Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 37854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
“You do?”
“Yep. Lake’s adorable.”
“That she is. I never gave kids much of a thought until Lake, to be honest.”
“You never thought about the future? Like what you’d want to do if you met the right woman?” Raine asked.
He took a deep breath. “It’s not something I’ve thought about in a long time.”
“How come?”
“Max.”
“You have to get his permission?”
“No. It’s…” He stopped. He was going to say it was complicated, but that would have been a big lie. “Max and I have a complex friendship.”
“Because you want to share one woman?”
“We have a friendship pact. Our lives are so connected that we knew if we were to risk separating and having different women as our wives, there was a risk they wouldn’t like one another. Of course, it helped that we’ve both been attracted to the same kind of woman. Sharing is in our future, but not a lot of women would consider having two men at their beck and call for a lifetime.”
“Oh.”
He glanced at her. Dylan didn’t know if this conversation was going the right way.
“But what if you did find the right woman? What then?”
“I think we’d want kids. To have a family. The whole of it. Max is a pain in the ass though. You have surprised me.”
“How come?”
“You’re not put off by his lack of charm.”
She tucked some hair behind her ear. “He’s charming in his own way. He does try.”
“Please, I sometimes think a brick wall would have a little more charisma.”
“He’s not the easiest guy to get to know, but I don’t imagine a lot of people are. Life has a way of doing that to you. Getting under your skin, making you hate the world around you. It’s tough.”
There was so much he wanted to say, to ask. Instead, he fell silent and pushed the cart. They had to wait at the checkouts, which he didn’t like to do.
“You know they have amazing places where you can order a ready-made Thanksgiving dinner.”
“I know, but then Lake wouldn’t get the experience of being in the kitchen and enjoying it.” Raine nudged his shoulder with hers.
“She wants to do this?”
“Yep, she does. Surprised?”
“I shouldn’t be. She’s related to Max and we know how weird he is.”
“Stop it. You love Max. We both know it. He will always have you.”
“That he will,” Dylan said.
But would he always have Raine?
They moved up the line, and Raine started to unload the cart. For the past three weeks, he’d finally gotten his dream of having Raine in his or Max’s bed. It was a dream come true for him, but now as he watched her, he had to wonder, did they really have her? Having sex wasn’t all part of a relationship. Sharing memories was important.
Running his fingers through his hair, he followed Raine to the end of the till and helped her bag up their purchases.
Sharing moments like these didn’t seem important to him six months ago. In fact, before Lake came into their world, nothing but work and playing seemed important. He hadn’t lived like a monk. He and Max had shared women in the past, but they also had their own personal affairs.
That had all changed when Raine entered their lives.
Dylan remembered the first time he saw her. Her long brown hair had been pulled back into a ponytail. She’d worn a pair of jeans and a blouse, and she’d looked a spectacular mess. The women he’d been used to seeing were always so well put together, ready to be in a business meeting at a moment’s notice.
They were high-flying businesswomen.
Raine was … raw. She was earthy. She lived her life on the ground, taking each moment as it came. She was everything he and Max were not. Even down to her love of cooking and sewing.
Lake gravitated to her, and he’d noticed how she brought out the best in the young girl.
You’re falling for her.
It wasn’t a shocking revelation, but he knew he had to find out what Max thought of her, and if he considered a future with her or not.
Chapter Nine
“Is your nightclub always this busy?” Raine asked.
Max smiled as he took note of the long line of guests waiting to get into Ménage. Business was doing well. If any of their nightclubs and restaurants showed a decline in revenue, he and Dylan made sure to find out the root cause of the problem. More often than not, it was down to bad advertising.
They made it their mission to have every single club be a success.
“Always,” he said.
It was the day before Thanksgiving. Lake had a bit of a cold, and Dylan had advised he take Raine out, show her their clubs. Ménage was one of their most successful, but it was also the first club they had built from the ground up. The profit from this club had seen to them opening a second, third, and so on.