Getting His Way: Sapphire Falls Book Seven (18 page)

Ty looked from the book to Bryan and back again. “What are you talking about?”

“Your mother read this book and then recommended it to a bunch of her friends. Who read it. And then sat around and talked about it.”

Ty took the book from him, frowning harder. “No way.”

“Seriously. And I would like you to open up to page five.”

Ty gave him a suspicious look but flipped the book open. “Okay.”

“Start at the second paragraph. Read it out loud.”

“She had always dreamed of being take—” He stopped and looked up. “Seriously?”

“Keep reading,” Bryan said grimly.

Ty was his best friend. He shared almost everything with him. He was most definitely going to share one of the most painful moments of his life.

“She had always dreamed of being taken like this. Outdoors, in the wilderness. From behind. Hard. Savage. By Arog and his pack.” Ty frowned. “What the hell? His
pack
?”

“Oh, yeah. He’s a werewolf,” Bryan said.

He glanced around the room. All of the guys wore expressions that were a combination of horror and confusion. But the girls…didn’t.

Bryan narrowed his eyes as he watched Lauren, Hailey, Hope and Delaney. They were exchanging looks. They were also fighting smiles. And two of them were blushing.

“A
werewolf
? Come on,” Ty said.

Bryan shrugged. “Well, more like just a wolf. He changes into a wolf. And he shares the woman with his pack.”

Ty grimaced and thrust the book back at him. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Outing your mother.” Bryan crossed his arms and looked at the women in the room. “And the other women in the club.”

Travis shifted on his chair, looking incredibly uncomfortable.

Good.

“Who told you all of that?” Travis asked.

“Cora Munson. But it was confirmed by Dottie, Stella, Linda…hell, all of them!”

“And you have the book because…?” Tucker asked.

“Cora gave it to me. Said Tess loved it and I should read it to get insight into what she likes.”

That was apparently the final straw. Lauren and Hailey burst out laughing.

Bryan just waited for them to gather themselves.

“What’s up, City?” Travis asked his wife. “You know something about this?”

Lauren nodded. “Of course. We all do.”

“You all do what?” Ty asked Hailey, hands on his hips.

“We all know about the book club. It’s kind of an underground thing,” Hailey said. “But only because it makes the gals feel like they’re getting away with something to keep it a secret.”

“The gals?” Ty asked.

“Cora, Stella, Dottie, Linda,” Hailey said, confirming the names Bryan had listed. “Viv, Margie Ferguson, Bernadette Cayne, Tina Marie Moran, Debbie Moran, Jolene Parker, Phoebe, Tess.” She looked to Lauren. “Us. Sometimes.”

They both started laughing again.

Tucker turned to Delaney. “Have you been there?”

She blushed and grinned. “Maybe once.”

Bryan watched as TJ sat back and put his arm around Hope again.

“You’re not going to ask Hope?” Bryan wanted to know.

TJ pulled her up against his side. “Those books have nothin’ on Hope.”

His wife blushed but snuggled close. “Damn straight.” She looked up at Bryan. “But of course I’ve been there.”

Bryan looked at the other men. “Am I the only one disturbed?”

Lauren scoffed. “Seriously? You’re
disturbed
by the women in town reading naughty romance novels?”

“I’m disturbed by the idea that women want to be passed around by a pack of
wolves
to get off,” Bryan said.

“How’s the book end?” TJ asked mildly.

“She ends up with the alpha,” Bryan said. “He tells all the other guys, wolves, whatever, to leave her alone.”

“So you finished it,” TJ said.

“Well…” Bryan narrowed his eyes. “Yeah. I was trying to figure out what Tess liked about it.”

“The hot sex?” Hope asked.

That’s what he was afraid of. He knew that Tess didn’t have fantasies about wolves. At least, he was pretty sure of that. But… “With
multiple
guys? At the same time? While they all watch?” he demanded.

“Oh, she—”

“What if she did?” Lauren asked, cutting Hailey off. “What would you do if that was what she wanted?”

Son of a bitch. Wasn’t that the question of the hour? The book was supposed to have given him insight into his little virgin’s fantasies. But he would never have guessed that Tess wanted some of the stuff that the book had in it. He would never have guessed that Tess even knew about some of that stuff.

Then again, he never would have guessed she’d say some of the stuff she had to him—and he didn’t just mean the dirty talk. He was equally surprised by the times she’d essentially told him she wasn’t interested in him anymore.

“Well, I’d do it if that’s what would make her happy,” he said. He was losing her. He felt it. Actually, he was starting to wonder if he’d ever had her. And if he had, why he’d been such a dumbass, assuming he always would without giving it any effort.

He looked at the other guys. Travis nodded as if he understood, Tucker looked like Bryan was nuts, TJ was definitely
not
agreeing with that decision, based on his expression, and Ty looked like he had a headache.

Which made Bryan roll his eyes. Ty had been wrapped around Hailey’s little finger since he was fourteen, but he’d had his share of other women in the years it had taken him and Hailey to figure their stuff out. And multiple partners wasn’t a completely foreign concept to either Ty or Bryan. But neither of them had ever been into sharing with other guys.

“But it would be a problem,” Bryan went on. “Because I’d have to kill any other guy who so much as saw her naked, not to mention actually touching her while she was naked. Not to mention all of the other stuff they all did to the girl in the book. And killing
five
other men would probably end up being a problem.”

Lauren gave him a big smile and sat back. “Okay, now you can tell him,” she said to Hailey.

Bryan looked at his best friend’s wife. “Tell me what?”

“Tess didn’t read that book,” Hailey said. “She passed on that one.”

Bryan looked at her, processing that. “Excuse me?”

“Tess didn’t want to read about multiple partners. She’ll read a ménage once in a while, but she really prefers the ones with just one guy and girl.”

“Then why did Cora say she did?”

“Cora was messing with you,” Lauren told him. “Which is hilarious. I hope she doesn’t hurt herself patting herself on the back.”

Bryan narrowed his eyes. “And
all
of those sweet little old ladies were in on it?” he asked. First the lingerie and now this. He was going to have to come up with some great payback for the next fashion show rehearsal.

Hailey snorted. “I’m not sure how many sweet little old ladies we have in Sapphire Falls, but I can assure you that the women you named off are not in
that
club.”

“They’re in the
Blue Brigade
,” Bryan said. “They go around town fucking spreading sunshine and shit.”

Hailey and Lauren both laughed at that.

“It’s a great cover, isn’t it?” Hailey asked with a wink.

“Don’t worry,” Lauren told him. “I was totally sucked in by them too when I first met them.”

“Okay,” Bryan said, back on the topic at hand. “So Tess is definitely not into having a pack of wolves ravage her.”

“Definitely not,” Lauren agreed.

Bryan slumped slightly, relief washing over him. “Thank God. She likes the sweet stories.”

Hailey lifted an eyebrow. “We didn’t say that.”

“What?”

“That the ones Tess likes are sweet,” Hailey told him.

Lauren shook her head. “Nope. Not at all.”

Bryan felt his stomach knot again. “What’s that mean?”

He’d messed around with silk ties, handcuffs, spanking and nipple clamps over the years, but he really preferred being able to make a woman beg
without
all of that. Like the other night at Tess’s house. He had been the only thing giving her pleasure, and that had been everything he needed. Though the idea of her with a vibrator was hot.

“Your girl loves the really hot stuff. Just a guy and a girl, not a lot of extras, but plenty of heat,” Hailey said.

“Not a lot of extras?” Bryan asked. And was he really having this conversation in the middle of his best friend’s living room with eight other people? None of who were the girl in question.

He did really like Tess being referred to as his girl though.

“She likes the big, bossy dirty talkers,” Lauren confirmed.

“Well, who doesn’t?” Hope asked.

TJ leaned in and said something in her ear that made her blush.

Big, bossy dirty talkers.

That was more than he needed to know about TJ Bennett.

“Oh, here.” Hailey bounced up from her seat and went to her purse for her phone. She came back to Bryan, running her thumb over the screen. “You should read this one. It’s one of Tessa’s favorites.”

She showed Bryan her phone. A book cover took up the entire space. A book cover that was bright pink and white, with an up-close photo of a couple nearly kissing. It looked harmless enough. But then he read the title.

“
Erotic Research
?” he asked.

“Mari Carr writes hot,” Hailey said. “Tess is a huge fan.”

“So can I borrow this or what?” Bryan asked. He was absolutely reading something called
Erotic Research
. Especially if it was one of Tessa’s favorites.

“Give me your phone,” Hailey said.

He leaned to pull it from his pocket. “Why?”

“I’ll put it on your phone,” she said. “Then you can read it wherever you are and not worry about who’s wondering about
your
erotic research.”

“Okay.” Sounded good to him. In fact… “Can you show me how to put more books on there?”

Hailey winked at him. “You got it. Just need your credit card.”

Five minutes later, Bryan had
Erotic Research
and several others on his phone and ready to go.

“Now,” Ty said to his brothers. “What are we going to do about Mom and this book club?”

“Completely forget any of this ever happened,” Tucker declared.

“Amen,” Travis said.

“You mean the
quilting
club she goes to each week?” TJ asked. “I think the
quilting
club is great.”

Ty nodded. “Great. I’m totally down with quilting.”

All the girls burst out laughing at that.

“What?” Ty asked Hailey.

“Just that we all really like
quilting
with all of you,” Hailey said, coming over and putting an arm around his waist.

Ty tucked her under his arm with a sigh. “It’s not a euphemism.”

“You’re right. Sorry,” Hailey said, not looking a bit sorry.

“Okay then, I think it’s great Mom goes to a
cooking
club each week,” Tucker said.

“Oh, me too,” Delaney told him, running her hand up his thigh. “Her German chocolate cake is my favorite thing.”

Tucker groaned. “You can’t make that dirty.”

“If I remember correctly,
you
made it dirty,” Delaney said with a laugh.

It was well known in Sapphire Falls that if Kathy Bennett made you a German chocolate cake—with extra frosting—it was a cake for two. And meant to be eaten in private.

“Dammit. Then Mom’s going to a
painting
class,” Travis said.

Lauren nodded. “I’m going to have to ask her to show me some new
strokes
.”

“Oh God, please stop,” TJ grumbled. “This is my
mom
.”

“And your mom and dad most definitely—”

TJ clamped a hand over Hope’s mouth. “Sunshine, I know you’re all into being open and out there about everything, but how about we not go there.”

Bryan grinned at the group. They were all madly in love and open about their hot sex lives.

He wanted that.

And, obviously, it was possible. Not everything about being in love and in a relationship needed to be sweetness and roses. Romance could be about teasing and laughing together.

And big, bossy dirty talk.

Yeah, he could do this relationship thing Tessa’s way.

He just had a little research to do.

Chapter Eight

“Cornhole.”

“Horseshoes.”

“Lawn darts.”

“I’m not sure lawn darts are even legal anymore,” Bryan inserted.

Or tried to insert. No one was listening to him.

He was sure that at least one of these men had a lawn dart set stored somewhere in his garage from the sixties and that they didn’t care a bit about the legality of the game. This was serious competition time in Sapphire Falls, and the game chosen for the annual Lawn Yawn—the unofficial name of the tournament where a bunch of the older guys got together and played lawn games—was a serious decision. Most of the time it was decided by rock-paper-scissors. Sometimes a flip of a quarter. But never before had the players argued and bitched for at least an hour.