances at me.
