A relieved smile crosses her lips. She drops a worshipful kiss onto my shoulder and turns back to Marcus, who’s cradling her breast and thumbing the hardening tip.

  “I’ll take that condom,” my pal says.

  I press a kiss to Kate’s palm, then meander to the suitcase before slapping the foil square in Marcus’s hand. “You’re welcome.”

  He doesn’t bother with words, just grunts as he rips into it impatiently.

  This just keeps getting better. When Marcus is really hooked, his verbal skills go out the window.

  This time, I don’t bother to repress my smile as I take Kate by the shoulders. “How are you feeling? Really?”

  Her tears are long gone, and the most beautiful smile breaks across her face. She looks light, relaxed, glowing. Happy, even. “Amazing, thanks to you two.”

  I brush a kiss over her jaw, the corner of her lips, the tip of her nose. “You ready for more?”

  “Yes.” She skims a hand down my chest, over my abs, then curls her hot fingers around my eager inches. “Looks like you are, too.”

  As she strokes me in a slow tease, I suck in a steadying breath. “Hell, yes.”

  “Hurry,” Marcus barks as he rolls the latex over his cock and carries Kate to the bed. “I need to fuck you, baby girl.”

  He throws himself across the mattress and splays Kate on top of him, her thighs on either side of his hips.

  As he impales her in one rough stroke, she lets loose a tortured groan, head tossed back, and clutches his shoulders. Marcus grips her ruthlessly and sets a harsh, blistering pace that has her digging her nails into him and shrieking.

  I can’t merely spectate. I need more of this, of her, of us together.

  Hurdling my way onto the bed next to them, I cup her nape and tip her chin up to me. “Is your jaw sore, sweetheart?”

  Her eyes darken as she tells me exactly what she told Marcus. “Never enough to say no.”

  Then she opens her mouth and takes me deep onto her sinful tongue until I’m utterly lost.

  Chapter Six

  A week later

  * * *

  Marcus

  “It’s almost quitting time,” Josh points out the obvious, bobbing his head toward the setting sun through the picture window of our makeshift office in the abandoned property’s rundown lobby.

  The owner restored the power and water for our site visit, and we hired a crew to give the place a thorough cleaning before setting multiple insect traps. Cynthia, Savannah’s assistant, rented us some furniture from a local warehouse, and the three of us set up a functional workspace, complete with whiteboards, a blessedly recent geographical survey, and an ever-growing list of ideas and to-do’s we need to sift through in the next two days. It’s a fucking mountain to accomplish, and there’s a lot riding on this deal.

  But all I think about is Kate. About touching her. Stripping her. Being inside her. Overwhelming her until she comes for us, over and over and over.

  Somehow we get work done. We have a routine. During the day, the three of us are dedicated to the project. We don’t touch. We don’t kiss. We don’t acknowledge in any way that we’re anything other than coworkers bound by a common purpose. But the hours claw by. Waiting for sunset has become the slowest, most agonizing foreplay I’ve ever endured.

  By the time we wrap every evening, I’m desperate to touch Kate. We dash back to our suite, barely making it off the elevator before Josh and I lunge hungrily at her, get her naked, and sweep her into bed. Sometimes, we manage dinner. Most of the time, we don’t even notice we skipped it.

  Kate hasn’t spent a single night alone. Our first morning on the island, I swiped her key card, went to her roach-infested accommodations, and brought her suitcase back to our suite. I set it on the luggage rack and, with my stare, dared her to balk. She didn’t.

  Naturally, we didn’t relinquish her room for appearances’ sake. If the three of us turned in expense reports with only one hotel room, there would be raised brows all over Force Financial. Not Chad’s. He’s aware Josh and I have shared a woman. And as long as the work gets done, he doesn’t give a shit about our personal lives.

  Actually, the fact he knew Taylor and didn’t like her should have been a warning…

  As our days in Hawaii have flown by, something deeply problematic has begun eating at me. I’m not just obsessed with fucking Kate, but holding her, making her smile, sparring with her, laughing with her… I care about her happiness. No, it’s worse than that. I want to make her happy.

  Even more troubling, subversive thoughts are creeping in. We only have a handful of days left on the island. I can hear the clock ticking in my head, counting down to the end of our fling. What happens once we return to Boston? I’m not ready for us to be over…and I’m terrified about what that means.

  There’s a good chance I’m fucking going to get my heart broken.

  “It’s nearly six. Feel like going out to eat?” I ask.

  Josh doesn’t look excited by my suggestion. “If you want.”

  No, but if we don’t, I’ll bury myself in Kate’s body again…and lose a little more of my sanity. “Yeah. What sounds good? I don’t know if I can do the Mexican place again.”

  He scowls. “Kate loves it.”

  “Then you two go. I’ll hang back here and”—I grapple for an excuse—“double check these financials to make sure they’re right. No doubt, Chad is itching to dissect these numbers.”

  “I’m sure, but that’s a crappy excuse. You’re avoiding us. You’re running scared.” His jaw hardens. “I’m not going to let you.”

  “What? You’re wrong,” I bluster.

  “Bullshit. Admit it. You have feelings for Kate—deep ones. And you don’t want to.”

  Sometimes I hate that Josh knows me so fucking well. “I don’t understand why this is happening. It can’t work.”

  “It can,” he insists. “You’re overcomplicating this. I’m in love with her. I think she’s the one. I think you feel the same. Roll with it.”

  “Josh, buddy… We’d be fucking stupid to go down this road again.” If we don’t bail now, we’re going to crash a second time. It will be way worse than the first. I don’t know if I’d survive.

  “So you’re going to stay miserable and alone because you’re too afraid to tell her you’re in love with her? Once upon a time, you ran into a burning frat house to pull me out. Now you’re running from a woman?” He sends me a cutting glare. “You’re not a coward. Stop acting like one.”

  I’d rather run into that burning building again. Blisters and minor burns heal a lot faster than a broken heart.

  “We’ve been over this. Women don’t commit to two men. They don’t want their family and friends to know they’re being passed back and forth and double-fucked. They’re afraid to be labeled, judged, and gossiped about. Didn’t you learn the first time?”

  “Taylor was afraid. We don’t know that Kate is.”

  I just shake my head. “I don’t get you. How the fuck are you throwing your heart out there without a goddamn care for the potential misery Kate leaving us would cause?”

  “How the fuck aren’t you seeing the possibilities?” he counters. “How are you ready to throw away everything that could be between the three of us before we even know how she feels?”

  That’s eating at me. We’ve been with Kate twenty-four seven for the last week. Every buttoned-up, productive day. Every hot-blooded, passionate night. Each morning, I wake up wrung out, sated, and euphoric. As the project progresses, my respect for her intelligence and work ethic grows. Every time we reach for her, she accepts us hungrily. She’s almost perfect.

  Except that she’s never given us any indication that what we’re sharing is more to her than sex.

  Grinding my teeth, I shove my hands in my pockets. “Forget it.”

  “No. Why don’t you try finding your balls? If you don’t, she’ll be gone. Self-fulfilling prophecy, hello?”

  I get what he’s saying. If she does have feelings for us and we don’t level with her, she has no reason to stay and see if we can make this work. But if we tell her how we feel and she only wants a fling, we give her grounds to run far and fast.

  “We still have time to figure it out.”

  “Barely forty-eight hours.” Josh stands and crosses the room. “Kate will be back from her latest study of the grounds any minute. I was hoping we could get on the same page before she returns.”

  I tense. “What page is that?”

  “Well, for starters, we should finally take her together.”

  We haven’t broached anal sex since the first night. I don’t know why Josh has waited, but I know damn well why I have. There’s something primal and animal about taking a woman in the most forbidden way. It’s fierce and raw and intense. If I coax Kate into letting me be the first to fill her sweet backside, I’m pretty fucking sure I’ll lose all hope of breaking my addiction to her. And if I let Josh do the honors, he’ll only get more attached.

  “Then…”—Josh stares straight at me—“we should propose.”

  “Are you fucking crazy?”

  “Are you? We have a chance—a good chance—at having everything we’ve ever wanted. Are you really going to let Taylor take that from you?”

  Before I can respond, the door scrapes against the sagging concrete behind me. I whirl to find Kate walking in, sketchbook in hand, blowing an errant curl from her face. The sun she’s gotten in the last week has given her a subtle golden glow. She’s smiling, looking somehow more beautiful than ever. Under her professional peach-colored skirt and white wraparound blouse, I know that body—the exact curve of her hip, the weight of her breasts in my hands, the taste of her pussy on my tongue.

  The thought of living without that—without her—stabs my chest with pain. The truth is, she’s no one’s booty-call girl. She’s the kind of woman a man marries and has kids with. If we don’t even try to stake our claim, she’ll be gone.

  And how long do you think she’ll be alone before some smart man snaps her up?

  As the door swings shut behind her, she freezes, glancing between us. “Is something wrong?”

  “We’re strategizing the situation,” Josh says smoothly, never mentioning that we don’t mean the project. “Did the city’s new building codes change your sketches much?”

  “No, thank goodness. I promised Savannah my recommendation and preliminary art, along with the permitting and environmental requirements and a rough timeline tomorrow. Will you two have the financials ready by then?”

  “Yeah. They’re almost done. We’ll finish up in the morning.”

  “Good. She and Mr. Force want it by noon, our time.” Kate winces. “I have a lot of work to do to make that deadline. Would you hate it if we ordered in a pizza?”

  Best fucking idea she’s had all day. The more I focus on work, the less I’ll think about how desperately I’m aching to open her pretty ass and how badly I’m tempted to claim her for good.

  Josh smiles. “It would probably take an hour to arrive, and I’m starved. You stay and work. Marcus and I will pick up a pie and a bottle of vino. Sound good?”

  “Like heaven.” She sends us a grateful stare as she drops her sketchpad on her desk and plops into her chair. “I’ll eat almost anything without bell peppers or anchovies.”

  “You got it.” Josh claps me on the shoulder as he fishes the keys to the rental car from his pocket. “Let’s go.”

  Part of me wants to stay, but if I’m alone with Kate right now… Twelve hours without touching her has made me ravenous, and as volatile as I’m feeling, I can’t guarantee I wouldn’t bend her over my desk and do my dirty worst.

  “Sure,” I finally mutter.

  She cocks her head. “Is something bothering you, Marcus? You seem…off.”

  Her question hits me in the gut. I try to remember a single time Taylor asked how I was feeling. I come up blank. It’s probably stupid, but her concern chokes me up.

  “He’s fine,” Josh supplies. “Just preoccupied. Complicated calculations. That’s what you get when you spend your time with a guy who double-majored in economics and mathematics. We’re leaving now.” He grabs my arm and drags me to the car, sending me an impatient glance. “What is your problem? Are you hung up on what I said earlier? Is that why you almost freaked Kate out?”

  I shrug free and throw myself into the passenger’s seat. “Buddy, we’ve known her less than two weeks, and you dropped the M-bomb. It’s too fast.”

  “It doesn’t matter how long we’ve known her.” He clenches his teeth as he hauls out of the parking lot, zipping down the two-lane road to town. “It’s about how strongly we feel. She would be a great wife for us.”

  He’s not listening to reason. “We went too fast with Taylor. We didn’t know her or her feelings the way we should have before we bought that fucking engagement ring. We—”

  “We wanted to be in love with Taylor, and we ignored the warning signs. With Kate, we both tried not to fall, but we have—hard. I’ve been watching her—scrutinizing her behavior—for any reason to feel an ounce of caution. There isn’t one. You know it. That’s why you’re scared. Since we’re running out of time here, I want to show you something.”

  I freeze. “What the hell are you up to?”

  “Stop freaking out. You know Kate is different, Marcus. Special. We’ve both fucked around enough to know she’s everything we want. The future we’ve craved right in front of us. You’re afraid. I get it, but try to believe in us. Take a leap of faith.”

  He has a point. Actually, he has a lot of them—and they’re annoyingly valid. If I wasn’t haunted by Taylor’s stab in the back, I would probably be in lockstep with Josh, eager to get down on one knee and pledge my life to Kate.

  Aren’t you doing exactly what Josh accused? Aren’t you letting Taylor win?

  Yes. She’s the only thing holding me back. Everything between Josh, Kate, and me feels terrifyingly perfect.

  “What do you want to show me?” I sigh.

  “Come with me.”

  Through the dusk, we head to Hilo’s main street. The farmer’s market is closing up for the day. The Mexican food joint a few doors down is getting crowded. We find a hole-in-the-wall pizza shop and place our order before Josh tugs me up a half-hidden staircase. In a narrow hallway, between a psychic and a masseuse, sits a cramped storefront for a custom jeweler.

  Josh whips out his phone and sends a quick text. Seconds later, he gets a ding in return. “Maleko is waiting.”

  “Who?” But since Josh isn’t the sort to have his palm read and doesn’t need his neck rubbed, I know the answer.

  “I met Maleko yesterday when I picked up lunch. We were both waiting for our food, and he guessed that I was here working on the hotel. I answered his questions. Apparently, his grandmother once worked there. Turns out the whole town is curious about our plans. He wanted to know if he could bring his grandmother out to see the grounds if we buy it. He gave me his card, so I asked him about his work. He’s been making one-of-a-kind jewelry for people all over the world for twenty years.” Josh shrugs. “On a whim, I asked him how long it would take him to make something custom for us. He said he could do it by this afternoon…if I promised his grandmother first look at our remodel.”

  “You bought the ring?” Without even talking to me?

  “No, I simply had Maleko design it. No obligation. But I told him our situation and the kind of diamond Kate deserves. He said he could make something perfect. Let’s at least look at it.”

  If I do, I’m afraid I’ll be tempted to slide it on Kate’s finger and keep her forever. Even though it’s not smart, I’m already looking for ways to bind her to us. “Two minutes.”

  Josh raises a brow at me. “Five. Keep an open mind. We’re talking about our future.”

  Reluctantly, I follow him into the poky little shop. It’s packed with glittering gold, winking diamonds, and pearls of all kinds. A cursory glance tells me Maleko is skilled and he has a good eye.

  “Hello, Josh.” The Hawaiian guy who’s around our age sticks out his hand. “You brought your friend.”

  “Marcus,” he supplies.

  Dutifully, I shake with him but say nothing.

  As if he’s picked up on my reluctance, Maleko gets down to business, fishing a key from the ring at his waist. He unlocks a drawer to his right and withdraws a cloth pouch. “I have the ring ready. It turned out even more beautiful than I thought. You will like it.”

  The man pulls out the piece. As he’s giving it one last polish, the pristine shine of platinum and the bling of diamonds is unmistakable. Then he sets it on a rubber mat in front of us with a proud smile.

  I look down at the three-stone masterpiece. My breath stutters. It’s perfect.

  Josh’s face tells me he feels the same. “The larger center stone represents Kate. The smaller diamonds on either side…that’s us, always surrounding her.”

  As much as I try to resist that notion, it calls to me. But I don’t dare admit that to Josh.

  “Give us the details,” he prompts Maleko in my silence.

  “Of course. This is approximately ten grams of platinum. It’s heavier than gold. It’s also more durable. The center stone is three carats, cushion cut, color E, VVS2.”

  In other words, expensive. But that’s hardly my first concern. Chad pays me well, and I come from a long line of hard workers and good investors. Cash isn’t the issue.

  “What about a wedding band?” Josh asks.

  “I think a simple channel-cut eternity band would fit best. I have examples. For a ring this size, I would recommend one or one-and-a-half carats.”

  “Thank you.” My best friend turns to me. “What do you think?”

  Josh is putting me on the spot when we don’t know how Kate feels about us? When I’m still grappling with how I feel?

  I finally address the jeweler. “Can you excuse us for a minute?”

  “Of course.” Maleko tucks the ring into a glass case and locks it before disappearing into a small office through a side door.