A Little Harmless Fantasy (22 page)

“Evan, this is Rory McAllister and you know Zeke.”

He shook both their hands, and said. “I think we met at the
wedding. Does that mean Maura is here?”

Rory had to bite back a growl—although Ross gave him an amused
glance. Rory realized he hadn’t kept the sound as quiet as he
thought. Bloody hell, this was getting embarrassing.

“Don’t worry about it, McAllister. May is Evan’s
wife.”

It still didn’t make him feel any better. The jealousy he kept
feeling in regards to Maura was troubling. He had never dealt with it
before when it came to a woman.

“Want to take a look at our store?” Chambers asked
interrupting his thoughts.

He had been so focused on watching Maura—and watching the
assholes who were watching her—he hadn’t realized they
had a store. He nodded and followed the owners and Zee into it. He
had to fight the urge to look back and check on Maura. It was getting
pathetic that he would feel that need. As a Dom, he’d never had
a problem with it before. Not just the possessive feelings, but also
the worry that she wouldn’t obey him. He didn’t like the
fact he wasn’t sure he had complete control over her.

“We have everything you would need here,” Ross said.

“Or we can special order anything you want,” Chambers
added.

“And you take in a hefty profit?” Rory asked.

Ross shook his head. “A bit, but we use a lot of locals for our
leather work. In fact, we’re working on a deal with Maui Kink
about having a few special pieces made up just for Rough ‘n
Ready. They do some wonderful work. We believe in supporting the
Hawaiian economy and what better way to do that than use folks here?”

“Because of that, we lose the hefty profit we would get with a
mainland outlet, but for Micah and myself, it’s more important
to support our adopted home,” Chambers said.

Rory walked around the small area. It was well lit but not overly
bright. The design was deceptive because you thought you were heading
into something dark and dim, but when you approached the shelves, you
could see everything easily. The small lights behind every shelf gave
them enough illumination to shop.

“It’s my design.”

He looked over at Evan. “Yeah?”

“I’m a contractor. I wanted to make sure it was easy to
shop but people aren’t going to walk into a store for sexual
toys if it’s lit up like a freaking Walmart.”

He chuckled. “I have to agree with that.”

“We do have an outside entrance for shopping during the day. We
just started that. There weren’t a lot of places to shop here
on the islands, so we decided to test it out.”

“And?” Rory asked.

Chambers shrugged. “Business has been steady. We only do a few
days a week.”

Rory headed over and picked up a nice black leather crop. He had a
feeling that Maura would like to play a little like this. Her
reaction to the nipple clamps had been a little more than he had
expected. He wanted to push it up a notch. He held onto it, turned
and then he saw the collars. There was a wall of them, from floor to
ceiling. They had everything from the heavy duty to the pink fuzz. In
the center there was a bright red collar, smooth leather, with some
rhinestones on either side. There was a spot for a name.

Without thinking, he headed over to it. He picked it up off the shelf
and realized he’d been wrong. There was a name on it.

Ours
.

He smoothed his fingers over the fine leather. It was supple, well
made and it wouldn’t damage her skin. The letters were stamped
into the leather. He could imagine the way it would look around her
throat.

“Nice,” Ross said. “I remember when that came in a
couple days ago. Everyone was in a tither over it.”

Rory fought the urge to immediately put it back like he’d been
caught doing something wrong. He forced a smile and glanced at Ross.
“I’ve never bought a collar before.”

Ross crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ve never been
into it, and I have feeling that Dee would scalp me if I tried. She
likes play, but collars…no. I’m pretty sure that’s
not her thing. But, the right woman...she would like it.”

Was he hinting Maura would like it? Zee had told him that Ross hadn’t
trained Maura, but what did Ross know about Maura’s desires? He
didn’t like that the man apparently speculated on the subject
enough to think she would want a collar. And just what the hell did
Maura think she was doing telling people about her likes and
dislikes?

Apparently the club owner read his thoughts. “Whoa, son. I
didn’t train her, but she did have a lot of questions. I’m
off the market in the training department as is Evan. We’re old
married men now.”

Bloody hell
. He drew in a deep breath and pulled his temper
back. He was losing it and not in a good way. A woman’s past
had never really been all that important to him. All of his lovers
had a past, just as he had. He always found it hypocritical of men he
knew who judged their lovers’ past behavior. But, with Maura he
was dealing with feelings he had for no one other than Zee.

“Old my ass,” Evan said as he walked up. He looked at the
collar in Rory’s hands. “Nice.”

Zee frowned down at it. “Not sure if she would go for that.”

He nodded knowing Zee was probably right. He didn’t even know
if she wanted to be with them past this week and it had only been
three days. People didn’t get serious that quickly…and
he really didn’t know if he wanted to.

“Probably not. But the workmanship is first class.” He
set it back on the shelf. “Let me check out.”

He sensed Ross watching him as he walked away. He heard him say, “Let
me show you the new security system we want to do.”

That was all Zee had to hear. “I’ll be up in the office.”

Rory nodded as they walked away.

“The stairs are on the left side of the club. Just come on up
when you’re done.” Ross glanced at the collar then at
Rory. His lips twitched and he followed his friend and Zee out of the
shop.

Rory looked at the collar from the corner of his eye as he moved up
in line. He set the crop, along with a box of condoms on the counter.
At the last minute he said, “Wait.”

Before he could change his mind, he rushed over and grabbed the
collar. He gave it to the female clerk who smiled at him.

He didn’t have to give it to Maura, but just in case… he
could keep it around. None of them knew what would happen after this
week. He knew Zee loved her and Rory was man enough that he could
admit he was starting to have more than just sexual feelings for her.

Shit
. He walked out of the store and decided to take the bag
out to the jeep and lock it up. He would decide what to do with the
collar later. Hell, he probably wouldn’t give it to her but he
could always sell it. The workmanship would bring in a pretty penny.

After locking it up, he headed back into the club. He couldn’t
think about that, about next week, about anything beyond tonight. He
was already being seduced by the idea of keeping her with them.
Always.

He learned a long time ago, wishing for things like that would lead
to heartache.

Maura took a sip of water and smiled as she watched the best friends
banter back and forth. It wasn’t enough of a distraction from
the feeling someone was watching them. Or her. She hadn’t felt
it since that night out with the guys, but now, she felt it. As
before, it was going to be hard to pinpoint because there was such a
huge crowd.

“So, Maura, tell us about living with two men,” May said.
It wasn’t a question. May just said it as if she were asking
how she liked her blonde hair.

Dee choked on her drink. “God, May, will you ever learn how to
have normal conversations?”

“No. Normal conversations are boring. I’m not boring. I
never understood the reason for small talk. People I don’t
know, sure I’ll talk boring shit with them all day long.
Friends, I don’t see the reason to do it.” She smiled at
Maura. “So, spill.”

She returned her smile. The two friends were so different, but they
complimented each other much as their husbands did. Both were
striking, but where Dee was a stunning Italian with those
quintessential Mediterranean features, May was pure Hawaiian. Long
dark hair reached her mid back and her eyes, the blue of them kept
catching the attention of just about anyone in their vicinity, man or
woman.

In a way, they reminded her of the relationship she had with Jillian.

“I’m not living with them, really. Just while we’re
here on vacation.”

May opened her mouth but Dee stepped in. “I’m going to
warn you about May. She wants to know what it’s like to be with
two guys all the time...and by
be with
I mean in the bedroom.
Not like she doesn’t know what it’s like—ask me
about that sometime. But that’s what she wants to know. Her
brain is always in the bedroom.”

“Well, I’m sure those two aren’t boring. More than
likely, they’ve used other rooms in the house.”

It was Maura’s turn to choke on her water.

May scooted forward in her seat and smacked Maura on her back a few
times to help her.

“No, I’m fine. Stop, May you’re going to leave
bruises on my back.”

“I’m sorry. I just…we don’t have much time
before the men will descend on us. They don’t seem like they
want you away from them for long.”

She frowned. “Is it that obvious?”

She wasn’t ashamed of being with the men but she wasn’t
sure she wanted Conner to know what was going on. Not if the
relationship didn’t make it past this week. His relationship
with Zeke would be at stake and that was something she couldn’t
accept. Conner had few friends in his life—mainly because of
his control freak ways.

May’s voice broke into Maura’s thoughts. “Yeah.
Lord, they watch you constantly. So, tell me, do you like it?”

She rolled her eyes and hummed. “You’ve seen them.”

“Yeah. I didn’t get the Dom vibe off Zeke when I met him
before.”

“He’s not really into BDSM, at least participating.”

“Oh, well I don’t like to invade people’s privacy—”

“That’s a lie.”

May gave Dee a dismissive glance. “But what do you mean, not
into participating?”

She shifted on her seat. She told Jillian but she wasn’t sure
if she wanted others to know. May must have picked up on her
reluctance.

“Never mind. I won’t pry.”

“For once,” Dee muttered.

“But, good for you. I always thought you and Zeke should be
together.”

For a second, she didn’t know what to say. The idea was too
delicious to ignore. It was something she wanted for a long time and
never thought to have. But when Rory had moved to Miami, she had
thought that it was for the best. It was worse after the last few
days. Now, dammit, she wanted both of them.

Before she knew it, she was blinking back tears.

“Oh, honey,” May said as she patted her hand. “I’m
sorry. What’s wrong?”

Maybe it was because it was just the three of them, or maybe because
she hadn’t really talked to anyone about it since she’d
talked to Jillian, but she said, “I’m not sure I’ll
be with them when the week is over.”

“Oh. Oh! They’re together. You were invited.” May
looked at Dee then back at her. “Hmm.”

She said nothing else and Maura felt her patience slipping. “What?”

May said nothing as she looked around. It was as if she was searching
for something or someone. “I have a feeling that those two do
not want a week. They will want more.”

“Really? Because you haven’t talked to either of them
since Jillian and Conner got married,” Dee said. She looked at
Maura. “Ignore her. She thinks she’s some kind of
relationship guru.”

“You just have to let things happen and let Auntie May help.”

Dee’s eyes widened with what looked like alarm. “Maylea
Aiona Chambers, what are you up to?”

May shook her head as a slow smile curved her lips and she waved at
someone in the crowd. Maura turned to follow her line of vision and
saw the man she was waving over. He strode through the club with a
lazy, laid back walk that was definitely deceptive. If you looked at
him closely, you could see the way he scanned the area for threats.
He was tall, taller than most, built like a bit of a boxer. His blond
hair was cut short, and the kind of tan he had told her he worked
outside. And…there was something vaguely familiar about him.
That put her on alert. She had a very good memory and sometimes the
pictures of men on the wanted posters stuck with her.

“May, that is a really bad idea.”

“Naw, Eli likes being used. It’s part of his charm.”

“Well, hello, ladies,” he said. Oh, damn he was
Australian. He scanned their faces then stopped when he saw Maura.
His lips curved. “And hello to you, darlin’.”

“I didn’t know you were back on Oahu,” May said.

He broke his attention from her to look at May. His smile dimmed.
“Bossman is here for a procedure. He’s been kind of
sickly and I wanted to hop over for a couple days to check him out.”

“Aww, is he at Queens’?”

Eli nodded.

“I’ll get Cynthia to make some of that monkey bread he
loves so much and go see him.”

“He’d like that. Now, why don’t you introduce me to
your friend.”

“Elias St. John, this is Maura Dillon. Maura, this is Eli. He
runs a ranch on the Big Island. Maura’s here visiting her
brother.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Then, she remembered him
from her trip over before. “I think we’ve met before.”

He cocked his head to one side and studied her. “I think I
would remember a stunner like you, love.”

“It was about two years ago.” She sensed Dee’s
glance but ignored it. “I had longer hair, and it was dark.”

She knew the moment he remembered. “Yes. And you were with an
Irishman.”

Maura smiled and nodded and he stilled his movements. He kept staring
at her, then his mouth curved slowly. The silence among the four of
them stretched out. She glanced at May and Dee. Dee shrugged but May
smiled.