Forrest, Dawn - Sweet Water Wedding: Sharing Shannon (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (14 page)

Rachael let out a deep breath, “It’s true that an element of deceit was involved,” she nodded then turned her palms up and raised her hands in the universal gesture of conciliation, “but at that point in time neither of you knew that you would ever see each other again. It was for all intent purposes just a one-night stand. I’m sorry to be blunt but neither of you thought it would be more than ‘until dawn do us part.’”

“It sounds terrible doesn’t it?” Shannon focused her gaze on the peeling paint on the wooden ceiling of the veranda.

“You’re twenty-nine years old and not a nun. What’s so bad about sleeping with a hot body like Luke McKay?”

“You say that, Rachael, but you’re like me, we don’t generally do the casual sex thing. Luke affected me. I really liked and fancied him. I was hoping that he’d call and maybe even visit.” She sighed deeply. “But you are correct, because I didn’t really think it could go anywhere. At the most I guess I considered the possibility of a holiday romance.”

“Okay, so up until the point when he must have guessed who you were, all Luke can be really be accused of is not confiding a personal detail that was irrelevant to a one-night stand and may have put you off him.”

“In a nutshell,” Shannon groaned, “but why didn’t he fess up later?”

“He’s a bloke and he didn’t want to risk pissing off the Shagtastic Shannon. Maybe he was caught by surprise, or perhaps wanted you to meet James first, or he just made an error in judgment? He didn’t actually lie; it was more of an omission of facts.”

“Come on, Rach, that’s just semantics, it was still deceitful.”

“Oh, cut the amateur dramatics. It was also understandable. I wonder if James knows about you and Luke. I’d say the odds are that he does because Luke must have called him. Oh, wait a minute, that wasp sting very conveniently cut me off from telling you that Luke was at the conference. Ooh he is good. Of course he knows.” She looked altogether too impressed with James for Shannon’s liking.

“Do you mind? I’ve been deceived and I feel really pathetic.” But Shannon couldn’t really get annoyed at her because she loved her friend dearly. Rachael was always so supportive, reasonable, and positive about things and knew how to handle her. “What do you think they are playing at?”

Rachael snorted, “It’s been less than twenty-four hours since Luke knew who you are and less than five hours since you met James, they probably don’t have a master plan; they’re guys after all. James clearly fancies you so I bet that right now they are trying to think of the best way of coming clean.” She rubbed her chin and looked deep in thought. Then suddenly she perked up with a huge grin. “It’ll probably include lots of mind-blowing sex. You lucky mare.”

“Jaysus, will you just stop! I’m not looking for a man and all the hassle that comes with one…let alone two! Anyway, you can’t be sure that they both like me. They’re probably worried about how I’ll react when I see Luke”

“No, trust me, if they weren’t interested James wouldn’t have organized that picnic on the hill.” Rachael swirled her wine in the big glass. “So, Ms. O’Reilly, them not liking you isn’t your biggest problem is it?” She gave a little wicked chuckle.

Shannon frowned with a feeling of unease creeping over her. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that you should be more concerned about what you are going to do when they come for you.” Rachael looked pointedly at her.

Shannon’s face felt hot and flushed again. “Oh, my God, I don’t stand a chance.”

“You know that Luke also comes from a ménage family, both he and James want the same thing. You understand what that means?” Rachael topped up their glasses because they needed it.

“Broadly, yes but I don’t know the details.”

“It means that some day they want to share a wife, kids, home, and bed.”

“James told me a bit about it. I’m not sure it can work.”

“Oh it works all right. Luke’s mum is lovely, she is married to two brothers, and the family seems to be very happy. My cousin Colin shares his wife Janet with his best friend Mark and there’s a lot of laughter in that house I can personally attest to that. You’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy, this is Meadow Ridge County.”

“But the sex part,” Shannon pulled her face, “Christ, it’s got to hurt having, well you know, two thingies inside. Luke isn’t exactly petite.” She made an accompanying hand gesture that had Rachael spluttering some of her drink.

“God, can you imagine having one in the front and one in the back, or two in the same place?” Shannon was both scandalized and titillated.

Rachael blushed, “I don’t need to imagine. You’ve seen the size of my man, he’s big all over and his mitts are huge too, with fingers like bratwursts. Maybe it’s a little uncomfortable at first, but the pleasure quickly surpasses any pain.”

“Pain?” she yelped. “Oh God, it’ll be like a cat flap in an elephant house!”
Ouch,
that was a sobering though. “Oh, sweet heaven, I can’t believe that we are having this conversation.”

“Yeah but who else are you going to talk to, your mother?”

“Now you see right there,” Shannon pointed and wagged her finger, “that’s another problem isn’t it? How to break something like that to my devout Catholic of a mother.” She shook her head. “No way, no bloody way.”

“You cross that bridge when you come to it or you avoid it I guess. You’ve got your own life to lead. You certainly don’t have to listen to your mother, who wasted years of her life in bitterness and sorrow never really accepting that your father divorced her.”

“I know, but still it’s an issue. Anyway, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, because we are a long way off any kind of relationship. My life is not geared up to catering for the whims of one man let alone two. Even if it was just a temporary fling, I don’t think that I could have sex with two guys at the same time. That’s the stuff of hot fantasies, not real life. I don’t even think I could have sex with two guys at the same time separately, if you know what I mean. I’m the faithful sort.” Shannon sighed in exasperation.

“Well it wouldn’t be being unfaithful would it? Shannon, life is full of surprises, just say ‘never’ and you’ll see. Look what’s happened to me. Josh is a dominant man, both in and out of bed and here’s the shocker, I love it.” She grinned saucily. “All I can say is that Luke and James have been friends and partners for a while, and if you decide to take them on, even for just a fling, then you’ll be getting the benefit of all that experience.” She rubbed her hands together with relish. “I think that they’ll take good care of you, Shannon.”

“Oh, yes, all that ‘experience.’” Shannon made little quotation marks with her fingers. “I’ll seem like a naive ninny.” It crossed her mind that if James was as good as Luke, and half as good as she thought he’d be, then she was done for. Could she just have a fun time with the two of them and not get emotionally attached? Truthfully?—It was unlikely. “Rachael, I’ve got to hold out, if I don’t I’ll be lost and unable to think straight. This is a huge decision; it’s not just about sex or even a relationship. If it goes further, then it’s a whole lifestyle thing and something like that needs careful consideration.”

“It does, but I will say one thing, you don’t always need a lot of time to know if someone is right for you. What I have with Joshua is a kind of physical and spiritual connection that happened in a very short time, but even so, it’s no less real or durable than love which develops over years of togetherness, from trust and companionship.” Rachael smiled gently at her. “But if someone had said that to me two months ago I probably wouldn’t have believed them either.”

“I really am so happy for you, Rachael,” Shannon squeezed her friend’s hand, “and we are not going to get distracted from the fact that this is
your
time, you are getting married, and I’m here to support you, not the other way around.”

“The two things aren’t mutually exclusive.” Rachael grinned.

Shannon looked at Rachael and felt the warm glow of friendship in her heart. There was no way that she was going to do anything that even remotely detracted from the wedding and her friend’s bliss. Once Rachael and Joshua were away on their honeymoon...she’d think about that later.

“Well, I’m not rushing into anything.” But she knew that she was already halfway there.

“I’m not sure that you have much of a choice, it all seems like kismet to me and even you may have a difficult time talking your way out of your fate.”

Kismet, fate, or just one hell of a coincidence. Where would it lead?

“A month’s not a long time, but it should be enough to know if it’s worth a serious shot or if it’s one to chalk up to experience. It took less time for me to agree to marry Joshua.” Rachael laughed. “I’m not that sure you’ll be able to hold out on them, they are real charmers you know.”

“I think you are enjoying this way too much, Ms. Harrison. I shall have to revise what I’m going to tell James about you for his best man’s speech.” Shannon smirked.

“What?” Rachael blanched.

“You heard, now pour me another glass and start being nice to me.”

Chapter 10

The next morning Shannon was awakened by the sounds of Rachael getting ready for a morning run. They hadn’t stayed up too late the night before because they’d both been tired. Shannon was sleeping on a mattress in the open section of the loft.

“Good morning.” Her voice was rough and sleepy. “Coffee, I need coffee.”

“I’m just making a cup, I always have one before a run, peps me up a bit. Want to join me for a workout?”

“No. Have you forgotten that I get enough exercise just pushing my luck? I’m more into yoga at the moment. I’ll get up and do some Salutations to the Sun.”

“We’ve slept in late. It’s half past eight, so I’m guessing that you were comfortable? You’re lucky because last week I replaced the ancient, old, lumpy mattress that was up there.”

“I slept like a baby. I thought that it would take me a while to get to drop off, churning all the thoughts in my head, but no, I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.”

Last night they had talked more about Joshua and how he and Rachael met, marveled at the coincidental meeting and attraction between Shannon and Luke, and pondered the whole Meadow Ridge County phenomenon. They also decided on a loose plan of action for Shannon. It entailed her doing very little and giving James and Luke time to make amends for what was so far only a small deception. It was very mature really, and Shannon only hoped she could do it.

It was a beautiful morning and already the temperature was climbing. Rachael had said that she preferred to run earlier to avoid the heat and had decided that she would only do a twenty or thirty minute jog. She passed Shannon laying out a towel on the veranda.

“Don’t just do something, Shannon...sit there!” She laughed as she ran down the steps.

Shannon playfully scowled and shouted back, “The only reason you run is so that you can hear heavy breathing.” She only just heard Rachael’s laughter fading as she jogged off down a trail into the woods.

Shannon sat on the veranda and did some stretches, working out the knots of stiffness caused by tension, traveling, and bed changes. She concentrated on her breathing and tried to dispel thoughts of certain hunky men in certain positions.
Ah, yes, yoga is great for the kinks.
She stifled a giggle which soon turned into a groan as she changed her pose.

Rachael returned half an hour later covered with a sheen of sweat glistening on her skin, and proceeded to spend five minutes at her punch bag, which hung on the end of the veranda.

“Still peace loving I see,” quipped Shannon.

“It’s my way of relaxing and keeping fit.” Rachael grunted as she gave one last powerful punch.

“I started Tai Chi last year, that and the yoga keep me focused and my redhead temper in check.” She chuckled. “It’s also something I can do easily when traveling.”

Rachael nodded, flopped down on Shannon’s vacated towel and groaned her way through some simple stretches.