ChristmasisComing (10 page)

Great, now he sounded indignant. And, if
she was fair, she did hold a portion of the blame. “I’m sorry. It doesn’t feel
right having sex with you now that I’m with someone else, not even work-related
sex for testing condoms.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” His top lip
curled. “Selfish, I know, but it was always fun with you.”

She listened to herself speak, even heard
Marc’s smiling reply and registered the wry twist of lips. But at the same time,
her mind roared at her. She’d been sleeping with Fletch and Liam for around a
week. Somewhere along the way, she’d decided to keep them.

They’d agreed to help her test her designs.

That was all.

Neither of them had hinted anything more
could come of their agreement.

“I’d better get to work on this design or
Alice and James will sack me.”

“Sure thing.” With a wave, Marc wandered
from the lab, his white lab coat flapping around his legs.

Gaby’s mind returned to the successful
board meeting. With the testing completed, she didn’t need Fletch and Liam to
help her any longer. Goal achieved, so why had the fizz seeped out of her happy
mood?

Chapter Ten

Liam’s cell phone vibrated and he paused
his hammering to check the screen. Rachel. Again.

“Problem?” Fletch asked.

“Rachel is ringing me again.”

“Didn’t you ring her back the other day?”

“Someone distracted me,” Liam said drily,
part of him surprised he could actually talk about sex with his friend without
stammering. Mindful of a couple of their workers within earshot, he didn’t add
anything else.

“Ring her back now. Signal me if you need
an interruption.”

Nodding, Liam hit dial. “Hi, Rachel. What’s
up?”

“Where have you been? I’ve been trying to
reach you since the weekend.” Her voice measured a register only slightly less
than a screech.

Liam scowled and held the phone farther
from his ear. “I’ve been busy.” Damn if he intended to apologize. He was glad
he hadn’t asked her out again. While they’d had a good time during their two
dates, and they’d ended up in bed after the second one, he hadn’t wanted her
enough to follow-up for another date.

“Too busy to spare a few minutes?”

Liam didn’t bother answering her
accusation. He didn’t owe her explanations. His gut instinct had warned him
beforehand and he’d made a point of telling her their sleeping together was a
one-off. He hadn’t wanted to treat her like a commodity.

“We need to talk,” she said.

“I don’t think so.”

“Wait! Don’t hang up. I’ll meet you at the
cafe. You have to eat, right? Can you spare half an hour around midday?”

Liam got the idea she’d keep pestering him
until he agreed. “All right,” he said grudgingly. “Midday at the cafe.”

“See you then.” Rachel disconnected the
call.

“What was that about?” Fletch asked.

“She wants to meet me at the cafe.”

“She’s pregnant.”

“Not by me, she isn’t. We used a condom and
it worked perfectly.”

“Is it wrong of me to feel jealous?”

“Jesus.” Liam glanced around to see if any
of their workers were eavesdropping. “Not at work.”

“But we can at home?”

“Yes.” Hell, agreement had come so easily,
yet with Rachel he wanted to run a mile, and preferably toward Fletch and Gaby.
Thinking about the implications of this made his head hurt. “I don’t suppose
you’re free for lunch today.”

Fletch smirked. “As it happens I have an
opening in my calendar. It’s a date.”

Liam’s teeth ground together. “Fletch.”

“I’ll behave. Promise.” Sincerity glowed on
his face and Liam relaxed.

“I wonder what she wants.”

“Only time will tell. Let’s get this frame
finished,” Fletch said.

Three hours later, he and Fletch entered
the Sloan cafe.

“Do you see her?” Fletch asked.

“Yeah, she’s sitting in the far corner.
Food first or go and see what she wants?”

“Talk to her first. We might want to
leave.”

“Good point.” No matter how Liam studied
this situation, his gut bucked with trepidation. What the hell did the woman
want? If she thought she was going to pressure him into a permanent
relationship, she needed to rethink her strategy. He strode over to the corner
table, aware of Fletch at his heels.

“Did you have to bring him?” Rachel
narrowed her bright blue eyes and tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her
ear.

“We both needed to eat,” Liam said.

“What I have to say to you is private.”

Fletch shrugged. “No problem. Liam, should
I order you coffee and something to eat?”

“Better get it to go,” Liam said. “We don’t
want to be late to our meeting with the suppliers.”

Fletch ambled off, leaving them alone. Liam
took a second to appreciate the view before turning back to Rachel. “What’s so
important for you to hound me for days?”

Stung by his words, she glared. “If you’d
returned my call, I wouldn’t have needed to hassle you.”

“Clock’s ticking.” Dammit. He didn’t
usually act with cruelty. “I’m sorry. We’re busy at present and have deadlines
to meet. How can I help you?”

“I’m pregnant. You’re the father.”

Liam stared at her. “Me?”

“Yeah, isn’t it great? You’re gonna be a
father.” She grinned at him. “We need to talk about wedding dates. We have a
lot to do. We don’t want our baby coming into the world without—”

“Wait! No way. We only had sex once.”

Some of the happy glow left Rachel.
“Pregnancy only takes one time.”

“We used a condom.”

“Condoms aren’t one hundred percent
effective. You know that.” Rachel pulled a small diary from her handbag. “We
can get married next month.”

Panic struck Liam, robbing him of speech.
He let her prattle on about churches and dresses and bridesmaids.

“Liam?” Rachel finally realized he wasn’t
listening to her.

“I’m not marrying you.” No way did he want
to marry Rachel. Gaby and Fletch… No!

“But you have to.” This time Rachel was the
one to show alarm.

“No, I don’t. You can’t make me. If the
baby is mine, I’ll support you in any way I can, but I won’t marry you.”

“You’d walk away from your own child?”
Moisture welled in her eyes until a tear rolled down her cheek. She looked
pretty when she cried. Most women didn’t. “I thought you of all people would
understand and want to provide your child with a stable upbringing. I can’t
believe you’re denying everything.”

“Because my mother was the town tramp and I
have no idea of the identity of my father? Think again.” Liam stood, desperate
to get away from her.

“But we’re having a child.”

“And I told you if the baby’s mine I’ll
support you financially. I have to go.” He strode from the cafe into the
sunshine, ignoring the interest of the other customers.

“Liam! Wait up.”

Liam slowed his steps for Fletch to catch
up. “You heard?”

“Everyone in the cafe heard. You realize
you’re going to be the bad guy in all this? People are going to say you take
after your father. They’re gonna dredge up stories about your mother again.”

“Yeah.” Liam stopped to rub his hand over
his face. “Big difference though. He walked away without looking back. I
offered to support her. Fletch, I can’t marry her. I can’t, not when you and
Gaby…” He trailed off, unable to voice his feelings or his fears.

“I get it.” Fletch squeezed his shoulder in
silent support. “You were kinder to her than I would’ve been. Who was she going
out with before you? How do we know she’s not trying to stick you with someone
else’s baby?”

“That was my first thought. Hell, maybe I’m
being unfair and she is carrying my baby.”

“She can’t make you marry her.”

“Her father is gonna come after me with a
shotgun.”

“They don’t have shotgun weddings anymore.
You gonna tell Gaby?”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t hide something like this
from either of you.” Liam checked for interested bystanders. “Even if we
weren’t sleeping together, I would’ve told you both. You’re my best friends.”

* * * * *

The old inn was English in style, quiet and
elegant and perfect for their first date. Gaby smiled at the idea because it
was a date even though there were three of them.

Liam had booked a private table, one
overlooking the cottage garden in the courtyard at the back of the restaurant.
They’d dressed for the occasion. She wore another dress—this one black and
white—while Liam and Fletch wore black trousers and nice shirts. Liam wore pale
blue while Fletch wore cream.

“Hi, Tina,” Fletch said to the waitress.
She was Katarina’s granddaughter and a few years younger than Gaby. “We have a
table booked.”

“Are you celebrating something special?”

“We are,” Liam said. “Gaby has some good
work news.” He tapped his nose as he grinned at Tina. “It’s top secret.”

“That must be why Nana and Granddad said
they couldn’t come to dinner the other night.” She giggled. “They make me laugh
with their secret squirrel stuff. This way. I saved the table you requested.”
She showed them over to the table and once they were seated, handed them menus
and a wine list before bustling away to attend to new arrivals.

Gaby scanned the menu and decided to order
the fish of the day—blue cod—plus a salad.

“I’m having the rack of lamb,” Fletch said.

“Me too,” Liam said. “You guys want wine?”

Fletch set the menu down. “Nope. I’m gonna
have a beer.”

“I’ll just have a glass of wine,” Gaby
said. “Alice and James gave me a bottle of French champagne today. It’s in the
fridge chilling.”

“French champagne?” Fletch whistled.
“That’s too good to waste on me.”

“I can’t think of more perfect people to
share it with.” Gaby leaned closer to whisper. “We don’t have to drink
champagne out of glasses you know.”

A noticeable shudder went through Fletch,
and Gaby winked at Liam.

“You’ve hooked him,” Liam said.

“It’s a date.” Fletch’s voice was husky
with promise. “Damn, is it hot in here?”

“Guess what we talked about at the board
meeting today?” Gaby knew they’d never guess.

“Tell us,” Liam said.

“Sex in a public place.”

A wicked smirk crawled across Fletch’s
face. “You can grope me under the table. Either of you, but I’m not taking off
my clothes for everyone here to watch.”

“I don’t think that’s the sort of public
place they had in mind,” Liam said. “I’ve had sex at the swimming hole and once
when I went camping with my girlfriend at the time.”

“Sounds like fun,” Fletch said. “We’ll have
to keep those locations in mind.”

“As long as we don’t do it on the beach,”
Gaby said. “I have it on good authority I’ll get sand in my hoo-ha.”

Fletch’s guffaw broke off abruptly. “Aw,
hell. Guess who just walked in with her parents?”

Liam groaned. “Rachel?”

“Got it in one,” Gaby said. “She was hot
and heavy with Bryce Ross, not so long ago. You really think she’s telling the
truth?”

A heavy sigh came from deep in Liam’s
chest. “It’s possible I’m the father, but if she thinks she can trap me into
marriage, she should rethink her plans. A baby isn’t a good excuse to get
married these days.”

“Didn’t Bryce shoot through in the middle
of the night, disappearing from town and leaving a heap of debts?” Fletch
asked.

Liam spoke in a low voice. “The gossip mill
said he’d pulled a swifty on Rachel’s father, stealing and on selling a heap of
supplies. He used to work for him.”

“Fletch. Liam.” Robert Scott, Rachel’s
father stopped by their table. “And it’s Gabrielle, isn’t it?”

“Gaby Montgomery, our house mate,” Fletch
said, completing the introductions.

“Liam. Fletch. I’m pleased to meet you,
Gaby,” Rachel’s mother said.

Rachel remained silent but flashed a smile.

“Do you boys intend to put in a bid to work
on the buildings on the new subdivision?” Robert asked.

“We’re hoping to take a look this week,”
Liam said. “We’ve been flat out finishing the Gibson house.”

“You boys do good work,” Robert said. “I’d
like to award the contract to a local. If you have any questions, call me.”

“Thanks, we’ll do that,” Fletch said.

“Enough business, Robert,” Rachel’s mother
said. “Let these people enjoy their dinner.”

“I’ll look forward to your bid,” Robert
said, and with a wave they left to go to their assigned table.

“Rachel’s parents don’t know about the baby
yet,” Gaby said.

“Doesn’t seem like it,” Fletch said.

Liam frowned, his blue eyes swirling with
emotion. “The contract for the subdivision is a huge one. The contract would
set us up with work for the next eighteen months. If, or rather when, Rachel
decides to tell her parents, we can probably kiss any hope of getting the
contract goodbye.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Fletch reached over
and placed his hand over Liam’s, squeezing lightly. “Don’t worry about it.
There’s lots of work around at present. If we don’t get this contract, we’ll
get something else.”

The waitress arrived to take their order,
and they relaxed, the chat flowing as it usually did between them. The meal was
amazing and Gaby couldn’t remember enjoying herself on a date as much as she
did with Fletch and Liam.

Back at the house, Liam opened the
champagne. “A toast,” he said. “To Gaby and her amazing inventions.”

“To Gaby,” Fletch echoed.

“I want to thank you both for helping me
test my designs.”

“Anytime, sweetheart,” Fletch said.

“It was a real hardship,” Liam added with a
smirk. “We’re available anytime you need help with testing.”

But what about now? The question tickled
the tip of her tongue, although she wasn’t brave enough to voice it out loud.
Coward
.

“We should adjourn to the bedroom,” Fletch
said.

“Gaby?” Liam scrutinized her as closely as
Fletch, neither saying a word while they waited for her decision.

Gaby picked up her glass. “I thought you’d
never ask.”

Fletch took her free hand in his and led
her down the passage with Liam following close on their heels. As usual, they
ended up in Fletch’s room. The master bedroom had become their room by default.

“Off with your clothes.” Fletch took the
glass from her and set it, plus his, on the nightstand. He kicked off his shoes
and socks and sprawled out on the bed. “Give us a show.”

“Music?” Gaby was all for a striptease. An
excellent way to rev the libido.

“Liam can sing.”

Liam toed off his shoes, peeled off black
socks and sprawled out beside Fletch, their shoulders brushing with comforting
familiarity. He started to sing an old rock classic, husky voice pitch-perfect
while Fletch eyed her in expectation, a smile hovering around his sexy lips.

Right, they wanted a show. She’d give them
one. She loved to dance.

She started with a slow rotation of hips,
rocking to the beat of the song. Liam’s voice strummed across her senses while
the heat in her men’s gazes thrilled her no end.