Part 5 (1/2)
Emily Anne couldn't hold her ”calm and cool” poise any longer. ”Y'all are going to make me have to run to the ladies'!” She laughed so hard her side hurt.
”That's serious,” Carrie said.
”Yep,” Kelsey nodded. ”The only way to prevent that is to spill it.” Carrie and Ginny snickered. Kelsey frowned. ”Hmm, that didn't come out quite right, either.”
All three of them burst out laughing and Emily Anne just shook her head. ”Okay, I give up. I reckon you're all going to keep at me until I do, anyway.”
”I knew you were an exceptionally clever woman,” Kelsey said. ”That's why I hired you.”
Emily Anne took a moment to finish filling the dishwasher. She turned it on then turned around to face her friends.
”Last Monday, Mel and Connor were waiting for me outside the spa, and we did spend the rest of the day together. We've been on a couple of dates since then. So I guess you could say that I'm 'seeing' them.”
”And?” Carrie wiggled her eyebrows and Emily Anne just shook her head.
”And...I like them?”
”Well, boy howdy, who didn't know that?” Ginny asked. ”You've liked them for some time, now.”
”We know you like them. What we want to know is if you've had s.e.x with them yet,” Kelsey said. ”Because, you know, old married women here, and all.”
This kind of camaraderie was completely new to Emily Anne. Not that she hadn't had girlfriends back home. Of course, she had. It was just...Emily Anne experienced a moment of revelation. She'd had girlfriends, but they had treated her pretty much the same as everyone in her family had treated her-like an oddity, someone to be treated as less than.
They didn't treat me as one of them, but more like a side show freak, the fat, frumpy friend with gla.s.ses and crooked teeth who everyone knows will never get the man in the end.
Did they treat her that way because that was how she acted, or did she act that way because that was how she'd always been treated?
Emily Anne was a plus-sized gal. No one, least of all her, would or could dispute that. But she wasn't frumpy, not by anyone's definition.
She thought of Summer Webster and the air of confidence with which that woman carried herself. She thought of Grace Warner, and Chloe Rhodes-soon-to-be-Jessop.
Those women were all plus-sized gals too, but no one could call them plain or frumpy. And their men-all seven of them-sure looked happy, and treated their women like the Queens they were.
Emily Anne focused on the three women before her-friends, all-who were smiling and waiting. For the first time she understood that in their eyes, she, Emily Anne Bancroft, was a woman that two smoking hot and mouthwatering men would want.
”No, we haven't made love-yet. But I have no doubt whatsoever that we're going to-and soon.”
Somehow voicing that certainty buoyed Emily Anne's mood. Mel Richardson and Connor Talbot wanted her-and for more than just s.e.x. And she realized that somehow, despite all the doubts that had been with her since the moment she'd laid eyes on those two private d.i.c.ks, she wanted them, too.
Chapter 6.
It had actually been a no-brainer. If he and Connor were serious about Emily Anne-and they sure as h.e.l.l were-then relocating to l.u.s.ty made perfect sense.
Mel stood beside his partner and surveyed the large master bedroom. They'd toured the house, a two-story brick home with a pretty front porch and a deck and patio on the back. Situated just down from the high school, the house looked to be in d.a.m.n good shape for a building that had been empty for over a year.
Jake had explained that there was no such thing as an ”abandoned property” in l.u.s.ty. There were only houses not currently occupied. The Town Trust was responsible for overseeing the management of those places not in use, keeping them maintained and the lawns neat.
Jake stepped into the unfurnished room behind them. ”I figured that for the rest of the place-dining room, kitchen, living room-you'd have your own furniture from your places in Waco that you would want to bring. But for here, for what you're going to want in the master bedroom, you'll need furniture not easily acquired elsewhere.”
Mel didn't really mind that Jake understood why he and Connor had wanted to lease a house in town. The man had already more or less let them know that everyone thought the three of them-he, Connor, and Emily Anne-would make a nice trio.
Mel hadn't actually given a great deal of thought to the matter, but he guessed they'd need a bed bigger than a double. He wondered if a queen-sized bed would even be big enough.
Maybe we'll need a king. Connor and I are both large men, and we won't want to squish Emily Anne in the middle.
He turned to look at Jake at the same time Connor said, ”I've heard that most of the homes here have 'l.u.s.ty-sized' beds.”
”Also known as Kendall-sized and Benedict-sized, and Jessop-sized,” Jake said, ”depending on who's talking.” He laughed. ”The Town Trust has a warehouse with more furniture than you can possibly imagine. We can take a drive over there now, if you have the time.”
Mel looked over at Connor. ”I'd like to get this to the point of being a done deal,” he said. Then he shrugged. ”I want us moved in today, if possible. Call me crazy, but I want it done before Emily Anne hears about it. I guess I don't want to jinx things.”
Jake sighed. ”Adam and I did something similar with our Ginny, if you will recall, Mel. Of course, we had help. Mom and Kate knew Ginny wanted us but was holding back. Plus, there were safety considerations at the time.”
”I do remember that particular moving day,” Mel said. He turned to Connor. ”They more or less swept Ginny and her son into that very dedicated Queen Anne Victorian they live in now in less than a couple of hours. They didn't even give her time to think about it.”
Connor grinned. ”So I guess you understand, a little, where we're coming from? Not that we're going to move Emily Anne in here-at least, not right away. But if we're living here in town, she'll understand that we're serious, and not just messing around with her.”
Jake nodded. ”Most men in l.u.s.ty can identify with where you're coming from, if not with the actual circ.u.mstance.”
”We might as well head over to your warehouse now, then,” Mel said. ”If you've got the time for us. As for our own stuff, we don't have much.”
”What my partner means is, he has some stuff, but all I have is a hotel room in Waco, and a closed-up apartment back in D. C.”
”I'll let you in on a little secret. Kate Benedict was in my office when you called asking about a house to lease. So yes, I have the time, and instructions to see to it that you get everything you need. So let's make it a real done deal, shall we?”
Less than a half hour later Mel was standing inside what could have pa.s.sed for a big-box furniture store. Only the warehouse didn't just hold furniture-it had enough basic accessories that a person wouldn't even need to shop for so much as a placemat or a soup bowl before calling their house their fully furnished home.
”Did you ever?” he asked Connor.
Connor had given a low whistle the moment they stepped into the warehouse. He met his gaze. ”Can't say that I have. You know, they don't live rich, so you tend to forget they are rich.”
Mel nodded. He did know, roughly, just how wealthy the good folks of l.u.s.ty were. That wealth wasn't concentrated in just a few hands, either. Every member of the combined families could boast impressive trust funds, investment portfolios, and bank accounts. Some added to those accounts in a most remarkable way. Thanks to very astute financial stewards.h.i.+p, the Town Trust's net worth just kept growing.
Like they say, all you need to make a lot of money, is a lot of money.
Jake chuckled when he saw their expressions. ”It's crazy, isn't it? The town fills up with family and other folks wanting to live here, and the warehouse nearly empties, then folks relocate and it fills up again. People are, of course, free to buy their own things, and a lot of folks do, and you're free to as well. But the beds we use are custom built, so we tend not to toss them or give them away to charity when we change furniture styles or redo our homes. And we always maintain a good supply of new mattress sets.”
They followed Jake through the middle of the place and Mel couldn't help but think of himself as being a rat in a giant maze. He looked over at Connor and could tell, by the comical face he made, that his thoughts were about the same.
They pa.s.sed living room suites, kitchen and dining room suites, and then turned the corner into the area where the bedroom furniture had been stored.
They walked past Jake to the where a few mattresses and box springs had been arranged into several neat stacks.
”I think I finally get it,” Connor said.