Sharing Hailey (3 page)

“Hi, Hailey. It’s been a while.”

It didn’t matter how long it had been. Landon wasn’t the kind of man a woman forgot. Where Nikki and Meredith were petite, their brother was tall—taller than Mark and Tony—and even more muscular than her two favorite men. He had his sisters’ blond hair and blue eyes, but he looked like some kind of Viking hero straight off the cover of a romance novel, complete with the shoulder-length hair—more like a Sven or Olaf than a Landon. Tough and sexy. The kind of bad-boy tough that drew women. One ear was pierced with a small silver hoop. His appearance seemed completely at odds with his profession. He looked like he should be maiming and pillaging—not trying to save lives with his cancer research.

Hailey extended her hand. “It’s good to see you again. How have you been?”

He took her hand firmly in his. “I hope you don’t mind me crashing the party.”

Nikki spoke over the clamor of greetings. “Landon decided at the last minute to join us, so I thought you and Meredith could share the cottage. Then the boys can each have a room to themselves. Is that okay with you, Hailey?”

Hailey smiled brightly as she cringed inside. The cottage was one big room with a small kitchen and living area furnished with a futon, a recliner and a king-size bed. The only place to escape Meredith’s chatter would be the bathroom.

“Sure,” she quipped, trying to sound upbeat. It probably wouldn’t be so bad. It wasn’t like she spent that much time in her room. Still, she did like a little time to herself at night to wind down.

Mark’s low voice cut through the chatter. “Tony and I’ll share the guesthouse. Let the girls have their own rooms. If they have to share a bathroom, we’ll never see them.”

Meredith punched his arm. “Oh, you.”

Mark grinned down at her.

“Are you sure?” Hailey asked, even though she was grateful for the offer. “Is that okay with you, Tony?”

“Yeah, I’m so used to him I won’t even notice he’s around. We did share a dorm room in college.”

“That’s been a while,” Hailey pointed out.

Tony shrugged. “We haven’t changed that much. You should know that better than anyone.”

After Mark’s kiss earlier today, Hailey wasn’t so sure about that. Either Mark had changed or she had.

“You are both such sweethearts,” Meredith gushed.

Hailey fought not to roll her eyes. It was true. They
were
sweethearts. Meredith had no idea. But the girl’s flirting was beyond annoying.

Nikki began sorting out the rooms, and Hailey silently thanked the gods for her efficiency. “Well, then. Hailey, you can have your regular room up here, and we’ll move Meredith’s stuff from the cottage to the extra bedroom on the first floor.”

“Perfect,” Meredith squealed as she latched on to Tony’s arm. “Would you help with my bags?”

“Lead the way,” Tony replied, hefting his bag and Mark’s, one in each hand.

Mark lifted Hailey’s suitcase, ignoring the wheels that she relied on when she wasn’t surrounded by Texas men. “Show me where you want this.”

What Hailey didn’t want was to be alone with Mark in her bedroom. “I can get it. You go with Tony so you can unpack.”

Jake interrupted before Mark could argue with her. “Dude, I’ll get Hailey’s bag. I’ll meet you on the lanai in an hour with a beer.”

Hailey resumed breathing, not realizing until that moment that she’d been holding her breath. Some of the tension left her shoulders as Jake hefted her suitcase.

“Nikki, you sit down,” Jake said as he led his wife to a long tan couch facing the lanai. “I’ll be right back.”

Hailey followed him through the large bath next to the great room and into her bedroom, which also opened to the west onto the lanai. He placed the bag on top of the king bed.

“Thanks,” Hailey said as she unzipped her suitcase. “Nikki looks great. You can’t even tell she’s pregnant.”

“That’s because she’s
losing
weight, not gaining it.” The worry in his voice touched her.

Hailey laid a hand on his arm. This was one of those times when it would have been nice to have a mom and dad. Jake had to be missing them right about now. Sorrow at their loss ached in her chest and gentled her words. “She says she feels better now. Give her another month. You won’t be able to get your arms around her.”

Jake snorted. “Not gonna happen. I’ve got long arms.” He paused, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. “So, Daniel really let you go on vacation alone?”

Not happy with the new topic of conversation, Hailey began unpacking clothes, putting them in the dresser on the south wall. “I’m not alone.”

“I meant without him.”

Hailey shrugged and admitted, “He wasn’t happy about it.”

“I’ll bet.”

She sighed. “Daniel and I are done. I broke up with him on New Year’s Eve.”

Jake raised his eyebrows. “About time. He treated you like shit.”

Exasperation tinged her voice. “Jake, you only met him once.” Why did she feel the need to defend Daniel? Jake was right.

“How many times has he called since you left?”

Hailey slipped her phone out of her back pocket and turned it on. She prayed there wouldn’t be a call from Daniel. When she had service, she said, “No messages.” She didn’t mention that Daniel’s phone number appeared six times in her missed call list, but her stomach clenched.

“Huh. Don’t be surprised if he shows up in a few days.”

“Don’t worry. He doesn’t have the time to come chasing after me, even if he did have the inclination—which he doesn’t.” She sent another mental prayer that she was right. “You won’t have to make nice with him. He’s probably already found another girlfriend.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Hailey hoped she was right, too, but she was tired of talking about Daniel. She was tired of thinking about Daniel, worrying about him, being frightened of him. She just wanted to forget him for the next two weeks. “You’d better get back to your wife before she does something she shouldn’t, like cliff diving or bungee jumping.”

Jake’s hazel eyes widened, and terror flashed across his face.

Hailey felt guilty for teasing him. “I’m kidding. God, Jake, you need to chill. Nikki isn’t stupid.”

Jake raised his hands in surrender. “I know, I know.” He laughed at himself, but it wasn’t an easy laugh. “I think I’ll just tie her to the bed for the next two weeks.”

“Isn’t that how she got pregnant in the first place?” Hailey joked.

“You’ve got a dirty mind, little sister.”

“Wonder where that came from?”

Jake grabbed a pillow from the bed and tossed it at her as he headed for the door.

She caught it and threw it at his back. “You’d better watch yourself. I know all your secrets, and I’ll tell them to Nikki.”

“You’ve already spilled, brat,” he called.

“Not all of them,” she yelled as he disappeared through the bathroom.

Forty-five minutes later she’d unpacked, changed into denim shorts and a yellow cami and was standing in front of the mirror in her bathroom, applying liquid foundation with a sponge to cover the bruises on her arms, carefully blending it. If Jake saw them, he’d go ballistic, and she hadn’t packed any shirts with sleeves long enough to cover them.

A knock on the door startled her. “Just a second,” she said, quickly putting the sponge in her makeup bag.

Nikki’s voice floated through the door. “Hailey, can I come in?”

She screwed the top on the foundation. “Yeah. I’ll be out in a minute.” She washed her hands and checked her arms. Looked good. She opened the door between the bathroom and her bedroom. Nikki was already perched on the bed. Hailey glanced around the room, expecting to see Jake. “How’d you escape your lesser half?”

Nikki’s eyes twinkled. “Told him I needed to pee.”

“He lets you do that alone?”

Nikki laughed. “Yeah, I go so often, he got tired of hanging out in the bathroom.”

Hailey laughed so hard, tears came to her eyes. “I can’t believe he actually followed you to the bathroom,” she finally gasped when the laughter had subsided to giggles.

“Believe it.”

Hailey sat on the royal blue and white pineapple quilt covering the bed, settling in for some girl talk. Jake must have already told her about Daniel.

“I’d like to ask you a favor,” Nikki said.

Hmmm
. Maybe she didn’t know about him. “Sure.”

“Landon’s girlfriend just dumped him. That’s why he came with us. I insisted, really. He was so upset, and I didn’t want to leave him alone.”

Hailey was stunned. “You’re kidding, right? Why would any woman dump Landon? He’s smart. He’s beyond good-looking. I don’t know him very well, but from what I can see he’s the perfect man. I’ve never even seen him scratch his balls.”

Nikki nodded. “I know. I couldn’t believe it. I never liked that bitch.” She waved a hand in the air as if she could sweep away her anger. “I was hoping you could build his ego back up. Jake told me you and Daniel are history. Maybe you and Landon could do a little rebound dating. Nothing serious.”

Hailey shook her head before her sister-in-law even finished speaking. “Nikki, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Don’t get me wrong. I like your brother. He’s great. Really.” She struggled to find a good excuse. She didn’t want Nikki to know she had her hands full right now with Mark. “I wouldn’t feel right leading him on when I know it won’t go anywhere.”

“You could let him know up front that you’re on the rebound, just looking for a vacay relationship. No hookups,” she added quickly. “Jake would kill him. Just think about it. You might change your mind.”

Hailey sighed and stared at her pink toenails. Just what she needed—another relationship to deal with. She’d just ended it with Daniel. Mark wanted to be fuck buddies, and now her sister-in-law wanted her to date her brother. Wasn’t that kind of incestuous? “I’ll think about it if you’ll promise not to push him or me.”

“Deal,” Nikki said, her expression positively gleeful. “Now, grab a drink and join us on the lanai. Jake’s grilling tonight. Tomorrow we can start hitting the restaurants.”

Chapter Three

Hailey sipped her red wine and listened with one ear as Tony and Landon discussed Landon’s cancer research. It was after ten o’clock, and Jake and Nikki had gone to bed. Mark had disappeared about fifteen minutes ago. Hailey finally worked up the courage to excuse herself from the group sitting on the lanai and search for him. It had helped that Meredith was hanging on Tony’s every word and gazing adoringly at him. The buzz from the wine hadn’t hurt either.

She took the stairs at the back of the great room down to the game room. He wasn’t there, which meant he was either in the guesthouse or out by the pool. She walked through the game room out to the pool deck.

No Mark.

Damn, that meant he was in the cottage. She really hadn’t wanted that much privacy. The cottage was dark. Maybe he was sleeping? The sliding doors were open. She peered inside but didn’t see him.

“Mark?” she called in a low voice.

“Over here, babe,” he answered.

Just the sound of his voice sent her heart into overdrive, and she hesitated before following it through another set of sliding glass doors that opened to the west side of the cottage. He was silhouetted in a chair just outside the open doors. The guesthouse sheltered them from the group up on the lanai.

Mark stood and held out a hand to her, but she shook her head. Trying to put some physical distance between them, she moved toward the waist-high, lava rock wall that separated the cottage from the ocean. She leaned back against it, facing Mark, and crossed her arms in front of her waist. Mark sat down again. Silence stretched between them.

“You know I love you, right?” she asked haltingly. “You know I’d do just about anything for you…Tony too.”

“Yeah.”

“I’d kill for you.”

“I’d rather you didn’t, but I know I couldn’t stop you,” he answered.

With liquid courage bolstering her, she forced the words out. “But I can’t be a friend with benefits—yours or anyone else’s.”

“What?” he said, his voice and expression bewildered.

She pressed her butt against the wall as he slowly stood and stalked toward her. By the time she was able to sputter, “I’m sorry,” Mark stood in front of her, only inches separating them. So much for maintaining any physical distance.

He stared hard at her, and she squirmed beneath his gaze. Finally, he lifted his hand and lightly grazed her arm with one finger, quieting her nervous movements. The gentle touch was at odds with his voice, angry and incredulous. “You think I want a fuck buddy?”

Hailey’s heart raced, more at his nearness than his anger. Still, if he was using that kind of language, he wasn’t going to take this as well as she had hoped. “It’s not that I—”

Mark held up a hand to stop her. “Don’t.”

“But I—”

“Hailey, not a word.”

With difficulty, she clamped her mouth shut.

Mark placed his hands against the wall on either side of her waist, trapping her. The position pressed his hips against hers. And she didn’t think that was a gun in his pocket. For one thing, the board shorts didn’t have pockets.

He stared past her shoulder. “How long have you known me?”

“Long time.” Hailey swallowed. “Twenty-five years, give or take.”

Mark nodded, and his gaze returned to hers, his brown eyes as serious as she’d ever seen them. His brows furrowed, and the lines around his mouth were fewer and less deep than when he laughed or smiled, but no less tempting.

He must have read her mind because those lips dropped to hers, lightly brushing against them, their warmth melting her resolve. As Hailey answered his kiss, she released the death grip she had around her own waist to rest her hands on his hips, barely resisting the urge to rub up against him.

Slowly, he lifted his head, and his narrowed gaze searched hers. “What have I done in that time to make you think I would use you like that?”

Hailey dropped her head, confused and embarrassed, and stared in wonder at their hips fused together. They’d never touched like this. “Then I don’t understand,” she whispered.

“I don’t imagine you do.” Tony’s voice came from the corner of the guesthouse.

Hailey’s head whipped around, and Mark stepped away from her to lean his hip against the wall.

“About time you got here,” he grumbled.

“It would have looked odd if we’d all come down together. Meredith would have assumed the party was moving and come with us,” Tony said as he crossed the patio to stand on the other side of her. He mirrored Mark, resting his hip against the wall with Hailey between them.

“Yeah, I think she’s in love,” Mark said.

“Too bad I’m taken.”

“I didn’t know you were dating anyone,” Hailey said, her voice pitched higher in surprise.

“I’m not…yet.”

“But—”

“Mark and I have decided to end the stalemate.”

“What stalemate?”

“We’ve both wanted you for years,” Tony explained as he entwined his fingers with hers. “We couldn’t decide who would get you, so we’re both going for it.”

She whipped her head back and forth between them, as if she were watching a tennis match. They couldn’t be serious. They were both going to pursue her and make her choose. No way.

Something wasn’t right. There was no tension between the two of them. It was all directed at her. They weren’t posturing or growling at each other. They seemed perfectly content with their competition. No animosity.

They had to be joking. Her heart plummeted, even as relief washed through her. They were playing with her. She tried to laugh at the joke but couldn’t. Because the way she felt about them wasn’t funny. It was impossible, and right now, it hurt as her heart twisted and tears choked her throat.

If they knew they’d hurt her, they’d beat themselves up. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard.

She managed to force a “ha-ha” past her lips, but it was weak and tears burned her eyes.

“Ah, shit,” Tony said softly as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. “We didn’t mean to upset you, sunshine.”

His gentleness released the tears she’d tried to hold back and they quickly fell, dripping on his T-shirt. She sniffled. “Then how could you joke about something like that?”

“This isn’t a joke. We’re serious.”

“It
has
to be a joke. I can’t choose between you.”

Mark pressed against her back. One hand pushed her hair away from her neck. The other rested on her shoulder. Oh God, they felt good. Hot, smooth skin surrounded her. Their unique scents mingled.

Mark’s firm lips brushed the side of her neck before he murmured, “That’s why we want to share you.”

Hailey stiffened seconds before her head popped up from Tony’s shoulder, hitting Mark…again.

“
Ow
. That’s twice you’ve done that today. I think you broke it this time.”

“Well, what did you expect?” Tony defended her. “You’re about as tactful as a train wreck.”

She slipped out from between the two of them, disassembling the Hailey sandwich they’d created. Mark was holding his nose. Tony stepped in, pulled Mark’s hand away and palpated his nose.

“Tactful wasn’t cutting it,” Mark argued.

“It’s not broken,” Tony announced disgust clear in his voice. “It’s not even bleeding.” He turned to Hailey. “Look, I’m sorry. This isn’t going the way we planned. Let’s start over.”

Hailey laughed at the absurdity of the situation. Her suave, sensitive, hotter-than-hell men were definitely out of their comfort zone…whatever it was they were trying to do. “You actually planned this?”

“Yeah…kind of,” Tony answered lamely.

Hailey didn’t know what to say. It would help if she could figure out what the hell was going on.

“Give us a break,” Mark said. “We’ve never done this before.”

“And I’m not sure what you’re trying to do
now
,” Hailey replied.

Tony looked around, as if searching for something, then grabbed her hand and tugged her toward a lounge chair. “Let’s sit down.”

Hailey followed obediently, wondering where this was going. When they were sitting next to each other on the chair, he looked up at Mark, who was standing over them. “Are you just gonna stand there?”

“I’m not getting near her again…not today. Every time I do, she hits me.”

“Not on purpose,” Hailey said. “You surprised me.”

“I don’t care. Try breaking
his
nose. It’s ugly enough that no one will notice.”

“Kissing her on the plane was not part of the plan,” Tony said.

“Hey, you let her wrap those little hands around your thigh and lay on your cock for seven hours, and then we’ll talk about the plan.”

“Watch your language,” Tony warned.

“We’re talking to her about three-ways and you’re worried about my language?”

Hailey gasped. A three-way? They wanted to have sex with her at the same time? They’d lost it. They were insane. Jake would kill them if he knew what they were proposing.

No, he’d torture them, skin them alive and then kill them.

No, he’d be too angry to take his time with torture. He’d just flat-out kill them.

“Shut up,” she snapped, trying to keep her voice low. “Both of you. If Jake hears you, he won’t wait to put you on the next flight out of here. He’ll just toss you into the Pacific.” She stood, careful not to bump Mark’s nose again, and pointed at the cottage. “In there.
Now
.”

They followed her silently inside. She closed both doors and left the lights off so no one could see them through the glass.

“Sit down,” she said.

They sat on the futon, their positions identical. They leaned forward, legs spread, arms resting on their thighs with hands clasped between. She faced them, fists on hips, feet shoulder-width apart.

“Now, I’m fairly certain what we’re experiencing here is a failure to communicate. So I want you to start from the beginning, and please feel free to define any terms that I might misinterpret—such as ‘three-way.’”

“We both—” Mark started.

“Not you,” Hailey interrupted. She pointed at Tony. “You.”

“Do you think we both ended up in Albuquerque because we like the chile?” Tony asked.

“Yes,” she answered. “That and the skiing.”

Tony shook his head. “We followed you. We kept waiting for you to show a preference for one of us. You didn’t. You dated other men. We waited. We figured if we waited long enough, you’d fall for one of us.”

“Fall for you?” she asked in disbelief. “You’ve always treated me like a little sister. You took care of me. Both of you.”

“If we touched our sisters the way we touch you, we’d be in jail on suspicion of incest.”

“Tony, you don’t have a sister.”

“Yeah, but you have a brother. Does he touch you the way we do?”

She wrinkled her nose. “No, but that’s just gross.”

Tony leaned back against the futon, draping his arms over the back, satisfaction evident in his quirky, one-sided smile. “I think I’ve made my point.”

She thought about how they behaved with the women they went out with. Actually, she hadn’t seen either one of them with dates in a couple of years. She knew they dated. They just didn’t bring their women around her. Nor did they talk to her about them, but they had mutual friends who were happy to keep her updated on their relationship status.

Tony continued. “We argued about who’d get first shot at you.”

“Does Jake know about this?”

Mark snorted. “Are you kidding? You were right the first time. He’d throw us in the ocean.”

“So you were joking about the—” heat crept up her neck and face, and she hoped they couldn’t see it in the dark, “—three-way. You just want me to pick one of you.”

“Ah, well, it’s a little more complicated than that.”

“Really?” she asked facetiously.

“Look, we’ve told you how we feel about you, but we don’t know how you feel about us.”

“I do,” Mark interrupted with a smug grin. “I kissed her. She kissed me back. I’m gold.”

Hailey couldn’t help it. She had to knock him off his high horse. “Mark, you are quickly losing your status as the perfect man. And until you kissed me on the plane, I was beginning to consider the possibility that you were gay.”

They stared at her then at each other, speechless for the first time that evening.
Good
.

Mark opened his mouth to speak twice, but nothing came out.

Tony eyes widened, as if he suddenly understood the meaning behind her statement. “Does that mean you thought I was his…” He stared at Mark then at Hailey. “Lover?”

She nodded. “Yep.”

Nobody spoke. Their expressions were so bewildered that Hailey wanted to kiss them. Hell, she wanted her Hailey sandwich back. Her skin tingled and her pulse accelerated at the thought. As she remembered the feeling of both of their cocks pressed against her, her sex clenched, sending warm liquid trickling into the crotch of her lace bikini panties. She pressed her thighs together, trying to relieve the full ache that begged for their touch. She closed her eyes and bit her lip to stifle the groan that threatened.