Julien chuckled, knowing he would’ve had the exact same reaction. “Non?” Julien brought his gaze back to Robbie’s. “What kind of mood was he in?”
“A mean one,” Robbie said, as he trailed his finger down the center of Julien’s body to his navel. “But…he did say if I behaved myself this afternoon, the two of you would give me anything I want, the minute it’s my birthday.”
A splash in the water behind them indicated that Priest had finally dived in, and Julien wondered if it was to cool off from whatever had happened downstairs or what he was watching right now. An aroused Robbie in next to nothing always tested their control, and Julien knew the goal tonight was to tease, which meant playing, but not coming—at least not yet.
“That’s several hours from now,” Julien said, and caught hold of Robbie’s sneaky hand. “You better stop flirting with trouble.”
“Aw. But I love flirting with you, Jules.”
“Are you trying to say that I’m trouble, princesse?”
Robbie adopted an innocent expression and gave a small shrug. “Priest’s words, not mine.”
“Vraiment?”
“Yes. Really,” Priest said from the water, where he had his arms folded along the edge of the pool and his hair slicked back from his face. “You’re both trouble. Now get in the pool, you two. I think you need the cooldown.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Robbie said, and batted his lashes. “I’m just standing here thinking about all the possibilities I have to look forward to when I win tonight.”
“Oui,” Julien said. “That devious grin of yours gives you away.”
“Hey,” Robbie said as he walked to the pool, his spectacular ass flexing with every step he took. “I’m just playing by you and your husband’s rules. If you don’t like them, then that’s on you.”
As Robbie dove into the water, Julien made his way to where Priest was standing with a smirk on his handsome face. “You’re going to enjoy this, aren’t you, mon amour?”
Priest ran his eyes over Julien in a way that had him reaching down to adjust himself. There was so much heat in those steel-colored eyes, and it was clear that Priest was in the kind of mood that both Julien and Robbie would greatly benefit from…eventually.
“Yes, I am,” Priest said, his voice gruff, his control clearly being tested as much as Julien’s and Robbie’s. “Now get in the pool, Julien, before our neighbors see even more of you than they’re used to.”
“Bossy salopard.”
“I’ll show you how bossy tonight.”
“If that’s what Robbie wants,” Julien reminded him. “If not, you’re in trouble.”
Priest chuckled, letting Julien know he wasn’t worried in the slightest. And why would he be? There was no way he or Robbie could resist a bossy Priest.
So no matter which way things went tonight, Julien had a feeling that this would not be the last order he would be following from his sexy-as-sin husband.
Chapter Two
Even after all this time,
he still makes my knees weak ~ Julien
“ROBERT? ROBERT, YOUR phone is ringing.” Priest’s voice filtered into the master bathroom, where Robbie stood under one of the three showerheads, washing up from the pool. As the door opened, Robbie looked through the glass to see Priest walking inside with his ringing cell phone in hand.
With shampoo in his hair, Robbie made sure to clear the soap away from his eyes as he moved to the edge of the shower and poked his head out. “Who is it?”
Priest eyed him for a beat, and then said, “Your mother.”
“Oh, ah, I’ll call her back,” Robbie said, his gaze dropping to the phone as though it were a grenade, and when Priest aimed a look of disbelief his way, Robbie added, “I will. Just let me finish in here, and then I’ll call her.”
“I could always answer—”
“No, no. That’s okay,” Robbie said, cutting off Priest’s offer, and when he tried for a smile, Priest raised an eyebrow. “She’s calling about my birthday, that’s all.”
“And you, once again, are avoiding her. That’s all.”
“I am not,” Robbie said, even though Priest was right. “I’m just—”
“Lying through your teeth?” Priest suggested. “This discussion is not over. But your shampoo is about to get in your eyes.”
Robbie swiped his hand across his forehead and huffed. “Fine. Let me wash it out and I’ll be right there.”
Priest put the still-ringing phone on the vanity in front on the three-sink basin—to no doubt emphasize his point—and as he left, Robbie let out a deep sigh and shut his eyes. Moving back under the spray, he tipped his head up, let the water wash over him, and tried to shove aside Priest’s words. But it was no use—he could still hear them and knew them to be true.
He was avoiding his mother—his whole family, really.
Over the past several months, Robbie had gone out of his way to be busy, working, or otherwise engaged whenever he’d been invited back home or his ma told him she was coming to visit Nonna.