Chapter Five

Sydney made a concerted effort to do as Brody had demanded over the subsequent week. But at odd moments, just when she imagined herself capable of accomplishing such a task as forgetting the most erotic night of her life, something would remind her. A secret glance from Drew, a glimpse of Brody’s boat bobbing on the water where it was tethered to the marina dock, not far from the restaurant. A hum in her body engendered by its innate remembrance of things past. Her mind might play tricks on her if she tried really hard. Her body wouldn’t let her get away with it.

She’d had an intense sexual encounter with two men at the same time. It wasn’t a memory that would dissipate. Every moment, every breath, seemed to hold something sensual inside it. She was walking on a knife-edge of sexual awareness each second of the day.

Or as Drew had so eloquently put it, she was horny as hell.

It was Sunday night, almost a week after the anniversary dinner. Sidney was clearing the last table of dirty coffee cups as the lingering customers finally decided to take their leave. Once she’d organized the group’s payment and bid them farewell, Lana Green, the other waitress still on shift, approached and helped Sidney take the crockery to the kitchen. “Busy night.”

“Yeah,” Sidney agreed. “Business has been really great lately.”

“I bet Drew’s pleased.”

Sidney smiled a secret smile. Lately, Drew had been well pleased, and in more ways than one. “Things are definitely looking rosy.”

“I haven’t seen Brody all week. What’s up with him?”

“Nothing’s up with him.” It felt like a lie. All week Sidney had been wondering the same thing. She had the strong feeling Brody was avoiding the restaurant, or more specifically her. “He’s been coming in early to make the desserts. He said he had other commitments.”

Lana only seemed more intrigued by Sidney’s explanation. “I saw him in town the other day picking up supplies like he was planning a long trip somewhere. You don’t suppose he’s going to leave again, do you?”

Had that been keeping Brody so busy this week? “It’s possible.” According to Drew, it wasn’t out of character for Brody to up and leave without prior warning.

“Pity.” Lana shrugged. “It’s nice having something around here to look at.”

Sidney gave the other girl a questioning look. “You and Brody…?”

“Oh no. He barely spares me a glance.”

Sidney easily deduced from the rosy glow in the young brunette’s cheeks that she fiercely wished Brody would look her way. “You like him.”

“I know there’s no point.” Lana sighed dejectedly. “But he is gorgeous. You’re with Drew, but even you must have noticed that.”

Sidney felt heat gather in her own cheeks and tried to hide it by focusing on the task of wiping down the table she’d just cleared. “I’ve noticed.” She had to admit it. Lana wouldn’t have believed a denial.

Lana let out a long breath. “I don’t suppose he’d ever be interested in someone like me. I’m too nice.” She said the word as though it was something distasteful. “I’ve seen the type of women he dates. They’re all blonde and sexy. Like you.”

“Me?”

Sidney whirled around. Lana started visibly at the look on her face. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I just meant that if you weren’t with Drew, Brody would probably be interested in you, that’s all.”

Sidney pursed her lips, wondering what a sweet girl like Lana would think of her if she knew how far she’d gone with Brody. Evidently she already thought she wasn’t a nice girl, if she fit so snugly into the category of “Brody’s type”, which apparently comprised women who were blonde and easy.

She could hardly be offended by Lana’s assessment. She had been pretty easy a week ago when she’d been begging for two men to fuck her senseless.

Was the girl right about her being Brody’s type? Certainly Sidney couldn’t see Brody going for Lana, a young slender thing with mousy brown hair, wire-framed glasses and a tendency to avoid direct eye contact with men. The poor girl was obviously pining over a man who wasn’t interested in her. Did Brody know? Was that what Brody had meant when he’d told her crushes were inconvenient?

Sidney was still lost in her ruminations when Drew yelled out from the kitchen a short time later. “Head off if you want, Lana. Sid and I can finish up. I’ll call you if I have any shifts before your regular one on Wednesday, okay?”

When Lana was gone and they were alone in the empty restaurant, Drew came and snaked his arm around Sidney’s waist from behind, pulling her up against him. “Why Miss McCall, I hope you don’t mind me saying you look some kind of fine tonight.” He nuzzled her neck in the way he knew sent shivers down her spine.

“So that’s why you sent Lana home. You were waiting to sexually harass me.”

“Uh-huh. It’s one of the perks of being the boss.” He slid a peremptory hand up to cup her breast through her white blouse and lacy cup bra.

Sidney felt the physical response ripple through her and took a moment to enjoy it before she decided to call him out. She avoided his touch and swung around in his arms. “And the benefit of being your girlfriend is that I can tell you to take a hike if I want to.”

Drew hung his head and pouted. “So the honeymoon is over. I knew it had to happen sometime.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the fact you’ve been all over me every night this week. I figured it couldn’t last.”

He meant, Sidney easily read between the lines, that she’d been all over him every night since their anniversary and their threesome with Brody. She saw by the knowledge in his eyes that he was aware of the effect the event had had on her sex drive.

“Come on.” Drew sighed. “I’ll walk you home. Maybe my luck’ll change on the way.”

Once they’d locked up the restaurant, they walked hand in hand along the footpath that inclined along Hill Road. The moon was a smooth white semicircle in the sky, the water of Knight’s Bay a crushed velvet blanket laid out beneath it. The lighthouse perched on Craggy Point sent its beacon into the night, the arc of light cutting a swathe through the darkness.

At ten at night, most of the houses they passed were dark. The tranquility of this town had unsettled Sidney at first. A life spent on the road, living in one fast-paced city after another, hadn’t prepared her for this level of sleepiness. But now she felt the silence of it seep into her and bring a kind of peace to her soul.

A peace she had no idea she was about to shatter.

“Lana said there’s a rumor going around that Brody’s about to set sail again.”

Drew’s lips quirked. “That’s no surprise. I told you he sails north every winter.”

“Yes, but it’s only April. Isn’t he leaving a little early?”

“A month or two, I suppose. But when Brody gets the yen to leave, he just needs to go.” Sidney could feel him studying her profile in the shadowed moonlight. “Why this interest in Brody’s comings and goings? Don’t you want him to leave?”

“Of course not.” Drew always seemed happier when Brody was around, and business at the restaurant was better. The man’s talent for creating culinary delights of the dessert variety was legend not only in Graceville, but all along the coast.

The thought reminded Sidney of the creation he’d brought to dinner the other night, which invited the inevitable recollection of what he and Drew had done with it. A quiver of sensual memory shook her as though a hot breeze had caressed her neck. She instinctively hunched further into her denim jacket.

Sidney became aware Drew hadn’t continued the conversation. She inclined her head to find him scrutinizing her with an odd look. “What? You don’t want him to stay?” she asked.

“Sure. I’d love it if Brody would stick it out here year round. But I’ve offered him a partnership in the restaurant more than once and he always turns me down. He likes his freedom. I think he needs it.” Drew turned his attention to the glistening waters of the bay. “He’s not really the settling-down type.”

Sidney smiled at the understatement. “I gathered that. Although I have to say I’m not sure if I’d know the settling-down type if I tripped over it.”

The second the words were out, Sidney wished she could pull them back. She knew exactly what a settling-down man looked like—like the one walking beside her, holding her hand in his as though it were a precious stone he didn’t want to lose.

Drew would make a phenomenal husband. Picturing herself as a wife, however, was a little more difficult. Sidney felt the beginnings of a sweat breaking out on her forehead despite the cool night air. She wasn’t ready to bring up the subject of commitment with Drew, even in jest. How would she respond if he started pressing her to?

“Do you think he’s happy like that? Brody, I mean.” She rushed to fill the silence that had settled between them. “Spending summers here but making no real lasting ties, other than with you? Cruising around the rest of the time all alone on that boat of his?”

Drew considered her question. Finally he answered, “I think it’s the only way he knows how to be.”

Sidney understood that too well. Working meaningless casual jobs and forming equally empty short-term relationships was the story of her life. It was a pattern she’d carried on from her mother’s example, even after her mother had died suddenly of an aneurism seven years ago when Sidney was only eighteen. “Well, I think it’s sad.” She wasn’t sure if she was talking about Brody just then, or herself.

“I can’t believe you’re worrying about Brody,” Drew remarked edgily. “It’s a wasted exercise. He is who he is.”

“I’m not worried, just curious. At times he comes across a little intense and mysterious.”

“At times like the other night?”

Sidney felt her face burst with crimson heat under the weight of Drew’s regard. “Um, yeah, like then. He left right after we…you know. You were asleep and when I asked him to stay, he got a little weird.”

It was as though the air around them had suddenly grown heavier, the way it did before a storm. Although the cloudless sky was a starry canopy above them, Drew’s question had the quality of a thunderclap in the silence.

He stopped mid-stride and looked down into her face. “You asked Brody to stay?”

 

Drew felt the realization penetrate something that he’d thought impermeable. He had always been certain of one thing—Sid was the woman for him and no one or nothing was going to take her away. He’d been so sure of it he’d felt at ease with the decision to share her with another man in order to satisfy her deepest fantasy. And he’d shared her with the one man he could always trust. The one who would never betray him.

Yet Sidney had wanted more from Brody the other night, and that unsettled him.

Sidney’s hesitant shrug did nothing to allay the sudden disturbance churning in his gut. “I just thought it was odd that he would up and leave straight afterward like that. When I confronted him, he got testy. He intimated that I wouldn’t want to do what it would take to satisfy him anyway.”

“Are you saying he told you he wanted something kinky?”

“Not exactly.” She hesitated and Drew felt his disquiet move up a notch when she avoided his gaze. “But I got the impression he likes to be…dominant.”

Something in her tone made his heart race. Nothing she was saying was putting his mind at rest. “Sid, look at me.” When she didn’t immediately comply, Drew touched two fingers to her chin and turned her head up so their eyes met. Hers were wide and round, and they glittered in the moonlight. “Are you telling me that appeals to you?”

She rolled her eyes. “Since when have you ever had success at bossing me around?”

“I didn’t ask what you wanted from me.” Apparently, he wasn’t the man who inspired this side of her. “I asked what you think of the idea of Brody bossing you around in bed.”

She must have caught the impatience in his voice, because her tone turned defensive. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“Answer the question.”

She pushed a frustrated breath past her lips. The beam from the lighthouse swept over them, illuminating the agitation on Sidney’s face. Drew merely waited until his silent expectation compelled a response. At last she said in a near whisper, “It intrigues me.”

“You mean it excites you.”

“Yes.”

Slowly, Drew turned away and stared unseeingly out at the view, innumerable uncertainties swirling in his head and heart. His relationship with Sid was the rock that centered his world—or so he’d thought. Now he realized it might be nothing more stalwart than a pile of sand, easily scattered by an unexpected wind.

Did Sidney have feelings for Brody? Lord knows enough women had tried to fix him, had wanted to tame the lone wolf. He’d never thought Sidney would fall into the same trap. Now he was asking himself if he’d been wrong, and the very prospect terrified him. Sidney wanted another man. Not only that, she wanted to do things with that other man that she’d never done with him.

What if he let Brody slink out of town and they never spoke of this again?

The idea enticed him. But Drew knew every time Brody sailed back into the bay, he’d wonder if Sidney was still intrigued by him. When they made love, he’d wonder if some part of her wished she was with his best friend.

No, this had to be resolved. Into the quiet he said, “I think we should explore this.”

“What?”

Drew thought of taking it back. Was he out of his mind to risk losing the one woman who fulfilled him? But he had to know if she was his, body and soul. All the times he’d avoided discussing the possibility of a more permanent commitment, every occasion on which his declaration of love had gone unreciprocated, pressed heavily on his chest now.

One way or another, he had to know where he stood with her. When he saw Sid and Brody together once more, he would.

“I want you be with Brody again. And I want to watch.”

“You’re not serious.”

Drew turned back to face her, making sure his expression didn’t reveal his inner turmoil. “Why not? You enjoyed yourself, Sid. I saw how wild it made you. How wild you still get every time you think about it.”

The pink tinge in her cheeks was telling. “You weren’t jealous?”

“No.” At the time he hadn’t been. He’d been totally focused on bringing Sidney pleasure beyond any she’d previously known. Now, he wasn’t sure how to articulate what he was feeling. He’d never envied Brody in his life, but if Sidney really did feel something for his best friend, Drew wasn’t sure how he’d handle it. “You’re a sexy woman, Sid. I get a certain kick out of knowing other men want you as badly as I do.”

“I see.” She smiled. “Macho bullshit.”

“You love it.” He forced the affable retort. He pushed his hands beneath her jacket to span her waist. Then he edged upward to cup her breasts. “You loved that I showed you off to another man. Your nipples are puckered just because we’re talking about it.” He brushed his thumbs over the pebbled outcrops, causing them to jut against the material of her bra and shirt. “You like remembering how it felt to have me eat that dessert out of your pussy while Brody played with these pretty breasts.”

“Oh, Drew.” She curved into him, sighing as he palmed her tender flesh.

His cock responded with predictable enthusiasm. Drew was relieved to be on more sure footing. Sex was one area in which he and Sidney had always been in sync. “Come here.” He grasped her hands and walked backward until he came to the bench seat that provided a resting place for tourists visiting the lookout. He sat down and tugged until Sidney stumbled and had to latch onto his shoulders to keep from falling in his lap. “Lift your skirt and straddle me.”

“Drew—here?”

She wanted bossy, he could give her bossy. The fire in his groin demanded it. “Right here. Right now.”

Lifting her by the waist, he brought her down over his lap. She winced as her knees contacted the wooden bench beneath him and Drew had to clamp his jaw to keep from apologizing. Instead he helped her shift into a more comfortable position. Sliding her legs through the gap between the seat and backrest of the bench, Sidney trapped his hips between her thighs.

Below the hemline of her black skirt, now twisted around her hips, creamy flesh drew his gaze and increased his desire. Thank God for Sidney’s preference for thigh-highs. It was an easy task to crawl his fingers up her legs and find the lace of her panties. They were moist and hot. “Hmm.” Drew pressed his middle finger to the spot and reveled in the way her hips twitched. “You’re already wet.”

“Drew…the moon’s kind of bright. Somebody could see.”

Her protest was weak at best. Hardly enough to override Drew’s lust, or the evidence of her physical response. “Do you like that idea?” He began releasing the buttons of her blouse one by one, giving her time to object if she really wanted to.

She didn’t say anything as he parted the soft fabric to reveal her white lacy bra. He stared into her eyes and unhooked the front clasp. She did no more than gasp, her eyes widening in what he interpreted as hunger, rather than unease.

Bathed in moonlight, she looked magnificent. Like a mystical nymph sent to fulfill his wildest fantasies. He bent his mouth to her breast and took her in deep, feeling the vibrations of her responding moan in his own chest.

Once again, he slid his hand beneath her skirt and found the sultry core of her. As he gently nibbled on her breasts, he danced his fingers upon the layer of damp lace, provoking her hips into an undulating motion that telegraphed her mounting arousal.

His erection strained against the fly of his jeans, causing him serious discomfort. Sidney had always started the fire in his veins raging like this. From the first night it had been magic. What the hell would he do if he lost her?

The prospect brought a pang of anguish that had his teeth clamping down on her nipple. She flinched and he reared back. “Shit. Sorry, Sid.”

“It’s okay.” She bracketed his face with her hands, a tender touch that made him ache. Her breath was hot and hurried as it brushed over his cheek. “Just don’t stop.”

Drew buried his face in the soft flesh of her breasts and inhaled her scent; part jasmine, part the musky aroma of the hours she’d put in at the restaurant. I love you, Sid. I’ve loved you since the moment I saw you. He couldn’t bring himself to say the words. If she didn’t respond in kind tonight it would hurt too damn much.

Focusing on the instincts driving their bodies, Drew released the buttons of his fly and freed his throbbing staff as he tugged her knickers to the side. Unimpeded now, he shifted her until her moist lips sucked at the head of his dick. With a targeted upsurge of his hips, he impaled her.

She let out a long, keening moan and tilted, swallowing him completely into her body. “Oh God, yes.” Her fingernails dug into his shoulders through the fleece of his sweater as she began to ride him.

Drew spanned her waist and helped her set the pace. Fast and frantic, because that’s how he needed her. He watched her breasts bob and jiggle in the moonlight, admired the pearly arch of her neck as she dropped her head back in abandon. She was his, his damn it. With every thrust and jab that joined their bodies, he tried to imprint that truth on her soul, to mark her. “You love fucking me, don’t you, Sid?”

“Yes,” she whimpered. “Yes. Oh God.”

“Faster now, honey.” He parted her delicate folds and found her clit. He circled his thumb over the inflamed knob. “Come with me.”

She bucked against the motion of his thumb. Her heeled shoes crunched in the gravel beneath them as she sped mindlessly forward. Her blonde curls flew around her head like a halo, while the grind of her hips was all sin. His balls pulsed. The heat rose in his shaft. He kept the pressure on her clit relentless until her pussy squeezed him. She yelled out her climax to the stars, and Drew’s seed flushed up and out.

Sidney’s head dropped to his shoulder and she released a shuddering sigh. Her arms wound around him, tight. “I can’t believe we just did that.”

“Believe it.”

Her laugh fluttered against his throat. “You’re an irresistible devil.”

“Irresistible, huh? I like the sound of that.”

She sighed again and pushed off his chest. Reluctantly, Drew slid out of her and helped her rearrange her clothes. He stood and zipped. “Come on. Let’s go home.”

The giddy look on her face suggested she wanted nothing more than to curl up with him and go to sleep. Drew had other plans for her. He would arrange this thing with Brody because he felt he had to. In the meantime, he was going to make good use of the time he had alone with the woman he loved, in case…

Just in case.