Bailey, Debbie - Stephanie's Homecoming [Men of Kinsey 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (10 page)

Having to spend their spring break in Kinsey did not sit well for the triplets. They had had visions of scantily clad girls by the poolside in Florida, just like almost every other male senior in the country, but it was not to be. When their parents found out about their grades, shit hit the fan, and all of them would be staying in Kinsey and studying with Stephanie.

Steph didn’t mind, she hadn’t had anything planned, and by helping them, it went toward her extra credit mark, and she got paid a small salary for her work, as well.

She smiled, remembering their first study group. Right from the start, she was going to let them know there would be no messing around.

“C’mon, Steph, it’s spring break, for fuck’s sake. I don’t want to spend the whole time inside studying.” Ryder, she knew, was going to be the most difficult to keep focused. But then she remembered hearing them talk about wanting to go into the military after high school and see the world.

“Listen here, you three idiots. If you don’t pass this one course that each of you are failing, none of you will be going anywhere next year except back to school for another semester. You have to have graduated to join the forces, so no good grade on your finals, no graduation, and no military service for at least another year.”

The next month went by quickly. All three boys buckled down and really studied hard. When their grades came back from their finals, all three of them came running through the halls like madmen, whooping and hollering until they found her and lifted her up and gave her each a big hug of thanks. They probably wouldn’t even remember her by now.

* * * *

When Shayne came in at seven with a very sexy-looking Turk behind him, Steph had never been so glad to see the end of a day. Shayne had been an absolute godsend. During the fashion department’s first meeting with her earlier on in the afternoon, he’d had to come into the office to help her break up a cat fight.

Apparently, Donna, the department head, had been hogging all the invitations to fashion shows in the city. From the looks of her expense accounts, she would go into the city for four or five days, on the paper, stay in one of the most expensive hotels, charge manicures and pedicures, and then tell Joe that they were necessary because she needed to look her best when she was representing the
Pictorial
.

What was obviously unknown to Joe, or else he just didn’t want to listen to the woman talk anymore, was that the fashion show was only one night, and they were usually held in a hotel across town, which meant Donna either rented some fancy car for herself or hired a limo for the time she was there.

The other women in the department were pissed, and rightly so, because none of them had received a raise in over a year, and they were also upset because before Donna became the department head, all the fashion invitations that the paper received would be attended by a different woman each time, so they all had a chance to go to the city and see some of the top designer’s new fashions.

What really chapped Steph’s ass was it seemed Donna had been disallowing some of the same expenses that she was claiming, and when the girls found out, all hell had broken loose, and she’d had a frightened little diva hiding behind her for protection from the rest of the fashion department.

Once Shayne had gotten them all settled, Steph told Donna that she wanted a meeting with her on Monday morning. She was to have all her expense accounts with her, as well as her checkbook, because if Stephanie found any expenses on her accounts that weren’t directly related to her job, Donna would be repaying the paper for it.

That shut her up quickly and put all the other divas back into their little happy places until she could meet with each one individually. From what Joe had sent her, it seemed only two of the women ever contributed real articles to the paper, the others wrote the same drivel over and over again. Well, that was going to stop.

“Time for you to head out, boss. This really big guy here said if I didn’t let you go, he was going to do real nasty things to me before killing me.” Shayne smiled at Turk and left the room.

“You look absolutely gorgeous, Garth. You know that, don’t you,” she said, walking across the room and into his waiting arms.

“I bet every female working here is going to be standing outside my office when we leave, just so they can get a good look at that ass of yours,” she said right before she grabbed a handful of said ass.

“The only woman who I give a damn about is standing here groping my ass, so I don’t have anything to worry about…and neither does she.” Steph loved the way he looked at her when he said it.

“So it’s Friday night, and I’m off work now. So, are you taking me to Club Kinsey, or are you going to stay here and ravage me?” Turk looked at her as if he was seriously debating whether or not to just ravage her, but he wouldn’t do that to Kane, and they both knew it.

“Sweetness, I want you to do me one favor.” Turk looked kind of guilty in what he was about to ask her. “I know you said you like my real name, but I’d really prefer for you to call me Turk all the time, like everyone else. I was named after my father, and even though it drives me crazy to hear you say my name sometimes like you do, it also reminds me of some pretty bad times,” Turk said shyly.

Steph was stunned that Turk would feel that because he had the same name as his father he would be anything like him. His name wouldn’t change how she was beginning to feel about him.

“For you, Turk, I’d do anything,” she said, then pulled him down to give him a big kiss.

Both were breathing heavily when she finally broke away and said, “Now take me to the club, please, sir.”

Turk just about shot a load in his leather pants when she called him “sir.” He couldn’t wait to get her to the club.

* * * *

Kane paced back and forth in the front foyer waiting for Turk to arrive with Stephanie. He’d been a crazy man all day, according to his partners. Snapping at the new receptionist was the last straw. Ryder, Dan, and Sam had pulled him into the office and asked him what the hell was wrong with him.

“Turk’s bringing our woman here tonight.” He knew it would be a surprise to them since he hadn’t been with a woman for more than a night.
“Holy hell, buddy, who is she, and when the hell have you had the time to find yourself a woman?” Dan asked.

“She kinda found us, I guess you could say. I’ve known her for a long time, and when Turk saw her in the diner the other day, I think he fell in love with her right then and there.” Kane wanted Stephanie’s arrival to be a surprise for them because they had gone through the hell with him when she’d left all those years ago. They had never judged either one of them, and Kane knew that they thought highly of Steph still.

“You’ll have to wait about another five minutes, and then you get to meet her. She’s a real special woman, and if everything goes right, Turk and I plan on marrying this one.”

“Well fuck, buddy, let’s go wait out front to meet this wonderful feminine specimen,” Ryder said, slapping him on the back. “Maybe she’ll like us better than you?”

“Uh yeah, I’ll be sure to let Tia know you said that.” Kane laughed and headed out the door ahead of him.

“Don’t you say a damn thing to our wife, Kane. You know I was just teasing you,” Ryder said, following behind him.

As they got about halfway across the room, the door from reception opened, and Turk and Stephanie walked in.

“Well I’ll be damned,” Ryder said. “No wonder you’ve been like a bear with an injured paw today. When did she get back?” he asked quietly.

“A couple of days ago, she bought the paper from Joe and is cleaning house.” He smiled when Steph’s eyes finally found his.

Quickly moving across the room, Steph almost jumped into Kane’s arms. “I missed you today, big guy,” she said when she kissed his chin.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, if it isn’t our beautiful savior.” Dan took her hand and pulled her into his arms for a welcome home hug.

The moment he did, however, there was a loud slam of the kitchen door. Turning to see what all the racket was, they saw one pissed-off little sub staring knives into Stephanie.

“Oh shit, sorry, Stephanie, just give me a minute.” Dan walked over to his wife and spoke quietly to her before bringing her over to meet her.

“Stephanie Morrison, I’d like you to meet our wife, Tia.”

From the look in the angry woman’s eyes, Stephanie could see the love she had for the triplets.

Holding out her hand, she said, “I’m so glad to meet the woman who managed to put that scared look on one of these boys’ arrogant faces.” Steph laughed.

Tia couldn’t help but laugh as well and welcomed her with open arms. “Sorry about the little display earlier. I have a tendency to want to kill any woman I see with her hands on any of my husbands.”

“I don’t blame you one bit, but from the looks on their faces, you have nothing to worry about. I’ve know these three since high school, and I think I’m the only female senior in our graduating class who didn’t date at least one of the triplets at one time or another.”

Tia’s eyes widened in instant recognition.

“You’re the one who tutored them in the classes they were failing when they were in high school. They’ve told me a lot about how much you helped them and that without you, none of them would be the men that they are today.”

“They just needed the right incentive to buckle down and do the work. All of them were incredibly smart they had just played around a little too much in certain classes.” Stephanie liked Tia right away. She was a woman who protected what was hers yet was confident enough in the bond with her husbands to give them the opportunity to explain a potentially damning hug. Stephanie wished she’d done the same with Kane ten years ago.

Taking Stephanie’s hand, Tia started pulling her across the room toward the bar. “Let’s go over and get ourselves a good stiff drink, and then we’ll sit in our booth and get to know each other better.”

The five men just stood there and watched as their women chatted and giggled while waiting for their drinks.

“Fuck, Kane, she’s just as beautiful as she was ten years ago,” Sam said. “You were getting ready to go after her next month, weren’t you?

“Yeah, I was, but fate stepped in and saved me a whole lot of time and aggravation. She’s back, and we’ve talked about the past, and she realizes what a huge mistake she made and says she is going to try to make up for it. Her words, not mine,” he said before he got his head bashed in by one of the triplets.

“She’s known about my ownership in the club since day one and actually went to another club in the city to do some research.” Kane watched the women talking and laughing at the bar and felt his whole body come alive.

“So we’re going to have some dinner, and then we’re taking her to our playroom to have some fun.”

Kane and Turk both headed over to stand next to Steph. Placing his arm around Stephanie’s waist, Kane whispered something in her ear, and then he and Turk went to find a privacy booth at the back.

* * * *

Stephanie hadn’t laughed so hard in such a long time. Tia was funny as hell, and she was perfect for the triplets.

“I’m so glad the triplets found you, Tia. They deserve to be as happy as possible, and it looks like you make them extremely happy,” Steph said, taking another sip of her drink. She had never been a heavy drinker, so she always made sure to take small sips of any drink she did have.

“It’s going to be great having you back here, too. My men talk about you all the time, and some of the stories they told are just priceless.” Looking very serious, Tia leaned over and whispered, “Did Ryder really try to kiss you during one of your study sessions?”

“Yeah, but he got the message when I asked him if his parents had good health care coverage, because if he didn’t stop I was going to introduce his balls to his tonsils.” Tia burst out laughing, and when she finally stopped, she took Stephanie’s hand and led her over to Kane and Turk.