Riptide [Kismet Cove] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (8 page)

Jess laughed and shook her head. “I’m going to look like a complete ragamuffin. If we run into a single soul, I’m never going to forgive either of you!”

“Right, I’ll tell Rory to cancel the parade through town, then.” Evan winked. “Get dressed and come on up when you’re ready. We’ll have to make a run for it. The weather went to absolute hell while we were all taking our naps.”

He scooped her wet things off of the floor and vanished back through the door. “And hurry up, Jess. I am starving!”

She tugged on the socks, happy to have something to cover her bare feet, which were already chilled from standing on thinly carpeted floor. With the rain jacket in hand, she made her way back into the galley, and then stopped, stunned as she realized the low roar she was hearing was the sound of rain hitting the roof overhead. The noise had been muffled down in the fore-cabin, but now it was obvious that they were in the middle of yet another storm. She put on the jacket and listened to her two rescuers banter. They both had their backs to her and were bent over an open compartment at the back of the boat, completely oblivious to the rain that was coming down in sheets.

“If that offer for food is still available, I’m ready to take you up on it,” she called out to them. Both men turned around immediately, and Rory’s deep-brown eyes widened as he stared at her bare legs and then slowly perused the rest of her.

“I take it back, Evan. You’re right, she does look better in it than I do.”

“Told you so.”

“You both need to have your eyes checked,” Jess said, deflecting the compliment. She wasn’t exactly comfortable showing so much of herself. She knew her body was far from perfect, and she usually worked hard to dress to her strengths. Bare legs and a baggy sweater weren’t going to help highlight her assets, and she really hoped she could find something else to wear soon.

“Just give us a second here, baby. We need to put this new engine to bed and then we’ll be heading home.” Rory turned back to the compartment and tugged a cover back into place over the top of it. He was wearing a rain jacket, but he’d left the hood down and his dark hair was streaming with water. Jess could see he wasn’t wearing anything under the jacket, either, and she wondered how he was managing to stay warm. A gust of wind blew the rain nearly sideways and she heard him cursing under his breath. Apparently he wasn’t warm after all.

“If you don’t get out of this weather soon, we’re going to be treating
you
for hypothermia next,” she scolded him.

Evan snickered, “I think we finally met your match, Rory. She doesn’t seem to be the least bit intimidated by your dark and glowering persona.”

“Don’t you get cocky, Evan. You’re the one standing there watching him get drenched. I thought you two were supposed to be looking out for each other.” Jess tipped her head to one side. “Or do you share your colds, too?”

“If you’re so worried about my catching cold, why don’t you help keep me warm?” Rory covered the short distance in a few quick strides and before Jess could take more than a single step backward she found herself swept up into his powerful arms. “There, now you can keep me safe from the elements while Evan runs up to the truck and gets it started.”

“Fine, fine. You can carry her to the truck, but I’ve got dibs on carrying her into the house!” Evan shot back and leaped neatly up onto the gunwale and then onto the dock. He tugged his hood forward with one hand and made a dash for the ramp leading to shore, leaving Jess and Rory alone.

“You two certainly bicker like you were family,” Jess observed as she wrapped her arms around Rory’s neck and held on as he stepped up onto the side of the boat and jumped to the dock. His muscles flexed as he cradled her to his chest as they landed, and then he was heading up the dock. He reached up and tucked her head under his chin, sheltering her from some of the rain and wind. The only part of her that was really exposed were her bare legs, and she knew by the time she got back inside, she was going to need another pair of socks and a towel.

“We’re like brothers. It’s been that way for so many years I can’t imagine my life without him.”

“I understand. My best friend and I are like sisters. Leaving her back in Toronto was the hardest part about moving here.” She paused and then added. “But maybe we’re not as close as you and Evan. We have most certainly do not share
everything
.”

Rory laughed as he carried her through a small, gravel lot and past a handful of buildings. “I’ll admit it’s a bit unconventional. I promise once we get you inside, you can ask any questions you want.”

“I’m not even sure where to begin,” Jess said and shivered as a gust of wind drove rainwater straight the backs of her thighs.

“How about we start with hot chocolates and double marshmallows?”

Jess groaned in agreement, suddenly starving. “That sounds perfect.”

As he carried up to the passenger side door of a massive black pickup truck, Rory quietly said, “You can trust us, Jess. We would never let anything happen to you. I promise.”

Then he was bundling her into the warm interior, and she found herself hauled into his lap, his arms closing around her as he settled his big body into the seat.

Evan smiled at them both and dropped the truck into gear. “Let’s go home.”

Jess woke up the next morning and for a minute she couldn’t figure out why she felt like she’d been hit by a truck. Her entire body ached, and getting out of bed was a slow-motion affair. “Nearly drowning comes with a hangover, too? Come on universe, gimme a break here,” she groaned and tried to stretch out the worst of the stiffness, but quickly gave it up in favor of a long, hot shower.

By the time she’d showered, taken a couple of ibuprofen and downed half a cup of coffee Jess was feeling more herself, though she was still moving slower than she would have liked. She had big plans for dinner, but before she tackled that she wanted to sit down and get all her memories of yesterday down on paper. It was part therapy and part research. If she ever decided to nearly drown one of her characters, she would have firsthand experience to draw from, but only if she made notes while it was still fresh in her mind.

Jess settled down in front of her laptop and began typing. As her fingers flew over the keys she found herself reliving every second of terror and pain she’d experienced the day before. She hadn’t meant to document the entire encounter, only the experience up until she was rescued, but as details came to her she continued to type, entering it all into a file and saving it.

There were still some gaps in her recollection, but now she
knew
that she had seen a seal, and it had pulled her toward the boat! She remembered Evan helping her on board, but nowhere in her memories could she recall seeing Rory. He had to have been there. She’d heard him cursing about the cold. His voice was too distinctive to have been anyone else. Maybe the rest of it would come back to her in time, but at least she’d preserved this much.

It had been a very surreal day, and looking back at everything, Jess couldn’t decide if what had happened between Rory, Evan, and herself was the product of stress, a real connection, or temporary insanity. “At least I hope it’s temporary,” Jess muttered to herself. “I have to be crazy, don’t I? To even consider dating two men at once is definitely not normal.”

She pushed back from the desk and was about to get up when an idea struck her. There was one person who would never turn down a chance to tell her she was crazy. She needed to talk to Viv.

Before Jess could second-guess herself, she turned on the laptop once again and called up her e-mail program and attached the document she’d just finished typing. She addressed it and tapped out a brief message, explaining to Viv that she needed to read the attachment and then please call her back. As her cursor hovered over the send button she nearly chickened out, but then she clicked and sent the e-mail on its way.

“She’s going to think I’m making this up.” Jess stared at the monitor for another few seconds and then stood up, stretching her back yet again before heading to the kitchen. She needed to get started planning dinner, and if yesterday was any indication, she was going to need to make a massive amount of food. Those guys could eat!

When they had arrived at the guys’ place yesterday, Rory had tucked her into a massive couch and ordered her not to move, and she’d enjoyed watching the two of them banter and sidestep each other as they had conjured up a simple meal of tomato soup and a mountain of grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. Not just any cheese either, but a blend of brie and Monterey Jack that had melted into a mound of black forest ham. It had tasted even better than it looked, and she’d eaten two of the crispy, golden creations along with a bowl of creamy tomato soup. The two of them had managed to polish off the rest of the platter between them and chase it down with the promised hot chocolate with masses of marshmallows.

Thinking of their meal, Jess headed for the kitchen and started pulling out all the ingredients for homemade hot chocolate, and she grinned to herself as she added a bottle of peppermint schnapps to the ingredients on the counter.

“In for a penny, in for a pound,” she told herself with a grin. She was still trying to decide between roasted chicken or a casserole for dinner when her phone rang, and the opening notes of Pam Tillis’s
Mi Vida Loca
blasted from the phone’s speaker. Viv must have gotten her e-mail.

Jess managed to get in a brief hello before her best friend cut her off with a squeal. “Oh my god, Jess! You’ve not even been there a week yet and you’ve managed to find two hotties? And you kissed them both! I don’t know whether to be proud or jealous!”

“Did you forget about the bit where I nearly drowned?” Jess asked with a laugh.

“Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. You didn’t drown, for which I am grateful. But more importantly you did meet two cuties! They are cute, right? Please tell me they are cute or I’m going to have to take back that bit about being proud of you.”

“Yes, they’re cute. Actually, I think they are way better than cute, but it’s possible that hypothermia and near-death trauma have affected my judgment.”

“Names. I need last names. And then details. All of them!”

“Rory Frazier and uh, Evan Sinclair. Viv, what are you doing?” Jess asked.

“My Google-fu is strong. I’m—holy shit!”

“What? What is it?”

“I found your guys’ website. You lucky, lucky bitch. They are not cute. They are smoking hot!”

“They have a website?”

She heard Vivian groan. “Grasshopper, you have much to learn. Lucky for you I am better at this dating thing than you are. They run an eco-tour company out of Tofino. They have a website, and pictures, and…ooh, hello, I have their phone number! Shall I just call them and get the scoop directly from the horse’s mouth?”

“Don’t you dare!”

Vivian laughed. “Okay, okay. No phone calls to the owners and operators of Hotties Incorporated.”

“That cannot be the name of their company.”

“You got me. It’s Pacifica Tours. It could be Hotties Incorporated, though. Have you seen these guys?”

“Yes, I’ve seen them. Shirtless, in fact.”

“Bitch. Don’t remind me. It’s really hard to be supportive when I’m suffering from terminal jealousy.”

“There’s nothing to be jealous of, Viv. At least I’m not sure there is.”

Vivian sighed. “I knew it. You’re listening to that little voice in the back of your head again, aren’t you? How many times have I told you not to listen to Negative Nelly? They kissed you,
and
snuggled with you, and told you they are best friends who share everything. Heavy stress on the word everything. That’s the greenest light I have ever heard of. If you don’t go for it, I will fly down there and kick you in the butt until you do, or I’ll see if they want to trade in a blonde for a redhead.”

“They’re smoking hot and amazingly nice guys, can you blame me for questioning my sanity?”

“Of course I’m questioning your sanity, because I know what you’re not saying. What you’re thinking is that they are smoking hot guys and you think you’re an overweight cream puff. You’re a bestselling author, a beautiful woman, and have so much to offer, but you keep forgetting all of that and fixate on the fact you are not a size two. They kissed you, remember? Which means they are already attracted to you. Get over it, girl, and get onto the good stuff already!”

“What would I do without you?” Jess asked, laughing past the lump in her throat at her friend’s honest assessment.

“Well, for one thing, you’d probably be considering cancelling dinner tonight and locking yourself in that log cabin until I got there and dragged you out into the world again.” Vivian’s voice softened. “You deserve to be happy. If they make you smile, then I think you should go for it.”

“But, Viv…two? How does that even work!”

Vivian cackled and then said, “If you’re lucky, you’ll be finding out for yourself really soon. In the meantime I’ll send you a few book titles you need to go buy from Amazon. Call it research.”

“Oh god.”

“You had lunch with them yesterday, didn’t you guys talk?”

“We did, but it was more getting to know each other stuff. Where did we grow up, school, interests, you know, the safe stuff.”

“Did you tell them what you do for a living, Jess?”

Jess wrinkled her nose and glowered at the phone before answering. “I said I’m a freelance writer.”

“So you lied.”

“I panicked.”

“What is the point of being a bestselling author if you never tell anyone?”

“It’s…complicated.”

“I know, but only because you let it be. No one is going to be disappointed to discover you’re not one of characters in your books, Jess.”

“I know. And you’re right, I’ll tell them tonight.”

“So you are still making them dinner? Good! By the time they’ve tasted your cooking they’ll be more than halfway in love with you. What are you making?”