The Sextet - Occupational Hazards [The Sextet Anthology, Volume 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (16 page)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Cheryl Brooks is a critical care nurse by night and a romance writer by day. Utilizing her rich fantasy life and a knack for unobtrusive boy watching, she is currently branching out from paranormal romance into erotic novellas, both contemporary and paranormal, with her Sextet sisters, and loving it! A lifelong lover of horses and animals in general, she lives with her husband, two sons, two horses, four cats, and one dog in rural Indiana. She enjoys cooking, gardening, and has played guitar since the age of ten. A member of the RWA and INRWA, her previously published works include
The Cat Star Chronicles
series:
Slave,
Warrior, Rogue, Outcast, Fugitive, Hero,
and
V
irgin.
Book eight,
Stud,
will be released in February 2012.

Also by The Sextet

Siren Ménage Everlasting: The Sextet Anthology, Volume 1:
Sharing

Siren Ménage Everlasting: The Sextet Anthology, Volume 2:
Dirty Dancing

Available at

BOOKSTRAND.COM

WET HER WHISTLE

Mellanie Szereto

DEDICATION

You rock, Itsy Bitsy Spider!

Chapter 1

“Argggh! Not again!” A trickle of water splattered on Jonnalyn Petit’s feet. After a long day of painting, she’d twisted the faucet handle and lifted her speckled face to the showerhead in expectation of washing away the blood, sweat, and polka dots.

For the third time in five days, she had next to no water. She considered taking her frustration out on the porcelain tub.
Not a good idea, Jonn.
Her big toe still hurt from the first time she’d done it. And the second.

Maybe she’d pound out her anger with a five-pound sledgehammer on the irrigation pipes at the sod farm down the road. Last month, they’d finished installing the new system. Every other day this week, she’d had no water. The connection couldn’t be more obvious. Why the hell did anyone need sod anyway?
Plant grass seed and wait for it to grow, people.
The world had become a place filled with a must-have-it-now attitude.

She flung back the shower curtain and grabbed her towel. Time to call the cavalry. Surely she wasn’t the only one in the neighborhood suffering from lack of H
₂
O. Heading to her room, she pictured old Mr. and Mrs. Yoder chasing after the owner of Instant Grass with pitchforks. A giggle bubbled up from her throat.
Now, that’d be a hell of a sight to see.
She plopped on the bed and reached for her phone.

It sang out as her hand closed around it, making her heart almost jump through her chest. She glanced at the caller ID.
Randy Atlas.
Her stomach somersaulted. With a name like a superhero, the body of a god, and a completely lovable personality, he was the man of her dreams. Well, one of them anyway. His shaggy brown hair and pale gray eyes didn’t hurt, either.

Too bad he wasn’t attracted to her. More often than she could count, he’d told her how much he enjoyed her
friendship
. Not surprising, since he and his business partner and roommate, Jason Delian, were also lovers. The other man of her dreams and her other best friend, Mr. Gladiator. Two gorgeous guys told her she was the greatest girl in the world and went home to sleep with each other every unfair night. Was the torture of being treasured as a friend but not a lover worse than not seeing them at all?
Ugh. Why can’t I make lemonade out of my love life?

She lifted the phone to her ear and pressed Answer. “Hey, Randy. What’s up?”

“Still want to hang out tonight? We’ll spring for a couple pizzas, and we have a six-pack and a couple wine coolers in the fridge.” His low, sexy voice sent tingles to her underused clit.

How about a little nookie for dessert?
She scraped at a splotch of pale yellow latex on her thigh. “Can’t. I’m covered in paint, and my damn shower isn’t working again.”

“Honey, I told you before. You’re welcome to come over anytime for any reason. That includes borrowing our bathroom.”

Naked, in their house? She almost moaned. “But—”

“The only butt I want to see is yours at the front door in ten minutes. Jason and I can go get the pizza while you shower. See you soon, Jonnie.”

Silence echoed in her ear.
He hung up on me!
Man, if she wasn’t crazy in love with him, she’d tell him to take a flying leap off the nearest three-story barn—the one a hundred feet from her house. Shaking her head, she dropped the towel, tugged her stained shorts and tank top back on, and gathered some clean clothes.
I’m crazy all right. Crazy in love with a pair of gay men.

On her way out the door, she dropped a cricket in each of her three glass fish tanks. The seven-legged wolf spider immediately set out to stalk his prey. Her tarantula and jumping spider waited in hiding for dinner to wear itself out by hopping all over the tank, as usual. Damn, they made her miss work and her research in the world of creepy-crawlies. “Sorry, guys. Just a snack. No playtime tonight.”

One of these days she needed to learn to tell Randy and Jason no, if not to save her sanity then to protect her heart.

* * * *

Frowning at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, Randy huffed out a sigh. What did he have to do to get Jonnie to see she was the most important person in the world to him and Jason? They told her over and over how special she was. They spent most of their free time with her rather than focusing on their own relationship. Buying her favorite wine coolers and sharing their food with her had to count for something, didn’t it? And he wasn’t in the habit of calling casual female acquaintances “honey.”

“Can you get that, Randy?” A dresser drawer banged closed in the bedroom. “I can’t find a clean T-shirt. Didn’t we just do laundry a week ago?”

Randy smiled and shook his head at Jason’s inability to keep track of time. They hadn’t made a trip to the Laundromat in almost two weeks. “Grab one of mine. Or better yet, go shirtless. Maybe Jonnie’ll finally show some interest in one of us.”

“Good idea. Maybe you should take yours off too.”

With a last glance around the bathroom to be sure he hadn’t missed any dirty socks or underwear, he strode to the living room.
Deep breath. And for God’s sake, don’t stare at her boobs.

He opened the door. Preparing himself didn’t help. Even covered in yellow dots from the black ponytail on her head to the purple toenails sticking out of her flip-flops, she took his breath away. His best guess said she was braless too.

“Why don’t I have any water?” She ducked past him, pacing from the door to the couch to the chair, her shoes smacking on her heels as she marched. Stopping at the chair, she planted her itty-bitty feet on the floor. “Instant Grass can’t be using
all
of it. On my way over, Mrs. Yoder was watering her flowers, Walt was washing his truck, and the Kaczinski kids were playing in the sprinkler.”

Focusing on her sparking blue eyes, he closed the door. “Could be several reasons. We already replaced your plumbing, so that’s probably not the problem. Silt seeping into the water through the casing would be gradual, and you’d notice the whole house filters needing changed more often.” He tucked his hands in his back pockets to resist reaching out to cup those perfectly rounded breasts.

Jason sauntered into the room, a black shirt in his fist and his shorts unbuttoned and only partially zipped. The look was sexy as hell.
Jonnie shouldn’t be able to resist him.
“Could be the well, or maybe the pump has gone bad. The other possibility is your well is too shallow and the water table is dropping from the sod farm using so much water.”

Her dark brows arrowed downward. “So it
is
their fault! I knew it!” She tossed her armful of clothes on the chair and crossed her arms over her chest, pushing a generous amount of cleavage past the edge of her shirt. Her nipples hardened to points poking at the paint-spotted dark blue cloth.
One touch. That’s all I need.
“I was undressed and everything, ready to take a shower, and they stole my water.”

Undressed.
His dick twitched and started to swell. He had to get out of there before he ripped off her clothes and screwed her brains out on the living room floor. “Um, go ahead and help yourself to the bathroom. Jase and I’ll go get a couple pizzas, maybe some wings, more wine coolers. We’ll figure it out tomorrow morning. I promise.”

Yanking on the knob, he stepped outside and waited by the screen door for Jason. His partner tugged the T-shirt over his head, fastened his shorts, then moved closer to Jonnie. Tucking a finger under her chin, he kissed her pouty lips. “We’ll take good care of you, sweetheart. Be back soon.”

Randy limped to his truck, the keys in his pocket digging into his erection, with Jason following. Maybe if they stayed away long enough, she’d be finished in the shower by the time they returned. Maybe his cock would deflate to normal size too. Not likely, but it could happen.

Closing the passenger door, Jason buckled his seat belt and turned to Randy with a grin. “A hard-on for a girl. Good thing I know you love me, or I’d be jealous. And it
is
Jonnie. Man, she makes me glad I bat from both sides of the plate. I just wish she’d give us a hint that she’s as interested in us as we are in her.”

“Yeah, me too.” Randy nodded, and his dick was hard enough to be the bat.

* * * *

Balancing the stack of boxes on his arm, Jason followed Randy to the front door of their rental. Randy carried the pack of B&Js from his fingers and readied his keys to unlock the door. It opened as he reached for the knob.

“What should I grab?” Her question zinged through Jason’s brain straight to his zipper.

“How about my…
the
…um…top two boxes?” He shifted the boxes, waiting for her to hold out an empty arm. “I’ll get out the paper plates if you’ll grab the roll of paper towels.”

“Already done.” She followed him into the kitchen, setting her containers on the counter then peeking past his arm. “You got wings, didn’t you? And garlic bread?”

He had to laugh at the hope in her voice. “Sweetheart, has either of us ever forgotten how much you love the indigestion special?”

Her delicate arms wrapping around his waist pushed his libido into high gear again. Soft, full tits pressed into his back.
Yeah, baby!
“Thank you, Jase.” She released him all too soon, turning to give Randy a hug. “What would I do without you guys?”

A better question—what would she do
with
them? “You’d drive into town and buy your own Friday night movie junk food. But then you’d be eating and watching old horror flicks alone. Where’s the fun in that?”

“Exactly.” She let go of Randy as quickly as she’d squeezed him, popping up the lid on the wings container and inhaling just like Jason had done all the way home. “Serrano Fire. Yummy.” Transferring several pieces of boneless chicken to a plate, she licked her fingers then waved her hand in front of her mouth. “Damn, that’s good.”

Jason crushed a paper towel in his fist and bit the inside of his cheek so he wouldn’t snag her wrist and suck every last one of her messy fingers. Lifting a different lid, he picked up two slices of pepperoni- and- mushroom pizza and put them on her plate. “Double cheese. Light on the sauce.”

She grinned at him, sending his pulse thrumming in his veins. Next, she added a slice of garlic bread. “A couple wine coolers to put out the fire and I’m set. What movie did you get?”

Hell, he’d need more than a couple bottles of alcohol to extinguish the fire burning low in his belly. He started loading his own plate.

“Mwahahahaha!” Randy twisted off the cap from a bottle of beer. “
The Mummy
. Boris Karloff. 1932.”

“I love that movie! The last time I saw it I was probably…ten? Maybe twelve? My grandpa took me to this cool old theater that showed only black- and- white films. I bet I didn’t sleep for a week afterward.”

And Jason wouldn’t sleep tonight after having Jonnie within touching range and keeping his hands to himself. “Did you get done with the trim today?”

“Yep. I want to start on the inside tomorrow.”

Thank God.
He’d worried for days she’d fall off the extension ladder while she painted the second story siding and windows of her old farmhouse, breaking a leg or an arm or her gorgeous neck. But he knew better than to try to talk her out of it. She was stubborn, independent, and self-reliant. A few of the many traits he admired in her, and three of the reasons he and Randy hadn’t asked her why she only wanted them as friends. He grabbed two beers on his way to the living room.

Randy followed. “Kitchen first?”

She looked up at him from her cross-legged seat at the coffee table. “I was going to. But since I can’t use the bathroom, I think I’ll start there.”

Shaking his head as he settled next to her, Jason debated making a suggestion.
What the hell. The worst she can do is say no.
And maybe they’d get to second base after four months of beating around the bush about their attraction to her. “You need running water, Jonnie. Why don’t you stay here until we figure out the problem and fix it?”