Page 2 of The Forbidden Trio

“Jess…”

“Be sure to send me plenty of pics. Of the lake.”

“All right. But apologies in advance if I accidentally text you more interesting pics.

Or video.”

She stifled a moan. “You really are a perv—and I’m letting you go to prepare for your trip. Try to behave, okay?”

“I’ll try, but this ismeyou’re talking to—behaving isn’t really my style, sugar.”

She laughed. “No kidding. I’m hanging up now.”

She picked Lulu up and cradled her in her arms like a baby.

“He sure can always make me feel good, no matter how badly I want him—and lord knows I do! I’ll have all weekend now to imagine him with Noah, stretched out under the stars, naked, their hands on each other, their mouths… oh, God, theirmouthson each other. I shouldsonot be having this conversation with you, Lulu.”

She set the cat down on the floor and squeezed her thighs together, trying to ease some of the exquisite tension there. It didn’t help.

And I’ll be stretched out on my lonely bed with my collection of vibrators.

Fuck.

“Or not, as the case may be.”

Lulu gazed up at her with brilliant green eyes.

“Well, I do need to be prepared for the show, anyway. Don’t I?” Lulu blinked up at her. “Okay, so that’s just an excuse, I know it. The fact is, I don’t think I could bear watching Paul with someone else—not in such close quarters, with no way to escape when my heart begins to hurt. When my body aches so badly just to feel his hands on me.” She paused, tossing her long hair over one shoulder, twining her fingers in the ends.

“God, I need to get a life. Or a therapist. Sorry, Lulukins.”

Leaning down to pet the cat, she drew in a breath of the muggy summer air, along with the earthy scents of paint, linseed oil and the empty, starchy canvases stacked along one wall. She straightened, eying the piece on the easel before her, a portrait she’d been working on the last few days, but it was impossible to focus now. With a sigh, she took her brushes to the sink and began to wash them, the cool water and the ritual soothing her.

“Maybe I should have agreed to go with them. Tahoe is gorgeous this time of year,” she told her cat, or maybe herself.

No vibrators in Tahoe. Just Paul and Noah, who was undoubtedly as beautiful as

Paul said he was, flirting, touching each other… Pure torture.

“No. No, I’ll stay in the city and get some more work done. But later, when the weather cools down a bit. When I’ve had a chance to cool down.”

Laying the brushes on the drying rack, she went to stand in front of the big bay window, resting her fingertips on the cool glass. The city was alive below her. She could see most of Noe Valley from her building on the hill, the colorful houses, the cars and people surging like a tide on the streets and sidewalks. San Francisco was a city filled with energy. Electric. She loved it here. But right now getting away wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

“Maybe I should call Paul back. What do you think, Lulu?”

But the cat had curled up into a sleepy ball on a chair and was ignoring her.

“Okay, maybe not. And it’s too damn hot to think. I’ll go shower first, and make a decision later. You just lie there and nap, since you’re going to, anyway. Thanks for the chat, girlfriend.”

Moving from the studio end of her loft apartment to the living area, she stripped her tank top over her head, threw it on the bed, pulled off her cotton shorts and tossed them after her tank. Naked, she went into the white tiled bathroom and turned the shower on, then stepped into the spray.

The cool water hit her skin, making her gasp, but it felt good. She moved in under it, soaking her long brown hair, pushing it back from her face. Her nipples were coming up hard from the cold water—and because she was still thinking of Paul, still imagining him with Noah, two hard, male bodies together…

He’d met Noah on a road trip to look at a car a few months ago. Paul had his own business doing what he loved most: restoring classic muscle cars. She’d always teased him about what a butch profession that was for a gay man. Well, mostly gay. Or maybe bi? She’d never been certain and hadn’t wanted to ask. At any rate, he always took her harmless taunting with humor, as he did everything, which was one of the things she loved about him. That and his brilliant blue eyes. Eyes like summer.

Hesmelledlike summer. Like green grass in the sunshine.

She groaned and slipped a hand between her thighs, finding her sex hot and eager. She immediately plunged two fingers inside, pressing the heel of her hand against her already aching clit. But it wasn’t enough. It never was. She needed a man’s touch, something she hadn’t had in too long—not since she’d broken up with her ex nearly a year ago.

---