Three Rings and a Rose (18 page)

He held the door for Caedon who still had a silent but red-faced Ella over his shoulder.

Struggling to remain still, Micah immediately burst into the room behind Caedon. With the lust surging through his veins and the jitters of the talk to come, he could barely contain himself as he watched Caedon deposit Ella on the floor beside the giant stainless steel work table that dominated the middle of the room.

Ella frowned. “The whole caveman act doesn’t make my panties wet, Caedon. I’m a progressive kind of girl.” Micah had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from snorting. If it weren’t for the fact that they would get off track, he had more than one smart-aleck remark for her bold-faced lie. Their woman might be progressive, but she found primitive, possessive men arousing. Her body gave her away. The accelerated rise and fall of her full breasts, the pointed nipples he could easily make out through her clothes, the perceptible expansion of her pupils, and the way she nibbled on her full bottom lip told a lot more than she realized.

Caedon apparently agreed with him. He smirked but quickly put it away before circling Ella, staying close enough that he visibly brushed against her with each step he took—but just barely. “Now, Ella, we got distracted earlier, but that’s over. We’re going to explain a few things to you about our”—he halted and pointed at Ella then
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Micah before finishing off with himself—“future. We have it all worked out.”

“Oh really?” Ella inquired in a too-calm voice. “You think you

know about my future because you
worked it out without me.” She snorted. “Bullshit, baby. If you think you can come in here and tell me what to do, you have another thing coming. I don’t deal well with orders.”

Once again, Micah had to bite his tongue. Ella might not know it yet, but she would love being ordered around in the bedroom. He’d seen a submissive side to her that she hid from others. She might be mouthy, independent, and an all-around handful, but he knew there was more to her than that. And he couldn’t wait until he and Caedon brought it out. He just had to be patient.
Because patience is a virtue,
right?
Um, how about, fuck no?

This time Caedon didn’t hold back. He chuckled, a rich, deep rumbling sound coming from his chest that went straight to Micah’s cock.
Holy fucking shit.
Taking a deep, unsteady breath, Micah willed the arousal tormenting his blood-filled cock to abate.
Down boy.

Down.

“Sunshine,” Caedon murmured, drawing the endearment out, as he slowed to a crawl before coming to a complete stop behind Ella.

Lowering his head, he whispered into her ear, “We’ll make you eat those words one day soon. But for now, I’ll let them slide.” Then with a wide smile to Micah that Ella couldn’t see, he winked. “What about you, Micah? Are you willing to turn a deaf ear to Ella’s smart mouth tonight?”

That’s easy.
“Sure I am,” Micah replied, returning Caedon’s smile. “We have more important things to talk about than that. We’d be here for the next month if we did.”

Ella harrumphed.

Caedon ignored her and said, “All right. Let’s talk.”

“Let’s not,” Ella countered.

Micah rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”

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Ella grinned and quipped, “Make me, Micah.” That was the wrong thing to say to him. Sauntering around the room, he pointedly ignored Ella and Caedon, as he searched for duct tape. “Damn it,” he cursed when he couldn’t find any.
Of course, our
venue would be a flower shop that was actually spotless.
“They don’t have any tape.”

Returning to stand by Caedon, who’d stopped walking at some point, Micah watched Ella’s eyes grow until he could only see a sliver of the sparkling blue around her pupil. “You wouldn’t.”

“I would,” Micah retorted smugly, “in a heartbeat with a smile on my face.”

Ella scowled but snapped her jaw closed.

“That’s more like it,” Micah ribbed. “Now let’s sit down and talk about this like mature adults.”

Caedon nodded then placed his hand on the back of a still-silent Ella and guided her to the couch. Helping her sit down, he dropped down beside her and heaved one arm around her shoulders. “Sit with us, Micah.”

Smiling, Micah joined the two people he loved most on the couch.

Without thinking, he draped his arm across the back of the cushion behind Ella where Caedon’s already laid. His bare skin touched Caedon’s bare skin, and he sighed softly, so softly that he prayed no one heard him. Glancing around Ella to Caedon who’d already peered over at him, Micah locked their gazes and relished the moment—but only for a second—before he pulled his arm back and instead placed his hand on Ella’s knee.

Micah was tired of beating around the bush with Ella. It hurt enough with Caedon. He just couldn’t bear to do it with her, too.

Giving in, Micah went for broke and blurted out, “I love you, Ella.

And Caedon loves you. Neither one of us is willing to give you up, so we’ve decided to share you.”

“Wow,” Ella breathed then turned her big, blue eyes on him. She batted her lashes with a charming grin. However, Micah sensed a
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storm brewing beneath the surface. When she spoke, he knew he’d been right on target. “That is just what I’ve always wanted to hear. I don’t know what’s better—the part about you two not being willing to give me up or
the part where you two decided to share me.” She shook her head, muttering obscenities about bonehead men and baboon asses. “I feel like a fucking doll neither of you want to quit playing with.
Assholes.
”

Micah squeezed her knee. “Calm down, Ella. This isn’t a joke.

We’re serious about sharing you.”

Immediately, Ella stopped and eyed Micah. Then she switched to Caedon, and checked him out, too. Finally she shrugged negligently.

“I kind of know you are.”

“Kind of?” Caedon asked.

Ella nodded before she sighed. “You two think you’re going to share me, but you won’t.”

“What do you mean?” Micah inquired, slightly insulted that she thought they were lying to her. “We
are
going to share you.” Sliding her eyes shut, Ella shook her head sadly. “The two of you were jealous jackasses the whole time we lived together. That won’t have changed—not in two years or two hundred.” She opened her eyes then turned to Caedon and said, “
You
constantly bitched about how I always put Micah in front of you.” Rounding on Micah, she pinned him with an arctic stare. “And
you
regularly reminded me how I needed to make sure I didn’t forget who my friends were.” They had both done that to her. They’d dragged her back and forth between them like a ragdoll. One couldn’t stand the other getting more attention, and it had taken a toll on Ella. Remembering how much they’d tormented her with their jealousy, Micah cringed. “Ella, I can’t speak for Caedon, and I won’t. He has his own mind. But I want you to know that I love you and would do anything to be with you. If that means sharing you with the man I lo”—pausing, he cursed himself viciously before correcting himself—”respect, then it means
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sharing. I know it won’t be easy, but I can and will do it. You mean that much to me.”
And so does Caedon.

Caedon placed his index finger under her chin. Tipping her head back, he guided her face toward his and said, “Yeah, I agree with Micah. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to have you in my life.” He sighed. “When we broke up, I told you that you weren’t worth it and that our relationship wasn’t worth it…but I lied to you. I lied to myself. I lied to the whole goddamn world. You are worth everything to me—my money, my pride, my heart, my mind, and my soul. You are worth all those things and so much more. I’m going to stay here with both of you, and I will prove how committed I am and how much I love you.”

Ella turned away from Caedon. She gazed straight ahead with a sad smile. “I wish I could believe you both. I really do. But I just don’t know that I can.”

Caedon peeked around Ella. “How can we convince her?” he asked.

Micah paused. He’d been mulling over the answer to that question since yesterday, but he didn’t want to just spit it out because he didn’t know how either of them would respond. He figured Caedon would approve. However, Ella might not be thrilled with the idea. Sucking his fears up, he told Caedon exactly what we thought would work. “I say we show her.”

Ella gasped, her head coming around so quickly that her hair flew into Caedon’s shoulder. “What? Huh? How? Where?”

“We’ll show you how well sharing works for us,” Micah repeated.

“We can go back in time, so to speak. We’ll do the things we used to do together and see how different things are this time. I think you’ll be amazed by the changes, because this time we all know how we feel about each other.”
Well, that’s almost true. I haven’t told Caedon how
I feel about him, but Rome wasn’t built in a day.

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Ignoring his trivial musings, Micah smiled. “What do you think, Caedon?” he asked, but he kept his eyes trained on Ella who seemed to be thinking hard.

“I think I like it. What about you, Ella?” Shrugging, Ella sighed. “I don’t know. Yes, things have changed.

But is it enough? You’re both still who you are, and I’m still who I am. Caedon’s the hot actor who the whole world adores. Micah’s the talented writer who everyone thinks hung the moon. Then there’s me.

Those things won’t change—not now, not ever.” Tears filled her eyes, making the blue sparkle like the ocean. “I’m not the girl for you two.

I’ll ruin everything.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Caedon demanded to know before Micah even had the chance to fire the synapses in his brain. “Ella, you are who I want. You’re who
we
want.”

“And so?” she asked scathingly. “No one else is going to see it like that. I’m the washed-up plus-size model who used to fuck Caedon Asher and hang out with Micah Gunner. I’m the trashy woman who sullied Fifth Avenue because my ex-boyfriend from college made a tape of me at a party where I did nothing wrong. But hell, I was fucking there for ten minutes while Joe Blow shot heroin, Jane Doe got shit-faced, and a couple dozen people fucked each other.” She gasped dramatically then sighed. “I’m proud of who I am, but the world will always see me as those things. As far as the press and the people are concerned, I’m tainted goods.” Caedon shot to his feet almost as fast as Micah did. They both rounded on her, towering over her. She lifted her head and frowned.

But even in his fury, Micah’s heart throbbed for the tears in their woman’s eyes. It nearly brought him to his knees to know that the world thought she wasn’t good enough for him or
for Caedon. This woman was perfect in every way, and he would make sure she knew it always. He had no doubt that Caedon would too.

“That’s bullshit, Ella,” Caedon growled. “Other than the two of you, I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks of me. You’re my family,
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not them. You’re the two I want to sleep next to and wake up next to.” His face colored, and his eyes widened. “I m–m–mean we are going to share you so w–we would be a family and naturally sleeping together…” He broke off then rubbed his perplexed face. “I don’t know.”

Moving just as quickly, Ella jumped to her feet. She wobbled precariously because of the handcuffs restraining her wrists. Micah and Caedon both threw their hands out to steady her, one grabbing each arm. But of course, she shook them off. Their pissed-off tigress went nose-to-nose with Caedon. “That’s not what you said before.

Two years ago, you gave a fuck about what everyone thought. Your need to be the big-shot actor trumped me. Why in the hell should I believe you now? What happens when people find out that you’re diddling me?”

Caedon’s nostrils flared, the fury he obviously felt blowing hot enough for Micah to feel it. “You’re right,” he growled. “I fucked up when I put my career in front of you. I won’t make that mistake again.” Stalking forward aggressively, he nearly knocked Ella over as he seemed to challenge her by his stance. “As far as how you’re not good, I think it’s more like I’m not good enough for the two of you.”
What the fucking hell? Caedon of all people has insecurities? The
cocky bastard has it all.
Micah’s jaw dropped, practically hitting the floor. “You think
you’re
not good enough?” he asked.

Averting his eyes, Caedon murmured, “Yeah, I always felt like the third wheel you never needed. Ella was a gorgeous model, and you were a successful author. How could I compete with that? Being a playboy television actor dating the sweet innocent-looking Ella and the best friend of big shot Micah Gunner.” He gave a self-deprecating snort. “That was a fucking joke.”

Moisture flooded Ella’s eyes, the tears slipping down her pretty face quickly. “Oh, God, Caedon. That is not true. That was never true.” She reached for Caedon, but the handcuffs obviously got in her way, and she cursed.

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Immediately, Caedon pulled the key from his pocket. He unlocked the handcuffs then tossed them over his shoulder. Landing on the mammoth table, the clink of metal hitting stainless still reverberated through the room. Without a second’s hesitation, Caedon jerked Ella into his arms. From the looks of it, he held on to her for dear life.