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The submissives at Subversion were gorgeous, and some ofthem were sweet. Some of them had claws and wanted to sink them into theobvious heir to the Barnes-Fleetwood empire. As plans went, Josh had kind ofcovered all the bases. “So how do you want to approach her? Are we sure she’ssingle?”
“I do know that much.” Josh turned in his seat. “AuntChrista hired her two weeks ago. Her car is at Al’s shop, and he’s waiting forher to be able to pay for parts. I would bet she’s got a couple of weeks untilshe’s able to make that payment, and then it depends on when he can get theparts for that old clunker. She’s probably stuck for a month at least. We’vegot some time to work on her, to see if she’s interested in the lifestyle.”
Which lifestyle? Naturally they didn’t fit into one neatcategory. They practiced BDSM and required a ménage relationship to be happy.
He wanted a relationship where he wasn’t in the shadows.
You’ve let them corrupt you. You’re going to Hell. Thatwhole family is, and I’m going to be the one to send you there someday.
Grim shook off his stepfather’s nasty words. Ezekiel wasstill alive, still trying to suck any joy from the world around him. He startedsermonizing every time they crossed paths. Well, if he was alone. If Jack orSam was with him, his stepdad made himself scarce.
But that was neither here nor there. It could be hard tofind a woman who needed two Masters.
Abigail Barnes-Fleetwood didn’t come along every day.
“All right.” It wasn’t like he hadn’t taken one look at thatgorgeous girl and had all the same thoughts Josh had. “Where do you want tostart? Did you want to ask her out? Do you think she’s already heard the rumorsabout us?”
Josh sighed and fiddled with the brim of his hat, a habitthat let him know his brother was thinking about how to handle him. “I don’tknow if she’s heard the rumors, but I can tell you she doesn’t put up with thegossip nonsense. I saw her disdain when she served Lisa Brice and her friends.They were making fun of everyone, being real loud and nasty, and Nicole did notlike that.”
How closely had Josh been watching her? “Have you beeneating every meal in town while I was gone?”
“Not every meal,” Josh admitted. “She’s gorgeous and I feelsome… I don’t know. I feel a pull.”
And Josh always followed his instincts. “All right. Do youknow where she lives?”
“She’s staying in the rattrap on the outskirts of town.”
It was a motel with a certain reputation. One it had earned,and the thought of any woman staying there on her own scared him. “You let herstay there?”
“Well, I haven’t exactly introduced myself yet, so tellingher she’s moving felt like a stretch,” Josh replied. “Nah, but I might havesomeone watching out for her. I asked the sheriff to up his nightly patrols andcall me if anything bad goes down. I paid the owner to put an extra lock on herdoor. She thinks it was just maintenance.”
“Tell me you didn’t keep a key.” And they called him theintense one. Josh Barnes had a bit of a god complex, but he’d come by ithonestly. Jack was pretty much the be-all, end-all of authority in their lives,and Josh was following in his father’s footsteps.
Of course it was a loving authority. An authority that trulywanted what was best for everyone he watched over. But until you knew a person,it could come off sketchy.
“Of course I didn’t. I haven’t even run a trace on her.”Josh’s hands were up like he was completely innocent. “I’m giving her privacy.I know what happens at that motel, and I don’t want her getting caught in thecrossfire. Let’s get to know her and then if it seems to be working, we cangently start showing her apartments that don’t have a ton of drug dealers inthem.”
He still thought Josh was running too hot, but he alsowasn’t opposed to starting something as long as it was real. Nothing seemedreal. It was like he could live in the Barnes-Fleetwood house, but he’d alwaysbe Ezekiel’s stepson. He could go to college and get a degree in veterinarymedicine, but he was still just Josh’s friend, the one he shared women with butmostly for sex.
“Hey, I know that look. You want to go to Dallas thisweekend? I know you like that Daisy girl we met at the restaurant. This doesn’thave to be all about me.”
She’d been the hostess at a place called Top and she was astunner, but he was pretty sure her father was some kind of Irish mobster. Oh,he’d been told the man was a security executive, but that felt like a goodfront. Her father was kind of crazy and had explained in no uncertain termsthat his precious saint of a daughter wasn’t getting involved in somegodforsaken threesome. There had been other names mentioned and a lot ofcussing he didn’t fully understand, and all he’d done was ask the young womanout.
Though he had fully planned to get her in between him andJosh.
“I can handle Li O’Donnell if that’s what the problem is.She seemed to like you. I could be the one who slips in and out this time,”Josh offered.
He believed in Josh, but he thought he was overestimatingwhat a mad Irish dad could do. And the truth was he didn’t want Josh slippingin and out. He wanted what Jack and Abby and Sam had. “I think I’m kind of sickof that.”
Josh got quiet. “Yeah, me, too. So we’re looking to getserious?”
Josh could be single minded at times. Grim knew he wasconsidered the broody one, but Josh covered his weird quirks with a sunnysmile. One of those quirks was an utterly ruthless will when he decided to turnit on. When Josh decided it was time for them to get married, Grim knew hewould find himself with a ring on his finger and a wife between them in shortorder. The problem was, they needed to find the right one.
“I would like to find a woman who doesn’t mind dating usboth. At the same time. In public. Everyone knows.” That was the problem hetruly had. “There’s no one in this town who didn’t know I was sleeping withAlyssa Gates while you were technically dating her.”
“You told me you didn’t mind.”
“I didn’t with her because I kind of hated her.”
