His stomach grumbling, Mark eased his arm from under Jodi and pulled the silk sheet over her. She squirmed, tugging her pillow closer beneath her but stayed asleep.
He picked up the remote Sam had used earlier and turned off the big screens one by one. Finding his blue jeans was more of a challenge-he ended up unearthing them from under the comforter they’d kicked off the bed. And his underwear was nowhere to be seen. Hell, he’d just go commando.
“Be right back, babe.” A soft mewl escaped Jodi’s lips when he bent down to brush a kiss across her forehead.
Barefoot, he padded from the room and climbed the stairs to the main level. A green-tinged light spilled from the office into the hallway. The creak of the leather chair, and a snap and hiss of a can opening told him where Sam had disappeared.
Time to settle that account.
His feet on the desk, ankles crossed, Sam leaned back in the chair, staring at the flat- screen television on the far wall, a Heineken in his hand. His leather pants had been traded in for a pair of grey fleece track pants, and, like Mark, he wore no shirt.
Muttering, Sam lifted the glass in a salute to the screen. The screen with an image of Jodi sleeping.
Mark cursed under his breath. Sam had been watching them this whole time?
With a snort of disgust, Mark walked into the room and flicked off the television. “And you accused me of being a voyeur.”
Sam scratched idly at the scar on his chest. “Considering the glass house you live in, you shouldn’t be tossing stones at me. ’Sides, I didn’t have the sound turned up.”
As if that made a difference.
Mark stared down at his friend. “Do you want to tell me why the fuck you thought it necessary to tie me up, old buddy?”
Sam placed the can on the desk, turned it until a dark circle of moisture imprinted on the blotter. Lifted it and placed it beside where it had been. Turned it again, making another circle.
“I did what I had to,” he said finally.
Mark folded his arms across his chest. “You want to explain that?”
Another circle joined the others on the blotter. Then a fifth and a sixth. Sam finally lifted his gaze and met Mark’s. “I didn’t want to see you toss away a sure thing playing the games we played in college. You’re not cut out for that lifestyle, Mark. And from what I’ve seen of her, neither’s Jodi.”
“If you thought it was wrong, you could have walked away. You could have not agreed in the first place.”
Sam met his gaze evenly. “You said if I didn’t help you, you’d find someone else. Couldn’t take that chance.”
“So you took control by tying me up.”
Sam lifted the glass halfway to his lips then stopped. “Only way I could think of to prove my point.”
“That having a mйnage is a college game? Just how did tying me up prove that?”
“My point was that you love that woman.” Sam stabbed his hand through the air toward the television. “And she loves you. Didn’t you see how she was looking at you when she asked you if she should continue? Shit, man, it was soul-deep love. Jodi’s a one-man woman. She deserves a one-woman man. Someone who’ll protect her. Love her. Who won’t share her with anyone else. She’s too damn special to have you offer her around to your friends so you can get off.”
Mark snorted, but his anger evaporated as fast as a water drop on a hot griddle. He slumped into the chair on the opposite side of the desk. “You’re right. I do love her. But I didn’t realize that until tonight. What tipped you off?”
“Every time you said her name you got this goofy look on your face.” Sam took another sip of his drink, then held up the can and glared at it, frowning. “But you were so damned determined to bring me in as your third, kept telling me it was just like ‘the old days’. That you two were just partners having a little fun. You were trying too hard to convince yourself, ya know?
“And then tonight…when I touched her…I’ve never seen that look on your face before. You looked like you were ready to tear my head off.”
“I was,” Mark conceded.
“Yet you let me continue. Let her think you were cool with sharing her. And that was flat-out wrong.” Sam set the can down and gave Mark a hard stare. “So I figured I had to do something to get through that thick skull of yours. Make you realize how good you got it.”
Mark ran a hand over his scalp. “Yet this conscience of yours didn’t stop you from fucking her, did it? You want to explain that one?”
One of Sam’s shoulders pulled up in a halfhearted shrug. “It was all her choice. She could have used the safe word at any time. And don’t forget that when I put the proposition to her, she asked you and you said-”
“I told her she could trust you. I let it go on.” Mark scrubbed at his face, then dropped his hands into his lap. “I get your point. No more mйnages. I don’t think I could hold myself back if another man touched her. I’d probably rip his head off.”
Sam closed his eyes and exhaled noisily. “Thank the good Lord above for that! She’s a special lady.” Sam leaned forward, planted his elbows on the desk. He pointed at Mark as if his fingers were a gun. “But you hear me, Mark, and you remember me well. If you mistreat her, if you fuck around on her, I’m gonna be on your ass like a hound dog on a hare. We straight?”
“You’d have to get in line,” Jodie said from the doorway.
“Thanks for the offer, Sam, but if Mark ever fools around on me, I can take care of him myself.” Jodi scissored her fingers together. “And I’ll be more brutal than Lorena Bobbitt. If he fools around on me, Mark won’t have any balls to tuck into his jockeys by the time I’m done with him.”
Both men immediately crossed their legs.
Sam barked a laugh and pounded his fist on the desk so hard the phone jumped out of its base. “I think you’ve finally found someone who can keep you in line, ol’ buddy.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Mark grinned back. “Come over here, Lorena.”
Jodi sauntered over to Mark, conscious of the hungry look in his eyes as he tracked her. She bent to kiss him but stopped an inch away from his lips, murmuring, “Oh, and by the way, if you think I’m going to invite another woman to our bed as a quid pro quo for tonight, I should warn you. It ain’t gonna happen.”
“I don’t want anyone else.” Mark pulled her onto his lap and nuzzled her neck.
“Man, if you two are going to get all mushy on me, I’m leavin’,” Sam drawled then drained the remainder of his drink.
Jodi pulled away. “Don’t leave, Sam. I want to thank you for what you did tonight.” Color rose up her neck. “I mean, about tying Mark up-that was to make him jealous, wasn’t it?”
He glanced away, as if unwilling to meet her gaze. “Yeah, well…”
“I appreciate what you did-especially since it could have backfired on you.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek, then cocked her head and looked at him. “You know, I’ve got a friend I think you might like…”
He held up both his hands in mock surrender. “No thank you. I’m not desperate enough for a blind date.” He grew serious as he glanced between them. “Look, if later on, down the road, you two decide you want a third in bed again, you call me, all right? And, Jodi, don’t let Mark here ever force you to do something you don’t want to do. He does, you call me and I’ll pound some sense into his head.”
“Thanks.” She laughed and patted his hand. “You’re a good friend, Sam.”
“Man, how’d that sonuvabitch get so lucky in snatching you up?” He hung his head and shook it. When he lifted it, a sly smile crept over his broad face, lighting a twinkle in his eyes. “You sure you wouldn’t consider coming to work for me back east? I’m always on the lookout for a good security consultant.”
Jodi laughed and looped her arms around Mark’s neck. “Nah, not a chance.” She sobered. Sam’s request reminded her of something that had been bugging her all night. “You know, Sam, I’ve been wondering…”
“Why am I thinkin’ I should be worried?” Sam quirked an eyebrow.
“I’ve been wondering why you left the combination to the safe where I could find it. You did that deliberately, didn’t you? Were you testing my competence? Do you think I’m not good enough for your company?”
Mark swore under his breath. “No wonder you took that bet that you could crack it in under two minutes. You had the combination the whole time, you cheater.”
“You know I never bet unless I’m absolutely sure I can win.” She turned back to Sam. “I could have cracked the safe without the combination, you know.”
Sam shrugged one shoulder. “Yeah, I know.”
“So why make it easy on me? Why leave the combination where anyone could find it?”
The shoulder hitched up again. He crushed the can and tossed it in the trash. “You might not have found it.”
She paused, watched him deliberately avoid her gaze. “There’s something more here, isn’t there?”
When he didn’t answer, Mark straightened. “Sam? What are you hiding?”
Sam turned the chair sideways, eyed the door. “It’s no biggie. Just forget about it, okay?” He opened the door to a small fridge built into the credenza. “Y’all want a drink? I’ve got ginger ale, beer, you name it.”
“Sam?” Mark persisted.
“Oh, all right.” Sam picked up another beer can then exchanged it for a bottle of Pellegrini. “It was part of a bet. Satisfied?”
Jodi turned to Mark and raised one brow in query. “Don’t look at me, babe.”
When both sets of eyes turned on him, Sam continued, “I told my assistant to let you in without the usual security check so you’d buy into Mark’s story about the place needing an upgrade in its security. But that woman was like a starving dog with a T-bone and wouldn’t let it go until I explained exactly why I wanted to let you in.”
Heat crept up Jodi’s neck as she thought of the straitlaced assistant and what she might think if she knew what had really gone on that evening. She pressed her fingers to her mouth. “Please tell me you didn’t tell her what you really had planned for tonight.”
Sam scowled. “I do have some discretion, you know. I told her I was checking out the efficiency of Mark’s employees as part of the merger agreement. Told her I’d challenged him to have you break into the safe.”
“But that doesn’t explain why you left the combination for me to find.”
Sam eyed the door again, reminding her of how she’d felt trapped earlier that evening.
“Well, you see, I figured being a former cop and everything, you weren’t a real girly girl.” He slid down in his chair, his chin on his chest, then grasped the handles of his chair, until it groaned in protest. His next words came out in a rush. “I figured you wouldn’t really clean things the way a maid would. Figured that you’d sort of dust around things, you know. But Sandy…Ms. Janssen, she said if you were as good as Mark claimed, you’d be…” He shifted his weight again.
“That I’d be what?” Jodi asked, trying to hide the laughter caused by seeing the big man squirm in discomfort.
“That you’d be…you know…snoopy.” The words left him in a rush.
“Snoopy?” Jodi laughed aloud. “Sam, I was reconnoitering for security flaws. Of course, I’d be snoopy!”
Obviously relieved that she wasn’t offended, Sam let his shoulders drop and leaned back in his chair. “Sandy bet me that if she wrote the combination on the blotter-”
“-I’d find it.” Jodi finished for him. “Which I wouldn’t have unless I actually cleared the desk when I dusted.”
“How much d’you lose?” Mark asked. Jodi could feel his muscles rippling as he tried not to laugh aloud.
Sam’s cheeks turned bright red as he mumbled, “I have to enter myself in the annual bachelor auction to raise money for the homeless women’s shelter.”
Mark’s laughter exploded, nearly unseating Jodi. “Oh, that’s fucking perfect! Jodi, we have to go to that auction. I want to watch him squirm while all those women ogle his ass.”
Sam looked up, a look of hope flickering in his eyes. “Hey, Jodi, maybe you could bid on me. You know, save a poor helpless bachelor from those biddies?”
Mark shook his head. “Not a chance! You made the bet, you suffer the consequences.”
“I don’t…” Jodi started, then hesitated as a thought struck her. But would her plan work, especially with the two huge egos these men had? “Maybe we could come to some arrangement.”
“Jodi,” Mark groaned. “Don’t you dare buy into his ‘poor bachelor’ crap. I want to watch him strut his sorry ass down a runway like a frickin’ supermodel-it’s the perfect payback, babe.”
Jodi bit her bottom lip. “I’ll make the highest bid on you if you promise me something.”
“What’s that?” Sam eyed her as if she were a python ready to strike.
She pushed herself off Mark’s lap, paced as she figured out exactly how to word her request so as not to offend either man. Finally she stopped and took a deep breath. “It’s about the merger. Mark loves Celada Security. He’s worked real hard to get it where it is, and I’m afraid that when you take over-”
“Jodi,” Mark said quietly. “Sam and I are good. You don’t need to worry-”
Sam held up a hand, stopping Mark. “Let her have her say, Mark. She’s just looking out for your interests. And I respect the hell out of her for that.”
“If things don’t work out,” she continued, not wanting to meet Mark’s eyes, “the two companies revert back to the way things are now. And you’ll guarantee Hauberk won’t compete for any contracts against Celada in Texas.”
Sam opened a drawer and pulled out a thick folder, tossed it on the desk. “If it sets your mind at ease, sweet pea, Mark and I already had something similar written into the contract. Here’s my copy-you can see for yourself.”
Mark rested his hand over hers, his thumb gently stroking her wrist. “Considering he’s the buying company, Sam didn’t have to have that written in, babe. But he’s the one who suggested it even before we put anything on paper.”
Sam shrugged and glanced away as if uncomfortable with Mark’s admission. “I treat my friends right.”
“Thank you, Sam,” Jodi said.
“Glad to see you lookin’ out for him, sweet pea. I’d expect nothin’ less from you.” The chair creaked as Sam stood and stretched. “Oh, and, sweet pea, just in case you need to keep that old hound dog in line, the code to the safe room is seven-two-six-one-nine. Maybe you could give Mark a turn being tied to the posts some day. Remind him who’s in charge.”
He walked to the door then paused, a smile slowly blossoming across his face. “But you might want to phone first.”
With a wink, he left.
She finally looked up at Mark, worried that perhaps she’d overstepped the boundaries, but saw no sign of irritation or anger on his face. “I didn’t mean to stick my nose where it didn’t belong. Are you mad at me?”
Mark shook his head. “No. As Sam said, you were looking out for me.” He laced his fingers with hers and tugged her back onto his lap. “Kind of nice to know you worry about me like that. Besides, as Hauberk’s new vice president of Western Operations, it’s a reasonable concern.”
“Vice president?” A thrill shot through her at the title until she remembered Mark’s daily frustrations dealing with employees who were late or failed to show up at critical times. His anger when he caught several operatives smoking joints while on duty. And the mountains of paperwork that covered his desk. “Does that mean I have to sit behind a desk shuffling papers all day?”
Mark snorted. “As if that’ll ever happen.” When she tweaked a handful of chest hair, he sighed. “All right, there will be some paperwork involved. But you can hire an assistant if you need one. It also means you’ll get to boss the guys around even more than you do now.”
“I’m not bossy!”
He raised one eyebrow. “You just bullied a guy who’s six foot six and weighs two eighty buck naked about the merger. That wasn’t bossy?”
“That was…” she walked her fingers up his chest, “…a negotiation. On behalf of someone I love.”
His hands slipped underneath the bottom of her shirt, cupped her breast with his palms, his thumbs brushing over the sensitive tips. “Hmm. I love hearing you say that.”
She leaned into his touch, eyes closing. Talented fingers, she thought for what had to be the umpteenth time that night. “What? That I negotiated for you?”
“No, that you love me. You’ve never said that before.”
The distinctive sound of a Harley revved outside. Jodi rushed to the window just in time to see Sam tugging on his helmet. “I knew I’d heard a motorcycle! But how’d he get in without me seeing it?”
She glanced back and saw Mark’s lips clamp together, a telltale twitch at the side betraying his urge to smile.
“You! You came with him, didn’t you?” She poked him in the chest and thought back to when he’d arrived, and what he’d done. “And then you deliberately distracted me from watching the monitors, didn’t you? With that stupid vibrating egg!”
“Didn’t take much effort,” Mark said. He stood behind her, wrapping his arms about her waist as they watched Sam glance back at the house. He gave a salute toward them, then roared down the driveway.