Page 50 of Treat

“How long have you two been banging?”

“We’re not,” Jude said, keeping his voice low.

“Really? Cuz that was a lot of banging-adjacent activity going on a minute ago.”

Jude rubbed a hand over his mouth. If he pressed his lips together, he could still taste her. “First kiss.”

“Aw, really? If we’d known, we’d have gotten you a card or something.”

“Shut up, Tuck,” Esme said absently, her eyes focused on Jude’s face. “You don’t seem very happy about it.”

“I’m…conflicted,” Jude admitted.

“Because?”

“She’s my assistant,” Jude reminded them.

“Is dating her against the rules or something?” Tuck asked, wandering over to settle onto the couch.

“No, not technically.”

Tuck plopped his feet on the steamer trunk and crossed them at the ankle. “Then what’s the problem?”

“Just because it’s not against the rules doesn’t mean it’s a good idea,” Esme pointed out, still watching Jude. “Are you afraid of a sexual harassment situation?”

“No. Or not exactly. It’s…complicated.”

Tuck snorted. “No, it’s not.”

Esme sighed. “Tuck.”

“It’s not. Look.” Tuck tipped his head back against the sofa, hanging his head upside down to look at them. “Do you like the woman?”

“Yes.”

“Does she like you?”

Jude thought about her hands in his hair, her tongue in his mouth. The desperate yearning in her voice when she’d saidmore. “Yes.”

“See? Not complicated.”

“Why do you take him places?” Jude wanted to know.

“He’s cute, and he keeps my feet warm at night,” Esme said while Tuck grinned, looking like an upside-down ginger Muppet. “And while he may be looking at this situation from the simplistic perspective of a man trying to get his dick wet?—"

“You’re so crude,” Tuck tsked.

“—he also has a point. If you like each other, the complicated stuff can usually be worked out.”

Jude opened his mouth to say object—then shut it again.

“There, his brain just turned on.” Tuck stood from the couch and stretched, his lumberjack body taking up the space of three people. “Of course, that might have something to do with the fact that it has blood flow again.”

“You’re such a pain in the ass,” Jude complained, smothering a smile.

Tuck let out a bellowing laugh and leaped over the couch to wrap Jude in a back-thumping hug. “I love you, too, you fucker.”

“Um. What are they doing?” Brynn asked, coming back into the living room to stand beside Esme. She had on her Tiger’s fielder’s cap and sunglasses, her phone and a white sweater in her hand.

---