Surrounded by Pleasure Read Free

a
man found his soul mate, he just knew.
    At least he could hope.
    As he neared the dining room, Toby heard some loud
laughter and immediately smiled. That was Rob. He was always such a jokester,
but lately he’d been in a funk, too. It was good to hear that sound coming from
him again.
    Toby opened the door, and his brothers looked at him.
Jack was frowning; no shocker there. Jack was a sourpuss on his best day. Rob
and Josh were smiling.
    “What’d I miss?” he asked as he grabbed a glass for his
scotch.
    “Nada, brother,” Josh said, chuckling. “Jack’s just
pissed he has to work in the Burnout Hole tomorrow.”
    “Fuck you, Josh.”
    “Not my type, man.”
    Rob choked on his drink as he tried not to laugh again,
and Toby didn’t even try to keep from chuckling.
    The door swung up, and Toby turned to watch as his father
joined them.
    “Good evening, boys. I take it work was daunting as usual
today.”
    The guys all grunted and nodded. Then Josh sat his drink
down and faced everyone. “I’ve got some news that might cheer you up. Mikaela’s
bringing someone to help her with her lawyer stuff. She’ll be staying here
about a month or so while Mikaela helps us finalize the purchase of
Caldwell
’s property.”
    “She?” Toby mumbled, and he was pretty sure he heard his
brothers ask, too.
    “Yes. Her name is Krista Owens. She’s a young lawyer at
Mikaela’s firm.”
    Toby felt his hands tremble. He knew he shouldn’t get his
hopes up, but he couldn’t stop his adrenaline from spiking.
    “Dad and I have already talked about this,” Josh said, “and
he’s given the go-ahead for her to be here. She’s not married—”
    Toby gasped, which cut Josh off. Then he glanced over and
saw Rob’s jaw had dropped and Jack’s eyes were narrowed.
    “But she’s taken. She’s very much in love with a longtime
boyfriend and plans to spend the rest of her life with him.”
    Toby’s heart plummeted. He hadn’t wanted to get his hopes
up, but up they had been . . . right before crashing to the ground. Fuck, he
couldn’t catch a break. Not that he should’ve suspected anything differently.
It was suicide to have an available woman around. His life sucked, but he had
no intention of checking out early.
    “Damn it, Josh,” Jack growled. “Care to tell us how the
fuck that’s supposed to cheer us up? You want to dangle a woman in front of us
for a month? One we can’t have?”
    “Dude, I think you’re incapable of cheering up,” Rob
said, shaking his head at Jack, then turning to their dad and Josh. “But he has
a point.”
    Josh smiled. “I said she was taken, not that she was off-limits.”
    Toby’s head snapped up from the amber liquid he’d been
studying. “Explain.”
    “Krista is in an open relationship. She loves her
boyfriend, but they allow each other to fuck other people.” Josh shrugged as if
what he’d just said was the most uncomplicated thing in the world, and Toby had
to fight not to punch that grin off his face.
    “What about Eric? Have you forgotten what happened to our
brother? He’d gotten cozy fucking Pam while she was still married. She’d been
in an open relationship when that started, too.”
    Josh frowned at him. “I know. I know this isn’t perfect,
but Eric hadn’t known she’d gotten divorced either. You have nothing to worry
about here.”
    Toby glanced at his dad, and he was just sitting back,
quietly watching his sons argue.
    “So, let me get this straight,” Rob said as he stepped closer
to Josh. “Are you expecting us to take turns fucking her? Is she expecting
that? ’Cause I gotta tell ya, I ain’t into that shit.”
    “Oh, no. She’s not expecting anything. And nothing may
happen with her. All I’m telling you is that if she chooses to pursue one of
you, then I’m letting you know it’s okay to fuck her.”
    “She’s mine,” Jack said as he took a sip of his scotch
with an air of righteousness.
    “Oh, fuck you, hotshot. You can’t call dibs on