Page 43 of Going Deep

take a break on a Monday afternoon—both for the nookie and the manual labor. At least Charlene was due back from her honeymoon today, so she could man the store while Paige was out delivering to their customer. She’d only been scheduled to take a week and a half off, but Paige had insisted she tack on a few days.

A woman didn’t get married every day. When she did, she deserved two weeks’ vacation at minimum, dammit.

From what Charli had said, their honeymoon had been blissful. Aruba had been too, but Paige figured she’d probably been referring to the between-the-sheets action.

She smiled. As thrilled as she was for her bestie, normally she would’ve felt a little sorry for herself. Charli deserved nothing but the best and she was so glad she’d found the love of her life. Just every now and then, she’d wondered when her own penis-bedazzled ship would come in. It wasn’t as if she’d been asking for much. Just the occasional bang with a sexy guy who treated her well and didn’t expect her to buy dinner every single time they went out, because he was in a “transition period” and didn’t have gainful employment.

The last guy she’d dated had been in one for the better part of a year.

Instead, somehow she’d won the banging bonanza. She’d found herself not one, but two gorgeous guys who didn’t expect her to live on her knees just to get a lick or two before they rolled over and went to sleep. Colt and Drake freely doled out oral sex and compliments amidst the best sex of her life. And they had fun together. Whether the three of them were camped out on her living room couch eating Chinese as they had last night—Colt had done some very interesting things with duck sauce—or fighting over the crossword this morning before they all went to work, it was easy and natural with them in a way she’d never found with anyone else.

Even them spending the night didn’t seem weird. She probably would’ve found it weirder if they’d gotten dressed and left after sex.

Wednesday night, they were trying something new. She was going to their place, and they were going to ride horses for a while before they…rode each other.

She stifled a giggle against the back of her hand. Lame, Wilcox. So lame.

See, this is what being happy did to her. She was making stupid mental jokes before nine a.m.

A quick glance at her watch made her frown. They hadn’t officially opened for the day yet, but some of their customers knew they usually could call in phone orders before regular business hours. Char was running a bit later than she typically did, but who could blame her? She’d probably needed to get in one more quickie before work. It had to be difficult for her to leave her sexy-ass husband even for a day, since she knew he’d be back on the road to Nashville soon. Wade would be doing a bit of commuting until his next album was finished, and then he’d be touring to support it. So alone time was definitely precious between them.

On cue, the back door banged open with a loud curse. “Shit, Paige, help!”

Paige scrambled off her stool and raced to the back door. She blinked and took in the picture of Charli wedged into the back door with her arms full of flowers.

“Jeez, did you rob a florist? Here, give me some.” Paige rushed to unburden her, helpless against the urge to bury her face and take a long, lusty sniff. “Oh, lilies and roses and verbena and, why, gladiolas! Look at all these colors. So pretty.”

“From the wedding,” Charli explained. “Well, not exactly the wedding itself, since those have mostly croaked by now, but lots of Wade’s famous friends who couldn’t make it sent gifts and bouquets. So many bouquets. Our place smells like a mausoleum.”

Paige grinned. “So you decided to bring some here and share with your BFF?”

“Of course.” Charli grinned back and hurried forward to give Paige a hug. “I missed you. Dang, girl. Look at you.” She whistled and moved back to stare at Paige’s outfit.

It was a rare semi-cool October day, so she’d gone with a deep-red sweater dress that accented…well, everything. Twice. She’d debated taking it off and going with a more sensible business suit, something that made her look not quite so—chesty. Then she’d remembered the way Drake had kissed his way along her hips this morning and told her she was a built like a goddess and she’d not only worn the dress, but checked herself out once or twice in the bathroom mirror.

Somehow, some way, she was beginning to love her body just as it was. Screw the celery. Screw her mother’s constant admonitions about her slowing metabolism as she crept closer to thirty. Screw the ex-boyfriend who’d not only told her she should dress “more appropriately”, he’d bought her clothes more resembling shrouds than what a twenty-something should wear.

But those days were over. She was reclaiming her confidence, in part thanks to two amazing men who never let her forget for a second how much they appreciated her body and everything it could do.

“Thanks.” Accepting compliments without dismissing them was on her To Do list as well. She was getting better at it. “You look amazing yourself. That’s some tan. I bet you don’t have any tan lines either.”

“Ha ha, I wish. We weren’t exactly on a nude beach.” Charli set down the last of her flowers along with her purse before shutting the door.

“Was it fabulous? I know, I know, I already asked you, but it’s different in person.”

“It’s also different to tell the story when your quick-fingered husband isn’t playing connect-the-dots with hot caramel on your belly. And other places.”

Paige laughed and marveled that for once, she didn’t feel as though she was missing out. Because thank the Lord, she had naughty stories of her own. Seriously naughty.

Granted, her situation with Drake and Colt was a bit different. Charli was in love and married and that gave her lovemaking an extra layer Paige didn’t know much about. She also was guaranteed to still be swinging off the chandeliers next month and next year, whereas Paige’s fun ride at the rodeo could end at any time.

But that was why she was determined to enjoy every second for as long as she could.

“How are things here?” Charli turned to sort through the latest stack of mail. “Crazy as always?”

“We’ve been okay. Terrence had to call out for this week. Broke his arm mucking out stalls at the Baylor place. Curtis picked up some of his hours. Speaking of, I told Mrs. Maddox I’d take a delivery out to her at lunchtime. You mind keeping an eye on things? I shouldn’t be much more than an hour.” Thinking of the extra stop she hoped to make, she flushed and ran a fingertip along the V-neck of her dress. “Or maybe two.”

“Sure, take as long as you…” Charli trailed off and shifted back, her dark eyes sparkling. “What’s going on?”

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