Page 149 of Full Mountie

She closes her book and gives me a solemn look. “How do we make this work?”

I gesture for her to climb into my lap. Time for some tough love, with love.

I slide a strand of her hair between my fingers, then tuck it behind her ear. “Maybe we don’t.”

“No. That’s not an acceptable answer.” I love the way she says it. Like she’d take on a million-man army to defend our love.

“You can’t force him to be something he’s not.”

“He’s notnotanything.”

That’s where she’s wrong. “He’s a private guy. He’s never going to be one for public displays of affection. He’s always going to want to be a homebody, open and honest with us here, but closed to everyone else out there.”

“The world at large, sure, maybe. But our friends? That’s just not feasible.”

“Which loops us back to, maybe this won’t work in the long run.”

“No!” she snaps, and I reel back from the intensity of it. “We just went through this bullshit a few weeks ago with you.” She growls and throws her hands in the air, and I’m not sure if I should laugh or hide. She’sfierce.“Fuck, Hugh. This is not cool.”

Yelling, cursing, wild eyes…I’ve never seen this side of Beth before.

I love it. A lot, but now’s probably not the best time to tell her that. “You’re right.”

“I’m going to kick his ass,” she says mockingly. “That’s what he said about you. And yet here he is, needing his own ass kicked.”

“No, what he needs is…a dinner party. We need to have someone over who won’t even blink at the three of us being in a relationship. Then we can do a bigger group event, maybe something kinky—or we could go dancing at a gay club.”

“Yes,” she says, her voice lifting with hope. “He’d love to go dancing, I think. And we have the baby shower, too. That’ll be a safe space. The guest list is all friends from the hockey team.”

“Baby shower?”

“Max and Violet’s. Gavin asked if you’ll both be there.”

A baby shower as a coming out party for a polyamorous triad. The PM’s social circle definitely is kinkier than I’d ever suspected. “Sounds like a plan.”

Outside, a familiar sounding engine rumbles to a stop.

Beth gets up and moves into the hallway, wringing her hands.

The front door opens and Lachlan stalks in.

“You’re back,” Beth says.

He gives her an intense look. “Yeah.”

“Are you okay?”

“No.”

“Lachlan…”

“I’m here. I’m not okay, but I’m here, because I want to be with you. Both of you.”

I hang my fingers off the top of the door frame to keep from grabbing him and throttling him to within an inch of his life. The wild look in his eye tells me that he’s come around, even though he’s still shaken.

He sets his keys on the hall table and falls to his knees in front of Beth. “I’ve loved you from the day we met, with my entire heart, even when it fucking hurts. Even when I thought it was doomed, I’ve never wavered in how much I love you. But that scares me, too, I’m not gonna lie.” His voice cracks, and he looks at me.

I stay where I am, stretching off the door.

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