Secrets and Stuffies Chapter 1

Secrets and Stuffies by Jamie Merrick - MMF Age Play Romance Book Cover
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When your private life becomes public fodder, sometimes fate steps in with a helping hand.

Anderson Pace wasn’t a household name until his football career ended and his private life became tabloid news. With rumors running rampant, the last thing he and his wife, Erin, want is for the world to know he’s not as take-charge as they think… or that what they both want more than anything is to find her the perfect Daddy.

In steps Logan.

All Logan wants is to run his lodge and to find two loving people to share his life with. However, living in the middle of nowhere in Montana makes finding the right people difficult. Well, difficult until Anderson and Erin step off a private plane and land right in his lap.

Sometimes finding love is hard—and sometimes love lands right at your feet, and you just need to have the courage to hold it tight.

Author’s Note: While the cutest characters from the previous books in this series show up in this one as side characters, this sweet age play story can be read as a standalone.

 
 
 

Chapter 1
Ander

“Oh my god, that’s Rory Flint.” Erin’s whispered fangirling would’ve been embarrassing if the obsession in question—the fabulous and slightly infamous actor Rory Flint—hadn’t just whispered to his companions too.

“Oh my god, that’s Ander Pace.” His companions were too busy trying not to laugh to be embarrassed.

Did two fans cancel out each other’s drama?

“He’s got the best ass in the NFL.”

Really?

That definitely hadn’t been what I was expecting to hear from the guy who’d been dubbed the sweetest actor in Hollywood.

Erin giggled, finally making the movie star realize he hadn’t been nearly as quiet as he’d thought he’d been.

“Oops.” His eyes widened, and he stepped back toward the man who seemed to be his bodyguard. “Purely for research, you know? There’s talk of a football movie.”

That wasn’t believable at all.

And clearly his wife and his… his something didn’t think so either, based on their snickers.

Erin giggled again then made an exaggerated motion, pretending to zip her lips, that had me rolling my eyes and groaning.

Which just had Rory’s eyes going wider.

He finally leaned into his male companion and tried to whisper again. “I can’t tell if he’s going to squish me or if he thinks I’m funny.”

The man took one look at me and then leaned down low, never breaking eye contact. He actually knew how to whisper, so I didn’t get to hear what he said, but Rory’s wide eyes turned from worried to surprised. “Really?”

The man had obviously been keeping up with the news better than the sexy actor had.

He gave a brief nod and a half shrug as he smiled at Rory. “I think so.”

Definitely not just a bodyguard.

I was starting to think the rumors about them… not the rumors about their house being shot up, the dirty rumors… were actually true.

So did Erin.

More giggles escaped and she pressed her hand over her mouth dramatically.

She’d been barely holding on to her grown-up side with all the stress over the past few days and the giggles said she was tired of being big.

Not that I blamed her.

I finally swallowed, wishing we had more time. “You’re going to pretend that you haven’t seen us and we’ll do the same.”

Erin’s hand slipped and words just came flooding out. “We didn’t get shot up, but we made the news too, and oh my god, the press is going nuts. We’ve never been in the spotlight like this and people are such assholes, but we’re not assholes, and I think your new boyfriend is hot. He’s yours, right? I mean, I’ve seen rumors and stuff, and I thought you were seeing that other guy, but—”

Why weren’t binkies in public socially acceptable for littles who talked too much?

They really should be, but since that wouldn’t work and I wasn’t supposed to put my hand over her mouth in public—some reporter declared that to be rude early in my career—I did what I always did. I kissed her and the words stopped.

Rory giggled again, but it was his wife that spoke this time, barely restrained laughter in her voice. “I’m starting to understand why you guys are always caught on camera kissing.”
Something about the way she looked at me reminded me of Mistress Heather from the club, and I had to fight the blush that was trying to creep over my face. Former NFL players did not blush when pretty women looked at them like they’d been naughty.

Erin giggled again.

She knew that look, too.

“I…” I had no idea what to say.

I’d have probably just stood there stupidly while Erin confessed our entire sordid history, but thankfully the man who’d been standing by the van didn’t have that problem. “The leeches are going to figure shit out if you all don’t get a move on.”

The man with the trimmed beard, who looked a bit like a dressed-up lumberjack, stepped forward and hugged the man that Rory seemed to be… doing something with. I wasn’t sure the news could be trusted in general, but I was starting to think they’d gotten something right this time.

“Call more, asshole. We want to hear how everything’s going.” The order from the man I thought was from the lodge we were staying at had the bodyguard smiling.

“You just want more gossip.” The bodyguard guy… had anyone said his name… smiled and couldn’t seem to resist teasing his friend even though they knew we could see.

“Damn right.” The lumberjack man scoffed. “Why else would I want to talk to you?”

Then he actually winked at Rory. “Keep him in line.”

There was definitely a lot going on in his personal life… and it wasn’t any of my business or Erin’s, so I kissed her again. That earned me a sigh and a cute pout from her—and more giggles from Rory.

As the group of three stepped toward the small regional airport terminal we’d just come out of, Rory looked at the lumberjack guy again. “If you think we have enough in common… you know… give her my number.”

Rory’s wife rolled her eyes and their companion was desperately trying to keep a straight face, but the lumberjack guy nodded, taking it all very seriously. “Deal.”

Erin’s eyes were as wide as plates. “Oh, really. I can’t keep secrets at all if I talk, but Anderson won’t let me talk in public, so it’ll be okay. Oh, and we’re not going anywhere for a while. The pictures, you know, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

Rory blinked, and as his companions ushered him into the building, he finally got his questions together. “What pictures? Are they interesting too? Are they hiding from people too? Is it about sex?”

Oh God, they matched.

Erin giggled, and I was a bit worried about what the man by the SUV would be doing, but he was trying not to laugh. Shaking his head, he finally got his snickering under control and was back to looking gruff and businesslike. “I’m Logan, and I’ll be escorting you two to the lodge.”

When I just nodded, he looked between us. “You should’ve kept the sunglasses on and stayed a bit more incognito.”

Erin pouted, not deterred at all. “But it was Rory.”

He scoffed. “You’re just as famous right now as he is. You need to be more careful until the leeches get distracted.”

That was all he had to say?

He clearly knew about the pictures and the drama, but the only part he seemed to care about at all was our privacy.

Erin nodded and looked like she was ready to curl up with her bear and her binkie. “Yes, Sir.”

I waited for him to respond or to say something about it. Usually we’d get a side glance at the very least before someone brushed it off, but he simply nodded like it was a perfectly reasonable response. “Good. Now let’s get you back to the lodge so you can finally relax. You guys must’ve been flying since early this morning.”

I had a feeling he wasn’t any more traditional than Rory Flint was turning out to be.

Maybe the lodge hadn’t been such a bad idea after all.

When we both nodded, he looked around. “Are these all your bags? I don’t want to forget anything.”

“This is it. The staff on the plane was very thorough.” The one good thing about flying in a private plane was that the service was top-notch. I know I should’ve loved it, but being watched by everyone and basically being the center of attention made me nervous.

If a football or a flogger wasn’t involved, I didn’t want to stand out.

“Good.” He studied our suitcases like he could see right through them. “Do we need to stop to get anything as we drive through town? You guys need to keep a low profile until Rory’s stuff comes out and distracts them, so once we get to the cabins, there will be no joyrides into town for shampoo.”

For some reason, Erin thought the gruff orders were cute. I could see how much she liked him as she shook her head. She even managed to keep her mouth shut so she wouldn’t blab everything that was going through her head.

“I think we have just about everything practical, but could we stop for groceries?” The cabin we were staying at was supposed to have a kitchen, so I wanted to make sure we were stocked up.
Logan nodded. “I stocked up on staples and regular groceries this morning. Make me a list for anything that I might not have thought of as we drive, and I’ll stop into the store as we go through town.”

He was right. My going into the grocery store right now wouldn’t be keeping a low profile… but I wasn’t sure listing out dinosaur chicken nuggets and noodle soup would be really easy to explain.

Fuck it.

“Sure, thanks.” Trish and Mike had said he was discreet, but I was starting to think they’d left out a few things.

Discreet people were hard to deal with sometimes.

That was one of the reasons I loved Erin so much. I never had to guess what she was thinking or worry about what she wasn’t saying. She told me everything and always had. She was absolutely perfect for me, and I’d known that from the first time I’d met her.

“Alright, let’s go before people get curious.” Logan looked around suspiciously at a handful of people who were coming up to the front of the tiny airport. I couldn’t decide if he was trying to protect us or if he was just suspicious by nature, but I kind of thought it was cute.

No one ever questioned if I could take care of myself or if I needed to be protected.

It was nice.

Logan had the bags stowed in the back of his SUV and us in the back seat in no time. When we were driving away from the airport, he glanced at us in the rearview mirror. “Do you need paper or do you want to text me the list?”

Yes, the list.

Erin might be ready to be little, but I was ready for a nap.

We’d been running on fumes for the past few days and knowing we were finally away from all the drama had everything hitting at once. “I think…”

I looked over at Erin, who was digging through her magic bag that always had everything in it. As she pulled out a small pad and pen, I looked up at Logan. “I’ll write it down.”

Ignoring the fact that some of the stuff was clearly food for a kid, I wrote down a list of her favorite little foods. I had most of her favorite toys and things like her crayons. That was one of the reasons we had so many suitcases, but everyone seemed to think it was normal for celebrity-ish people to look like they were moving… and even Logan hadn’t thought it was crazy for us to show up with four big suitcases.

As I made the list, Erin snuggled closer and rested her head on my shoulder. I gave her forehead a kiss and whispered low. “You can take a nap if you want.”

She slept like the dead, so even if we stopped along the way, she wouldn’t notice.

The yawn that escaped had me chuckling. “But I should… I needed to…”

She needed to sleep.

“We’ll work on what to do next later.” We had a thousand decisions to make, but they could wait for us to relax and let things settle down.

I got a smile, and she nodded as she took a long, deep breath and her body started to go boneless against me. Logan was quiet for a few minutes, but when it was clear she was out for the count, he chuckled. “I’ve never seen anyone fall asleep that fast.”

I had to smile. “She’s always been like this.”

“She looks exhausted.” Logan paused for a moment before he glanced in the rearview mirror again. “It looks like you guys have had a long few days.”

Yep, he knew.

“Yeah, hopefully, it will quiet down soon.” I wasn’t counting on that, but people seemed to like hearing me say it.

Logan snorted. “They’ll get distracted by something bright and shiny fairly quickly. Rory’s got something that will draw their attention away from you guys. I wouldn’t worry if I were you.”
No one we’d talked to had been this laid-back.

“You’re not going to ask any questions?” I took a breath and focused on how Erin felt pressed against me. “About if I cheated on her or what I was doing?”

I hadn’t even gotten a dirty look from the guy.

Hell, none of them had given us weird looks.

Logan actually rolled his eyes. “First of all, that is not a woman who feels like she’s been cheated on.”

He had a point there, but no one had looked at it logically so far, so I was kind of surprised.

“Second, Trish and Mike were very vague about why you needed to have some privacy for a while, but it wasn’t hard to look you up, and while I don’t travel much, I know that club.” He shrugged. “So while it’s none of my business, I don’t think you cheated and she’s exhausted, not mad.”

Relief flooded through me.

I shouldn’t have cared that he didn’t think I was some kind of weirdo cheating asshole, but for some reason I did. “Thanks.”

I wasn’t sure for what exactly, but he just gave me another nod, taking it all in stride. “We’ve got a bit of a drive if you want to take a nap too.”

That sounded incredible, but I shook my head. “I’m good.”

I’d fall asleep eventually, but my head was going in too many circles for my brain to actually relax. I’d learned a long time ago that sooner or later my body would shut down and make me sleep, but until that point, I just had to ride it out.

Logan made another rude, disbelieving sound. “And the moon is made of green cheese.”

I couldn’t help but quietly laugh as I tried to be still for Erin. He was gruff and gave off a wouldn’t take shit kind of vibe, but something about him said he wouldn’t be easily shocked and he wouldn’t back down.

Maybe Montana was going to be better than I’d thought.

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Secrets and Princess Dresses Chapter 1

Secrets and Princess Dresses by Jamie Merrick - MMF Age Play Romance Book Cover
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To say that the start of their relationship was rocky would be an understatement of epic proportions, but that’s all in the past for Hannah, Dalton, and Jesse… hopefully.

When Hannah went off to college leaving Dalton and Jesse behind to decide if they could really handle a relationship between the three of them, three hearts were left in pieces. But now Hannah’s back, and unfortunately, she’s returned with a secret.

When an unconventional love is threatened by secrets and questions, two men will have to decide what unconditional love really means.

Author’s Note: Secrets & Princess Dresses was original included in the Dirty Daddies Pride Anthology. No material changes were made to the story. While this is book three in the timeline, it can be read as a standalone. This MMF romance contains age play, mild BDSM, and fun times between the guys as well.

 
 
 
 
 

Chapter 1
Dalton

“Did her dad get out his shotgun again? He promised the cops he wouldn’t do that as long as we gave Hannah space while she went to college.” Jessie’s question would’ve sounded insane except her father had pulled his gun on us.

In his defense, we had made her cry, but even the cops said he’d overreacted.

Shaking my head, I walked across our living room and sat down on the couch, trying to wrap my head around how badly the night had gone. “No, he wasn’t even there.”

We’d finally been going to get to date Hannah like real adults.

It should’ve gone fine. She was back home from finishing her degree and everything leading up to our date had been planned perfectly. I was going to pick her up and then we were going to come get Jesse since he’d needed to work late. We’d even had the restaurant all picked out.

It should’ve been wonderful.

“Then what happened?” Jessie flopped down beside me, his large frame shaking the cheap piece-of-crap sofa.

I leaned back, resting my head on the sofa and staring up at the ceiling. “I don’t know. She just said she had stuff she needed to figure out, then shut the door.”

I rolled my head and looked at Jesse. “It didn’t seem like a good idea to push her, so I just came back here.”

Jesse nodded. “Yeah, with her dad, that’s probably a good idea.”

It’d seemed like it at the time, but now I wasn’t sure.

Shifting, Jesse turned and relaxed back against the arm of the couch, searching my face. “Now what?”

Since he was the planner in our slightly interesting relationship, it was bad if he was asking me what to do.

“What was your first thought?” I was still too confused to even begin to guess.

We’d been waiting four years for tonight and now it felt like we had nothing.

Jesse studied me for a moment before he shrugged. “Giving her more time to think seems counterproductive. I’m pretty sure too much space has caused this problem to begin with.”

I couldn’t argue with that.

It seemed like our deal with her dad that we would step back while she was in college had seriously backfired. I’d hoped that with the emails and texts and phone calls it would keep our relationship going, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

“But she was happy to see us at graduation, right?” Had I misread her signals?

Nodding his head, Jesse nudged his knee into my thigh. “Yeah, she was excited to see us and even gave us both kisses in front of her dad.”

Just remembering his wide-eyed expression before he’d cleared his throat and looked away made me chuckle. There was no way to discount the sparkle in her eyes and the way she’d giggled at her dad’s drama. He’d definitely come a long way since we were in high school.

“But what could have changed in such a short period?” A few years ago, my next question would’ve been asking what Jesse had done to piss her off. But we had a better relationship now, and at this point, we were both mature enough to explain when we’d fucked up.

Jesse took the question seriously, thinking quietly for a few moments. When he finally spoke, it was more of a list of what we knew rather than what to do, but it was a start. “She made it clear she wasn’t dating anybody, and I’m pretty sure the last person she talked about was that Percy guy last year.”

Since I agreed with him, I nodded and let him talk it out.

Another sign that we’d grown up over the last few years… Well, that I’d grown, in this case. I hadn’t always been so patient when he’d wanted to talk things out. Which was part of the reason Hannah’s dad had pulled the shotgun on us.

“She has a job lined up here and a plan for the future, and her father no longer thinks we’re insane dickheads who just want to fuck his daughter.” I snorted in response, drawing a laugh from Jesse, primarily because the hothead had been wrong to begin with.

We’d always wanted something serious and meaningful with her.

We just hadn’t understood how to go about getting that in a healthy manner.

Ha. Couples counseling hadn’t been a complete waste.

Just kind of boring and weird.

Jesse flashed me a grin since he knew what I’d been thinking about her father, but he tried to stay on topic. “We haven’t done anything deliberately that would’ve set her off, and from what you’ve told me, nothing she said earlier indicated we were the issue.”

Jesse paused, letting out a breath. “If this isn’t about us, is there anything we can do?”

It was a damned good question.

Staring back up at the ceiling, I closed my eyes. “I don’t know. I’m trying to look at this with a level head, but I’m not feeling logical about any of it.”

Taking in a deep breath, I let it out slowly as Jesse’s hand came to rest on my shoulder and he squeezed, massaging the tense muscles for a moment. “Come here.”

He tugged at my arm until I chuckled and gave in, shifting so my back was against his chest. When I was surrounded by his strong thighs and wrapped in his arms, I could finally relax. “What are we going to do?”

Slowly melting into him as the tension in me faded, I waited and let his strength sink into me. After a moment, I stroked my hand over his thigh that was pressed against the back of the couch. Sometimes it still surprised me how sexy and comforting I found his body, but most of the time it just felt right.

“Do you think this is the problem?” I hated to even ask the question, but he had to have been thinking about it too.

I felt him shrug as he kissed the back of my head. “I don’t think so?”

He paused, and I waited while he put his thoughts in order. “She’s known since freshman year that we were going to work on our relationship. We never hid that from her.”

I loved the casual way he said that.

“I’m not sure going from angry frenemies to boyfriends counts as working on a relationship.” If it was, it was one hell of an understatement.

Jesse laughed. “Sure, it does. We just didn’t understand why we were angry and jealous.”

“If you say so.” But no matter how we explained it, going from assholes to boyfriends hadn’t been easy, but it’d been the right move. In our defense, though, high school guys weren’t always great at realizing they might not be straight.

Especially when someone like Hannah was in their sights.

“I do.” The smile in his voice had me smiling too, but another kiss to the back of my head brought back all the stress.

“Am I an asshole for being just a bit pissed that we’re going to have to wait even longer?” When he was too quiet, I shifted and looked over my shoulder.

Jesse finally shrugged, not looking like he had a good answer. “If you are, then you’re in good company.”

I had to smile as I laid back down against him. “If she doesn’t want to date us, then the rules don’t apply anymore, right?”

I mean, we’d played fair and followed the rules. We’d already waited to have penetrative sex because that’d been the deal we’d worked out when she’d first gone to school. Dating and relationships were fine, but none of us would have penetrative sex with anyone else until she got back or we broke up.

Of course, when Jesse and I had first made that rule, we’d pictured dating other girls, not each other, but we’d still stuck with the deal.

Hannah had never given any indication that she thought us getting closer physically was a problem. Hell, she’d been the one to throw the idea out there when she was screaming at us back when everything was drama and fighting.

How we’d managed to survive high school I’d never know.

Jesse’s arms tightened around me like he was imagining making love and fucking me hard, but then he sighed and his hold relaxed. “I think before we take that step, we need to make sure what’s going on.”

That made me groan. “I didn’t want that answer.”

His chest jerked in silent laughter. “I’m not saying no. Fuck. You aren’t the only one who was looking forward to everything changing, but if this is just a bit of drama, I don’t want us to have fucked it up.”

“I hate it when you’re right.” My response made him laugh, which felt good because I didn’t want him to be as stressed as I was. “So now that our evening is open, what do you want to do?”
I was hoping he’d let me change the topic and just figure out our next step with Hannah later, but no such luck.

“I want to make you dinner after we finish our conversation.” He completely ignored my trying to change the subject and just kept going. “What do you think about talking to your boss?”

Hmm.

“It’s logical.” His family had been in relationships with two guys and a woman forever. Even his great-grandparents had been open-minded. They’d been the people to give Hannah the idea in the first place. “Do you think it would be inappropriate or just weird? I mean, he is my boss.”

Or at least one of my bosses.

Technically he owned the ranch with his parents, but over the past few years I’d gotten to know Travis much better than I had his dads. They were relaxed enough that they probably wouldn’t mind our questions, but if I had to tell anyone how fucked up our relationship was, I’d rather it be Travis.

“I can’t imagine anyone at the shop talking to my dad about anything out of the ordinary or kinky, but your boss is laid-back.” Jesse’s tone was so confident I found myself nodding.

He took that as a yes and kept going. “How about I get off early tomorrow and head over to the ranch? We can talk to him together.”

I scoffed. “You just think I won’t do it without you.”

Jesse laughed. “I know you won’t do it without me.”

He was probably right.

“Fine.” Sitting up, I shifted and gave him a quick kiss. Even after the newness and just the strangeness of kissing him had faded to something more everyday, I still couldn’t help marveling at how our life had changed over the past few years.

He smiled, returning my kiss, but I could see the worries he was trying to hide. All of our plans for the past few years had been with Hannah in mind. We’d all called and emailed and hung out whenever possible, anything we could do to stay in touch without pressuring her.

But everything had been about the three of us, not just the two of us.

“You know that nothing is going to change between us, right?” I knew I’d hit the nail on the head when he nodded too quickly. Smiling, I turned so we were chest to chest and I stretched out along his body.

When my dick was rubbing against his and his thighs framed mine, I rocked against him and smiled again. “No matter what happens and how we fuck things up, nothing is going to change between us.”

He couldn’t seem to decide if he wanted to roll his eyes or moan. “You… you’re a menace.”

I grinned. “But I’m your menace.”

And that was better than last month when he’d told me I was an asshole, but I was his asshole.

Needless to say, the argument had quickly derailed once he’d realized how insane that had sounded.

Jesse pulled me tight against him, kissing me again, that time taking my mouth in a slow, heated exploration that sent pleasure flooding through me. When he finally released my lips, we were both breathless, but his eyes were brighter and I didn’t see the worries there anymore.

“We’re good. I know that.” Kissing me again, that time short and sweet, he gave me another hug before relaxing his hold on me. “Alright. It’s my turn to cook and then we’re going to find a movie and we’ll play rock-paper-scissors to see who gets a blow job first.”

I shot up, shaking my finger at him. “Oh, no, you forfeited, and it’s my turn.”

He started to shake his head, giving me a very well done I’m sorry you’re wrong expression, but I wasn’t as big a sucker for it as I once had been. “No. Don’t even try to wiggle out of it. You wanted biscuits this morning, and you bribed me to make them.”

“You volunteered to make those when I mentioned them.” He looked so damned believable I wanted to tell him where he could shove those biscuits. “That doesn’t count.”

I snorted. “Repeating bullshit isn’t going to make it true.”

He just laughed, so I knew I’d won.

Moving off him so we didn’t get distracted before dinner, I stood up and reached out a hand to pull him off the couch. The evening wasn’t our most productive time of the day, so making sure he actually got up was a good idea.

Another lesson learned after living together for almost three years.

“Spaghetti sound good?” Jesse wrapped his arms around me, nuzzling my neck. “Garlic breath won’t be a problem tonight.”

Laughing, I punched his arm and stepped away as he grinned. “I’m going to go change clothes. You need to work on your pickup lines.”

Jesse smirked, looking pleased with himself. “Well, see how the night goes. Then we’ll see whether it worked or not.”

I scoffed, heading back toward our small bedroom. “You’re just lucky I’m a cheap slut for you.”

Laughter followed me into the bedroom, making me grin, but as I changed out of the clothes I’d put on for the date that’d never happened, I couldn’t help but think that maybe Hannah hadn’t been quite ready to get everything she’d always said she wanted.

Hanging back up the dress pants and button-down that had barely been worn, I stripped out of my boxer briefs and into the sweatpants that Jesse loved.

Maybe that really was part of the problem.

She’d always said that she wanted a relationship like Travis’s family had and she didn’t want to choose between us, but had watching us grow closer made her feel like she wasn’t a part of our relationship?

I knew we’d done our best to try to make sure that didn’t happen, but had we failed?

Pushing the doubts and questions out of my head, I did my best to look happy and relaxed. He’d know it was complete bullshit, but being an ass wouldn’t make our evening any better and it would only make him worry.

He was too much of a mush for me to do that to him, so I was happy and just hard enough to be distracting in the sweats by the time I walked back out into the kitchen.

Bingo.

Jesse groaned, turning away from the counter where he was slicing what would eventually become garlic bread as the water on the stove was heating up. “You asshole. You know those are my favorite.”

I raised one eyebrow and gave a much more believable surprised expression than he could do. “Really? I thought you liked those sleep pants that are so thin you can see my dick through them better?”

Yeah, I was an asshole.

But at least he wasn’t worried anymore.

“You’re deliberately fucking with me.” He started to gesture with the bread knife until he realized what he was doing and set it down.

After one mishap where he’d accidentally thrown the can opener at me, we were both more careful.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Leaning against the doorframe, I pushed my hips out a bit and thought about how good the blow job would be. Getting hard enough to be even more distracting in the pants wasn’t a problem.

Groaning, Jesse walked away from the counter and gave me a cute pout. “But they’re my favorite.”

And he wanted nothing more than to kneel right there and play with my dick through the sweats until he’d made me beg to come.

But it was my turn.

When he was close enough to grab, I turned and pinned him against the doorframe. “Whose turn is it?”

He groaned but leaned back almost submissively and gave up. “You, it’s your turn.”

“Good boy.” I grinned as he snorted, but once I was on my knees, magically he stopped complaining.

Neither of us was the best bottom or even a halfway decent sub in the bedroom, so sex was always fun… and sometimes an interesting competition too.

I had his pants and the tight briefs he loved so much pulled to his knees in seconds, and his cock was in my mouth just as fast. He wouldn’t last. The sweatpants guaranteed that, so I smiled around his dick as he started to curse.

Working the head just like he loved, I had him desperate and frustrated before the water on the stove started to boil. When he started to shove my head to take him deeper, I let my teeth scrape over the tip of his cock, and he gasped, shaking as his hands slapped against the walls where he knew they belonged.

“Fucker. Let me come.” He growled out the order, but when I went back to barely sucking on the tip, he whined and finally caved. “Please. Please let me come.”

I pulled off just long enough to drive him insane. “Good boy.”

He grunted and was probably cursing me out in his head, but he kept his hands on the wall and moaned as I swallowed his cock to the base. It’d taken me six months to learn to do that without gagging, but it’d taken Jesse almost a year because back then even his toothbrush had made him gag.

He managed to last a few more seconds, but that was it.

As his orgasm barreled through him and his cum shot deep into my throat, I swallowed around him and kept sucking on him until he was soft and he tapped the wall twice in defeat.

Releasing him, I rose and gave him a deep, heated kiss, knowing he could taste his cum in my mouth. By the time I released him, I was achingly hard and starving, but he was the best meal I could’ve asked for. “Love you.”

He smiled, then gave me a look that said he was going to get even. “Love you too, asshole.”

No matter what happened, I was fucking lucky, and I was never going to forget that.

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Secrets and Leather Chapter 1

Secrets & Leather by Jamie Merrick - MMF Romance Polyamorous LGBTQIA Ebook Cover
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When your best friends are famous, life can sometimes suck.

Joel’s always done his best to keep his life, and his needs, under the radar. Unfortunately, when the people he’s closest to are famous—maybe slightly infamous is a better description—maintaining his privacy is just a little difficult. Joel loves them like family, but his worst nightmare is everyone on the planet finding out he’s a pup.

When your new friends are famous, sometimes life gets interesting.

Travis and Caitlin have been searching for their third since their first date. Unfortunately, living in rural Montana has made that more difficult than they’d expected. Just when they thought the occasional bad date was all they were going to find, life takes an interesting turn and a sweet man with secrets takes refuge at their ranch.
Maybe things are finally looking up?

From the Author: This loving MMF romance has mild BDSM, a pup with a thing for leather, a curious woman, and an openminded rancher. This is designed to be read after book one in the series.

 
 

Chapter 1
Joel

“You made us wait for hours, asshole. Way to make an entrance.” Rory’s excited voice boomed over the yard. He flew out of the big farmhouse where it seemed like I would be staying while his love life was the talk of the entertainment news.

For someone who’d been recently shot at, had his house nearly burned down, and had photographers break into the house in Hawaii where he’d been trying to quietly hide out, he looked remarkably chipper.

Clearly the memes were right… being in Hollywood melted people’s brains.

But since Rory’s good mood seemed to be because he and his wife Abby had fallen in love with their bodyguard, I wasn’t going to bring up the negative aspects of his Hollywood life. Well, not until he started driving me crazy. Then all bets were off.

Especially since the press had decided that as their best friend, I must be their secret love slave.

The rumors were getting to be ridiculous.

Rory was going so fast he nearly landed on his ass as he sailed off the porch, but he caught himself and kept going before I’d even managed to get one foot out of the truck.

Logan, the gruff man who’d picked me up from the airport, seemed to be trying not to laugh as questions burst out of Rory. “How was your flight? Were you followed? How many reporters were there this morning? What do you think they’re going to do when they realize it’s Braxton?”

Hopefully they’d finally leave me alone, but he kept going before I could get the words out.

“Did you bring your stuff? What about your work?” He would’ve kept going, but Abby and a man I could only assume was Braxton came down off the porch and slowed his rush of questions.

“Isn’t he so commanding? He’s so sweet too.” Rory beamed as they got closer. “He’s sexy and he likes my stuff.”

I nearly swallowed my tongue as he tugged me out of the truck. “He’ll like yours too, but I won’t pester you to talk about it yet.”

Yet?

Good grief, why would I have to talk about it at all?

Just because everything the loving attention-whore was thinking jumped out of his mouth didn’t mean I had to share.

Before I could figure out a way to ask what he was thinking that wouldn’t have my driver giggling even louder than he already was, the man I was assuming was their new third held out his hand. “Hi, I’m Braxton.”

I had managed to look almost functional when I caught sight of a couple that had walked out onto the porch. Braxton might have been conventionally attractive, but they were something else entirely. There was just something almost magnetizing about her teasing smile and the man’s gruff smirk that had me wondering what they were thinking.

He looked like a sexy cowboy in a romance that had jumped off the page and come wandering out of the house just for me.

Cowboys weren’t supposed to look this hot in person, only in porn and dirty books.

But clearly no one had told him that.

Braxton’s grin pulled me back into the moment, and I managed to respond. “Joel. Thanks for helping me figure things out. The last time their press went sideways, I ended up stuck in my apartment for a week.”

Every time those two made news, the press ended up coming after me.

Abby said it was because I looked cute on television, but I thought the press were just desperate because those two didn’t have nearly enough friends. Since I was the only one they could find, I got blamed for everything from trying to break up their marriage on down.

Rory shrugged. “That was not my fault. I’m just a good headline.”

And I hated dealing with the vultures, which only made the situation worse.

Of course, Rory timed his response perfectly so that he had everyone’s attention and even the woman from the porch laughed happily. He knew how to play to an audience. It was one of the things that made him a natural actor.

Braxton quickly introduced the couple from the porch as Caitlin and Travis. I managed to look reasonable as I shook Caitlin’s hand, but there was definitely a spark of something as Travis wrapped his hand around mine.

As the introductions wound down, Braxton took control of the conversation before Rory could say something ridiculous. He had an absurd notion that with enough teasing I’d finally “come out of my shell,” as he always put it. Thankfully, Braxton seemed to have a knack for naturally managing him.

It was nice to see that Abby wasn’t the only person who could wrangle Rory.

Braxton smiled like he was trying to put me at ease, which made me wonder how nervous I looked. “It’ll be quiet out here. The running joke is that the ranch doesn’t show up on GPS, so you’ll be fine.”

Rory seemed to think that wasn’t an exciting enough description. He grabbed my hand and started to tug. “But it’s so cool. Come on. You’ve got to see their animals.”
He seemed to genuinely enjoy them. That childlike glee couldn’t be easily faked, but as soon as we were out of earshot, he dropped his voice low. “Isn’t he so sexy and sweet? And god, all his friends are so fucking hot.”

Then the attention-whore giggled. “I saw the way you looked at them.”

Before I could even begin to tell him to stop teasing me, he gave me a conspiratorial grin. “The best part is that they’re looking for a third and Travis is bi. So, like a real third.”
That made me chuckle. “I’m pretty sure even if he didn’t want to do stuff with their third, it would still be real.”

Rory scoffed. “No. Just no. That’s just wrong.”

He shook his head like the idea was incomprehensible. Then he squeezed my hand, giving me what seemed to be an encouraging smile. “But we don’t have to worry about that because he’s not straight. Now we have to figure out how to get them to notice you.”

Nearly going headfirst into the fence as I tripped over at his words, I glared at the grinning lunatic. Before everyone else could catch up, I did my best to look stern. “Absolutely not. Don’t even think about it. I’m only here because somehow the idiots think I’m your third. This is not some kind of hookup vacation.”

The last time he’d tried that, I’d almost ended up at a kink resort without realizing it. Thankfully Abby had talked him out of that idea, but I wasn’t sure this would work out any better.

Rory just gave me a smile that said he wasn’t listening at all and reached up to pat my head. “That’s why I have to make it up to you. This is kind of my fault, so I’m going to make sure you have fun.”

Tugging me farther down the fence so we could pretend to be looking at the animals, he whispered one last time. “Now try to smile and look cute. I think they’d like that.”

If I killed him, would someone help me hide his body?

Before I could figure that out, he turned a beaming, oh-so-innocent smile toward Abby, Caitlin, and Travis. “Come help me show Joel your big fluffy cows.”

Good grief, he was laying it on thick.

He was lucky he was so cute.

****

“Are you sure you’re okay with staying here?” Abby looped her arm through mine as we slowly headed back toward the house.

The lecture on the animals had been interesting, but I was beyond exhausted and she seemed to understand that. “We can find a resort or someplace quiet for you to vacation for a few days until we steer this insanity back toward us. I’m sorry about all this.”

I appreciated the way she approached her apology more than Rory’s I’ll make this fun tactic, but neither were necessary. “I kind of volunteered for this, so stop apologizing.”

From the first moment when Rory started to get famous, they’d been honest about the drawbacks. But we’d been friends forever, and I wasn’t going to let nosy reporters chase me away from the only real friends I had.

“No. As long as I’m not in the way, I’d rather stay here. This is much more relaxing than staying at a resort.” Being surrounded by strangers while I tried to keep myself entertained would be painful. “The scenery is pretty and I can work from anywhere.”

Chuckling, Abby nudged me. “Which scenery?”

She grinned and nodded toward my hosts, who were thankfully a bit ahead of us.

I groaned. “You’re just as bad as your attention-whore.”

Rory grinned and nodded, which had Abby laughing. He was trying to behave himself, probably because he was anticipating the dirty parts of the rest of his evening and he didn’t want to lose the chance of an orgasm.

Abby hugged me against her again. “I want you to be happy, and if part of that is pushing you to meet people, I won’t apologize.”

She also wouldn’t apologize because she always thought she was right.

It was one of the struggles of having a Dominant as a best friend… not that the attention-whore’s meddling was any better. “Wanting me happy implies I’m unhappy. I’m fine.”

Just because my dating adventures hadn’t gone as planned and my apartment was under siege didn’t make me unhappy.

Abby snorted, a completely unladylike sound that had Rory nearly doubled over with laughter. Somebody clearly needed more sleep, so I just rolled my eyes. “I don’t need fixing. I just need you two to stop making international news because of your sex life.”

That did not help Rory’s ability to behave, but as we got back over to the house, he’d mostly gotten a hold of himself. Braxton seemed to be searching our faces to make sure we were okay, but he quickly relaxed and smiled.

I liked being included, but his behavior said I’d gotten another Dom to worry over me.

“You guys ready to head back to the cabin? I know Joel just got here, but it’s late.” Braxton’s gaze shifted to me, giving me another searching look. “You’re more than welcome with us, but honestly there’s no privacy and this will be much more comfortable.”

Caitlin and Travis nodded, grinning as Rory giggled. “He’s not kidding about the privacy part, and I have dirty plans you don’t need to witness.”

That made me want to laugh and call the exhibitionist’s bluff, but I behaved myself as I turned back to Braxton and his friends. “No, this is wonderful. I really appreciate it.”

Looking around, I soaked up the quiet darkness. “This is peaceful.”

Caitlin chuckled, giving me a grin. “And no photographers.”

Returning her smile and trying not to gawk at how pretty she was, I nodded. “The best part. Thank you.”

But there were other things I appreciated too.

No cars honking.

No neighbors screaming.

This place had a quiet I hadn’t felt in years.

But Rory was more interested in appreciating their privacy because he grinned and clasped his hands together. “Well, it’s probably time to get you settled in. I know you have to be tired, so we’ll let you get some sleep.”

He was so horny he’d lost all acting ability.

If over the years I hadn’t seen how good of an actor he could be, I never would’ve believed the goofy flirt in front of me could be an up-and-coming leading man in Hollywood.

Bouncing close again, he wrapped his arms around me and gave me a tight hug. Whispering low, he was nearly giggling. “Check out the family photos inside and don’t be afraid to loosen up a bit. I think they’d understand more than you’re imagining.”

With those teasing, slightly cryptic words, which were designed to drive me nuts, Rory pulled away. “Have a good night.”

I got a wink from him before he turned and bounced toward Braxton. Thankfully Abby was the only one who saw it, but she just grinned, obviously on his side.

When they were finally heading back to their cabin after another round of hugs and promises to see me in the morning, I turned back to my new hosts, who were still just as sexy as they had been the first time I’d seen them.

Weren’t people supposed to look more average once you got to know them?

Pushing the random sleep-deprived musings out of my head, I smiled and tried to look professional. “I appreciate your hospitality. I’m going to do my best to get out of your hair as quickly as possible.”

I just needed a bit of time to make a good game plan.

One that included a new apartment where it wouldn’t be so easy to find me.

I’d stayed where I was because I thought it would be easier, but I needed to find someplace to sublet where my name wouldn’t be on the lease.

Especially once their threesome made the news.

I could just see the headline… Jilted Lover in Depression as Hollywood Couple Moves On.

I was being polite and honest, but Caitlin scoffed. “Nonsense. This is the most company we’ve had in ages. Don’t worry at all.”

Her determined grin made me smile.

Rory got one very similar when he decided I needed to be taken care of, and her tone definitely matched. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you want.”

She’d made up her mind, which wasn’t surprising based on how nice Rory had said she was. But I wasn’t sure how Travis felt. He was wearing a relaxed, pleasant expression, but it didn’t tell me much.

When he saw my focus shift to him, he gestured toward the house. “Come on. Let’s get you settled. You look exhausted.”

His honesty made me chuckle. “It’s been a long day. My phone started ringing at an ungodly hour.”

Needing to have a listed phone number was one of the worst things about being self-employed. But the freedom it gave me made it all worth it most of the time.

They both winced as they headed toward the house, making sure I followed. As I walked inside with them, Caitlin stopped in the kitchen and squeezed my shoulder. It was an innocent touch, and I knew she didn’t mean anything by it, but the firm grip had me wanting to curl up and be petted.

It was all the stress finally catching up with me, but I could feel my sub side rising to the surface as she tried to comfort me. “You’re going to feel much better after a good night’s sleep.”
Hoping she was right, I nodded. “It’s just been a bit stressful.”

They both gave dry chuckles like they knew what an understatement that must be but didn’t press for details.

“I know you said you ate earlier, but how about we get you a snack before you head to bed?” Before I could find a way to politely decline so she didn’t have to go out of her way, she was steering me over to the table.

“Why don’t you sit down. Rory said you liked cheesecake, but after I made it earlier, I realized he might have been… encouraging me to make something he wanted instead.” She looked a bit sheepish, making me chuckle.

“He just gives you that smile and you end up doing whatever he wants. But this time he was telling the truth. Thank you.” It really was my favorite dessert.

She looked relieved that I understood, but Travis just laughed. “You two have to stop giving that little flirt everything he wants.”

I felt my cheeks heating up, but Caitlin scoffed and rolled her eyes. “So says the man who took him out twice to pet the horses this afternoon just because Rory’s cute when he flirts and talks about ‘petting the ponies.’”

Travis gave us both a wicked grin and winked at me. As butterflies scattered in me, starting to whirl, he shrugged. “What can I say. I’m a sucker for a cute sub.”

Walking over, he gave Caitlin a quick kiss. “Which you should be grateful for, cheeky girl.”

She giggled as he stepped back, not seeming to mind their audience. I could almost feel Rory’s hand in it.

As Travis walked down the hall, he called back. “I’m going to make sure the bathroom down here has clean towels while you guys get a snack.”

Caitlin was still grinning as he walked out of sight. “Doesn’t he want some?”

It was a weak change of topic, but I wasn’t sure what to say. It felt like being left on our own had been a very deliberate decision on Travis’s part.

She shook her head, not finding his decision to leave odd. “Rory already talked him into two slices at dinner so that it would be harder for Abby to say no.”

She giggled as she walked over to the fridge and pulled out the dessert. “That is one sub who has his Doms wrapped around his little finger.”

Well, that answered a few questions. “Rory seems to have opened up to you guys.”

Caitlin shrugged as she moved around the kitchen, getting the beautiful homemade cheesecake ready for us. “A bit here and there.”

She glanced over at me and gave me an understanding smile. “Nothing he shouldn’t have and nothing about your personal life, but earlier he hinted that Travis and I didn’t need to be too careful around you.’’

The slightly vague remark had me glancing around the room as she cut two generous slices, but I was too far away from the photos on the far wall to guess at what Rory had been hinting about. Wanting to settle any worries, I nodded as she brought our dessert to the table. “I’m open-minded and I can mind my own business, unlike one famous attention-whore we both know.”

That had her laughing again as she brought forks and two glasses of water to the table. “We don’t mind well-meaning questions. We’ve gotten used to it.” She seemed to think I knew what she was talking about, but it wasn’t the right moment to explain how in the dark I was. “Eat up. A giggling little birdie said I should wait to eat with you.’’

Rolling my eyes, I huffed as she grinned wider. “He’s a menace.”

What had he told them about me?

“But he has good intentions and wonderful ideas.” Refusing to admit that she might have a point, I took a bite and moaned as the rich flavors hit my tongue. Giggling, Caitlin took a bite too, clearly pleased with the food and my reaction.

Her smile and the twinkle in her eyes said she was going to be just as much trouble as Rory… but not nearly as easy to ignore.

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Secrets and Lace Chapter 1

Secrets and Lace by Jamie Merrick - MMF Polaymory Romance Ebook Cover
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When the sweetest heartthrob in Hollywood gets caught on camera doing something naughty and fun, everyone is buzzing.

Rory never planned on his act for the charity event going viral. In fact, the flirty number with the teasing lingerie was never meant to be filmed at all, much less uploaded to every social media platform on the planet. But with his feisty, take-charge wife Abby by his side, he knows together they can handle anything… well, almost anything.

As rumors and bullets start to fly, they know it’s time to call in the cavalry… their security guard and friend, Braxton. He might not understand everything about their life, but there’s just something about the private hunk of a man that makes both of them feel safe… and maybe wanted as well.

When truths are finally revealed and secrets come to light, it will take trust and love to bring three strong souls together.

From the Author: This MMF romance comes from the dirty mind of an author who watched a certain video on a popular lip-sync show entirely too many times. This sweet romance has mild BDSM, a man in sexy lingerie, a take-charge woman, and man who’s more openminded than he seems.

 
 
 

Chapter 1
Rory

“The sweetest heartthrob in Hollywood just heated things up. Get ready to change all of your assumptions about Hollywood’s Blushing Boy, Rory Flint.” I groaned and threw my tablet toward the other end of the couch. “I can’t believe how overblown this has gotten.”

Abby’s laughter as she walked into the living room didn’t help my mood any. “You knew they were going to gossip. You’re their good boy and a total sweetheart. We knew they were going to lose their shit when they heard about the performance.”

I gave her a pleading look I knew would make her take my side. “But they weren’t supposed to get pictures.”

Walking over, she winced as I scored a direct hit with that one. As Abby straddled my lap and gave me a kiss, she ran her hand over my head. “I’m sorry the pictures ended up online, but you were so hot you just about melted the camera. Are you sorry you did it?”

I shook my head.

“No, you had a great idea and Greg called earlier saying the charity has gotten even more money since the pictures showed up online.” The way her face perked up made me smile. “And he said it was one of the catering staff that leaked the pictures.”

“You wanted to give the charity a boost, and you did that spectacularly, so you should feel proud of yourself.” When I begrudgingly nodded, she grinned and continued. “And you got to do something completely different and wonderfully racy. You’re going to owe me a private viewing because you about set my panties on fire seeing you in yours.”

I groaned, blushing. “They were shorts, not underwear.”

She’d always known exactly how to drive me crazy. Sometimes having known her forever had its drawbacks. She shook her head. “Oh no, those were sexy leather boy shorts that made your ass look absolutely edible. In fact, you nearly had one particular of course I’m straight, don’t be stupid actor falling off of his chair.”

Laughing, I hugged her tight. “And you, my naughty wife, probably went out of your way to point that out.”

She gave a wicked grin. “Me? I was the picture-perfect Hollywood wife. I smiled and simpered and didn’t point out the erection he was valiantly trying to hide. He might not be gay, but a man in panties does interesting things to his libido.”

“You’re wicked.” I gave her a quick kiss. “But that’s what drew me in from the beginning, so I can’t complain.”

She laughed. “Well, your wicked wife loves seeing just how naughty she can make the Blushing Boy of Hollywood.”

I groaned and let my head fall back on the couch. “They like seeing me sweet in roles. I’m never going to get rid of that name.”

She snorted. “From the fan mail you’re starting to get and the articles that are online, I think they’re going to start seeing you in a different light. But that’s not a bad thing. You can’t stay this young and cute forever.”

I barked out a laugh. “Hey, I’ll look my age eventually, but by then I’m going to be sexy and distinguished. Haven’t you heard? Men in Hollywood don’t get old—they just age like fine wine.”

Rolling her eyes, Abby’s face tightened. “They’re so full of shit. But yeah, you’re going to turn around one day and go from sweetheart to sex god right before their eyes.”

I felt my face heating up again. “I’m not sure my heart can take sex god.”

Fighting my way through auditions and interviews was one thing, but sex god implied things I wasn’t sure I wanted to promise for a role.

She rolled her hips, sending waves of pleasure through me as she gave me a devilish smile. “You like looking sexy for me, don’t you?”

We both knew the answer to that, so she kept going. “You were dancing just for me on that stage, writhing around and looking so naughty and hot. I think I’m going to have to punish you for letting everyone see how sexy and wicked you really are.”

Sexy and wicked might not be debatable—at least in her eyes—but dominant and aggressive, I was not. “I just wanted you to see that side of me.”

She pressed a light kiss to my lips, but her smile was still mischievous. “But who gets to decide who sees my sexy man?”

The look on her face sent a shiver through me. “You do.”

We’d been together long before either of us had understood what domination and submission meant, so it’d always been casual for us, but we both knew who was in charge.

She nodded, almost purring as she rubbed herself over my dick again. “And I said you could dance and look cute for the charity, but I don’t remember telling you to look so panty-meltingly hot while you wiggled and strutted your stuff on stage.”

That hadn’t been exactly what had happened, but I wasn’t going to ruin the chance for a spanking. I was between projects, so there wouldn’t be anyone to see whatever wonderful marks she left on me. “I’m sorry. Knowing you were watching me made it too hard to hold back.”

Shaking her head like she was very sorry, she sighed. “I know. You love me and want to do your best for me, but in this case, you let everyone else see how sexy you are and what a wicked side you hide from them.”

That was an understatement.

The LGBT youth charity was one we’d been volunteering with since my first movie had gone big, but I probably should have thought twice before doing something quite so… interesting. Hollywood’s Blushing Boy didn’t do things like dance to risqué songs while dressed in women’s clothing.

“Would you believe me if I said I hadn’t meant for it to get quite so out of hand?” It’d almost been like subspace. The reality of the situation had been completely lost on me.

She looked skeptical, but I’d seen that expression on her face enough that a needy shiver ran through me. Fun reasons for a punishment aside, though, I needed her to understand. “It wasn’t like when I was practicing. Once there was an audience… nothing felt real.”

I wasn’t sure I was explaining it right. “I mean, I knew it was real, but nothing real hit me until after.”

That didn’t sound reasonable either.

Resting my head against her chest, I inhaled the soft scent of the lotion she’d worn since I could remember. Abby stroked my head as I held her. As she pressed a kiss to the top of my head, I tried again. “All I could feel was your eyes watching me at first, but once the audience started calling out, it was almost like a scene and I got lost in it. I didn’t even think about the consequences until it was all over.”

Her wicked chuckle had me groaning. “You’re supposed to tell me I behaved ridiculously or at the very least that I can’t mentally slip away like that.”

She kissed my head again, but as she spoke, her sexy tone made me forget why I’d been worried to begin with. “Why would I say that when it isn’t a surprise? You’ve always liked the fantasy of being watched. You’ve just never been able to explore it like that.”

Her voice turned husky as she stroked my neck, making me shiver. “It wasn’t just someone watching us in the dark. You had a crowd cheering for you as you writhed for me on stage.”

She knew what that memory did to me. All she had to do was just mention the sexy encounter on our wedding night to make me achingly hard and still slightly embarrassed. “I didn’t expect it to be like that.”

“I did.” She started slowly grinding over my cock, making me moan and fight the urge to thrust up against her. But I knew better, and for the moment, I had the willpower to obey the unspoken command. “I knew you were going to love it. The costumes. The lights. The audience. The music and the sensual moves.”

When I moaned, she made a sexy, pleased sound and kept teasing me. “For a few minutes, you got to live out your fantasy, and I loved every second of it. You lost yourself in the moment and you loved it. They might have thought you were playing a role, but I know that was really you on stage. You’re a naughty attention-whore at heart.”

I nodded against her chest. “But I have to be more careful. What if this doesn’t die down?’’ Her sexy laugh had me sitting up so I could look at her.

“Audiences love you.” She rolled her eyes like it was obvious. “Surprising them doesn’t have to be a bad thing. You’ve just changed how they see you.”

Nodding, I took a deep breath. “Harvey said worst-case scenario was that people think I’m a little more open-minded than they did before.” But he also thought the best way to toughen up my image was for me to do a steamy suspense movie that had a startling amount of nudity and blood.

Abby and I had both decided that role wasn’t for me, but Harvey had complained for months. Now he was bringing it up again because the lead had recently gone into rehab after a major blowup in his personal life, and the producers wanted someone less controversial for the role.

Abby gave me a quick peck. “This will blow over as soon as some dickhead gets a DUI or gets caught with a hooker. All people will remember is how unexpectedly sexy you looked.”

I sighed. “Why can’t they do something stupid today so the media stops talking about me?”

Abby giggled. “All this pouting about getting too much attention from the boy who told me when he was eight that he was going to be a famous Hollywood actor when he grew up?”

I scoffed. “Hey, I was a darned good tree.”

That got me another giggle and a kiss. “You just liked all the attention you got when you sneezed and Snow White said, ‘God bless you.’’’

That memory had me grinning. “I was fabulous.”

“You were a cute, cheeky attention-whore.” She giggled when I nodded enthusiastically. “We both know attention-whores like knowing everyone is watching them. So, no worries and no panicking. I know it’s going to be fine and if for some reason it isn’t, what do we do?’’

The tender reminder of that long-ago conversation made me smile. “We jump to a new adventure.” I sucked in a steadying breath. “I read an article that said cruise ships are hiring. I could work in the entertainment staff and you could work in finance or something.”

“It’d be fun, but there’s only one problem.” She was doing her best not to laugh, but she wasn’t the actor in the family. “You get seasick in the bathtub.”

I flopped back against the couch. “One time. And it was a gigantic hot tub, not a bathtub. It was sloshing everywhere.”

Just the memory had my stomach rolling.

Abby giggled. “You’re getting pale.”

“You’re evil.” I huffed when she nodded and giggled.

“Yep. That’s why you love me.”

I snorted. “No. I love you because you have wonderfully bad ideas and you always lead me into trouble.” I gave her a wicked grin. “And you’re hot.”

She laughed. “Nope. You had me until the end. The first time you told me you loved me, I was covered in mud and had a black eye. So yeah, the trouble part I’d believe.”

Her teasing grin was too kissable to resist. As I pulled away from the smacky kiss, I smiled and rolled my eyes at the memory. “We only had matching black eyes because you wouldn’t let me beat up Kenny on my own.”

She’d never let me do anything on my own. Smart or otherwise.

She scoffed. “He’d given you a black eye and made you cry. I had to step in.’’ She beamed. “And that dick deserved both his black eyes for trying to hit you with that bat. God, your cousin was a dick.’’

Family was “fun.” That was why we’d walked away from all of them at eighteen and hadn’t looked back. “My avenging angel.”

Her family had been just as bad as mine, but she’d turned their shit into a backbone of steel and a mean right hook.

She scoffed. “Someone had to take care of you.”

I nodded, smart enough to know better than to argue with her. Grinning, I gave her another kiss. “Does my amazingly smart, badass protector wife know what we should do next about the insanity?”

I pointed to my tablet to make sure she understood I was talking about the awkward publicity. She cocked her head and considered the question. “The Blushing Boy needs to make an appearance.”

Her response had me groaning, but she just ignored my drama. “We’ll go out to lunch and when some asshole with a camera asks a nosy question, you’ll blush and I’ll say something slightly inappropriate. Then I’ll follow up with a comment about how hard you worked because you wanted to do your best.”

Just because her idea was logical didn’t mean I had to like it.

“Some people will still question it, but to the rest, you’ll look so innocent they’ll never believe their sweet Rory could be naughty in real life.” She kissed my cheek, grinning and looking amazingly confident. “And the next time an out of the box role comes up, people will think of you.”

Fingers crossed.

“Who should tease the mob about our impending excursion?” Even with the drama, we weren’t high enough up the Hollywood food chain to be followed around constantly, so when we needed a bit of attention, we had to tease it.

Abby grinned. “Grace, Harvey’s secretary, is saving up to get her grandson a car. She could use the bribe money.”

Laughing, I shook my head. “My sexy accountant shouldn’t be giving away free money. This gated community doesn’t come cheap.”

She laughed. “I know. I pay the bills. Are you hinting I’m not taking care of our finances?”

I shook my head, doing my best to look very innocent. “No, ma’am, you have always done an incredible job.”

I didn’t want to apologize too much, but I couldn’t stop there. “I’m sorry I teased you. That was very naughty.”

Her devilish grin sent a shiver through me. “If you’re not careful, I’m going to put you on a budget again.”

That had me pouting. “Aww, Abby.”

She laughed. “Should you be needling your way into trying to get a spanking?”

I blushed, shaking my head. “No. I’m sorry.’’

She stroked my face tenderly as she started grinding over my dick again. “What are you supposed to say when you want a spanking?”

Her tone had me squirming even more than the way she was moving over me. The tender ownership in her voice was filled with a deep confidence that came from knowing I’d always been hers. Swallowing, I gave her the words I knew she wanted to hear. “Please show me I belong to you, ma’am.”

Passion and something deeper, stronger threaded its way through her voice. “I will always be here to remind you of that, baby.” Her fingers wove their way through my hair and tightened. She kept my face turned toward hers.

“You’ve always been mine and you always will be.” She took my mouth in a heated kiss as she kept her hands on me in a possessive grip. But the passion and submission that coursed through me vanished in a rush of adrenaline as the windows at the front of the house shattered and the alarm started blaring.

“Son of a bitch.” She pulled away as we listened. “What the fuck was that?”

Another burst of shattering glass had me grabbing her around the waist and hitting the floor. As I covered her body with mine, I’d never felt more scared in the seconds of silence that followed.

When nothing else happened and the silence began to be filled with the sounds of sirens, I inched off of her until I could see her face. “You okay?”

She nodded. “Slightly squished and a bit confused, though.”

A dry chuckle escaped and I nodded. “Me too. The confused part.”

She snorted. “That’s what I thought you meant.”

“Abby?” I moved off of her and pushed the coffee table back.

“Yes?”

Taking her hands, I pulled her up and into my arms. “I think I want an apology for not letting me buy the house with the safe room. I told you this place was nuts.”

****

“You’ve got to be kidding.” Abby’s disbelieving tone and barely contained anger had Harvey and the cop both taking a step back. “Are you honestly saying that if he’d acted more manly, this wouldn’t have happened?”

Abby moved toward the retreating men and the stress in the room jumped again. “The Marions’ house got damaged even more severely than ours, yet this is clearly an open-and-shut case against us? Because an actor doing something scandalous in this city is always followed by a drive-by? You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

I knew Abby’s anger was mostly because she was blaming herself. But the snotty cop really deserved it. From the moment he’d figured out who I was, he’d dismissed me and had started down-playing the entire situation.

Harvey hadn’t been sure what to do, but Abby never had that problem.

Before the cop could respond, she started barking orders. “Harvey, get a lawyer over here. I want to see what our options are and who we need to sue. Then find me someone with the ACLU or one of the LGBT organizations we’ve been working with.”

Her smile was almost predatory, and I had to resist the urge to step back too. “I’m sure there are some people who would be very curious to know how we’ve been treated.”

Then she turned to the cop. “And I want to see your boss or I’m going to start with the top and work my way down. You should’ve done your research about who was at that fundraiser last night.’’

When she turned back to me, her anger vanished “Baby, will you find me your phone? The governor was texting that number.”

To say things hadn’t gone like I’d expected would have been an understatement, but I could follow orders and look smart. “Sure. Yeah, he was chatty.”

Of course, it’d been odd questions about the event to help with his son’s performance, but the cop didn’t have to know that. Besides, if the problem… the gunfire… had been about the charity event, more people needed to be warned.

As I headed into the kitchen, I heard the cop start to protest that Abby couldn’t think it’d had something to do with the Marions, but I wasn’t sure. We’d never met the older couple who owned what used to be considered the main house.

The neighborhood was older and our house had been considered some sort of guest house before it’d been subdivided years ago. Abby had loved the privacy and how few big celebrities lived in the area. But the underlying feeling of privacy was partially due to the fact that meeting the neighbors had never been any of their top priorities.

I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not, but I loved making Abby happy, so that had made it perfect.

But maybe a few more security precautions might have been a better idea. We just hadn’t made more of an effort because I wasn’t the type of celebrity to get negative attention. Hell, if I got noticed in the grocery store, it would usually be by a blushing soccer mom or a dirty little old lady.

Dragging my feet, I turned it into the longest walk I’d ever made into the kitchen as Abby handled the police in the formal living room at the front of the house. Thankfully, the only windows that had been damaged were in useless rooms we never used.

By the time I forced myself to head back to the front of the house, there was an older cop who seemed to be a lot smarter and more in charge because Abby was smiling.

Handing over the phone, I ignored the shattered windows and kept my focus on Abby. She gave me a quick glance then took the phone before holding my hand tight. “I think we’ve got things all worked out. You and I are going on a little vacation while the police do a thorough investigation. Aren’t you, Richard?”

Whoever he was, he was smart enough not to argue with Abby and confident enough in himself to find her amusing, judging by his quick, barely contained smile. “Yes, absolutely. I think there are too many unanswered questions to draw any conclusions just yet.”

Yep, smarter than the first guy. Then Richard the police something turned to me. “Mr. Flint, I am very sorry for your troubles.”

“Thank you.” Shaking his hand, I focused on being the calm and laid-back Blushing Boy everyone expected. “We appreciate the help. It’s been an interesting morning.”

I forced myself to gesture around the room and did my best to channel a young confident ex-soldier I’d played once. “I know I’ve made some headlines recently, but I’m sure you know how in this business nothing is terribly real, not like this.

I shook my head and gave him a confident but slightly confused look that had him relaxing. “I just can’t imagine anyone coming after me for helping out a charity, so we want to make sure a thorough investigation is done.”

Calm, not too worked up or overly Hollywood-y.

Perfect, judging by the nod I got from the cop. “Of course. We need to get a better handle on what happened before we make any assumptions. Getting you two out of town for a while will be a good idea all around.” Abby’s nod sealed it.

We were going to pretend to go on vacation.

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